I have written and rewritten this chapter, both in my head and in my handy little wordpad file, so many times before trying the latest version you are about to read. I knew I'd have to deal with the most cringeworthy episode of Smallville (Well... until now. I mean, I might take a few million Sleepers over most of what's come since. Kind of not watching anymore). Anyway, I went into this thinking I'd deal with every Lex and Chloe moment and somehow fix it all into Chlexiness. Then I realized I'd have to watch the whole ep again and that would just hurt too much. So I'm going to try to find a balance. I have three goals:
1. Use as little of this episode as possible to get Chloe and Lex where I want them, thereby having me rewatch as little of this episode as possible (Because I rewatch like crazy with this fic. For nuance and whatnot. But this is too much Chimmy pain).
2. Prevent Jimmy and Chloe from having sex as was implied in the episode (maybe this should have been goal #1)
3. Have Lex mourn Gina (she deserves some mourning just for sheer loyalty) and drunk dial Tess Mercer (who is apparently his half sister. If I were watching, I would have liked that revelation. I like her.)
Anyway, spoiling Sleeper and referencing a deleted scene from same. Also spoiling the very last bits of Descent here.
Chapter 29
She was gone. Gina was yet another death at the altar of some unknowable secret. Cause of death was listed as a heart attack, but he knew better. She wouldn't die after leaving a message like that of just natural causes.
Maybe he should hold another funeral. He wondered if Clark would show up there, too... uninvited as always. He gritted his teeth, thinking of his father's empty funeral earlier today. He saw Clark again, glaring across the rectangular hole, as if he had some right to be there. It was empty for a reason. He didn't want Clark to show up, claiming some connection to his father that his father had refused him. He didn't want to watch Chloe, by his side as always, glaring murderer at him when she, of all people, should know this man wasn't worth mourning. He didn't want to watch a slew of investors and share holders try to dredge up a tear. He didn't want to watch someone take a podium or, even worse, take one himself and tell the gathered "mourners" that his father would be missed.
To be honest, which was something he was trying to do these days, he was most afraid he'd tell the truth. That his father wasn't worth mourning. That he'd killed his way into power and money. Had bullied his way to the top of the world before he fell right off it... or was pushed. Of course, then he'd have to go into the nasty business of his part in the whole thing and there would be punishment and he wasn't ready to take it yet. He was sure he would. But not before he was finished.
Gina, his father, even himself... they were just cogs in the wheels of something bigger. They spun and they stopped at destiny's whim. He felt it. It was all going to be clear soon. He had the keys. Both of them. He knew that it was all ending soon. Either this struggle or his own sad existance. He didn't really care which, these days.
As for Gina.... He'd never held a funeral for a fallen employee, no matter how exceptional, and he wasn't about to start a tradition now. Especially not now. Now was not the time to start anything, really. Now was more of an end.
He could feel it...
He shook himself and took another long sip from his tumbler. The ice clinked in that hollow, empty way with no more liquid to soften the tiny crash. Second time in an hour. Maybe he was drinking too much. Gina might have said as much, but so gently, he wouldn't feel chastised, even a little. It was a way she had. And now she was dead. His mind turned to her again, thinking she deserved a funeral. He'd better have Regan contact her family.
"Fucking Regan," he growled. He'd have to deal with fucking Regan from now on. It wasn't that Regan wasn't efficient. It was that he was an asshole. It probably took one to know one, but... He really should've given Gina a raise before she died. Best assistant he'd ever had. Longest time in his employ, even. Maybe it was because she was a woman. He thought again, of that... way she had. That gentleness, that absolute trust and respect. It gratified him, though it never really satisfied him. It might have if had come from... from someone not paid to be with him.
He pushed those thoughts away, those blonde kind of thoughts, and thought of another woman in his employ. She'd been working in... no. She was being wasted in virus research. There was something about her that spoke to him, even then. Maybe that same something in Gina. There was something in the way she looked to him and... no. She looked up to him. Maybe that was why he'd made her special. He'd made her so special, she'd been his eyes and ears in that division--and literally. Maybe she could be his eyes and ears in more than that? Who better? She looked at him with that same absolute trust and respect.
Not like fucking Regan. Hell, after their little skirmish where she refused to report findings except directly to Lex, Regan hated her. Lex smiled to himself. He should promote her just for that.
Screw it. He would.
He picked up his phone, wondering if this counted as a drunk dial. He hadn't ever done something so plebeain. He only nearly had, both times to a certain blonde. But only nearly. He'd hung up before it even started to ring. Not so this time. This wasn't an embarrassing cal for help. This was... Well, it was a call for help, but of a very practical kind.
"Mr. Luthor? Lex?"
She answered before the first ring even completed, her voice breathless and eager, rather like Gina's. Just like Gina, her rather obsessive loyalty was veered just a little to the creepy side, but maybe that was the price of such loyalty. And she would be loyal. He'd been watching her for months now... or watching the world through her eyes, literally. She didn't need to know about the implants. But she did deserve to know that he approved of what he saw. Maybe she was a mere scientist, but she had a keen mind and a shrewd way of looking at the world and a commanding presence that often reminded him of himself. She would be a worthy heir. And, if what he felt, he fucking knew, was coming, he'd need someone to carry on his work.
But he was too damned drunk to explain all that, so he kept it simple. "Mercer, you're going to work for me."
She was silent, then let out a low laugh that reminded him of something or someone. He pushed his father out of his mind as she spoke. "I already work for you... Sir." She added the last nearly as an afterthought, as if she didn't much like calling anyone "sir," but made a grudging exception for him.
Yes. She'd do well. He liked her.
***********
He liked her. She liked him. So why wasn't this working?
It was just the timing. That was all. Once this was all over...
Chloe stared at her crestfallen boyfriend, who had just made her an ambitious, lovely and seemingly inedible breakfast that she just couldn't stay for.
And this was after a night when she came home to find him waiting with flowers and wine. And what had she done? Fallen into a sleep coma. She obviously needed it and he seemed to understand at the time as she tried to blearily explain that she couldn't keep her eyes open. She'd been burning out lately.
She took a deep breath and tried to explain better. "Jimmy... it's just that, after what happened to Lana, I've had to help out with the Isis Foundation. I've been sunk knee-deep in the meteor-infected, and between contacting all of Lana's clients and moving my stuff into the office, I just..." She stifled herself. There was more to it. Not that he could know that. And can he ever? Are you sure this can work when he can never know ninety percent of your life?
She pushed the idea away. She needed this to work. If ninety percent of her life was going to be sacrificed to this greater good, then she needed just ten percent of something normal, something sweet and stupid like an earnest man like Jimmy making her a terrible breakfast... which she still didn't have time to eat. That damned ten percent would be hard to squeeze in.
"Look, I'll take you to lunch today, okay? I'll make it up to you. I promise," she said as sincerely as she could. She could squeeze it in. Somewhere between cataloguing and storing Oliver's weaponry, his price for helping her get better clearance, and dealing with Clark's general melaise and refusal to take any real action...
Jimmy smiled. "Sure."
She sighed in relief. He'd smiled. Among normal people, that was a good sign. And Jimmy was normal. Perfectly normal. It was just what she needed... just not right now. At any rate, she'd make this work... as soon as she had a spare second. "Okay. Bye."
She closed the door and leaned on it. They'd be fine. She'd make time at lunch. She had to eat, didn't she? Of course, by normal nutritional guidelines, she'd had to eat her last three meals and that didn't stop her skipping them. And most of her sleep this week. And...
No. She would definitely make time today. Not just for lunch itself. When you missed it on a regular basis and lived to tell the tale, that second square meal a day lost a little of its necessity. She'd do it for him. She had to try. And, damn it, whatever he said, she had been. Hadn't they kissed last... Well, not last night. But there had been a few times. They'd been a little on the distracted side, but she'd made the effort.
"And you don't think I've been trying. Look, Jimmy... I think it's just gonna take a little bit of time to breathe the embers back to life."
"Chloe, we could do cartwheel through a fountain of gasoline and come out perfectly fine. Are... are you not feeling this anymore?"
She couldn't say she was or, God help her, that she ever really did before. Jimmy just didn't inspire that kind of... need. But she wanted him to. And that was nearly as good. She could make him if she tried. Maybe her sparks with Jimmy hadn't turned into the grand finale on the Fourth of July, but... That was all hype. None of that was real. Jimmy was real, not all flash with no substance like other men she could not and would not mention. She would never be addicted to Jimmy, she would be dedicated to him. There was a difference. They'd be like... like... like Clark and Lana. How many times had they crashed and burned? Yet they always came back to each other. That was dedication -- or obsession. And on that note...
She patted her pocket as she moved through The Talon and out the doors to her car. She thought of the codes held there. Oliver, in exchange for holding his arsenal, had given her more clearance. The question was whether she would use it. She wasn't about to tell Clark just what she could do these days. He might ask it of her and... And this was a bit much. She could get in some serious trouble. But if he asked it...
She hoped he wouldn't. Somewhere in there, she hoped he cared enough not to, to say the risk was too high. But he seemed so single-mindedly focused these days on Lana. A fact that was only reaffirmed when she met him at Isis and he said he, rather than dealing with that man whose name she dared not speak, had been staring at Lana all night.
"The only thing important right now is Lana," he said emphatically.
"Right." Chloe didn't want to denigrate her. It was the surest way to alienate Clark, as she'd learned all these years. "But if Lex knows that you're the Traveler, game over. There's no saving Lana. There's no saving the day. Hello, apocalypse." She spoke his name just this once, in light of that.
"I don't care about Lex!"
Neither did she. At all. She wouldn't. Never again. She hastily switched the conversation back to Lana. "Clark, Lana's still alive. We're not giving up on her."
"Then why haven't we found Brainiac?"
She thought of the codes again, of how she did and didn't want to make use of them. But if she had to... "If you think that breaking national-security laws is my idea of a good time," she began.
"I'm sorry, Chloe," he said, cutting her off. "I know you care about Lana just as much as I do."
"We're just running out of ground to cover." She took a deep breath, knowing he was going to ask it of her and knowing she couldn't refuse him. Hell, she was about to damned well suggest it.
"Maybe we need to look to the sky. What about a satellite? Like, NASA caliber. Kara and Brainiac... when they left the Daily Planet, there might be a satellite that picked up their trail."
"It is possible that the velocity of their flight created some sort of ionic displacement in the outer atmosphere. But hacking into government satellites is light-years out of my league."
"You can do it," Clark said.
She knew she could. Oliver had made it nearly possible. But it was risky. But if he asked it... Fuck it all. He was asking it now. "Maybe it's time for me to step up to the majors," she said shakily, moving to the monitors, knowing she'd do it no matter what...
"Thanks, Chloe. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't our last hope."
She took another deep breath because, here it was. She'd do it as long as he did something beside hold Lana's hand. "Okay, while I'm trying to access outer space with an Intel processor, I think maybe you could contend with the cosmos using the old-fashioned ways. Dr. Swann intercepted all of Jor-El's transmissions from Krypton. Now, it's possible he sent something about Brainiac. I think it's time to sweep the dust off of Dr. Swann's journal."
For her part, she spent the next few hours trying just what she said she would. But she didn't have the speed or the clearance. She dialed Oliver. "I thought you said those codes could get me into any satellite I..."
"Hello to you, too, Sidekick."
"Sorry," she sighed. "Hi. I'm just frustrated and Clark's on my back and Lana's still..."
"I got it. I got it. Well, if you've got access to a satellite now, then..."
"What? No. I'm at Isis." She stared at the boxes around her. "With your entire arsenal, by the way. When you said you were sending me some spare..."
"Those are spares. And it's not just me you're helping out, here. Half of Victor's spare body parts are in there."
"Mildly creepy," she said, deciding she was going to leave all boxes packed.
"Relax, they're mostly metal. They just look like human flesh."
"Somehow not less creepy," she sighed. "Anyway, what's this about a satellite?"
"Well, you should have satellite access to get to the grids. I thought I told you that part."
"You must have left that out. Can't I just access the grids from here?"
"Not without a sentient codecracking machine. Sadly, Vic's off the grid. Stuck in Laos. Won't bore you with the details. Anyway, I might have a way to get you access," he drawled thoughtfully. "I'll get back to you."
"Does this mean I get another shipment of sharp knives and robotic parts?"
"It's like we share a brain," he said lightly.
"Ollie, I've got nowhere to put what I..."
"Oh, relax. I just need you to go undercover as a hooker in Thailand. No big..."
"Okay, for real now," she said, laughing.
"What? We've never seen you in fishnets. That alone would be worth..."
"Ollie..."
"Fine. I'll think of something, both for you and for me. Call you later."
She rolled her eyes as he hung up, but with a smile. Having been unemployed for weeks now, it was kind of nice to have something like coworkers and banter. Clark didn't exactly count. He was more like the boss and... they just didn't banter like they used to. Too bad he didn't compensate her because she suspected she should be getting both overtime and hazard pay.
She froze in the middle of tossing all her work thus far into her bag. Was she really going to do this for Clark? Was she really going to hack into a NASA caliber satellite when she wasn't even sure it would get her anywhere? Sadly, she would. She always would.
She turned as the door opened on Jimmy.
"Hey. Lunch. Right," she said. She was supposed to get to those damned texts. "Uh... Today is so not my day for remembering to eat." Or my month, really.
"It's no biggie," he said, looking at her kind of strangely. "You probably just didn't get the reminder text... uh... that I sent." he gestured to her phone and she grabbed it up
"Uh, my... my phone's been on silent," she lied. Of course she'd heard his texts. She just didn't have time for them. She'd figured she'd get to them when she could. But she hadn't and now she felt... Damn it! She really was busy. "Look, Jimmy, I'm sorry I've been so blindsided by this career shift and unpacking my entire life." That was only what he could know and, to be honest, that was enough.
Jimmy laughed. "Well, that would explain all the late nights." He sounded sort of relieved. "Why didn't you say something? I'm a pro when it comes to..."
"No, no!" She stopped him as he moved to a box. One that may or may not contain robotic arms that looked like the real thing. "Sorry. Uh... uh... just moving into Lana's office is kind of a private thing," she said, hoping that worked.
"Yeah. I'm starting to sense that."
How the hell was she going to have a relationship with him? Fact is, her entire life was sort of a private thing. She didn't have time or the inclination to share it with anyone. But maybe she could live with that. Just make time to... rekindle the fire as Jimmy put it. If she just had time to have sex with him, maybe he wouldn't be so prying now. But, damn it, she didn't have time for even that. As far as things to make time for, sex was always pretty low on her list of...
But you made time for Lex, didn't you? Keeping secrets wasn't an issue with him. It just... was.
But that was different. She didn't love Lex. She'd just... wanted him. She wondered if things with Jimmy would be better if she wanted him just a little more. She stared at his sad, sort of earnest face. Maybe making time and rekindling the fire would be easier if she could just make the idea of sex with him was more...
Her cellphone shrilled in her hand and pulled her away from all the thoughts she didn't have time for. It was Clark. She knew because she gave him the most annoying ring possible, sure to pull her out of a sleep coma. "Oh, sorry, I got to take this."
I found something, she read.
"I heard that text loud and clear," Jimmy was saying, sounding a little flippant. "My ears are practically ringing over here."
"It's my building manager," she lied, trying to draw attention away from her now obvious earlier lie. She supposed she'd have to get better at lying if she really wanted to be with him. The idea made her a little queasy. "He wants to talk to me about...the rent. Right now, actually," she said, forcing a laugh.
"And this can't wait till after lunch?"
Chloe pushed him out ahead of her. "No, I'm sorry, Jimmy. I got to run. Okay?"
But it wasn't okay.
He moved down the hall quickly ahead of her, not saying another word.
She supposed she didn't blame him. That was twice in one day that she hadn't made time for him. After weeks in which she hadn't made time for him. This wasn't working. This really wasn't working. It wasn't just the time, it was the need to constantly lie and her... She didn't want to call it lack of interest. But what else could it be?
That jeering inner voice was right. Cut to a month ago and she'd nearly turned every late shift, midnight jog, and fake vacation into a rendezvous with Lex. No matter what else was going down, there she was. Now she had a guy who actually cared about her, might even love her and she just didn't have a second. And he was trying so damned hard...
And she wasn't. She could pretend she was just swamped, that she didn't have the time. But, really, there were bigger things than Jimmy Olsen. There always were and there probably always would be. Maybe she shouldn't have started this up again.
************************
Sometimes, these last days, he'd wished he hadn't done it. It was a rare, fleeting feeling. It never came when he drank, which is why he was finding himself drunk more often than not. But sober and in the clear light of day, it was a feeling that threatened to stay. Especially now...
He stared at his passport case, at the engraved words inside.
Travel far, Son -- Dad
He'd given it to him his first holiday back from Excelsior when he was twelve. He'd managed to take the train or be driven every other time, but that year, the year after Julian died, his father had sent nothing but a plane ticket and an insistence he use it. It was his first long flight and he'd gripped his armrests until he was white-knuckled. But he survived.
"And I knew you would," his father had said rather smugly as he led a pale, shaken Lex through the airport. "You're a Luthor. Luthors know no fear." He'd given him the case in the limo as they traveled to their empty house. "You've broken through. Now you can go anywhere, Lex," he'd whispered, as if this was a great gift.
At the time, he'd thought it more of a cruel lesson, especially when his father left him rambling alone in the empty house for most of that holiday. But his father's death seemed to... tint things rosier. He was lying to himself when he said Lionel wasn't worth mourning. There were parts of him, moments of him, that made him want to scream into the sky for punishment. As cruel and neglectful as Lionel had been, there were moments like these, moments that were the making of him. Lex had been all over the world since that day, that flight, traveling by plane, helicopter, and ship without even a moment of white-knuckled fear, just because his father gave him that push...
And you pushed back, in the end. Pushed him right out the...
He snapped the case closed and pushed the guilt away. He didn't have time for it. Maybe, in the end, it took all that cruelty and all those greater moments, the good and the terrible, combined to lead him here. He wouldn't be brave enough to seek the truth if his father hadn't shaped him into the man he was. And he wouldn't have the tools to unlock it if his father's cruelty hadn't, in the end, goaded him to take his life. He knew one act would bring peace and, the other, punishment. He'd see where things fell, in the end. For now, he had to keep going.
"Sir..."
He snapped his suitcase shut as well as Regan creeped in. "Take my suitcase to the limo. I'll be down shortly."
"Sir," he said hesitantly, "I'm afraid there's been a problem with your travel plans."
"If it's weather, we'll power through it," he said with all confidence. He couldn't have gotten this far to be stopped now. There was something... destined at work here. "Zeus' right hand couldn't muster a storm that would keep me from Zurich." He moved past Regan.
"It's not the gods I'm worried about, sir. It's the government."
Lex turned. "What are you talking about?"
"All the F.A.A. will tell me is that you've been red-flagged. I ran it up to the highest level."
"Then aim higher," Lex bit out.
***********************
"I wish you'd let me take you to the hospital," Jimmy was saying as he followed her into The Talon's apartment.
"I'm fine, really," Chloe snapped, dropping the ice pack into the sink and jabbing a thumb into her temple. She'd said so many variations of those words for years and to so many people. They'd have to end up true just one time. Of course, after a night filled with torture and more hits to the face than she'd ever taken, this was probably not that time. She kind of wished Oliver hadn't been able to get her those tickets to that charity event. Sure, they'd got her into the City Satellite Center, but they also got her beaten up by a rogue Special Agent with at least three rings on. She could still feel one of them imprinted on her cheek.
"Chloe, you almost died," Jimmy was pointing out... again. Silly boy. Didn't he know she nearly died on a weekly basis? Of course, he didn't, so he went on. "Look, I think I deserve an explanation -- preferably the truth this time."
Chloe turned to him. "The truth? Why don't you just look at your files, or should I say my files?" She moved past him. "You stole from me, Jimmy." And it was all wrong. Jimmy wasn't supposed to be tied up in all this. It was wrong. He was supposed to be her normal, healthy relationship.
"Yeah, after being coerced by the feds. I mean, did you really think that I was a government agent?"
No. She hadn't known what he was or why he was doing it. Just that it was all wrong. But for him to think... "Did you really think I was a terrorist spy?" She took off her earrings and dropped them on the dresser.
"She didn't give me any choice. Besides, what was I supposed to think? You were sitting on enough classified information to start a nuclear war."
Chloe whirled on him. "Jimmy... Yeah, that was my plan -- nuke the whole thing and just start over again," she said flippantly. "Are you kidding me? Why didn't you just come to me like a normal boyfriend?" That was what he was supposed to be. Why else would she have started this at all? If he couldn't give her normal...
"Cause a normal boyfriend doesn't get lied to every five minutes by the girl that he thinks that he's in love with," he said earnestly. That was the problem with Jimmy. He was always earnest and honest and too damned sweet to stay mad at. He really was, despite all this craziness, just a normal boyfriend. And he loved her. So why couldn't she love him?
Chloe took a breath and tried to give him the next best thing. The truth -- or as much of it as she could. "All right, fine, I lied. Is that what you want to hear, Jimmy? I'm sorry."
"Is this the point where the sad song comes on and we break up all over again?" he asked softly. "Because I'm not gonna make it that easy this time."
She sighed and looked away, kind of wishing he would. "You know what? The feds are gonna find us any moment," she said, moving to perch on the bed, "and then I'll just spend the rest of my life making license plates. So... you may as well just fire away." She tried to make very clear mental notes on what he could and couldn't know, even after tonight, even if she was about to be behind Federal bars. "Ask me whatever you want." Of course, Clark's secret was still off-limits. Actually, so was everything connected to it, like Lana or Kara or why she was doing any of the things she ended up doing today. So, really, whatever he asked was still...
She started, but was rather relieved, when he kissed her instead. She steadied herself on his arms and kissed back. It was better than answering questions that, despite what they'd been through tonight, she still couldn't.
He broke away and she stared at him, rather afraid he'd take her up on her earlier offer. The questions... "You want that more than you want Clark?" he asked.
She stared at him, sort of relieved that was the question, but... Clark? Why bring him up now? How could Jimmy think he was at all connected to this? Had she let something slip or... Of course. Clark had always been a sore spot with Jimmy. She should really clear that up once and for... But how could she? She'd be lying if she said wanting Clark was completely behind her. It only took a look from him, as today proved, and she was off, risking life and freedom to protect him. These last weeks, she'd found herself wrapped up in Clark's world to the exclusion of anything else and, if she was told she'd be beaten bloody, she'd make no other choice, so... No. She couldn't answer. It was still too complicated.
So she smiled to ease his mind, kissed him, hoping that would be enough, both for him and for her. He could love her. He said as much. It was what she needed. She could love him back. She just had to try harder. Lie better. Kiss him harder.
He pulled away with an "Oh."
Dear God, he'd noticed she hadn't answered. He was going to ask again, make her really answer. And what could she say?
"By the way..." He was smiling. That had to be a good sign. "There's no one coming after us. I'm taking care of that."
Chloe smiled back. Maybe this was over. Maybe she could have normal. "How?"
Jimmy grinned. "You have your secrets, and I have mine. Deal?"
As long as I keep mine. But it seemed he'd let her. So she kissed him again, let him lay her down. She couldn't let him in, but she could give him this, at least. Hadn't he earned it? He'd saved her life tonight. So what if he wasn't Clark? So what if his kisses were sloppy and overly enthusiastic? Maybe he could learn. She could teach him that move, the one where he nibbled on her bottom lip so softly until she couldn't help but grab him to her, gripping his bald...
She froze, realized she wasn't thinking of Clark. Her kisses with Clark had been too limited, too quickly over for this kind of attention to detail. She'd been trying so hard not to think of him, but thoughts of sex... any sex, even what would most likely be hurried, lackluster sex... seemed to call Lex to her. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut.
Jimmy seemed to take it as some kind of green light and he clumsily slipped his hand under her dress.
She almost wanted to stop him, tell him how to do it right. He shouldn't just bunch it up and grip her ass. He should slide it gently under, so she hardly knew it was there until he zeroed in on her clit, teased it through her panties until she was...
No. She wouldn't coach Jimmy to be like him. That would be wrong, This was right. This was fumbling caresses and sweaty grips that were sweet, if a little clumsy and... and she'd learn to like it. She'd learn to want him. She'd learn to love him. He deserved it. He deserved...
A shrill, trilling noise broke over them and Jimmy pulled away, digging in his pocket and pulling out his cell. "Sorry. I'll turn it off. Stupid..."
"No," she cut in. "It's fine," she added, forcing a sad smile. "I can wait a minute." She was glad of it. She'd need a minute. She just had to gird her loins, as it were. She had to remember he was sweet and nice and mostly honest and good for her and then she could...
"You might have to wait a few hours," Jimmy said, his face falling as he stared at his phone.
***************
Lex snapped his phone shut and stared up at the window from his limo, knowing he really should be halfway to Zurich by now, also knowing he couldn't be. Not yet.
He knew what happened to her tonight. He knew he even had a small part in it in that he didn't attempt to stop it. When he'd contacted Agent Webber, he knew who she was after. He also knew just what kind of hellbeast she could be in interrogation. He'd had Gina procure both photos and video of her tactics when he first got wind of her surveillance in The Daily Planet. He'd only had it in case she went after him for... any number of things, really. But she wasn't after him. She was after Sullivan. So he'd let it go on. He'd figured it probably served her right.
He'd only used the info when Webber had become useful to him. So he threatened her with it, got her to lift the flight restriction some asshole in Quebec had put on him. But somehow, he wished he could have... No. He knew he should have used the same to make her back off Sullivan.
He'd like to think his assertion that Chloe Sullivan was no enemy insurgent might have helped soften her up to Chloe, but he doubted it. He'd seen her beaten, bloody face more closely as she and that manchild moved into the Talon. That same manchild had been to see him earlier tonight.
"I mean, I know Chloe's not a terrorist, but she's getting mixed up in some... stuff. I mean, big stuff," he'd babbled, taking a sip of Lex's proffered scotch and making a toddlerish face of disgust. "I think it's, like, way more than she can handle."
He was tempted to say he knew better than this... boy what Chloe could handle. "Go on," he said instead.
"So there's this lady... This special agent lady and... I mean, I know she's got the wrong idea. Chloe would never hurt anyone. I just know it."
"So do I," Lex said softly, watching Jimmy swallow, sort of missing the way Chloe took a drink. She might think it was disgusting, but she'd never let on. She had her pride. She also had her scruples. I couldn't hurt anyone if I tried, she'd said once. He believed it.
"I'm trying to work with this agent. See if I can get Chloe to stop before..."
"That won't work."
"Well, it might, but in case it doesn't..."
"It won't," he said under his breath. Because you're an idiot. And because, if I can't make Chloe Sullivan back away from associations and loyalties that are dangerous to her, then how the hell could you?
"...just need to try this first," Jimmy was going on, all hard-jawed and determined.
Lex knew he was destined to fail. "I can make a call." Same way he'd got the info on Webber. Same way he'd got her to see him. Same way his newest facility at Black Creek was being built just under the government's radar. "I can end this now."
"No offense, but just... Just let me try to get to her first."
You're a fool, he thought, but didn't say. "You know best," he lied instead. The truth was, having Olsen under his thumb might be useful. He was no Sullivan. But he was as close as someone could get, considering they were... dating. Even thinking the word made him grimace. He pulled out his cell instead, dialed. "Just text me here if you need my help."
Jimmy jumped slightly at the buzzing noise, then pulled out his phone. "You have my cell phone number?" he said, staring at Lex.
"I have your everything, Olsen."
But it was Olsen who had everything now. The girl, her trust, and a hero's rescue. She was even wearing a damned low-cut dress. He'd had Regan latch on to the Ace of Clubs' footage and send it streaming to him as soon as he knew where it was all going down. He hadn't seen everything. But he'd seen them enter, seen them dancing so nauseatingly close, and he saw her leave and he saw her come back bloody, leaning on Olsen. And, moments ago from this car, he'd seen their shadows moving in front of the window, moving from the living room, moving to what he knew, from experience, was her bed.
And that? Olsen couldn't have.
He texted him to meet him at The Planet. He wouldn't be there. But Regan would. Or he would now. He smiled as he saw Jimmy leave, then dialed. "Regan, scrap the Ace of Clubs. We're done there I need you to meet Jimmy Olsen at The Planet."
"Well... alright, Sir. What am I meeting him for?"
"To keep him busy," he said lightly. "Give him assignments out of town, late nights, whatever it takes until I get back. And remind him he owes me as often as possible." He hung up, knowing Regan wouldn't fail him. He was an asshole, but he was an efficient one.
Still... he stared at the still-lit window and his good mood evaporated as he thought of her up there, alone and beaten. And for what?
He opened his door and moved to the driver's side window, tapped on it. "I need an hour."
"But your flight, Sir..."
"It's my jet. I'd like to think it can wait. This can't."
Or maybe it could... or should. He just didn't want it to.
He slammed his door and moved toward the Talon.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
CHAPTER THIRTY
There. Nearly done with Sleeper. I survived. There are a few ahead of this in rotation, but I'm going to try to power through a lot of it and come back soon.
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