Restless Nights (Chapter Eighteen)

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And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”

Chapter Eighteen

Chloe threw open the door to Bart alone. She suspected Dinah was somewhere behind. 

“Little early, don’t you think?” she said on a yawn.

“None of those lame asses would get up and we saw you moving and we figured…”

“We?” Dinah grunted, kicking open the stairwell door with her arms full. “I was the one who said it and I’m still the one doing all the work with all the bags!”

“Fine,” Bart sighed, rushing back to her and taking the bags. He sped past Chloe as Dinah shook herself. 

“My present’s kind of something you need before the festivities.” Dinah moved to Chloe, pulling a sprig of mistletoe from her pocket and holding it over Chloe’s head. “Merry Christmas,” she said, pecking Chloe’s cheek.

“Merry Christmas,” Chloe said on a laugh, pecking her right back.

“Hey! Don’t you ladies have all the fun without me ,” Bart said, dropping the bags near the tree and moving quickly to Dinah and Chloe, staring closely between them. “Feel free to keep kissing each other.”

“Perv,” Dinah groaned, flicking his forehead as she moved in.

Bart was staring at the mistletoe. “Hey, can I hold onto that for you today?”

“No.” Dinah bent to the bags, digging through them.

“I swear, I will only use its power for good – and hilarity.”

“Will you just toast these?” She tossed him a bag, then smiled at Chloe. “I made him go on a bagel run.”

“I’ve made that my present to you, Babydoll, and it was not an easy feat today,” Bart called out, already in the little kitchen. “No one’s open in this state. I had to go to New York.”

“Like that’s so hard for you.” Dinah grinned and pulled out a box, holding it out to Chloe. “Okay. I know Christmas is supposed to be about giving people what they want and not what you want to give them, but I had to. It’s going to look so cute and you wouldn’t let me get it before and…”

“Oh, God. The sailor dress,” Chloe said dully. 

“With the little red tie,” Dinah added rapturously. 

“It’s infantile.”

“No! It’s sweetly nautical. Please, please, please wear it today. I promise I won’t bug you about anything else. I won’t say a word about you and Clark or…”

“Ooh! What about her and Clark?” Bart wanted to know, speeding out of the kitchen and to the couch and resting his head on his hand, as if waiting.

“They want to sex each other up, but refuse to do anything about it.”

“Dinah!” Chloe gasped.

“Well, everyone knows! Besides, you’re not wearing it yet!”

************

Chloe had to admit, the dress looked slightly better now that she was able to fill it out, so to speak. When Dinah first made her try it on, she felt like an orphan Shirley Temple in an ill-fitting uniform. But she did wish Dinah hadn’t also insisted on curling her hair and adding a red bow. It only added to the Temple-esque vibe.

But everyone else seemed to think it was just too cute. 

“You look just precious,” Martha sighed on seeing her. 

“Doesn’t she just?” Dinah agreed, fluffing her hair as Chloe tried to wave her away.

Oliver just chuckled when he came in after Martha.

“Don’t,” Chloe warned him. 

“Don’t what?” He grinned as he moved to her. “So is the good ship lollipop docking today or…”

“Yes. Hilarious. It was a present, okay?” Also blackmail.

He laughed again. “Well, it does look just precious.”

“I can go home, you know,” she groaned. 

“Oh, come on.” Oliver squeezed her arm. “So you get picked on a little. That’s how you know you’re one of us.” 

She nodded to the kitchen. “Does that make Bart the most decorated member of the team?”

“I’m serious. I don’t know if it’s the holidays that make me say all this dreck, but I want you to know we’re here for you,” he glanced down at her stomach, “whatever happens.”

She blinked at him. “Whatever happens?”

He glanced around before leaning down to her. “This isn’t the time to talk about it. I mean, I can’t say for sure if there’s anything to talk about, not with Emil out of town again. But we have some ideas.”

She found her hand cradling her stomach. “What ideas?”

He shook his head. “It’s Christmas. Forget I said anything. Just… I’ve got a good feeling.” He leaned over and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “And everything’s going to be fine,” he said before moving away. “Please tell me there’s a turkey,” he said loudly. “I heard Bart talking about ham and…”

“You just had turkey a month ago,” Dinah groaned.

“So? Christmas means more turkey.”

“Relax. Bart’s doing a small turkey as well as…”

Chloe turned away from them, from the tree, from the dinner talk. She wasn’t sure she shared Oliver’s good feeling. She also didn’t know if she wanted to hear about these ideas. Sometimes, everything about this pregnancy felt so normal that she forgot there was anything else to it. She preferred to live in those moments, when the big worry was that she kept waking up at odd hours and fighting to get back to sleep… which she rarely could.

God, she was tired. She thought of that couch in her old room, now Bart’s game room… or everyone’s, but it was usually Bart in there. She wondered if anyone would mind if she just went upstairs till dinner was…

“Clark!” It was Martha’s voice. Chloe turned to watch her rush to her son as he dropped his bags to catch her. “I knew you’d be late. I bet you were wrapping presents at the very last second.”

“I actually still have to,” he grumbled as he hugged her back, then on her laugh, “Well, I couldn’t find the tape. All the stuff in the house keeps hiding without you there to keep it in line.”

Martha ruffled his hair. “You’re hopeless. I’ll see if Victor has any…”

“Don’t worry. They’ll look better without me wrapping them.” Clark glanced at Chloe. Then stifled a laugh.

“Shut up,” she hissed, moving to him and leaning in. “Listen, I put this on for Dinah. And, if you knew why, you’d stop with the chuckles. I am saving the both of us from a full day of humiliation in front of your mother.” She nodded to Dinah. “She knows too damned much.”

Clark glanced at Dinah. “You mean from what you told her? I mean, you should stop telling Dinah things if…”

“I barely told her anything! And there isn’t anything to tell!”

“I’m not saying there is, but I did hear you say some stuff,” he finished rather awkwardly.

“Well, that was just… You know, I was mostly joking.”

“Oh, yeah?” He stiffened. “Hilarious. I mean, especially the part about how I turned you on every…”

“Your mother is right there,” Chloe hissed.

“I know that,” he grumbled lowly. “I’m just saying…”

“I thought we agreed not to talk about it.”

“No, we didn’t. We just haven’t talked about it. Like at all,” he said, sort of pouted, really. “Because you keep avoiding it.”

“I’m avoiding it?” she whispered, annoyed. “You’re the one who keeps acting like I’ve got cooties or…”

“Me? I’m just following your lead. You barely even look at me and I didn’t even do anything except hear you talking about me,” he finished on a harsh whisper before moving away. “I’m just saying.”

He didn’t say anything else, but he did keep looking at her and it was unnerving. It seemed like all afternoon, every time she turned around, there were Clark’s eyes. She kept herself well away from him, especially when Bart started with a little game he called “MISTLETOE ATTACK.”

He’d just speed up and yell it, holding it over whatever two people happened to be sitting next to each other and declare they had to kiss. She suspected Dinah’s fingerprints were all over it. Just because Dinah said she’d say nothing today didn’t mean she wasn’t going to mess around with the status quo.

Of course, Chloe did find it hilarious when it was Oliver and John, who both looked so pained as they reluctantly kissed each other’s cheeks. But she found it horribly intriguing when it came to Victor and Sarah, who hemmed and hawed for a full minute before Bart gave up and moved on.

He hadn’t caught her and Clark, though.Chloe made sure of it, always putting people and space between them, even to the point of offering to do dishes.

That was where Clark found her, reaching over her shoulder and turning the hot knob all the way up before pulling her away. “I keep telling you, it’s quicker my way.”

She just stood there, frozen, feeling him against her back as the giant sink steamed up. “You know, I did offer to do the dishes.”

“I just thought I’d save you the trouble,” he said softly, lips very close to her ear. “Chloe, why are we doing this?”

She sagged against him just a little. “Well, there are lots of dishes and…”

“We’re not kids anymore. We’re not teenagers who can’t figure out what we’re feeling. I think we know.”

“Clark, we don’t know. At least I don’t.” She moved away from him. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m a mess of hormones and my decisions aren’t…”

“Yes. Pregnancy brain. You keep talking about it like it’s some form of possession.”

She whirled on him. “Well, maybe it is!”

His eyes bored into hers. “So that’s the only thing turning you on with me ‘every damned second’? Outside of that, I’m barely on your radar?”

She held his stare. “Don’t get cute. You know what you do to the average woman.”

He shook his head. ”You’re not the average woman.”

“Case in point. I’m not in the average situation and I can’t just jump into the pool like…”

“How would we be jumping into anything? We’ve been checking the damned temperature for years and always backing away and… Chloe, why can’t we jump in?” He moved to her and she backed away. He put his hands up. “I’m not trying to pressure you into anything.”

“Then stop… looking at me and… and doing things for me and being so… so… Just stop!”

“I’m not doing what I do because I want to sleep with you,” he hissed. “Jesus, Chloe! I’d do anything for you no matter what!” 

She tore her eyes away from his. “I know. I’m sorry. I mean, I know almost all of what you do is without any reward at all. You’re just that kind of…”

“No,” he cut in. “Maybe I should be clearer – I want to sleep with you. I think you need to know that.”

She met his eyes again, hers widening. “You want to sleep with me?”

“Little more than that,” he said with a pained smile. “Even with that stupid dress on you. Just wanted to put that out there.”

She blinked at him. “You… can’t just say…”

“I’m being honest.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s the holidays, but I’m tired of dancing around this like kids. We’re adults. And you should know that you and naked versions of you are pretty much the only things I think about lately. Even if you think you’re a whale and even if it’s the worst possible time and even…”

“Just stop,” she broke in, shutting off the hot water as it was coating them in tendrils of steam by now and just confusing the feel of the room in general. “This isn’t something you need to take care of for me or save me from,” she said firmly.

“What?”

“You keep doing this. You keep trying to give me just… whatever I need and this is taking it to ridiculous...”

“Presents!”

They both turned to the door, where Bart was fairly bouncing.

“It’s present time, present time, present time!” Bart said before rushing back out, leaving the door swinging.

Clark shook his head several times. “Leave the dishes. I’ll get them later.” He sighed and moved to the door to stop it. “Something tells me it’s present time.”

****************************

It was time. Way past it, really.

Tess looked at the boxes piled in the entryway and wished she’d left long before this. Lex had offered her walking papers and a healthy severance a half-year ago and she wished she’d taken it. 

It didn’t help. In the much more sober nights since she confronted Lex, she’d realized that knowing who she was, genetically at least, changed nothing. She had family, she supposed, but it was Lex. And, though she supposed a lot of his gestures to her could be mistaken for affection, the way he had to control everything, up to and including what she was allowed to know, left her feeling cold and alone, more so than usual.

Maybe Lucas would be the better bet. Maybe her mother… whoever she might be. Lex said Lucas lived an ordinary life, as if that was something to sneer at. Maybe it was the holidays, but she craved that right now. A simple, ordinary dinner shared with people who genuinely cared for you. Maybe Lex would see that as a weakness, but right now it was something she wished she’d had just once in her life.

Holidays at the Mercer house had always been contentious. It started with the one where she found out she wasn’t a Mercer at the tender age of ten and was never allowed to forget it since. Her “father” made sure of that. She supposed her “mother” had wanted her – or any child as some desperate attempt to have some idyllic family, as if Tess was supposed to be the bandaid and fix the fact that she married a violent drunk. It didn’t work, obviously.

Jake Mercer kept drinking. Mary Ellen Mercer, after an “accidental” fall down the stairs ended up escaping into oxycontin, also known as hillbilly heroin. As for Tess, she just escaped as quickly as she could. Her teachers had called her a genius for getting a full ride into Harvard by fifteen. They just didn’t know her unique motivation. 

Then again, maybe she was being too hard on herself. Lex kept saying he saw potential in her. Clark said there was hope for her. She didn't want to think of either of them at the moment. She wanted to think about that ordinary life. The one she’d been fantasizing about before Lex came out of the shadows. That cabin in the mountains, high and cool and dry and isolated and disgustingly modern with giant picture windows both east and west, catching both sunrise and sunset every day.

She moved through the hall, still hating the stained glass windows, even the ones that faced full west let in barely a sliver of the setting sun. What had Lionel been thinking, carting a monstrosity like this across an ocean? There’d been some business about The Traveler in his diary, but did he need to bring it here? Surely, a few vacations in Scotland would have sufficed.

Of course, she couldn’t ask him about any of that. He was gone. And her brother, half-brother at least, was the one who made it happen. As much as she shied away from letting Lex tell her about it that one night, she knew he'd done it. She even knew he wanted to talk about it, confess as it were, unburden himself to her. But she didn't want to think about it then.

She didn't want to think about it now, damn it! She sat on the stairs, staring at the boxes and wishing this were any day but Christmas so she could hire a team and get them stored. Then she could find that cabin, that normal life, maybe find Lucas and her mother while she was at it. 

Maybe she could leave the stuff. It was mostly clothes and knick knacks, all bought with Luthor money. Then again, she was owed this and more. The severance deal would still stand. If Lucas was allowed to use Luthorcorp resources to promote clubs in Los Angeles, which he had as she’d looked into it, then she could get a measly severance deal after all she’d been forced to deal with.

She’d turned off her cell and hadn’t taken Lex’s calls on the land-line this week. Maybe she should, just to make sure she could still get out of this mess. She’d only taken calls from The Planet this week. That was the one part of this mess she’d miss. As much as she hadn’t thought of herself as a media mogul, it was the one thing she’d found satisfaction in. 

It didn’t matter. Having a simple life could be just as satisfying. If Lex wouldn’t give her what she was owed, then it would just be something to work towards. Hadn’t she worked her way out of a swamp house? There wasn’t so far to go now. She leaned against the stairs and closed her eyes, trying to see that cabin again – if it could be called that. It was getting bigger and bigger in her mind, filled with books, all fiction, and maybe even dvds. She never did get to watch much TV, news aside, in all her life. Would she be a comedy girl or more into political drama? She’d certainly had her fill of science fiction for a good long time. Maybe reality TV. She kept hearing about the Kardashians and had never bothered to look up who they were and why anyone cared what they did. Maybe now…

Her eyes fell open sharply at a shuffling noise. The way things echoed in this cavernous house, it could be anywhere. But it seemed close. She stood and moved carefully toward it. No staff for Christmas. And her gun was in the study. Unfortunately, the study seemed to be where it was coming from. She moved down the hall and was just closing her hand around the neck of a heavy looking statue on a hall table when the study door flew open.

And it was Lex. “Good. You’re still here.”

She didn’t loosen her grip on that statue.

“I didn’t want you traveling for this,” he went on. “The visual component wouldn’t have the same effect on mobile devices. Come on.” He moved back into the study.

“Visual component?” She dragged the heavy statue with her into the study. “How did you even get in? The guards…”

“Underground tunnels. Did you even glance at a blueprint in all this time?” He moved to a stand and pulled down a white screen, securing it to the base. “I used to think that was how Clark got in before… Well, before I knew differently."

She stared at the screen, the projector on her desk, a laptop he was plugging into it. “What is all this?”

“What I texted you. What I promised.” 

She could only stare at him blankly. 

He sighed and leaned on the desk. “I know you’re not taking my calls, but did you even read my texts?”

“No.” She lifted her chin. “I’m done with all...”

“I told you. If you could just give me time to get back, then I could give you…” He shrugged. “I’d call it a Christmas present, but it’s more than that. It’s something you deserve: the truth, Tess.”

She let the statue slip from her hands, drop to the carpet with a thud so heavy she knew it would leave a dent in the wood floor. She didn’t care about that. And she didn’t care about this. “I know all I need to. I know you manipulated me this entire time. I want that severance package and I want to leave.”

“Just hear me out first,” he cut in quickly – and rather desperately, she thought.

“No.”

“Tess, if you want to leave after ten minutes, I will give you two million cash and freedom from Luthorcorp and all companies associated with…”

“No! You think whatever you have to say will keep me from leaving. I want the severance and I want to go,” she repeated.

“Interesting. You won’t even hear me out?” He smiled. “Maybe you know that, whatever I’m about to tell you, you won’t want to go. And you won’t. I can tell you all…”

“I’m willing to leave with nothing, Lex,” she broke in. “So maybe I should just do that.” She spun on her heel and moved down the hall. 

“Damn it, Tess! You wanted to know why I think Oliver Queen has some sway over the two of them? I can tell you that! You want to know where I go? I can tell you that, too! I’ll tell you everything if you just… just don’t leave,” he finished, softer at the end. But his voice still echoed down the hall and reached her.

And she stopped. She didn’t mean to. But something in that voice needed her. She could feel alone all she wanted, but she could fix that if she wanted. She could let someone in. She even had, at various times. Lex… Well, she wasn’t sure if he could. Maybe she really was all he had. Or maybe she was using that as some excuse to know everything. He’d said everything.

She turned, focused on the one part of the mystery that concerned her on a personal level – at least in the past and, at board meetings, in the present. “What about Oliver Queen?”

Lex let out a long breath. “This is the part where the visual aids might help,” he said before moving back into the study.

She followed. She hated that she did, after last time. She stayed and was mired in even more non-answers than before. Yet she told herself that she would leave easily this time if this turned out to be more of the same. “I’ll give you ten minutes,” she said, hovering in the doorway.

“That’s all I need.” He gestured to the desk as he fooled with the projector.

She moved behind the desk and sat, folded her hands in front of her, trying to appear bored and barely tolerating this even as everything inside her was screaming for answers. She nearly jumped when he started speaking.

“Oliver Queen,” he said as a picture jumped to the screen. Oliver in a rumpled suit and a loosened tie with a rather ridiculous look on his face that Tess couldn’t help but think Lex had picked just because he hated the man. Lex pushed a button on a tiny remote. “Green Arrow.”

Another picture. This one of the vigilante that sometimes showed up in Metropolis, less often than The Blur. He usually seemed to make Star City his home. She shook her head, trying to figure out if Lex was insane. “You seem to be implying Oliver Queen is The Green Arrow.”

“I’m doing more than implying it.”

“Just because of the Star City connection? When would he even have time to…”

“You’re always complaining, Tess, about being forced to do business with his lazy ass, with him showing up late or not at all.”

“Because he’s a barely functional alcoholic. Not because…”

“Let’s not waste time arguing. I’ve run facial recognition software on the lower half and it’s a match.” Lex clicked and another picture slapped itself onto the screen, green dots and lines all over it. “Same jaw, same stupid chin dimple, same body type…”

She could see it, but accepting it was a whole other matter. “Are you sure you aren’t reaching because you hated…”

“Believe me, I’d rather he was a corporate failure and a drunk. All this noble rescuer shit really conflicts with the bully I knew. I still don’t think he’s changed. He killed me, you know.”

Tess shook her head, still trying to wrap it around this. “But you’re not de…”

“No thanks to him. Believe me. Anyway, he likes to pal around with The Blur, who we know as…”

“Clark Kent,” she breathed as his slide came up. “So Chloe knows about the both of them. Is that how they’re all so connected?”

“There’s more than Chloe wrapped up in all this. But Chloe is definitely a key player.” Her slide came up. “They call her Watchtower. She used to run missions for them, help them pinpoint crime and stop it, hacking into police radios, even satellites sometimes, always dipping into things beyond her reach. But Chloe… she’s out of the hero game right now, from what my sources say. She has bigger things to deal with.”

Tess stared at him, annoyed that the slides had stopped. “Like what, Lex? Is it just this pregnancy? Or is it whatever you’re planning to do about it?”

He shook his head. “That info’s not for quitters, Tess. You want more? You stay.”

She folded her hands carefully in front of her again. “And what if you tell me everything and I still want to leave?”

He rubbed his temples. “I’m sorry. I’ve been traveling a lot. I’m just not saying things right. I meant that you will stay once you know everything. I know you will.”

“You’re so sure?”

“You’re a Luthor.” He gave her a small smile. “You like to know.”

“I didn’t grow up a Luthor.”

“Doesn’t mean you don’t have the key qualities.” He glanced at her almost warmly before striding away to the window. “Tess, if it had been up to me, you would have had what you deserved from the start. I can’t say my childhood was a beautiful, untroubled time, but I know what yours was and you didn’t deserve it. You shouldn’t have had to work your way out of that stinking swamp. But look what you did with yourself.” He turned back to her. “You know, if you’d been kept where you belonged, you might have been the favorite… that is, if you just had the good sense to be born male. Lionel wasn’t known for placing his faith in women. Luckily for you, I’m a bit more equal opportunity in that…”

“Lucky for me,” she cut in harshly. “Do you really believe that? This year, I’ve been banged up more than I ever was growing up. And I might have been perfectly happy working for some other company. Hell, I might have been on my way to Nobel prize and…”

“And powerless. You’d never have autonomy. You’d have always been at the mercy of whatever company…”

“How was I not at your mercy? You’d been controlling me from the shadows even before you stepped out of them. The implants? The mysterious notes telling me I wasn’t ready and now, even now…”

“This wasn’t all about some lack of faith in you. You, I believe in,” he ground out. “You weren’t ready and you weren’t in the right position. You are the public face of Luthorcorp. This is about plausible deniability. This is about protecting you. This about letting you keep this position. And I’m risking a damned lot telling you this now.”

“About Clark? I knew that. As for Oliver, I could have eventually…”

“That’s nothing. There are bigger things happening than a bunch of kids playing hero,” he said angrily. “And if I tell you, I run the risk that you can’t believably deny any knowledge should this come to light.”

Her eyes widened. “Then why would you tell me?”

He stared at her for a long time. “I don’t want you to leave,” he said softly. “We’re all we have left.”

She stared from him to the door, but landed on him and stayed. She sat back, sighing. “Finish your damned slides.”

******************

She slid through stones, almost skidding right into the train tracks, she stilled and clutched him to her, so tiny and frail. He couldn’t take much more of this. She had to get somewhere soon, somewhere away from…

“Chloe!”

She gasped and took off running again. He was too quick for her to run from. Didn’t he say he’d find her anywhere? She believed it. She could never outrun him, but maybe if she stayed quiet…

There was a tiny wail from the bundle in her arms and she pulled him to her.

“Shhh, shhh, please!”

“Chloe!”

She stilled and moved behind an abandoned car, crouching and hoping he wouldn’t look through.

But Clark was in front of her already. “You can’t run from me,” he said lowly, advancing on her.

She stood, her voice shaky and pleading. “I have to.”

“You don’t want to.” He gripped her arm.

She gripped him right back hard. “Let me go!”

“You let me go! Chloe… Chloe…”

“Chloe!”

She sat up, looking wildly around the room before landing back on him and the hand still clutching his arm.

“I think you were having a nightmare.”

She snatched her hand away from him. “It’s fine. At least it’s a familiar one,” she said, trying to get her breathing under control as she glanced around. She remembered now. She went for a little nap before dessert. “What time is it?”

“Past eight.”

She groaned and sat up fully, rubbing at her eyes. “I told Bart to wake me before pie.”

“He tried. You refused. But we did save you pie.” Clark shrugged and stood, holding out a hand. 

She took it and stood, wobbling a little on her feet.

“You okay?”

“I’m fi…”

“Never mind.” Her world tilted a bit as he picked her up.

“You have to stop doing this,” she grumbled, but rested her head on his shoulder, all the same. All the fear in that dream seemed turned on its ear the minute he touched her in the real world. He was so warm and solid and always there. Why would anyone run away from him?

“I bagged your leftovers and your presents,” he said, moving with her down the hall.

“Thanks for the coat,” she sighed.

“I figured it was time you had something with room to grow,” he said on a chuckle as the elevator opened.

“It kind of sucks, though,” she said on a yawn. “It’s really pretty and I won’t even be able to use it in a few months.” Almost everyone had given her something maternity related. Even Victor had made her an app to track vitamin intake. Martha had given her a pair of red pumps, but also a gift card for Babies R Us. Dinah had given her a baby sailor suit. With all the nautically themed gifts, she half wondered what would have happened if Dinah had met AC before Oliver. 

“Well, maybe you’ll have a hard time losing the baby weight so you can still wear it,” Clark said when they hit the first floor.

“Put me down this second,” she growled as the doors opened again.

“No,” he said on a laugh. “You wore heels again. I’m not sure if you can handle it. I’ll probably have to rub your feet before patrol.”

“You’re going on patrol? On Christmas? And no one said you had to rub my feet,” she finished, annoyed.

“Yes. We think we should. People get crazy around the holidays. We’re trying Bat out on Watchtower duties so Vic can get out there for a change. And I wouldn’t mind rubbing your feet,” he added softly. “Anyway, quiet. You’ll spook them.”

“Spook who?”

“Shhh!” He nodded to a darkened corner as they moved down the main hallway. She could barely make it out, but it looked like Victor and Sarah. And it sounded like kissing.

She let out a breath of laughter as Clark stepped to the door. “Hold on to me,” he whispered.

She did, keeping a grip around his neck as he opened it. When they stepped into the cold, she nudged at him. “Okay, let me down now.”

“I don’t know if…”

“Oh, put me down, you big goof,” she said on a shiver.

He didn’t. He moved in a rush of speed to her building, then put her down in the lobby, shrugging. “It’s cold out. For you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Do have my keys?”

“I grabbed them.” He handed them to her. “I figured I could get the rest of your things after I took care of you.”

She glanced at him as she moved to her elevator. “Took care of me?”

“Just whatever you need. That’s what I do, according to you.” There was an edge of petulance in his voice and she wasn’t in the mood for it.

“The only thing I need right now,” she said, stabbing the three when it opened, “is to know how that happened.” She nodded vaguely in the direction of Headquarters. 

He chuckled and got in. “Victor and Sarah?”

“Yes, Victor and Sarah. I’ve been watching this dance for months! I can’t believe I slept through the big kiss.”

Clark chuckled. “I don’t think any of us saw it. He was just walking her out, last I knew. I guess sometimes it just happens. Doesn’t even take years.”

She stiffened slightly as they passed the second floor. “Is that a crack at me? Because, once upon a time, you were the one…”

“It’s a crack at you now. You seem to think me wanting to sleep with you is some kind of rescue operation, when we know…”

“I’m home now,” she announced loudly as the doors opened, “safe and sound.” She strolled out. “You can go on patrol now.”

He stared at her, then sped away, the stairwell door slamming open in his wake.

She tried to be relieved. In fact, she was. Or maybe not.

He appeared in front of her again before she had time to decide for sure. “Good. You’re back. Like I was saying earlier tonight, or wasn’t saying… When I said what I said, I was saying…”

“I think you’ve said enough,” he said, pulling her keys from her hands and opening her door. “I think we both have.”

“Just listen,” she moved into the darkened apartment. “See, this is my problem and not yours. It’s a hormonal condition and it will go away if we wait it out and…”

“Chloe, this is you and me. This is not a condition.” He moved to her. “This has been coming for years.”

Her back met her couch. “This is hormonal. Maybe I’m giving off pheromones or something?” she tried, almost desperately, sidestepping the couch and backing to kitchen.

“Sure. Maybe that’s it.” He grinned, moving ever closer.

“Stop smiling like that.” She must have missed the doorway as she felt a wall at her back. “What’s gotten into you?”

He smiled. “Mistletoe attack,” he whispered. “You know the rules.”

She glanced above her head, found that damned sprig hanging from his fingers. “Well, that’s not f…”

He suddenly bent to her upturned head and caught her lips firmly, but lightly enough that she knew she could move away at any time and he’d stop.

But, damn it, she didn’t want him to. She threw her arms over his shoulders, wrapped her hand around his neck, and opened her lips under his.

He pressed her to the wall, then, that sprig dropping to her head and sliding to the floor as his hands ran up her sides, moving between her back and the wall and… just all over as his tongue touched hers and they both groaned aloud.

One of his hands moved to the front, sliding up her waist and very nearly reaching her breast when he pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. “This doesn’t mean… I’m not trying to pressure you into anyth…”

“Damn it, Clark!” Chloe gripped his hand and pulled it her breast. 

He stared down, squeezing just a little, letting out a long breath. “I’m just saying… No pressure.”

“Uh-huh,” she gasped as his thumb grazed her nipple, sending tiny shocks right through her even through her clothes. “Got it.” She gripped his neck and pulled him down to meet her lips again before walking them both toward the bedroom…

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Have to update my Chlollie fic now, but I'll be back as quick as I can!