What You Don't Know...

I know that it’s been forever and a day since I updated this. I’d like to thank everyone who has reviewed this story, and if anyone is still interested in it, here’s the next part.


Chapter Twenty Six


The last time Lex had rushed into a medical facility looking for Chloe Sullivan it was because she had been useful. But now, as he frantically threw open doors and shoved past strangers and staff alike, it was because she was everything.

The doors opened on a large and open area dominated by a busy nurses’ station. Located at the center of the ward, it was bordered on three sides by small rooms with front facing glass walls. Brightly patterned curtains protected the privacy of some patients while others, clearly in less stable condition, were exposed to the watchful eyes of the medical staff.

A cursory glance told him that none of the visible rooms housed Chloe and Lex didn’t know whether to be grateful that she wasn’t among the most grievously ill or enraged that she wasn’t being extended every care and precaution available.

The space remaining was taken up with offices and a small cluster of chairs that comprised the waiting room.

As he made his way to the small group of white garbed professionals gathered by the expansive, semi-circular desk, consulting with each other as they examined various charts, his eye was briefly caught by the sight of Clark rising from his place in the waiting area followed, surprisingly, by his father. And for once, neither man held any importance to him and he spared them no more notice as he confronted the first doctor he reached.

“Chloe Sullivan.”

It wasn’t a question but a demand for answers. As the man darted a nervous glance towards the waiting room and back to him, Lex realized that he recognized both him and his father and knew that the fear often associated with the Luthor name could most likely be used to expedite his inquiries.

“I’m sorry Mr. Luthor, but-”

“I don’t need your apologies, Doctor,” Lex glanced at the name tag, “Dowman. What I need is for you to direct me to Chloe Sullivan or, barring that, inform me of the current state of her health.”

Dr. Dowman took a deep breath, preparing to give the younger man the same speech he’d given his father earlier concerning patient confidentiality. He had a feeling that the Luthor before him was going to take the refusal much worse than the elder had. Which honestly surprised him given what he had heard about both father and son over the years.

Lex could see that the man was going to be difficult and he simply didn’t have the time for the subtle threats and sinister persuasions that he generally wielded like weapons with those who stood in his way. He knew that the doctor was only doing his job, but Lex’s fear and desperation were beating at him, pushing out all reason. All he knew was that Chloe was injured, possibly severely, and this man was keeping him from her.

“I think that you’re failing to understand, Doctor,” the volume of Lex’s voice was uncharacteristically rose as his mounting fear took hold. “I’m not asking. I’m-”

The threats that were sure to have been on their way were cut off as a nurse joined them.

“Excuse me,” she began, less timid than the doctor either from lack of knowledge of whom she was dealing with or from having dealt with much worse over the course of her career, “but Miss Sullivan has requested to see the loud, obnoxious man yelling at her perfectly nice physician.”

She hadn’t used air quotes but it was perfectly obvious which words came directly from Chloe and Lex felt almost dizzy with relief. If she was well enough to mock him then things couldn’t be as bad as his tormented mind had imagined.

“Where?”

He was curt with the woman who brought him what he thought just might have been the greatest news he had ever received, but couldn’t bring himself to care about anything other than getting to Chloe. Despite his tone, the nurse must have approved of something about him because she gave him a warm smile before turning.

“This way.”

As he watched them walk away, the doctor was extremely relieved that Chloe Sullivan was going to make a full recovery. All three men there for her gave off frightening and, in the case of the younger two, insanely protective vibes and it boggled his mind how a woman with so many would be protectors could possibly get injured in such a manner.

As Lex approached the door to Chloe’s room, he was once again appalled to see the curtain pulled shut, and even more so that she was located in the farthest corner as opposed to those in the direct line of site from the main view of the nurse’s station.

He silently cursed both the hospital for their irresponsibility and his father for failing to make use of the power and influence he’d sacrificed everything for, including his family. But all irritation melted away as he pushed the garish curtain aside and finally saw Chloe’s sweet face. Her expression was a mixture of amusement and concern and it comforted him as he quickly covered the distance separating them.

Chloe was tired from the drugs she’d been given and the dull, throbbing ache she could feel even through the haze, but seeing the anxiety that lined Lex’s face she smiled reassuringly and cut right to the words that she knew he needed to hear.

“I’m okay, Lex.”

She watched as a small shudder passed through him and he blew out the breath that she wasn’t sure he even realized he had been holding. His hand reached out to brush across her forehead, trailing down her cheek and lingering slightly above the bruise she could feel there. As she watched, the relief that had played across his face was chased away by the beginnings of a simmering rage and for a moment she regretted calling him in. She knew Dr. Dowman hadn’t told him anything and she was reluctant to be the one to reveal the specifics of her injury.

“I’m okay.”

The concern in his eyes hardened into something dark and dangerous.

“Which is, of course, why I’m standing in your hospital room.”

“Yeah,” she said hesitantly, “about that. Funny thing–”

An almost guttural sound of choking rage halted Chloe’s ill chosen words.

“Okay; maybe not so funny,” she conceded.

Holding himself so rigidly she thought he might break from it, Chloe knew that there’d be no real communication unless he relaxed enough to at least listen to her. Moving to make room for him to sit with her, she gasped sharply and the small shift pulled at her stitches.

Immediately Lex was leaning over her, trying to discern what had happened before grabbing the call button and pushing it repeatedly until a nurse appeared in the doorway.

“You needed something, Miss Sullivan,” the nurse inquired; pointedly ignoring the device clutched firmly in her visitor’s hand.

“No,” Chloe smiled, although it was more of a grimace. “I moved a little and jarred my shoulder. I’m sorry for the panic.”

She shot a sharp look at Lex to let him know that she wasn’t happy, but it softened at the worry that seemed carved into his face. Looking over at the woman in the doorway she assured, “I’m fine.”

Turning back to Lex she smiled, said in a softer tone, “I’m fine.”

“Well, why don’t I just take a quick look,” the nurse said, moving to Chloe’s side. “If you’ll just step outside for a moment, sir.”

Chloe could practically hear the harsh refusal forming on Lex’s lip and hastened to cut it off.

“It’s alright. He can stay.”

Of course, as soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted them as she realized that they meant giving Lex a bird’s eye view of her wound.

Lex, too, understood the opportunity he was being afforded and leaned in for a better look as the layers of gauze were peeled back.

“Fuck!”

For all of her earlier aplomb the nurse started as the violence laced epithet broke the silence.

Lex recognized the wound at once. How could he not? He’d certainly seen enough of them in his time. She’d been shot.

The realization screamed through his mind, drowning out all else. His Chloe had been shot!

He saw her glance dart towards him. She was worried about his reaction and it was the first thing that had brought him any satisfaction the entire day.

She should be worried.

Once again she’d eluded her security detail and, from what he’d learned subsequently, went gallivanting off with Clark where she’d clearly been reckless enough to get herself shot.

He was livid.

He was angry with Chloe for whatever insanely foolhardy act put her in the path of a bullet.

He was furious at Clark for failing to protect her.

And, needless to say, the person who had done this would bear the worst of his wrath which, if he was extremely lucky, would mean a quick and relatively painless end to his life.

Lex’s thoughts of bloody vengeance were interrupted by the soothing voice of the nurse who was efficiently replacing Chloe’s bandages.

“Everything looks good and it’s almost time for your pain medication. Let me go get your pills and I’ll be right back.”

The silence left in the room upon her exit was nearly painful, and Chloe knew that Lex was holding onto both his patience and his temper by a thread. A very fine and fraying thread.

The nurse bustled back in, ignoring the tension that was common when loved ones were injured, and handed Chloe a small paper cup containing two pills. Filling a glass with water from a nearby pitcher, she watched as her patient dutifully swallowed her medicine before leaving.

Watching the other woman retreat with a resigned sigh, Chloe turned back to Lex only to find that he’d pulled the room’s lone chair up to the bed. Apparently the interrogation was about to begin.


Chapter Twenty Seven


Lex almost felt guilty seeing the exhaustion on Chloe’s face.

Almost.

Because, although he hated to push her, she’d be sleeping soon enough and her safety was too important to be put off. And he couldn’t ensure her safety unless he knew what had happened. Now. Before she had the time to fabricate a string of half truths designed to placate him and protect Clark.

“What happened?”

The brief slide of Chloe’s gaze to the side said more than he knew that anything she uttered would.

“Clark.”

He knew, had known since he’d first found out that she’d been hurt.

Lex wasn’t foolish enough to believe that Chloe couldn’t find trouble on her own. As an investigative reporter, it was her job to court danger to a certain degree. But when she was with Clark, the danger was different. All things odd seemed to begin and end with him and so, unlike the more pedestrian hazards of her chosen profession, the outcomes could never be even remotely predicted.

And clearly, given the number of times that Chloe had been hurt, Clark couldn’t protect her from the consequences of their little adventures. The fact that she was alive didn’t mean that she was safe, and all it would take was one misstep on the boy’s part and Chloe would pay the ultimate price.

It was simply one more reason to add to the growing list of why Clark should be exiled from her life.

But seeing stubbornness battle weariness in her eyes, Lex resigned himself to getting the information he needed from a different source.

“So, there’s no chance that I’m going to get the entire story here, is there,” he asked with a surprising lack of bitterness.

Chloe was loyal to a fault. And not in the common, complimentary use of the phrase. Lex was actually beginning to see it as a flaw in her character as it brought her consistently closer to death.

However, it was a beautiful, selfless, perfect flaw and he loved that aspect of her character nearly beyond reason as he knew that it was part of what would bring her back to him. Because, even though it was gained through his subterfuge, Chloe’s love for him was genuine and he knew that it wouldn’t let her give up on him forever.

“Lex,” her voice was both wary and regretful, but he cut her off before she could begin.

“It’s okay, Chloe.”

The fatigue was briefly swept off her face by incredulity and, for the first time since he’d entered the room, he felt a small smile tug at his lips.

“Well,” he qualified. “It’s not okay. But I meant what I said when I told you that I wouldn’t push you about Clark.”

But at her relieved look he warned, “Which doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to discuss your safety, at length, once you’re released.”

Chloe smiled at Lex as brightly as a shoulder wound and a recent dosing of morphine would allow. She knew what it had cost him to not press for answers; to not grasp for absolute control in a situation that had clearly left him feeling vulnerable.

After the meeting at LuthorCorp two weeks prior, Chloe had been surprised at how true Lex had kept to his word. He didn’t send her gifts, tamper with her job, or attempt to contact her in any way. She had asked for time and, even though she knew that it was against his very nature, he was respecting her needs.

In fact, he’d complied with everything except calling off the security detail. And with her deepening belief that Lex did honestly have feelings for her, came the understanding that he actually was trying to keep her safe. For a man who’d lost everyone he’d ever loved, his refusal to compromise on the issue neither shocked nor, surprisingly, angered her to any great degree.

Besides, his men weren’t impossible to shake. Although getting shot after doing so was probably the least effective way to convince Lex that they were unnecessary.

The fact was that the situation had been intolerable when she’d believed that she was being spied on for Clark’s secret. But, although she still wouldn’t let the situation continue indefinitely, it did make it somewhat more bearable knowing that it was inspired buy love as opposed to some misguided need for vengeance.

And it was no longer possible for Chloe to deny Lex’s love for her. It was written on his face; shown in every move, each gesture. As accomplished an actor as Lex had proven himself to be at the beginning of his charade, the truth was that he’d only gotten away with what he had because she couldn’t remember him. But now, with full knowledge of who he was, knowledge denied to almost everyone he’d encountered in his life, she knew that the wildness in his eyes when he’d entered was genuine, that he couldn’t have faked the slight tremble of fear in his hands as he reached for hers.

It gave Chloe something she hadn’t had in what felt like forever – hope.

She’d done a lot of thinking since their last confrontation. What Lex had done to her seemed unforgivable. But there was a time when she’d thought that she, too, was beyond forgiveness. And yet Clark had moved past her mistakes; her dad had remained steadfast despite the terrible upheaval she’d caused in their lives. And though it was true that she couldn’t have possibly known the severity of the secret that Lionel was searching for or predicted the chain of events to follow – a naiveté Lex could not claim – the fact remained that she’d made disastrous choices that, because of their love for her, the people closest to her chose to forgive. They looked beyond the circumstances to who she was deep inside, and who she’d grow to be with their faith and love in her life.

The one thing that Chloe had never questioned since she regained her memories was her love for Lex. And now, she no longer doubted his love for her. It didn’t make what he did better or hurt less, and yet it made all the difference in the world, because it made him worth the effort of forgiveness.

Of course, she wasn’t stupid enough to reveal her decision at that particular moment. Strict ground rules would need to be set. Very strict. They’d need to take they time to become friends first before they could become something more. Lex was a master of negotiations, and if she didn’t meet him at her very best, he’d run roughshod right over her good sense and they’d end up married for real within a week.

“Lex, we really need to have a talk. But–”

“Not right now,” he finished for her.

There was no rebuke in his words. Lex could clearly see how exhausted she was; how her eyelids were slowly starting to droop and her words were slightly slurred as the medication took effect.

True, he wanted answers – needed them. But for the first time, Chloe was giving him hope that she might finally be willing to listen to him, to let him in, and he wouldn’t chance her changing her mind for the world.

“It’s alright. You get some rest and we’ll talk later,” he assured her.

As he saw her nod, tiredly, Lex gently clasped her hand, watching over her as she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Clark was nearly shaking with the force of his rage as he observed the private conversation taking place, without remorse.

Watching as Lex questioned Chloe made him furious. But seeing him touch her – as if he had the right – enflamed him beyond what his rational mind was screaming was a safe level.

As a dangerous heat began building in his eyes, he was abruptly pulled back from the edge by a hand on his arm.

His head snapped to the side to see Lionel there, his concern clear.

When Lionel had first arrived, Clark, in his anger, had lashed out at the only target available to him. He’d thrown the accusation at the man of his terrible history as a father; blaming him for the villain his son had become and, slowly, the entire story of what Lex had done spilled out.

“He’s in there pretending that he cares. Touching her as if what he didn’t wasn’t unforgivable.” Anguish twisted his features as he ground out, “He’s still trying to use her. Even while she’s hurt, in pain. God, why can’t he just leave her alone?”

“Clark,” Lionel began, regret lining his words. “My son is not a good man.”

A harsh accusation formed on Clark’s lips, but the older man cut him off.

“I know the fault for that lies with me. I was never the father he needed.” He shook his head wearily. “I was so consumed with an unquenchable thirst for power that I twisted my own child into a monster to suit my selfish ends.”

He watched as Lionel sighed and sat heavily in one of the waiting room chairs.

“I want to believe that, one day, Lex will have the epiphany that I have; will want to change, to atone for the evil he has wrought. But that time, sadly, has not yet arrived.”

Lionel looked up, met his eyes, and Clark was startled by both the pain and the conviction he could read.

“He’ll never stop. He’ll do whatever he has to, no matter how reprehensible, to get what he wants, and he won’t care what happens to Chloe in the process. And the worst part,” he paused a moment as sadness crossed his face. “The worst part is that, given enough time, he’ll convince her of his sincerity.”

Wearily, Clark sank into the chair across from his. He wasn’t being told anything that he hadn’t concluded himself, but it still filled his heart with fear having it confirmed.

“You, better than anyone, understand the boundless capacity of Miss Sullivan’s heart. And that, coupled with years of unintentional rejection, will ultimately be her downfall.”

Clark cringed at the pointed comment. While he knew that there was no blame to be had in his feelings for Lana, however illusory they’d turned out to be, he’d had to, over the course of the past few weeks, face the fact that he had used Chloe’s feelings for him to keep her close, despite his pursuing the other girl. True, it hadn’t been done consciously, but that didn’t excuse him and it certainly didn’t negate the effect that it had had on Chloe.

“I don’t know what to do,” he confessed. He was honestly at his wits end about how to help Chloe. And, for once, he was glad for Lionel Luthor’s presence.

He and Chloe had been trying to track down some trouble of the Kryptonian influenced variety. They had arranged to meet Lionel later that afternoon to see if he could help them find some information. Since he was already aware of Clark’s powers it seemed silly to stand on pride and not at least ask for assistance when people’s lives were at stake.

But Chloe had been shot before they’d ever made it to the meeting, and when Lionel had called to find out what was keeping them, Clark’s abject terror as he waited for news from the doctor, poured out and the older man had been there within minutes.

At first Clark had felt uncomfortable having him close in such circumstances, but Lionel’s unwavering belief in Chloe’s strength was, surprisingly, comforting.

“Clark, we both know that you’ll never be able to convince Miss Sullivan to give up on someone who professes a desire to change; to be better. If, after all the wrongs that I’ve committed against her, she’s still even remotely willing to entertain the possibility that I might change, then how much easier would it be for her to believe Lex, for whom she obviously has feelings?

“No,” he stressed. “The only way to deal with this is to make a stand with Lex.”

Lionel leaned forward, his voice lowering as he outlined his plan.

“My son has always had an obsessive side,” he noted. “You know, better than anyone, how truly delightful and refreshing Miss Sullivan can be. It’s no stretch at all to believe that, in addition to using her to get to you, he may have developed an unhealthy fascination with her. But no matter what his feelings for her or her for him, you have held her heart since the day you met.

“Lex has a history of rejection that far exceeds that of Miss Sullivan. He was already mortified by losing young Miss Lang to you. He won’t risk that kind of emotional pain and humiliation again.”

He glanced towards Chloe’s room and then back to Clark.

“If Lex sincerely believes that he’s lost her, especially to you, then he’ll close off that part of himself and stop this dangerous pursuit; stop damaging that lovely young woman. And while I loathe seeing my son hurt, yet again, I can’t, in all good conscience, allow him to ruin her life.”

There was a finality in Lionel’s eyes, and it chilled Clark to see it, even though he knew that, at least in this fight, the man was on his side.

“But whatever you chose to do, Clark, you must act. Because, without doubt, Lex will.”

Chapter Twenty Nine


After half an hour by Chloe’s bedside, taking her in, watching her breathe, reassuring himself that she was truly alive and well, Lex quietly rose, brushing a tender kiss across her forehead, before heading out to get some answers.

Purposeful strides carrying him towards the waiting area, he was unsurprised when he was met halfway.

“What the hell were you doing, dragging Chloe along on one of your mysterious and all too dangerous crusades?” Lex raged. “You may seem indestructible, but she isn’t! You have to know she’ll get hurt. She always gets hurt with you.”

Clark’s bark of laughter was a bitter sound.

“That’s rich coming from the man who practically broke her.”

Lex was too angry, still to full of his earlier terror to allow the accuracy of Clark’s accusations to deter him from the confrontation that had been far too long in coming.

“Living as my wife never hurt Chloe,” Lex shot back. “She was happy and well. It was learning that it wasn’t true that has broken her. And, quite frankly, that situation can definitely be rectified.”

Lex relished the anger that was flowing off of his former friend in palpable waves. He pushed on, years of frustration and betrayal coloring his words.

“Can you even begin to see beyond your belief that you and your issues are at the center of the universe and acknowledge how much better off Chloe was with me?”

He didn’t give Clark time to answer; didn’t care about his irrelevant denials.

“Did you know that she has headaches?” Lex could see from the startled look on his face that he hadn’t known. It didn’t surprise him that Chloe had kept the information a secret to avoid worrying her friend. “She apparently suffers from chronic migraines so intense that she needs prescription medication to deal with them.”

He paused for a moment, savoring Clark’s kneejerk guilt, before delivering the coup de grace.

“She never had one when she was with me.”

Clark paled at the thought of Chloe suffering and hiding it from him. She would only have done that if she thought that he would blame himself. And if she thought that, then there was every chance that it did have to do with him; with the chaos and stress he brought to her life.

“And of course, there were the nightmares,” Lex said, striking while the iron was hot. “What, exactly, did you do to her that summer that you ran away that would make her wake up screaming?”

Lex knew that his words were hitting their mark. The most dependable thing about Clark was his savior complex. While it meant that he’d help anyone in need, it also meant that he took everyone’s pain and suffering as a personal failure.

“Face it, Clark; Chloe was safer with me, she was healthier with me and, not having to play back up girl in your fucked up love life, she was definitely happier with me.”

Clark felt the weight of Lex’s words bearing down on him, threatening to crush him. But, recalling Lionel’s words, remembering that it was Chloe’s happiness that was at stake, he pulled himself together and did the only thing that he could – he took action.

“Whatever you had, and whatever you think you know about Chloe doesn’t matter, Lex.” He paused for a moment, but one look at the determination on Lex’s face sparked his own.

“She wanted to be the one to tell you; to break it to you gently,” Clark told him, having heard Chloe tell Lex that they needed to talk. “But she’s been through enough and clearly you aren’t grasping the reality of the situation.”

He took a deep breath and did the wrong thing for what he was sure were the right reasons.

“Chloe’s agreed to marry me.”

“You’re lying!” Lex accused, pain and disbelief warring within him. “Chloe loves me.”

An agony to deep to be anything other than true filled Clark’s eyes as he answered, “Yes, she does.”

“But,” he continued before Lex could celebrate the victory of that admission, “we both know that Chloe can’t turn her feelings on and off. Not for you…and not for me.

“Whatever I may have done to hurt her and,” he quietly conceded, “that’s far more than I’d like to admit, I’ve never set out to do so intentionally. Never purposefully used her so cruelly.”

He could see the pain on Lex’s face, but Clark wouldn’t, couldn’t back down.

“Chloe’s loved me for years. And I may be the slowest person on the Earth, but I finally see how much I love her, too. I can’t lose her, and so I asked her to be my wife and she’s agreed.”

Lex was shaking his head before Clark had even finished.

“No. Even if she did still love you, she wouldn’t rush into marriage like that.”

Despite keeping his secret for years, Clark knew that he wasn’t an accomplished liar. It was why everyone always ended up suspecting that something was going on, even if they lacked the specifics. But this was about protecting Chloe. About preventing Lex from using her vast capacity to love against her again. And so he forced himself to look straight into Lex’s eyes, his gaze steady and his voice strong.

“We aren’t rushing into anything. Chloe wants at least another year of college under her belt. But she knows you; knows how,” he paused as if searching for the right word, “persistent you can be.

“Chloe’s been led on before,” he admitted, shamefaced. “It makes me heartsick to be the one who taught her how painful that is. But the fact is that she knows how it hurts, and she doesn’t want that for you – to hope where there is none. And so she’s made a commitment to me, knowing that you’d understand how seriously she takes a promise like this.”

Lex had always been unreadable. It had made it difficult to be his friend and terrifying to be his enemy. And so the pain that Clark could see lurking in Lex’s stormy gaze threw him; told him how he, in his broken and twisted way, actually loved Chloe.”

“She’s not going to go back to you, Lex.” Clark said with what small amount of sympathy he could muster for the other man. “The way that you hurt her was too deep, too purposeful for her to ever feel safe with you again.

“Chloe she needs a place to feel safe. I can give her that. And if you love her, really love her, then you’ll let her go.”

Lex almost stumbled back in the face of Clark’s conviction. Everything around him began to splinter and he knew that he had to get away from there. He couldn’t be that vulnerable in front of Clark; in front of his father. Especially not in front of his father.

So, filled with pain and fury and utter hatred, Lex threw Clark a killing look, turned, and left.

Watching as the elevator doors closed, taking Lex to places unknown, Clark made his way into Chloe’s room. Sitting down in the chair next to the bed, he took her hand in his and looked at her lovely face.

He was certain that she’d be angry with him for the things that he’d said to Lex; the lies that he’d told. But he knew that the time had finally come to share his feelings and he prayed that would make some sort of difference to her.

He understood that both he and Lex were betting everything on Chloe’s ability to love, to forgive. But he was hoping, with all of his heart, that their years of friendship and genuine caring would help Chloe see past the mistakes that he had made.

A soft sigh brought him out of his thoughts and he saw a slight smile play on Chloe’s lips. And as he sat there, watching over her, Clark couldn’t help but wonder if her dreamy expression was for him or his rival.

TBC