Rewrite

Chapter 5- Rewrite of a scene from “Resurrection”: Lex has located Dr. Teng and tried to get her to work for him but Lionel’s claws in her are deep. Chloe has continued to dig into the Adam situation.

Lex listened quietly to the voice on the other end of the phone. The ineptitude of people always amazed him, though after his repeated exposure to it he didn’t know why it still did. Ah well, no rest for the competent. With a small click of the door, Chloe Sullivan entered the room. Her blond hair framed her face and she was wearing a white tank top and a jean jacket. She looked good in white. She met his eyes and then dropped them to the floor, her gait faltering. Lex frowned. It bothered him that Chloe seemed so hesitant around him. He growled his frustration into the phone.

“Well, I'd think your embassy would keep tabs on North Koreans who have recently been deported.” He hung up the phone with an irritated click. He swiveled his chair to face Chloe. “Seems like Dr. Teng has vanished without a trace.”

“Yeah, well, it turns out that's not the only thing out of the ordinary of our friendly molecular biologist.” Chloe’s mouth quirked into a little smile and she lifted her eyebrows at him. Lex forced his eyes to remain off her pouty mouth.

“What have you got?” It came out sounding brusque though he didn’t mean it that way. Chloe’s smirk faded and she folded her arms over her chest.

“Well, it turns out it wasn't scientific research or academic prestige that got her into this country twelve years ago. It was wedding bells. She married a rent-a-cop from LuthorCorp.” Chloe walked closer to him and sat in a tangle of limbs in the chair in front of his desk.

“So my father arranged a green card marriage.” Lex said, nodding mainly to himself. His father had a knack for getting pretty much anything he wanted. He stood up from his chair and walked to the bar. He needed a drink. Pity Chloe was so young or he would offer her one too. Pity Chloe was young for all sorts of reasons.

“That’s what it looks like to me. I tracked down the groom so I could ask him what he knew.”

“What'd the lucky guy have to say?” He tried to imagine being married to Dr. Teng. Hell, he tried to imagine being married to anybody.

“Not much. It was more where he said it. Can you guess?” Chloe paused for a moment with lifted eyebrows and Lex just maintained eye contact. She shrugged and continued, “He plays watch dog for the old Metron Pharmaceuticals building.”

“That's been shut down for seven years,” Lex frowned. What the hell is my father up to?

“Funny thing though, while he was in the process of telling me to get lost, I swear I saw what I think was a delivery truck pulling around back. That doesn’t sound closed to me.” Chloe shifted again and Lex felt his eyes drop to the round curve of her chest.

“My father's been strangely stubborn about liquidating that property. Every market indicator says to sell, but he insists the neighborhood's about to be revitalized.” He tried to force his eyes to look casually look anywhere but at her while ignoring the flare of interest in his belly.

“The only thing being revitalized in that neighborhood is the graffiti. Now, I think I can make some headway if you'll just come along with me.” She started to stand.

“Chloe, I think I should take it from here.” He knew she would hate this but he couldn’t let her get involved. She had apparently caught his father’s attention and that was dangerous. She’d made him laugh. Laugh. He suppressed a shudder.

“Lex, I'm perfectly capable...” Chloe frowned as she spoke, sitting back down in the chair with an irritated thump.

“This has nothing to do with your capability. I'm worried about your safety. When my father's involved with covert research, people tend to get hurt.”

Chloe’s lip thinned and she looked him in the eye. Lex tried not to flinch.

“This is exactly what you said you wouldn’t do. Don’t cut me out.”

“I’m not.” Lex took a swallow of his drink and kept his back to her. How could he explain this to her?

“Bullshit. I found out all of this... and you’re just...” Chloe stood and stamped her foot in frustration.

Lex set his drink down and resisted the urge to rub his face. He turned around and took a breath. She was frowning, bottom lip stuck out, clearly ready to do battle. He walked towards her and a nervous look stole over her face before she got control. Lex felt a pang of disappointment that he still made her nervous. Then he inwardly frowned. He should make her nervous. He was a Luthor.

She stood her ground, a rebellious expression stealing back over her face. It was Lex’s favorite. One that distracted him and he ended up standing too close to her. He ignored the heat of her body inches from his. He ignored her upturned mouth. He paid no attention whatsoever to her scent. Yes, he totally ignored everything.

“I have many secrets. Even if we did this together, I would still have secrets. My motivations for doing this are… actually... altruistic.” He twisted his lips. “You have caught my father’s attention and that is very dangerous.”

Her pupils widened and she slowly licked her bottom lip. He felt desire jerk through him and he couldn’t help but lick his lips. Somehow, his hand had slid into her hair, pulled her close. So close he could feel her breath on his lips. Silent tension shivered between them and Chloe was blushing, panting even... oh god. I’ll bet she’s noisy when she comes… he could almost feel his hands on her ass, her mouth against his….taking her on his desk, his cock pressed inside.

He was losing control. Lex shut his face down and stepped back.

“I’ll tell you what I can.” He turned his back on her again.

“Ok.” She stammered and fled the room.

Lex gripped his drink so firmly his knuckles went white. She’s nothing compared to the women you’ve been with. You’ve had sex in so many places you can’t even remember them all. Get a grip.