Chlex Ficlets: NS's Monthly Challenges: The Wedding and The Reckoning

[kitmerlot_1213]

All fics have to pertain to the given theme, be between 800 to 1000 words, and Chlex has to be at the center of the story.

Also, these ficlets were first posted at Naughty-Seduction the Chlex fan site.

Challenge #1 A Smallville Wedding

The June Wedding

Not many people believed Chloe when she told the story of how she and Lex Luthor first got together.

It was difficult for the average Metropolis citizen to get past the image of Lex as the cooly manipulative business tycoon, and see the kind and caring man underneath it all.

Chloe's dad Gabe Sullivan was one of the very few people who gave Lex the benefit of the doubt and once he saw how much his former boss loved his daughter, they had his wholehearted support.

At first, Clark thought that Lex’s interest in Chloe was simply to gain information on Superman and to hurt as many people as he could. But after observing the two of them, Clark could see the genuine emotion on Lex’s face whenever he smiled at the blonde, and he offered his congratulations.

Lois refused to believe that Lex was sincere in his love for Chloe. Lois truly believed that Lex had only started dating Chloe as a way to get back at her because her hardhitting articles were a thorn in Lex's side.

~~~

For most of Metropolis, The Daily Planet wasn't the newspaper it had once been and Lois in particular was routinely scooped by an on line blog called the The Metropolis Beat. A blogger named Anne Blythe broke newstories about unsavory Luthorcorp deals, corruption in the city council and fraud in the school board before the bigger news agencies had even brewed their first pot of coffee.

The Metropolis Beat was fast becoming the media outlet for anyone who wanted to be in the know in the city and Anne Blythe was it's heroince. Her articles were well written and filled with clear, concise and unbiased information.

It didn't take Lex long to figure out that Anne Blythe was actually Chloe Sullivan.

~~~

Chloe enjoyed her work as a publicist for Queen Industries, and her secret role as Watchtower for the Justice League, but it wasn't as personally satisfying to her as reporting had once been.

But her old newspaper contacts still kept in touch with her, and Chloe was not a person to let a lead go uninvestigated, and before she could even blink, she'd found herself writing again.

She couldn't see herself working for The Daily Planet again because she didn't approve of the tabloid style of journalism it had deteroriated to, so she'd turned her attention to on-line blogging.

Chloe had been surprised at how quickly her blog had taken off and how popular it become, and she couldn't hide her sense of pride when she'd overhear people randomly on the street talking about the stories she'd posted.

She smiled to herself when she'd met Lois and Clark for coffee and her cousin hadn't even greeted her before she'd started rantng about "this hack stealing her journalistic thunder," but Clark ended up surprising her.

He'd turned to look at his blonde friend and with a knowing smile told Lois that they should be grateful to this Ms. Blythe because at least the truth was getting out to the people.

The evening Chloe received a bouqet of tulips from Lex Luthor, but they had been addressed to Anne Blythe.

~~~

Lex couldn’t quite understand why he was letting Chloe know that he knew she was Anne Blythe. Maybe he just wanted to show the blonde reporter that he was capable of changing, and that making underhanded deals was not the only way he knew how to conduct business.

Not that she was giving him much of a chance to prove anything. She hadn’t given into his charm until the second week of his calling her everyday and asking her out, and even then, she only agreed to drink coffee with him.

But that had been the beginning.

~~~

That was two years ago, and while it hadn’t always been easy, or romantic or even sweet, Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor were getting married.

The beginning of their relationship had been rocky, full of arguments and misunderstandings that were not helped by her insecurities or his need to control things, and they both knew that their life together would be difficult at times, but they loved each other enough to try.

To Chloe’s disappointment, Lois had refused to attend the wedding, and in fact, she’d stopped speaking to Chloe when she learned that her cousin was dating the billionaire. Lex knew that Chloe was deeply hurt by this, and he hated that he was the cause for the cousins’ rift.

But Chloe was never one to be depressed for long. She choose the next best person as her maid of honor: Clark. He worried that despite Lex’s best intentions, he would hurt Chloe one day, and Clark vowed that he would always be there for her, no matter what.

Gabe and Martha Kent were the only two people who were genuinely happy and full of the joy for the blessed event. Both Chloe and Lex appreciated their enthusiasm in helping to plan the wedding.

~~~

The ceremony went off without a hitch, but there had been a brief moment of worry when the priest asked "if there was anyone who thought that this couple shouldn’t be joined in holy matrimony speak now or forever hold their peace."

All of the wedding guests held their breath, and both Chloe and Lex looked around the chapel, almost daring anyone to ruin the moment.

Thankfully no one did, and Chloe Anne Sullivan became Chloe Sullivan Luthor.

Her father, Mrs. Kent and even Clark got teary eyed, and Chloe had smiled fondly at all three of them.

Lex shook his head at their sentimentality, but then Chloe slipped her hand into his, and Lex knew that the best part of his life was just beginning.

Challenge#3 Kidnapped!


The Reckoning


The kidnapping of Lana Lang was timed to the last detail. Chloe and Lex didn't want to give her an opportunity to alert Superman or the police that she needed help.

In the end, the women Lex hired to do the job had to use a tranquilizer dart, and Lana's inert form was easily carried to the deserted warehouse in Metropolis' meatpacking district.

~~~

Lana Lang had hired a hitman to kill Grant Gabriel and make it look like a suicide, but Lois Lane was with Grant in his apartment when the killer broke in, so he was forced to improvise

She wanted revenge against Lionel Luthor for forcing her to marry Lex five years ago, and when she'd overheard Lionel and Lex speaking about Grant, she'd knew he’d be the perfect victim.

However, Lana hadn't counted on Lois' being in her editor's home, so she was unprepared for the media frenzy that descended on Metropolis when Grant's and Lois' bodies were discovered.

Lana had also not counted on Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor . They were not about to let the murders of their loved ones go unpunished, so they joined forces, and pulled their combined resources and within a day they had the name of the hitman. Two days after that they'd traced the money, trailing it from a Swiss bank account to Metropolis Federal Bank.

Lana was following the news, and she realized that she needed to get away. She turned to Clark for help, convincing him that she was so traumatized by Lois' death that she needed to leave the county. The only trouble was, she didn't have money for a plane ticket

Clark then very helpfully asked his billionaire friend Oliver Queen if he could use his private jet to fly Lana to Paris, and Oliver, despite his own devastation at Lois' death, agreed.

She had been packing when the police arrived with their search warrant and she had no choice but to let them in. She couldn't believe that her brilliant plan had been traced back to her.

Unfortunately, Lana was uncommonly lucky. Her legal aid attorney discovered that the search warrant to seize her computer had not been signed properly so all of the evidence found on the hard drive was thrown out.

Subsequently, the murder charges were dropped and Lana was released.

But Chloe and Lex were not about to let that stand, so they decided to enact a little street justice.

~~~

Lana finally woke up after being unconscious for 3 hours. She had a horrible headache and once she saw that she was chained to a chair, she was terribly afraid. Her fear mounted when Chloe and Lex walked into the room, identically expressionless.

Lana didn't wait for either of them to speak before she started begging for her life. "Please don't kill me"

She turned saddened doe eyes onto Lex, "I didn't know Grant was your brother, I swear it!"

When Lex proved to be immovable she turned to Chloe, crying, "I didn't know Lois was going to be there, Chloe. If I'd known, I'd have changed it to a different night."

Lana realized her mistake as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "I mean, I wouldn't have gone through with the contract. You have to believe me!"

At this point, Chloe started to smile at her former friend. "Why?"

Lana just stared confusedly the pair in front of her, unable to answer. Lex nodded to Chloe, "You heard Chloe. Why should we believe you?"

She started to shake her head, surprise written all over her face. "I don't know what you mean."

Chloe and Lex exchanged a quick look, rolling their eyes at Lana's stupidity. "Lana", Lex said patiently, "a person in your position should be working overtime to prove that they understand the error of their ways."

"You should be trying to convince us that you know what you did was wrong," Chloe piped in.

"After all," Lex added, "we are the only thing standing between you and certain death."

At their words, Lana started to cry in earnest. She turned imploring eyes to Chloe, "But I was only defending myself."

Lex turned furiously on his ex-wife, "Protect yourself from what? When was the last time the Luthors had anything to do with you?"

Lana dropped all pretenses of tears, and her face twisted up in anger. "Every Luthor deserves to pay for what happened to me. I lost the only man I ever loved because of you and your family!"

Chloe and Lex both drew in a calming breath, and then she called out, "Did you get all that?"

Superman stepped into the room, and all three exchanged relieved gazes. Lana started to cry out her gratitude but one frozen look from Clark stopped her. Her worst thoughts were realized when he spoke, "I'm taking you to the Metropolis Jail, and you are going to confess to the murders of Lois Lane and Grant Gabriel. I just hope the D.A. throws the book at you."

But before he lifted her from the chair, Clark whispered to Lana. "Just so you know, I stopped loving you a long time ago."

Clark’s gaze landed on Chloe. "It took me too long to realize what I had right in front of me."

He sighed when he saw Lex take Chloe' hand and bring it to his lips, and it was only then that Lana saw that Chloe was wearing an engagement ring.

Chloe was smiling up at Lex. "I told you my plan would work. Why did you doubt me?"

Lex shook his head, "It wasn’t you I had my doubts about. But Clark did come through in the end."

Lex pulled Chloe into his arms, grateful that he had her in his life and that Lana was going to be paying for her crimes.

He didn’t like owing Superman a debt of gratitude, but for Chloe’s sake, he was willing to endure it.