"Choices" (Chlex-General/Drama/Romance-PG 13/R): Chapter 1
SUMMARY: Life is about choices. Life is what you make it. It's a long-winding road full of surprises.
AUTHOR: Lexie aka lillianschild
RATING: PG-13/R
A/N: I´m breaking my golden rule yet again by starting to post a fic that I haven´t finished writing yet. I hope this one will end up being as satisfactory an experience as Back from the Dead was for both you and me.
At the beginning of this fic Chloe will be paired with another male but this work is definitely Chlex- well, you knew that since Lex is the one and only in my books. There’ll be several Lex-centric and several Chloe-centric chapters before the Chlex begins in earnest (around Chapter 9).
“CHOICES”
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
From “The Road not Taken” by Robert Frost
CHAPTER 1
2000 METROPOLIS
REVOLUTIONS CLUB
Multi-coloured lights beamed and faded, sweeping the packed dancing floor to the beat of the furious music that came from the state-of-the-art sound equipment of one of Metropolis´ most exclusive discos. The pulse of the techno stuff the DJ had picked reached a sudden crescendo and the young man´s heart rate sped up until he could feel the lungs in his chest burn and swell on the verge of explosion. The surroundings of the VIP section, whose debauchery he was presently a part of, grew suddenly hazy to the extent that the only connection to the reality around him was the sound of a grating high-pitched female laugh and the feel of a pair of hands trying to work down the zipper of his expensive tailor-made trousers.
Although he barely knew the girl that he had sitting astride on his lap, she was the kind of long-legged curvy brunette he´d always favoured, the kind he could bed once and discard without any qualms. She didn´t care about him, what he felt or what he really needed. To her he was just a handsome body with deep pockets, someone to have fun with, a ticket to get access to the best and most expensive in town. To him she was just a means to drown the voices in his head and reach that state of oblivion he needed to be able to breathe for another day.
He had sweetened the bouncer at the door with several hundred-dollar bills to get in and the employee had acquiesced, despite the fact that the billionaire´s son had been blacklisted after the crime case he´d been involved just a little over a month before. His father´s money had covered everything up believing he´d been the one to pull the trigger, and the young man had supported his dad´s delusion to save an innocent girl´s soul. The general public might not know he´d been in the crossfire but the owners of the club circuit in Metropolis did, and tonight he was trying to forget what had happened at Club Zero with more booze, drugs and empty sex than he´d ever indulged in .
Tonight he´d felt the urge to drive himself to the limit, to test how much more he was capable of enduring, wishing he could finally meet that barrier and set himself free once and for all. He yearned to be delivered of the corroding ache in his heart which his father kept stoking with his never-ending trials and his scathing remarks- a constant reminder that he´d never be good enough in his eyes to deserve to be called his son and a Luthor.
The brunette had managed to undo his trousers and was untucking his light-blue dress shirt while trying to coax him into sharing a French kiss, when the lines of cocaine, the ecstasy pill and the methamphetamines he´d taken on arriving at the club kicked in with a vengeance.
METROPOLIS GENERAL HOSPITAL ER
“Come on, damn it!” shouted the young intern giving CPR to the patrician patient in his early twenties who have been rushed into the ER. “No one´s dying on me tonight!”
“Here´s the epinephrine, Doctor Bryce,” said the nurse, passing her the syringe.
“Ok. Here we go. Is the defibrillator set? Give me 200 joules. Move!” she warned the aids.
“There´s no beat,” said the nurse observing the monitor.
“300,” added the attractive young doctor.
“Still a flatliner.”
“Come on, come on. One more time. Give me 360, “ she ordered, hoping she could finish her last day as in intern at Metropolis General on a happy note.
“We´ve got a beat, doc,” smiled the middle-aged nurse.
“Welcome back,” said Helen Bryce with a sigh of relief, checking his pupils with a flashlight. “What the hell have you ingested tonight? Highly-dilated pupils. A clear overdose. We´ll need a complete blood test, but we´ll start with a stomach pump. “
“He had no identification on him,” explained the older woman.
“No need. I know who he is,” responded the young doctor as a commotion was heard outside.
“Where´s my son? I want to see him. Who´s in charge of his treatment?” barked the authoritative voice of the most powerful man in Metropolis.
“Sir, you can´t go in there!” shouted a nurse.
“And who are you to stop me, young lady?” he glared at her disparagingly.
“I´d appreciate it if you could remove yourself immediately from the ER, Mr Luthor. You can wait outside like any ordinary citizen and let us do our work, “ said Helen, checking Lex´s pulse and blood pressure.
“How old are you?” frowned the lion-maned billionaire disapprovingly.
“I´m fully qualified if that´s what you´re asking,” she responded completely focused on her patient.
“I demand to see your superior,” spat at her Lionel Luthor.
“You can demand whatever and whoever you want, sir, but not on my watch. We´re wasting precious time here,” she clenched her teeth.
“You don´t know who you´re talking to, Miss... “ he replied with a condescending tone in his voice as she continued to keep her back to him.
“Doctor Bryce, sir. And believe me, I know who and what you are. I grew up with someone like you. Now, get out of my sight if you don´t want me to call security, “ she told him unflinchingly as she turned around to glare at him.
“How dare you! It´s my son who´s lying on that bed if you haven´t...”
“Get out, dad,” mumbled the younger Luthor faintly as he tried to sit up only to end up heaving and emptying his stomach on Helen´s white uniform.
“You´ve heard him, Mr Luthor,” she told LuthorCorp´s CEO as she pressed the buzzer to summon an orderly.
“Please, sir. Come with me. I´ll show you to the waiting room,” said a large-built man in a light green uniform, ushering a fuming Lionel Luthor out of the room.
“Well, now that the devil´s left the room, let´s prep him, shall we? It seems you wanted to save us the trouble of pumping your stomach, but I´m afraid we´ll have to do it just the same to make sure nothing´s left there,” she told a groggy and almost unconscious Lex. “Call Suzanne, Stephanie,” she added. “Ask her to make room for another patient in the ward. ”
45 MINUTES LATER- METROPOLIS GENERAL HOSPITAL - WAITING ROOM
“Mr Luthor,” Helen addressed the long-haired tycoon, who was pacing up and down the room, barking orders on his phone.
“Do it,” he said, snapping the mobile shut. “I want to see my son.”
“I don´t think that´d be such a good idea right now. As soon as his body reacts to the lack of drugs in his system, he won´t be a pretty sight, and I´m sure neither you nor he will want you there to witness his humiliation. I´m afraid it´s a necessary step towards his recovery. I´ve ordered for him to be transferred to the Psychiatric Ward,” Helen told him coolly.
“What?” exploded the middle-aged man. “No son of mine´s going to be admitted to a psychiatric ward.”
“It´s for his own safety, Mr Luthor. He´ll be going through Cold Turkey soon. This hasn´t been a one-time-only thing. There are marks in his body that show he´s been abusing for some time now. He has to be restrained during his withdrawal crisis to prevent him from hurting himself and others, “ she explained in an even voice.
“Unacceptable. I´m bringing my own doctor. Lex will be home before the weekend.”
“You´re opting for a pharmaceutical treatment?” she shook her head.” You won´t be helping your son that way. He needs to go through this crisis and get psychological counsel. As his doctor...”
“You´ve been removed from this case, Miss Bryce. I´m transferring Lex to the Davis Clinic, “ Lionel cut her off.
“What?” she exclaimed with a frown.
“That must be your superior,” responded the billionaire smugly as Helen´s beeper announced an incoming message. “It seems you didn´t know who you were talking to after all. Now that your internship´s over, we´ll see how you fare getting a job. Now, if you´ll excuse me ...” he finished, pushing the swing door on his way to the nurses´ station.
METROPOLIS- DAVIS CLINIC- ROOM 101- 48 HOURS LATER
“What the hell did you think you were doing, Lex? “ boomed Lionel Luthor as soon as the door of his son´s private room was safely closed.
“What do you think, dad? Isn´t it obvious?” he smirked weakly sitting up on the bed.
“What in heaven´s name do you want from me? “
“That question doesn´t deserve an answer if you´ve got the gall to ask it.”
“Why can´t you just...”
“Be the son you could be proud of? Well, dad, I guess you´ll have to get used to the idea that I´ll never be able to live up to your dream of what a son of Lionel Luthor should be like. I´ve never done anything to your liking. Hey, I can´t even kill someone.... me... successfully and get away with it! “
“You´re weak. You´ve always been weak. I should have never let your mother...”
“Don´t you dare speak her name in my presence, you bastard!” hissed Lex.
“My God! That´s what all this was about, right? How could I have been so stupid? I´d been so busy with the new merger that I forgot what day it was. I wonder what she would say if she could see you now?”
“You´ve never known me the way she did. She would have understood. She wouldn´t have been an unnatural parent like you are, that´s for certain,” responded the younger Luthor bitterly.
“Everything I´ve done I´ve done to prepare you for the real world, Lex. But it seems those twelve years behind your mother and Pamela´s skirts have left too deep an imprint on you. I´ll give you one last chance to prove your worth. I want you to move to Smallville, take charge of the Fertilizer Plant, see if you can do something to prove I´ve been wrong about you all these years.”
“I´m done with your tests, dad. I just want you to leave me alone and let me live my life the way I want.”
“Live your life the way you want? “
“Yes. I´m tired of living in your shadow, of being judged every step of the way because of who my father is. I don´t want to walk in borrowed shoes.”
“You can´t walk away from whom you are, son.”
“Watch me.”
“OK. Let´s do a little experiment, shall we? I´ll cut you loose with only your mother´s money to support yourself and your expensive habits, let´s see how long you´ll survive without crawling back to me. “
“Deal. Although it won´t be an experiment. Aren´t you happy? You won´t have to step in to clean any more messes.”
“Two months. That´s how long her money´ll last before you come knocking at my door.”
“I´d rather steal. After all, what´s the difference between a common thief and a corporative shark in an Italian suit? Well, come to think of it, the former still has honour. Goodbye, dad. Don´t forget to close the door on your way out.”
METROPOLIS PORT- APRIL 15th 2006- LATE EVENING
Lex´s return to the Big Apricot occurred six years after his decision to break things up with his father and seek refuge in the only place where he ever remembered being happy- his grandparents´ ranch in Montana. He had stayed away from everyone and everything that could lure him back to his old lifestyle, but now things were different. Although he still carried the spiritual scars that had made him into whom he was, he had grown stronger and more confident thanks to Lillian´s mother and his uncle Lawson.
Leaving for Montana had been a spur of the moment decision born during his visit to his mother´s tomb- a visit he´d failed to carry out the day of the anniversary of Lillian´s death, the day he´d been fighting for his life at the ER. However, when Lex arrived at the ranch that distant July morning after being discharged from the clinic, he was welcomed with loving arms by his grandmother Lisbeth- whom he hadn´t been allowed to see since Lillian´s funeral- and he realised immediately he´d made the right choice.
Six years later he was back in the city where he´d almost met his death. He was done proving his worth to Lionel Luthor; yet there was someone he wanted to make feel proud. It didn´t matter she was no longer there to see him, he knew she´d know he´d done his best to become the man she´d tried to raise from his cradle to his twelfth birthday. He owed it to her and to himself. It was high time he settled some long-standing score.
Gripping the steering-wheel of his fast Italian convertible, he changed gear and sped along the waterfront as he talked with Lawson on the speakerphone.
“He must have a silent alarm that didn´t appear on the schematics because I´ve got them on my tail. Damn it!” Lex shouted.
“You had Edge´s thumb print and this week´s alphanumeric code. I don´t know what could have gone wrong. I triple-checked the security company´s blueprints, Alex. There was no second alarm. “
“Well, then someone must have blown the whistle,” he responded, gritting his teeth as he made a sudden turn to shake Edge´s thugs off himself.
“But you got it, right?” asked the middle-aged, who was like a father to Lex, as he observed the chase from a vantage point with a pair of binoculars.
“Yes. I planted ours in the vault and took the bonds with me. So, unless someone talks and Edge inserts the pen drive in his computer, he won´t know what I took along with the money.”
“Have you used the special tube I gave you?” added Lillian´s brother, aiming the binoculars at a point beyond the pier.
“Yes. It´s tucked safely away in the inside pocket of my jacket.”
“Do you trust me, boy?”
“What is it that you have in mind?” he asked, looking into the rear and outside mirrors.
“Put your foot down and jump.”
“What?!”
“Grip the damn tube tightly, press on the gas and jump with the car off the pier, Alex.”
“I no longer have a death wish, Lawson.”
“You have more lives than a cat, son, and you´re an excellent swimmer. Throw the briefcase with the bonds out of the window- that should stop them. Jump and let them think you´ve drown. There´s a party on a luxury boat two hundred metres away. You´ll make it.”
“Thanks for your vote of confidence. Jesus! I bought the damn Lamborghini a week ago!”
“It won´t be the first or the last car that you´ll crash,” smiled his uncle. “They´re closing on you. Do it now!”
SMALLVILLE- April 15th 2006- EARLIER THAT MORNING
Last night he´d got a visit from Sheriff Nancy Adams, who´d informed him that Judge Ross had been approached to issue a warrant for his arrest. He´d thanked the lady for her friendly warning but didn´t tell her his mind was already made up.
He looked around the bedroom that had been his ever since he moved in to Pleasant Meadows when Chloe turned sixteen. Now she was twenty-one and cutting her journalistic teeth at the second best-selling newspaper in the Big Apricot- The Metropolis Post. He knew her dream had been to get a desk at the Daily Planet opposite the Kent boy, but her cousin had beaten her; and Chloe- never one to bear a grudge against those she truly loved- not only congratulated Lois on her position but also encouraged her growing infatuation with Clark. Knowing how attached Chloe had been to the young farm boy, Gabe had been really worried at first until, six months ago, his daughter dropped a bomb on his lap.
Chloe sounded so elated and hopeful now that although Gabe was aware his decision would hurt her deeply, he trusted having someone by her side on whom she could lean would soften the blow. She deserved the best of this world and Gabe was sure she´d finally get it. Seeing Chloe settled and with a career of her own put his troubled mind partially at ease.
He set down the framed photo of Chloe taken at her High School graduation and dialled the number he knew by heart. He listened to the echo of the distant ringing and then heard a soft “Hello?”
“Chloe? I just felt like hearing the sound of your voice, sweetie.”
“Daddy! What a nice surprise!”
“It isn´t too early, is it? You weren´t sleeping, were you?”
“No, I´ve got up early this morning. The world must be coming to an end! Kidding. I had to finish this article for Sunday´s issue. Jason and I were planning to have breakfast together, but he has to help with some subpoenas at his dad´s firm so we´ve put it off. How are things in Hickville?”
Gabe wanted to tell her so many things but he simply couldn´t find the courage to unburden his soul.
“Dad? Are you still there?”
“Yes. There are some lines down. It´s been raining heavily since last night. What about Metro? Tell me what´s going on there.”
“I still think I´m dreaming, dad,” answered Chloe with a sigh.”I never thought I´d be this happy. Tomorrow night I´m meeting his parents.” She deepened her voice, “The Teagues. They´re an institution. I´m so nervous I´ve already downed a coffee pot and the day´s just begun.”
“You shouldn´t worry so much. They´ll love you, darling.”
“I know his mother´s opinion means a lot to him, but Jason says he doesn´t care if they don´t like me. He loves me. And I... I´m so in love, dad. I can´t wait for you to meet him. He´s fantastic.”
“I´m sure he is. Does he know how lucky he is to have you, baby?”
“He´d better! “ she laughed. “Now, tell me about you. Any news on the romance front?” she teased him. “What about the Fordham widow?”
“Chloe, you should stop trying to play matchmaker with your old man. How´s your job?“ he responded, changing the subject. “Still enjoying it?”
“I love it and Jason doesn´t mind if I keep working after we get married.”
“That´s wonderful news, baby. I already like him. Not all men would be so understanding.”
“You´ll see how wonderful he is for yourself.”
Suddenly a loud thunder made the house in Smallville tremble and Gabe decided it was time to bid Chloe farewell.
“There´s a big thunderstorm, sweetie. I´d better say goodbye now,” he told her, keeping his voice steady.
“I´ll see you at the wedding, dad. I´ll phone you as soon as we set the date.”
“I love you very, very much, Chloe,” he added and then carefully replaced the receiver.
He took the framed photo of his daughter, pressed a kiss on the glass and then opened the desk drawer to retrieve the loaded .38 he´d stashed away when there was a meteor-freak crime wave a few years ago. He raised the gun to his temple, closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger with a firm hand. The detonation was muffled by the loud clap of another thunder.
METROPOLIS- THE ANDROMEDA- April 15th 2006- 10 p.m.
The party was in full swing when Lex reached the side of the cruiser and climbed up on board undetected. Even though he was soaked and his Italian shoes were ruined, he´d escaped Morgan Edge´s men unscathed and that was certainly something to be thankful for. Lex didn´t know how much time he got left before his father´s former crime associate realised what exactly was missing from his vault. He hoped the diversion would last long enough to give them the time to upload the information to Lawson´s computer and decide the following course of action.
All those months Lex had spent secluded on the ranch to fully recover from his addiction had given him plenty of time to dig up into Lionel´s past. Luthor Junior had learnt a lot about computers, encryption codes and hacking thanks to his uncle, and he had put all that knowledge to very good use. He´d always suspected about the true origins of the Luthor fortune and he now had a very big hunch about the role Edge had played in Lionel´s sudden rise to the top. The young man´s fingers were itching to access the information on that pen drive.
CHAPTER 2