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A Sketch of Happiness	By : sinecure Category: Smallville > Het - Male/Female Views: 1858 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville and I make no money off of it.

Chapter List
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Title: Resurgence (2/3)

Character/Pairing: Chloe/Lex

Rating: Adult

Genre: Angst, drama, violence

Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville and I make no money off of it.

A/N: Thanks to JennyLD for the beta.

********

"Lex..."

He heard his name called faintly, hesitantly, and he jerked upright, breathing hard, staring around him in confusion. Smoke and dust poured through Chloe's drab cell as alarms blared. Blinking rapidly in the dim, green light, coughing and choking on the smoke, he covered his mouth with the back of his hand, peering at the dead scientists slumped over their computers.

Shot in the head.

Chloe knelt on the floor beside him, watching but not touching, looking ready to run at the slightest movement. She jerked back a little when he returned his attention to her.

"What happened?"

He could guess. Another escape; someone had been careless and now his most brilliant scientists were dead, his labs destroyed. Again. Fury blazed through him. He'd have to start all over. Again. Start the project from scratch, and Chloe...

"What--" he was stopped by a cough deep in his chest.

"A man..." she said, eyes darting around the room, everywhere but on him. "He-- escaped somehow. Your security has never been the best, a flaw I'd think you'd have fixed by now. Seriously, Lex."

He twisted his lips in annoyance. "Thank you for the input. I'll be sure to take the recommendation under consideration."

"Hey," she snapped, then jumped at a noise in the hall. "I mean, I'm-- I'm just trying to help. Aren't you getting tired of being concussed?"

Instead of answering in the affirmative, because he was tired of the injuries and concussions he'd received over the years, he merely raised a brow her way. "Chloe."

She frowned, jerking back further. "He, uh, he was angry. Had some kind of power." She frowned at her wrist, scratching it absently. "The usual meteor-freak thing. Shaking the ground like a demented kid with a snow globe. The walls broke and cracked. The ceiling--" her eyes darted to it nervously.

Andrew Orson.

Sitting upright on the bed, brushing concrete and plaster off of his suit, he stared past Chloe. He knew the man well, though they'd never met face to face.

Probably a good thing, or else Lex would be dead now.

Sliding his eyes back to Chloe, he took in the cuts on her face and the blood that trickled down her cheek and forehead, matting in her hair. He reached out to her in concern, but she jerked away.

"Don't touch me," she snapped, moving out of his reach. "I didn't help you because I--" she shook her head, straightening up and taking a few steps away from him. "I should've just left you here." There was bitterness in her voice, a weary sort of jaded look on her face. "I'm... leaving. Don't try to stop me, or have anyone else do it for you."

Lex quickly jerked the meteor rock infused electrodes from his temples, disconnecting him from the computer, which caused a blaring alarm to sound. It spiraled down, slowing, then silenced after a few weak shrieks. Eyes darting overhead as sparks shot from the ceiling, he saw the fluorescent light, hanging from wires, dangling above his bed. Sparks arced out again in a low hum, sending a white-hot shower raining down on him.

Chloe looked up at it, down at him, then behind her to the door.

The light arced again, then suddenly snapped off the ceiling completely. He rolled off the bed and when he landed on his knees and looked back up again, Chloe was gone.

He couldn't lose her; he needed her.

Needed her here with him. Needed-- just needed her. She couldn't leave him, damn it.

"Chloe!" he bellowed, jumping to his feet and running into the hall. Chaos reigned. Wreckage littered the narrow, gray hallway, dust and plaster coating every surface, and hanging in the air. He coughed a few times, peering through the powder.

Chloe was scrambling up a mountain of rubble a few yards away.

Beyond her, two men, both patients judging by their dull clothing that matched Chloe's, jumped across the railing separating the upper floor from the wide, open lower floor. Sparks shot out and a dust-filled debris cloud rained down on the lower portions. He heard screams and yells and painful moaning as they ran, shouting in glee, across the rounded walkway.

But he saw only Chloe.

The floor between them was riddled with chunks of concrete and rebar; it looked as if the floor itself had been broken upward from below. He hurried toward her, stumbling as he went. It was difficult to see. "You can't go out there, Chloe. They'll kill you."

And him.

There wasn't a doubt in his mind that they'd be gunning for him as soon as they saw him in his suit. His scientists were dead or dying all over the complex--staff members--all of them, fair game for the lunatics now in charge.

Fingers bleeding and covered in white dust, Chloe looked back at him. "I'm one of them." She was more afraid of him than what was waiting for her out there.

That kind of blindness would get her killed.

"You can't--"

"Stay the hell away from me, Lex." She bit back a sob, desperation growing with each word.

A woman ran by on the other side of the debris, then drew to a halt, eyes snapping to Lex.

"Chloe, get down," he warned, voice low, wishing he had his gun on him. Cold dread seeped into his gut.

The woman's eyes lowered to Chloe.

"Ms. Lewis..." he kept his voice soft, but firm; cautious.

She smirked and moved forward. "Mr. Luthor. So formal... after all we've been through together." She chuckled darkly, eyes sliding to Chloe with a conspiratorial air. "The pain, the blood, the screaming. I mean, if that's not something that brings two people closer together, I don't know what is."

"Sidney, leave her out of this." Fear for Chloe pushed aside all thoughts of calming Sidney. He'd known it was impossible--she was insane by fewer degrees than most of the rest of the patients here, but still ragingly psychotic--still, he'd had to try. "She's not--"

Sidney grinned. "Oh, but she is."

She jumped at Chloe.

"Chloe don't let her touch you!"

Lex darted forward, grabbing Chloe's ankle as she tried to scramble away from the wild-eyed Sidney. She ended up knocking chunks of concrete down on herself as she slid backward, landing on top of him.

He rolled over, trying to protect her, but she jerked free from his grasp with a scream. Her dirty, blood-covered face turned to him, pulling her attention away from Sidney, who was quickly crawling toward them.

"Let go of me!" Chloe screamed, continuing to struggle, shock and desperation battling it out inside her.

Lex pulled her up and pushed her behind him just as Sidney reached them.

"Run," he told Chloe, turning just his head to shout it at her, hoping she'd hear him, but afraid she was too far gone. Because of him. Because of what he'd done to her.

Without hesitation, she turned and ran.

Sidney planted her hands on his chest, and he gasped in pain, head swinging back to her. She pushed harder and he dropped to his knees. The burning, tearing feeling shooting through his chest and limbs singed everything in its path, leaving him shaking and gasping for breath.

But Chloe was safe.

He screamed as tendrils of searing heat reached his head, scorching his thoughts, his memories, crawling amongst them, searching for something to cling to. He'd seen the results of this particular power, forced Sidney to use it numerous times, but he'd never felt it.

Never known this kind of pain.

Another scream was torn from his throat.

The hands on his chest scorched his skin, burning through his clothes, propping him up when his body went limp. Jerking him with each touch of her power--something they'd never quite found a term for, never completely mapped--as it fingered his thoughts and memories like harp strings, plucking a tune out of the soundless, wordless images in his head, he saw filmy darkness creep into his sight. Then even that began to fade.

But Chloe was safe.

The pain faded with his sight and hearing. Sparks flew from the light fixture behind him, quiet and dim. He felt them burn into his back as an image grew, brightening and turning soft, forcing everything else out.

A bedroom. Chloe was on the bed, body beneath his, smiling at him. But she wasn't moving, she was frozen in time, golden and glowing in the morning sunlight pouring through the windows.

He wanted to move toward her, but he was stuck as well, forced to watch from the sidelines, an observer to his own memory.

But Chloe was safe.

********

Chloe had no idea why she was going back.

It was Lex.

He'd locked her up in here, tormented her for weeks with his own special brand of torture. She should be running as fast and as far away from him, and this place, as possible. Instead, she was stumbling over a broken wall two cells away, shoving bodies out of her way, trying to get back to him.

Slipping in the dust and blood, she came face to face with dead brown eyes and a face twisted in pain. She hated this place and everything it represented. Why was she going back for him?

It was Lex.

Shoving to her feet, pushing down the rising panic, she crawled to the corner.

She peered around it, huddling just out of sight.

The scream he'd let out--ripped from his throat, torn from his soul--haunted her ears and made her fingers itch to help him. He didn't deserve it, he didn't deserve her mercy when he'd given her none.

But he'd been her friend once. He'd saved her from Sidney, and now she was killing him.

His body fell forward, but Sidney's hands held him upright.

Damn it! Was she too late?

Was he dead?

A sob rose in her throat at the way her heart clenched at the thought. He'd done this to her. He'd forced her to feel things for him and now she was going to lose him. Turning away, she crawled back toward the exit, leaving him to his death, one he'd earned many times over.

Her hand landed on an arm and she jerked back, scrabbling away.

It was Lex.

Shaking her head, she blinked, seeing a blonde woman in a gray outfit. Dead. He'd done this to them. To everyone in here. It was all his fault.

Back against the wall, chest rising and falling heavily, she wiped the sweat and tears and blood from her eyes, staring at the dead woman. He was just reaping what he'd sown.

But her heart made her head turn and her fingers claw the floor, drawing her toward the hallway again.

Fuck!

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then stood up, hefting a large chunk of concrete in her hands. Counting to three, she peeked around the corner, ducked back, steadied her nerves, then darted forward, slamming the concrete down on Sidney's head. Sidney jerked back, startled, dropping to the ground. Lex fell to his side, his face hitting something that made blood run down his temple.

Slumped on her knees, Sidney looked up with a snarl, eyes glowing green.

Chloe threw what was left of her chunk of concrete. It glanced off of Sidney's head, stunning her.

Defenseless now that her only weapon was crumbled on the floor, she fell back, grabbing Lex's arm, dragging him with her toward the corner. He was limp, unconscious, no help at all. Dragging him around the corner, leaving a path of dust and blood in their wake, she looked around for help, but there was none.

The smell of burning flesh tickled her nose and she gagged.

It was Lex.

Smoke was curling up from the back of his suit. Smacking at it, she wiped the sparks free, burning the palms of her hands as footsteps quickly closed in on them. She looked around for another weapon, but all she found was an empty beaker.

"Wake up, damn it," she muttered, pulling him into the closest room, a cell similar to her own.

His legs were still sticking out, but Sidney rounded the corner, ribbons of green light licking at her arms and hands, so Chloe dropped him to the ground.

"You should be helping me kill him, not trying to save him."

Chloe scoffed, feeling her heart pull in two different directions. Sidney was right; she should be leaving Lex behind, not saving his life. He was nothing to her, nothing but her jailor. He'd locked her up, forcing her to endure the perfect fantasy with him, forcing her to enjoy everything they did together in that fantasy.

Was that why she wasn't leaving him to his fate?

No matter what he did to her, it seemed she just couldn't hurt him back.

"I'm not a killer."

Sidney sneered and moved closer, the light crackling and snapping around her. "Lex's memories say differently." Lips twisting higher, seeing her words had hit home, she strode closer. "You're a killer through... and through." She laughed, throwing her head back, sending the green light into the ceiling. "We all are!"

Wrapping her hand around the beaker behind her back, Chloe shook her head. "Those were in self defense."

"Liar."

Chloe frowned, worry eating at her. Was Sidney right? "I've never killed in cold blood," she told Sidney, shaking her head defiantly. "I haven't."

"Liar," Sidney sing-songed.

Chloe stood up, straightening, Sidney's denials ringing in her ears. "I'm not going to let you kill him." She wanted to run. Every fiber in her being was telling her to flee, to hide.

But an even stronger instinct was telling her to save Lex.

The ceiling above them rained dust down and she quickly ducked into the room, making Sidney come to her, glaring at Lex as she stepped over his body. He'd done this to her.

Forced feelings on her.

Bastard.

A scream sounded down the hall, and she jumped, spinning around. It was distant, but close enough to worry her. More were coming, and they'd all be gunning for Lex. Tightening her fist around the beaker, she stood beside the door, waiting.

Sidney came closer, kicking Lex in the leg, watching with a smirk as his leg flopped.

Might as well be dead, Chloe thought, heart pounding out a denial.

He couldn't be.

"You know, you're in a lot of his memories," Sidney told her, ducking her head inside the room. "There's a lot of history there--"

Chloe swung the beaker and smashed it into the side of Sidney's head. It broke into pieces, cutting into her face and head, but she didn't go down. She let out a scream and turned her glowing hands to Chloe. Reacting on instinct again, Chloe held the broken piece of glass out before her.

"Don't."

Sidney smacked her hand away and shot the green light at her.

Chloe ducked, reaching out, grabbing Sidney's leg, yanking it out from under her. She screamed and fell backward, light shooting just above Chloe's head.

Sidney landed on the concrete floor outside the door, head hitting the ground with a sickening sound.

She went silent.

Chloe grabbed the piece of glass again and crawled toward her, darting a look down each corridor. Distant sounds of screaming and shouts sounded throughout the compound, but nothing near enough to harm them. Reaching out cautiously, she felt for a pulse in Sidney's neck, but it was still.

Nausea swept through her. She bit it back and crawled back to Lex, straddling his legs. Familiar. Not right. Smacking his cheek, she called his name quietly, keeping an eye on their surroundings. There was a sudden barrage of gunshots and she jerked up, scrabbling off of Lex.

They weren't safe here.

Taking his arm, she pulled him further into the room and closed the door. There was a metal-framed bed, a bank of computers along the side wall, broken and smoking, and a window high up the wall opposite her. The bed was on its side, no longer bolted down. Running to it, she grabbed the end and pushed it in front of the door, scraping and squealing the entire way. Once it was blocking the door, she sat on it, cross-legged, peering around, shaking.

Her feet were cold.

An itch went through her hands again and she stared down at Lex. She wanted to hate him. She should.

Why couldn't she?

Scratching at the needle marks on her left arm, she searched the room, looking for weapons or tools of some kind. Once Lex woke up... but would he? Leaning over the edge of the bed, she reached out to his neck, fingers hovering over his pulse point for a second before lowering to find it there, beating steadily under warm skin.

Familiar. Not right.

Jerking her hand back, she scratched harder, feeling the implant under her skin. Another one.

How many in all now?

The skin began to tingle and burn beneath her nails, but she kept scratching, harder, deeper, cutting the flesh, seeing blood well up. They were doing something to her, making her feel things for him.

She had to get them out.

Leaning over the side of the bed again, she picked up a piece of broken glass and held it over the scratches, hand shaking. Pressing the jagged edge to her skin, sending blood well up, she dug into the flesh with a grunt. It was there, she could see it, so close to the surface. Slipping a finger into the cut, she grasped the tiny implant that looked like a green capsule.

Dropping it to the mattress, she held up her leg, cutting through the gray material and skin beneath. Digging the slippery implant out, she dropped it beside her. There was one in her right wrist too.

Her back.

Her shoulder.

********

Lex's mind slipped into focus seconds after returning to consciousness, but he held still, trying to orient himself.

Still in the lab. He could hear shouting and explosions. Distant.

Safe?

There was a dripping sound nearby. Breathing. Muttering.

Chloe.

His need to know if Chloe was safe was stronger than his sense of self-preservation. Sitting upright, he snapped his gaze to the bed in front of him, mouth dropping open for a split second before he jumped up and grabbed Chloe's hand.

"What are you doing?"

Blood dripped from the glass clutched in her hand, onto the bed beside her.

"I have to take them out. Let go of me." She jerked on her hand, but he held her tighter. Her eyes, bright and shining with tears and something indefinable, landed on his for a split second before moving back to the cut she'd made in her left calf. "Let go, Lex. Let me go. Please, just let go."

She was in shock. Was it more than that? Had he broken her?

Refusing to let go, he stood up, swaying for a horrifying moment. If he passed out, she'd cut herself more. Dropping to the bed beside her, he pried her fingers from the glass and tossed it across the room where it smashed into pieces too small for her to do any more harm to herself.

"Chloe, what are you doing?" He yanked her fingers from the wound in her calf, but she'd already pulled the implant free and dropped it to the bed beside her.

There were a dozen already there.

She stared at them for a moment, then picked them up and threw them across the room with a shout of frustration and pain. They rained down on the glass pieces, sparkling and glowing green amongst the clear glass in the fading sunlight.

Swallowing thickly, he took her face in his hands, holding it up to the dim light from the window in the wall. "Chloe, stop it. They're not hurting you."

She shrugged out of his grip, sliding away from him with a frown. "They're making me do things." She lowered her voice, tucking her chin to her chest and pulling her legs close to her body, wrapping her arms around them. "Feel things."

Hope rose in him at her words. Had he succeeded?

But she didn't want him touching her, didn't want him near her. Didn't want to feel whatever she felt.

"Chloe." When her eyes rose to his, he sighed, knowing this wasn't the time or place to have this discussion. "We need to get out of here. Sidney--"

"She's dead." She straightened up, eyes clearing a little. "We're all killers in here." She pulled the cuff of her pants down. Then again.

Worry ate at him; he couldn't get her only to lose her to madness. He wouldn't let that happen.

Standing up, he brushed off his suit, occupying his hands while he took her in. She was covered in blood and dirt and dust. Her hair was matted with it, her arms and legs coated in it. He needed to get her out of here before she really did lose her mind. His back ached, burned a little, and his head throbbed, but he was in good enough shape to get her out.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, knowing it wouldn't work even before he opened it, he sighed. His security was either making their way toward him, were already dead, or had left him here. It'd been over three hours since the siege began.

"We need to get out of here."

"We can't go out there."

Frowning down at her, he studied her face in the dying light of the sun as it slipped beneath the window, leaving them in near darkness. "We can get to the exits if we're careful, and--"

"I don't want to kill anyone else," she whispered, tightening her grip on her legs, shivering on the bed.

He nodded after a moment and sat beside her, peeling his jacket off. Draping it around her shoulders, he moved closer to the window, trying his phone again. They were surrounded by tons of concrete. Cell phones didn't work here except on the uppermost floors, and even that was a crapshoot.

"All right," he decided, sliding his phone into his pocket as she slipped her arms into his suit coat. "It might be best if we stay here." His security teams could be on their way, but he was doubtful; after all, how many guards had he been through since coming to Smallville? He was sure they were either dead or gone. Only the most loyal would stay, and he wasn't sure any of them were that loyal.

"You're burned," she told him matter-of-factly, staring at his back.

It was sore and he did feel a minor burning sensation, but it was his head that hurt the most; that worried him. His thoughts were sliding around, out of order, shifting and rearranging themselves before slipping back into place.

It was disorienting.

"I'm fine." He was more concerned about the cuts on her arms and legs. Her back, her abdomen, her shoulder. That one was still in there, he'd seen the scrapes on her skin as he placed his jacket on her, but no gash. Turning toward her, he unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off, shivering lightly in the cool air. "Those cuts are going to get infected," he murmured, lips tightening at the blood still dripping from her leg to the floor.

She shrugged, resting her chin on her knees, watching him tear his shirt into strips. "Will that make you leave them out?"

"No," he lied, taking her leg and wrapping one of the strips over the wound in her calf. Working by the light of his cell phone, he tied it tight, hearing her wince in the dark room, almost black now but for the glow from the town lights. He smoothed his fingers over the material and then moved on to the next. "Chloe?"

She was silent, letting him bandage each cut, barely responding. "I don't want to feel you," she whispered, voice breaking, "but I do."

He finished tying the strip around her wrist. "I'm sorry."

A scoff left her. "Liar." Her whole body was shaking in the cold. With the power down, the heat was off, and it was only going to get colder before it finally warmed up in the morning.

Snapping his phone closed, he slipped it into his pant pocket and scooted back on the bed beside her.

She sat shivering beside him for a minute before leaning against his side. Wrapping his arm around her slowly, expecting her to start kicking and screaming at any moment, he let out a breath. She didn't exactly melt into him--her body remained stiff and curled around itself--but she didn't pull away either.

Warmth seeped between them after a minute and she began to relax.

Her breathing evened out after another twenty minutes, and her hands dropped to the bed. He pulled her closer, savoring her body so close to his. The dreams weren't enough any more. They weren't real and they disappeared as soon as the time was up and an implant was placed.

This was real.

And though she didn't want to care about him, he knew she did. And that was a start.

Maybe he wouldn't have to start over from scratch after all.

He laid down slowly, taking her with him, curling around behind her. She sighed, and turned toward him, snuggling into him, resting a hand on his chest. His thoughts and memories oriented themselves, sliding back into place, and his back stopped burning.

He was finally holding the real Chloe in his arms.

Real. Familiar. Exactly right.
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A Sketch of Happiness