The spotlight from a helicopter above passed in front of him on the roof. Clark slipped behind an air conditioning unit and waited for it to move on. The noise was bad enough, but the wind it created sent long locks into his eyes. Aggravation was not something he handled well.
If someone were to ask him why he was jumping rooftops late at night instead of lying in the comfort of his bed watching TV, he wasn't sure he could answer them. He wasn't quite sure he knew the answer himself. In fact, last week he'd been perfectly content to sit at home and waste time channel surfing. He wasn't sure what had changed.
He knew that wasn't exactly true. He did know what had changed, technically. He had gone out to the club last weekend and ended up taking home a girl. Though that itself wasn't anything new, it turned out this girl wasn't just another nameless face. She was the cousin and roommate of the girl he desired most. Obviously, he was well aware of that fact when he walked up to her, initially hoping she wasn't alone. Upon realizing exactly why she was there, and alone, he did the most logical thing he could and decided to take her home. The next morning when he awoke to her in his arms and realized that had never happened in the history of his sex life, he did the only thing he could and decided to pursue a relationship with her. They spent the entire weekend laid up in his loft, ordering take-out and watching classic movies.
What she didn't understand was that he only wanted to make her cousin jealous. And what he failed to understand was that it wasn't really that simple. No matter how hard he worked to keep any crazy thoughts of caring for her out of his head, his heart was already in too deep. He was oblivious to this, thinking that he was in complete control of himself - head, heart, and body. And yet...
You may be wondering what any of that has do with jumping from roof to roof in the shadows of the night. Everything. The new girlfriend-to-be happened to be a journalist. Not just a make-phone-calls-from-her-desk kind of journalist, but a go-out-at-night-and-sneak-around-dangerous-places type. She tended to get herself in, shall we say, interesting circumstances.
Tonight she was dressed in her simple, black ensemble peering through the broken window of an old abandoned warehouse deep in the heart of Suicide Slums. He was thankful this particular warehouse was empty, and currently being used by Morgan Edge.
If she were to publish a breaking news, front page article about all the crooked business dealings of Edge, that would be fine. In fact, Clark would be thankful. He was tired of trashing their hide-outs and ruining their stashes. Sometimes, on his little missions (sanctioned by his father), one of Edge's bigger guys would try to prove his allegiance and Clark would have to teach him a lesson. More often than not, they'd end up a pile of ashes being swept away by the breeze.
He had learned to only leave bodies behind when he was trying to send a message. He didn't send messages himself, those came from his father. So, anyone else that was determined to fight him to the death was granted their wish and their remains cremated.
Chloe's foot slipped on the rotting crate she was using as a step stool and she started to fall from her post. She was close to ten feet off the ground, and Clark knew that statistically, she was likely to break something if she landed on the pavement from that height. He had the urge to roll his eyes and it made him smile. She rolled her eyes a lot.
Still smiling, he rushed to slip a dirty old mattress he found hiding behind a dumpster in the same alley under her. Back on the roof above, he watched her land with an "oomph." She lifted her head, eyes wide, and searched for an explanation. She was well aware that the mattress had not been there seconds before she landed. He smirked at the shake of her head, sending the ends of her blonde curls rustling back and forth, before she pushed up off the mattress.
The smile that lit up her eyes scared him. Who in their right mind would be excited by a mattress randomly appearing out of nowhere? Even if it did happen to break their fall and in turn keep them from breaking a bone. She should be frightened by the unknown. She couldn't know that whoever or whatever had just saved her did so with good intentions. What if they saved her only to do worse to her? The fact that a being had the ability to do something so fast her human eyes had no chance of registering it should terrify her. Instead, she looked elated.
He was tempted again to roll his eyes, but instead just followed her by way of the roof to the street. She ducked out of the alley and down the street, keeping out of the lights as much as possible. He was impressed by how fluidly she slipped from shadow to shadow.
…
“Lo? You home?” Chloe pulled her toboggan off and shook out her hair. It really was too warm for knitted hats, but her bright blonde hair wasn't exactly great for stealth mode.
She moved into the living room and grabbed her laptop, sitting on the couch and placing it in her lap. She had to make a note that her latest target was empty. Morgan Edge seemed to be clearing out more and more of his real estate and she couldn't help but wonder why.
“I'm in the bathroom. Be out in a minute.” Chloe glanced up at the sound of her cousin's voice.
She made a few notes and scanned over her list of locations, deciding where to check out next. She was certain one of the building on her list housed illegal weapons, and she was determined to get proof. A story like that would certainly separate her from the rest of the basement staff. Write-ups about abuse at the senior citizens’ home was certainly important and commendable. It just didn't land you a front page article. And it certainly didn't set you on a path toward your first Pulitzer.
Uncovering dirt on one of Metropolis's biggest business men, however, was exactly that sort of story. She had a friend down at the police station who was filling her in on a few ongoing investigations involving different known associates of Mr. Edge. So, she had done a little research and dug up some less than dignified real estate owned by Edge's companies. For the past month she had been scoping out a different abandoned property almost every night.
That wasn't what she was anxious to talk to Lois about, though. The last few nights she had been out on the hunt, she had a feeling of being watched. At first it had frightened her. As the night had gone on though, the feeling turned more to one of security. She couldn't actually see anyone following her, or watching her. She just had this feeling that someone was there as back-up should she need them.
She was smart, and very good at her sneaking around to dig up info for a story. So, until tonight, she hadn't found herself in a situation that required help. It wasn't as if she had been chased by goons, or shot at, but she had fallen. Lois would not be happy that she had been careless enough to stand on a half rotten crate, but she had only wanted to glance through the window.
As she had fallen, staring at the ground rising up to meet her and forcing herself to keep quiet, the pavement had disappeared revealing instead a nice soft mattress. Sure, it wasn't exactly the cleanest bedding she'd ever seen, but it broke her fall. The fall itself couldn't have lasted longer than a second. Which meant the being that placed it there had to be paying attention. It also meant they moved at an insane speed. One second she was staring at hard, cold pavement, and the next a dingy, soft mattress. That was not normal.
Lois sat down next to her on the couch and waited. She looked up at her cousin, unable to wipe off the huge grin. Her lips split open into a full smile when her cousin rolled her eyes.
“What happened Chlo? I know that look.”
“Well. I went to scope out a property on my list.” She glanced back at her laptop to save her changes and closed it up. “And I fell.” She stared back at the other woman.
“And? I know you, something weird happened didn't it?” Lois was a skeptic, but she hadn't lived in Smallville like Chloe had.
“Let's just say that I landed on a mattress that literally appeared as I landed.” She knew her eyes were wide with excitement; she couldn't help it. “Lo. I'm being watched over. It's so scary and weird and amazing!”
“Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Hasn't every one of these weirdos you've encountered ended up psycho and trying to kill you or someone else?” Chloe sighed, losing a little of her happiness. Lois was right. So far, of all the meta-humans (for lack of a better title) she had encountered, half had ended up in Belle Reve Sanitarium and the other half had been sent to jail or killed in the process of detainment.
“Well, he saved me from breaking bones. That's got to count for something.” She tried to keep the nerves out of her voice. She didn't want to admit that Lois was right.
“This person is following you. Chloe, that's not good. It's super creepy. They probably know where you live.” She shuddered. “That means they know where I live. And thanks, because now I won’t be able to sleep tonight!”
“I don't think they would have protected me just to harm me later.” In all honesty, she had no proof to back up that statement. “I'll buy an extra dead bolt before class in the morning just in case.” She tried a reassuring smile but had a feeling it came off more nervous.
Lois, already dressed in her pajamas, stood and walked down the hall to her room. Chloe sat on the couch, still holding her closed laptop. Maybe telling Lois tonight wasn't the best idea. Now, neither of them would get any sleep.
…
Lois laid on her bed, her phone pressed between her ear and shoulder. She had been studying for a psychology exam, but when Oliver had called it had been a welcomed distraction. They had been dating since the previous semester and even though they were young, Lois could feel that theirs was a love for the ages.
“So... she never came home last night. I'm just glad she texted so I didn't worry.” Lois kicked her feet back and forth.
“Right, because of this person who's following her? You really think there's people out there with super-human abilities? Seems kinda SyFy channel to me.” Lois grinned at Ollie's skepticism. He was a typical alpha male. He liked sports, was good with business, and didn't believe in anything out of the ordinary.
“She seemed pretty serious about it. And I've read all the articles about the things that have happened in Smallville. There's no denying that weird things happen there, a lot.” She knew he wouldn't budge, but it was fun to spar with him.
“Weird things that can all be explained away.” He was smiling, she could hear it.
“Anyhow. I was actually referring to her current story. The girl's convinced she's gonna bring down Morgan Edge.” Lois scrunched her nose. “If she's right about this one, I'm gonna kick myself in the ass.”
“Language!”
“Yeah, yeah. So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?”
…
Chloe snuggled into Clark's side a little deeper. She had gone to his place after her nightly surveillance the night before. Thanks to the conversation with Lois about her stalker, going home just didn't seem as comforting. Spending the night wrapped up in Clark's strong arms did.
When she had called him on her way out to the abandoned property to suggest an impromptu slumber party, she had half expected him to cough up a few excuses as to why it wasn't a good idea. Instead, he had offered to make a junk food run. The little ball of nerves in her chest loosened a little and she smiled.
She didn't have any classes on Thursday, and he seemed content skipping, so they'd laid around most of the day. He had ordered them a pizza for lunch and they had watched X-Files reruns all afternoon. She could have stayed there on the couch, cuddled up with him, for eternity. The fact that she needed to take a shower and change clothes was the only thing that made her sit up.
“It's getting late.” She let her head roll over so that she was facing him.
“Late? It's barely evening.” He reached out and ran his fingers down the back of her hair.
“But I haven't had a shower all day, and pretty soon my funk is going to burn a hole through this nice leather sofa.” She quirked an eyebrow at him.
“Then I'll just buy a new one.” The hand that had come to a rest on her back wrapped around her and pulled her back to him. “I can't smell anything. I think a shower can wait.”
She really wanted to argue her point, but when he pressed his lips to her forehead and then her nose before finally kissing her lips, she gave up. He was pretty good at getting what he wanted. She was not very good at telling him 'no'. With his finger tips fluttering lightly over the skin of her arms, she could only sigh against his lips.
He pulled away and she blinked at him. The look on his face startled her. He looked … conflicted.
“Chloe.” He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. “I've really enjoyed this past week.”
He paused again and she felt her stomach drop. She had known this wasn't going to last. Heck, she'd expected it to end the same night it started. It was just that, after spending so much time with him over the past few days, she didn't want it to end. Of course, she didn't want it to end. He was gorgeous, and smart, and funny, and knew what he was doing in the bedroom (and outside it).
“I know that we really just started hanging out and all.” She wasn't sure why it was taking him so long to spit it out. All he really had to do was walk her to the door and say 'goodbye.' She'd take the hint.
…
Clark was screaming at himself. Spit it out already. It's words. That's all. You just have to say it. He couldn't understand why his tongue wasn't cooperating with his brain.
He'd never technically asked a girl out before. Not like, out, out. He'd convinced plenty of girls to go home with him. But trying to formulate the words to ask Chloe if maybe they could be exclusive was akin to trying to fly. Impossible wasn't a word that typically belonged in his vocabulary.
“It's just that, ugh.” He looked into her eyes and she looked scared. Great, she probably thinks I've lost it.
Clark tried again, taking a deep breath. “How would you feel about maybe us, seeing how this goes?”
He waited a moment for a response, staring at his hand on her arm. When she didn't say anything he pulled his eyes up to hers again. Her mouth was slightly open, her eyes wide, and she looked lost. “I mean. I understand if you don't want to start anything serious. And like I said, we really don't know each other that well, yet. I just, I really like you.” He hated himself at that moment. Not only did he sound like a blubbering fool, which just wasn't how a Luthor acted, but he meant every word of what he had said. Liking her wasn't really a part of his plan.
Really though, how could he be expected to carry on a relationship with someone he wasn't at least nominally attracted to? He should be allowed to enjoy his game of charades. He was lucky that Lois's cousin just happened to have a smile that lit up the room. Maybe, liking Chloe wasn't so much a bad thing. He was allowed to like her, he just couldn't let a relationship with her cloud his judgment. She was ultimately still just a pawn in his game.
“Are you asking me out? Like, maybe I'm not understanding exactly what you are asking me, but are you asking me if I want to date you?” The disbelief in her voice sounded alien. This girl believed anything was possible, he had picked up on that from her comments during the X-Files marathon.
“I'm not saying that we'd have to use titles or anything, just that if you'd like, maybe we could make this a regular thing?” He seriously needed to work on his skills in this particular department. He was a Luthor, and a confident person. He could walk into any club and walk out with the girl of his choice. Evidently, he just couldn't ask her to be his girlfriend.
“Right. Yeah. Of course, I'd like to see where this leads.” She shrugged her shoulders and he couldn’t help the disappointment at her seeming lack of enthusiasm.
“Great.” He decidedly needed to be in a situation that he knew how to control, so he moved forward and captured her lips.
…
Chloe kissed him back, her mind spinning. She couldn't seem to believe what had just happened. Mr. Debonair had just stuttered his way through asking her out. It was hard to match that guy up with the one licking at her lips. He was such a confident, calculated person. His hands slid up under the front of her shirt and she let the thoughts go. Thinking was overrated in these situations.
In moments, he was laying her back onto the couch and pressing his body against her. His lips moved to her neck and she ran her hands up his sides arousing a gasp. He lifted himself up so that their faces were inches apart and smiled at her, all teeth and bright eyes. It was a smile that she hadn't seen before. As he moved in to kiss her again she realized it was a smile of elation. She could feel him still smiling against her lips and couldn't hold back a giggle.
He began to laugh too, his chest shaking as he rolled them around, sitting her on top. She watched him laugh, his eyes closed tight, and leaned down to kiss along his jaw. This man was something else. She wasn't sure how she had been lucky enough to end up here. She couldn't begin to imagine how long she would get to have this. She just knew that as long as he was willing to have her, she would stay right there.
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