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bantha_fodderthat city down below by pen
veronica mars/smallville
this is just an excuse for a whole lot of fucking.
spoilers for s1 vmars, but it's au after that
this sort of follows on from a restaurant with white tablecloths, but only sort of. and this one is much pornier. and with less point.
most of this was written several months ago, and i found it this afternoon and decided to finish it off and kick it out the door.
***
Logan's never been to Metropolis before, so he starts where every good tourist from California starts: the bars. He doesn't get past the first one, though, because there's this blonde on a bar stool and she looks hot enough and he thinks, yeah, maybe.
He orders two beers, and slides onto the barstool beside her.
"I'm going to offer you this drink," he says, "and it's just because you're good looking. Try not to read into it."
She looks up at him, gives a wry little grin. "Okay," she says, "but you need to know that I'm not going to fuck you."
"That's okay," he says, and it is. She can allow herself the little lie if she wants to, because she'll change her mind soon enough.
"So. I'm not from around here. Can you tell?"
"Yeah," she says, and laughs. "You need to be a little more hard-ass to pass in Metropolis."
She drinks from the bottle, and pauses. "Say," she says, "you're not a journalist, are you?"
*
She kisses kind of sloppily, but it's soft and there's very little teeth, so he blames it on the alcohol and keeps kissing her. They hail a cab, and she tells him they have to go back to his hotel but the name is a haze so they pick one at random, fall out of the taxi and laugh as he tries to book a room.
He doesn't notice that even in her inebriated state she keeps her head down. He's too busy nibbling her neck and running a hand down her body. Too busy getting a room key and wobbling into the lift.
They fall onto the bed, all arms and legs and laughter but when they fuck it's hard. She twists his nipple and scratches his scalp, and when she comes it's totally not his name on her lips, but whatever.
He falls asleep then, and he guesses she must have too, because when he wakes up she's sitting on the edge of the bed, sheet wrapped around her. He puts a hand on her back, and she moans.
"We should not have done that," she says, and it's the last thing she says to Logan because suddenly the room door is open and two women enter the room, and then there's Lex fucking Luthor in Logan's hotel room.
"Chloe," Luthor says, eyes on the blonde. "I wish you wouldn't embarrass me like this."
"Like what?" Chloe asks. Stands and drops the sheet.
Lex Luthor rolls his eyes.
*
Because he's Lex Luthor, and because he has an image to maintain, he doesn't just tug her out of the room and push her into the car. Oh no. He pointedly stands around and stares at her, and she knows exactly what he wants her to do, so instead of putting her clothes back on she drops the sheet and makes like she's got no clue.
"Chloe," he says, and rolls his eyes. "I don't have time for this. Put your clothes on."
She folds her arms across her chest. "I'm fine like this," she says.
"We have a very important meeting today."
"Yeah," she replies. Looks at the clock. "In five hours."
"Chloe," he says, "I'll carry you downstairs over my shoulder if I have to."
"No you won't," she says. "You have more subtle ways of punishing me."
"Hey," says Logan from behind her, and she kind of forgot he was there. Which makes her the crappiest reporter ever, so it's a good thing she's not one any longer. "You can stay here if you need to."
She turns and smiles at him, but as her eyes flash past Lex's face she sees the expression on it, and says, "that's very kind of you. Thank you." Kisses him fondly on the cheek. "But Mister Luthor is right. We really do have to be going." Goes into the bathroom to dress, like she's some other person.
Waltzes out the door without a goodbye, looking pretty good for someone with a hangover.
Mercy opens the door for her. Shuts it after her, and Lex slides in across from her. Before the car can even start, before the door is even fully closed, Lex is on his knees.
"I wish you'd stop doing this," he murmurs against her ear as he unbuttons her shirt. "It takes so much time out of my day."
She lies back in her seat. Just like the sofas in her office, really. Reaches a hand for his collar. "Girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."
"Are you saying I don't look after you?" he asks. Scrapes nails down her side.
"I'm saying, chasing after me gets you all hot and bothered."
She smiles, and it's not quite nice.
That's something Lex taught her.
*
She hates the thought of being a stereotype more than anything, so she refuses to suck him off in the limo. It's like a rule, or something, which he respects, because there's nothing worse than becoming a caricature of yourself.
So he pushes her back into the seat, kisses her neck. Negotiates with her. Undresses her. Touches her until she's gasping, until she's reaching for him, pushing him down. Touches her until she can't breathe, until she's absolutely desperate.
Then he stops, because he likes to piss her off.
*
She's impatient. Logan was pretty good, and she's not one for hiding under a laurel, so it's not like she's been frustrated or anything, but she doesn't have to put up with this crap. When he draws away, she reaches down, keeps going where he left off.
Lex sits back in a crouch. Watches.
When she's done, she looks across at him from heavy eyes. "Put your seatbelt on," she says, and he laughs.
*
"Go to bed," says Lex, as the limo comes to a stop. Mercy opens the door and Chloe peers out.
"I don't get to go home?" she asks, but she doesn't sound surprised.
"Your bed or mine, there's still a meeting in five hours and I'd like to be prepared." He doesn't look at her as he gets out of the car. Expects her to follow.
"Mister Luthor," he hears the doorman murmur. "Miss Sullivan," he hears, and knows she's close behind.
He holds the elevator for her, and as the door closes, he reaches for her hand.
"Pick my bed," he says, softly.
She smiles.
"Only if you've got the bedsheets I like."
*
She wakes alone, sun streaming through the curtains. She's pretty sure she smells, so she wanders off for a shower. She emerges, towel wrapped around her, in search of something suitable for meeting Japanese businessmen, and finds Lex in the study, making notes on his laptop.
"Lex," she says, as she glances past his head at the clock behind, "why does that clock say five past ten?"
"Because that's the time, Chloe," he replies. "Didn't you learn that in elementary school?"
"We missed the meeting?"
"I took it without you," he says. Finally looks up at her. Smiles, all teeth and dazzling in the sunlight. "You needed your beauty sleep."
She throws the towel at him and storms out, and wonders if the effect might be ruined by her nudity.
*
After Luthor and Chloe leave, Logan goes back to sleep. When he wakes up again the sun is low on the horizon, and there are five missed calls on his mobile. Trina. Trina. The lawyer. Duncan. Trina. He erases the voicemails without listening, and goes to pay the bill.
"That's not necessary," says the guy at the front desk. "Miss Sullivan will be covering your expenses."
Logan insists. He's not some poor fucker she picked up off the streets, but the guy is adamant and threatens to call security.
Logan leaves without paying. If she wants to buy him off, whatever, so he goes back to his hotel for a shower and to change.
Later, he finds himself back in the same bar, and slides onto a stool next to the same blond.
"You didn't need to buy me off," he growls into her ear.
Chloe turns to face him. "I didn't," she says, confused.
"Uh, Miss Sullivan will be covering your expenses," he mimics, and she frowns.
"Ah," she breathes.
"So drunk you can't remember spending five hundred?" he snips.
"No," she says, and waves for another drink. "So preoccupied I didn't notice Lex fucking me over again." She lifts her glass. Toasts. "I've heard about you, Logan Echolls, but trust me, you haven't been fucked over 'til it's been a Luthor doing the fucking."
Half an hour later in the alley running alongside the bar, he finds himself doing a little fucking of his own. She wraps her arms around him and pulls him tight. Kisses him hard and runs a hand between them. He fumbles with zippers and buttons until it's just skin and fingers and damp heat, and when she comes she says Lex's name, so Logan fucks her until she comes again and the word 'Logan' drops from her lips. And then he kisses her a little more.
"Come back to my hotel," he whispers, and she looks around.
"I shouldn't," she says.
He grips her arms. "You should. He won't care."
Slowly, she grins. "But that's the thing," she says, "he will."
*
**
The previous night aside, it's been a while since she's had sex with anyone other than Lex.
It's a little weird, but she's not a blushing virgin or anything, and she's never been afraid to try new things, so when he asks her to his hotel, she says yes.
That, and it'll piss off Lex.
It's the little things.
*
Logan wakes, and she's still in the bed. It gets pretty boring watching her sleep, though, so he gets up, and from the balcony he makes a call.
"I need you to do something for me," he says, and over the phone, Veronica groans.
*
"If he's trying to get over you, you'd think he'd pick someone not short, blonde and perky," says Weevil.
Veronica closes the laptop as Wallace laughs. "He's got a point, V."
She throws them out.
*
The sound of a phone ringing draws his attention back to the room's interior, and as he steps back in he sees Chloe groping for her phone. She glares at the phone's display, before rejecting the call and turning the phone off.
"It's probably too late," she says, and turns to look at Logan, "but it's worth giving it a try."
He shuts the door behind himself. "I don't understand."
"Fifty bucks says someone was tracing my cell." She gets out of the bed and starts pulling her clothes on. "I really should have turned it off back at the club, but I was a bit distracted."
He puts a hand on her arm as she reaches for her purse. "I don't like being used," he says.
"I'm sorry," she replies, and pulls him towards her. She kisses him, and it's a battle of teeth and lips and tongues until she pulls away. "If it's any consolation, you were great."
She moves to go, but he keeps his grip on her arm.
"I'm really not keen on this arrangement we've got going here." He gives a half-grin, and he knows it's more of a grimace. "If he's such an asshole, why do you keep on hopping and skipping back to him?"
"He serves his purpose," she says, and she's so earnest he lets go of her arm in disgust.
"Okay, fine, great, whatever," and he lifts up his hands in a sign of submission.
She steps out the door. Doesn't look back.
*
Logan's hotel bill's been paid. Again.
He's pretty sure she was lying to him.
*
She leans back in her chair, flips through some newspapers. Sometimes she likes to do it the old fashioned way, reading actual newspapers rather than doing it all online. The ink on her fingers, that freshly pressed smell. The stories sorted above the fold and below. It's like being in high school again, and she loves that feeling.
The intercom beeps, and she's not hidden away in the Torch offices any longer. "Miss Sullivan," says Sharon, "your five o'clock is here."
"Please send him in, thank you Sharon, and you can go home now."
The door opens, and she watches the departing figure of Sharon for a second before her eyes focus on Lex, and then the door shuts and she can't see anything but Lex between her and escape. She wonders if she should yell at him. For checking up on her. For having her followed. For keeping her out of the meeting with the Japanese. She wants to tell him he's a controlling, possessive son of a bitch, and he's not going to get anywhere if he won't let her do what she wants.
"You're not my five o'clock," she says instead.
"I am now," he says. "I bought Tudor Tech this morning, whilst you were non-comunicado."
She winces.
*
"So tell me."
"He's worth a lot," says Veronica.
Logan rolls his eyes. "And I don't give a fuck. Tell me about Chloe."
He listens to her sniff over the phone, all delicate and shit. "She was an investigative reporter until she disappeared a few years ago. Now she's a consultant for LexCorp."
"That's it?" asks Logan. "Come on, Veronica, I expected better of your investigative skills."
"What did you expect? Logan, this is Lex Luthor you're talking about here. He can make entire families disappear."
"So he's like the mob?"
"Like the mob, yeah, but no secret handshakes and it's all just him."
"Okay, thanks," he says.
"Be careful!" he hears her yell down the phone before he hangs up.
She always was a little too paranoid.
He wonders if she's jealous.
*
He sits on the same stool in the same bar until close to midnight, and only leaves when the bartender starts counting the till.
He takes home the brunette in the corner instead.
She gives pretty good head, so it's not a total loss of an evening.
*
When Logan wakes up, the brunette's gone, and Lex fucking Luthor is in his hotel room again.
Lex sits in an armchair, arms on the rests and fingers steepled together. He watches Logan until Logan snaps. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Right now," says Luthor, leaning back in the chair, "I'm wondering how someone who hails from California can be quite so pale." Logan looks down, takes note of his nudity.
"You'll note I've got no tan lines," he sneers and wanders around the room looking for clothes. Luthor just nods.
"Yes," he says, "and as attractive as you are, Mister Echolls, I'm not here to ogle your body. I've got all the nubile white flesh I need at home."
"And the crux of our problem," says Logan, throwing his hands into the air before pulling on his pants. "The deceptive Miss Sullivan."
"She's not," says Luthor, and for the first time he looks uneasy. "Stop fucking her," says Luthor, and Logan's glad that Luthor's not one to pussy-foot around, not like some millionaires he knows. Fucking poseurs, all of them.
"Can't control her?"
"Nobody controls Chloe," says Luthor as he rises from the chair. "But I have the power to control every other element." He pauses in front of Logan, all menacing heat but the bald head is, frankly, a bit of a distraction. "And I don't like being this crass, but I thought a famous man like you would appreciate the personal touch." He taps Logan on the chest. "Stop fucking her."
"Or what?"
"Have your little friend do some more research, Mister Echolls. She'll fill in the blanks for you."
Luthor shuts the door.
Logan pushes the table over, and searches for his phone.
*
He lets himself into her apartment.
For all she protests, she doesn't use it that often, but it's familiar all the same and he knows where to find her.
He leans against the door frame, watches her at her desk. "Not coming in to work today?"
"Well," she says. Doesn't look up. "I'm obviously unnecessary, so I didn't think I'd be missed."
He's around the desk before she has a chance to move, and he glares down at her before cupping her chin and turning her to face him.
"I always miss you," he says, and leans in to kiss her, but she pushes him away.
"You can't do this to me, Lex," she says. "I'm more than what I'm worth to you." She doesn't move from her chair, just looks up at him. "Please leave," she says, like she's got some control over the situation.
He lets her think that.
*
"What do you mean, disappeared?" Logan says, before Veronica can say hello.
"Hi, Logan," says Veronica. "I'm doing really great. Weevil says hi-"
"Please," and there's a pleading note in his voice, and she's never really been able to say no to him.
"Couple of years ago," Veronica says, and tucks the phone under her ear so she can type. "Chloe Sullivan was reporting for the Metropolis Daily. She submitted an article on the dealings of TransArt, then nothing for six months, when she started consulting for LexCorp."
"Where was she?" asks Logan, his voice muffled.
Veronica frowns at the screen. Ugh. Tell him to fuck off and die, says the text, courtesy of an IM from Mac.
He sounds really worried. He gets that way sometimes, she types back. "I don't know," she says. "There's just a blank until she turns up at LexCorp."
"God, Veronica. What happened to your great detective skills?"
HE CAN FUCK OFF AND DIE, responds Mac, who disconnects just as the dial tone sounds in Veronica's ear.
She doesn't know why Mac hates Logan so much, but that's a mystery for another time and she dials another number and puts the phone back to her ear.
*
Lex sits in his limo and watches the people walk aimlessly by.
He knows what he needs.
*
Chloe spins in her chair. She's not totally sure what she's just done. Maybe she's quit her job. Maybe she's left Lex.
Probably not, she thinks, bitterly.
The comfort in fighting with Lex Luthor is that he never lets go until he's ready, and when he does nothing stops the fall.
*
There's a knock at the door, so it can't be Lex Luthor again, thank fuck, but it's almost as bad because it's Chloe Sullivan.
He rips the door open. "Why does your boyfriend think he can threaten me?"
She leans against the wall opposite. "He's one of the richest men on the planet," she says, "what else does he need?"
Logan shakes his head. "No, it's more than that." He turns back into his room. "Come in," and she follows him into the darkened room. He gestures to her to take a seat and she does, leaning back in the armchair, unconsciously imitating Luthor's posture from earlier.
"He said not to mess with you," Logan continues, "and to have Veronica check it out. But all Veronica could find was that you used to work for some paper, and then you worked for Luthor. Where's the threat in that?" He looks up, finally, and catches Chloe's eye.
She shrugs. "Who's Veronica?"
"A detective I know." He waves his hand; dismisses a lifetime with four words and a heart beat. "Answer my question."
She sits forward in the chair, and bumps knees with Logan. Cocks her head. "Tell me why you're so interested."
Logan shrugs. "I like blondes."
*
Chloe makes a couple of phone calls, pulls a few favours. Puts her feelers out for a new job.
Everybody wants to hire an ex-LuthorCorp employee.
Nobody ever actually hires one.
*
Chloe's phone rings at five past nine one morning a couple of days later. "Where are you?" asks Lex.
"I quit," she replies.
"No," he says. "I don't think so."
*
She pours sugar into her coffee, and flips through the paper. Crap, she thinks as she pages through the news, poor grammar, flawed reporting, and she pushes the papers away in disgust.
Her phone rings.
"Your ten o'clock is ready," her assistant says.
"No," says Chloe. "I don't have a ten o'clock."
A guy slides into the chair opposite her, and holds out a hand. "Ms Sullivan," he says. "I'm Edwards, from GothamWorks."
Sometimes Chloe hates Lex Luthor.
She still takes the meeting.
*
"What part of no don't you understand?" She calls him as soon as Edwards leaves. "I know you're not stupid."
"You didn't mean it," he says.
"I could have sabotaged your stupid meeting," she counters.
"What we're building means too much to you," he says, and breathes out into the silence.
He's right, the fucking bastard, but that doesn't stop her from hanging up on him.
*
When Logan opens the door Chloe's there, and she pushes him inside, slams the door shut and leads him to the bed. She has a hand down his pants before he can say hello, and she has him seeing stars before he can ask her why she's there.
After, she rolls onto her side, her back to him. He doesn't miss the symbolism.
"I'm only keeping you around so I can find out what you know," he says.
"I don't know anything," she replies, and starts looking for her clothes.
He knows she lies.
*
Lex dials Chloe's number himself.
"You've reached Chloe Sullivan," says her voicemail, "leave a message, and I'll get back to you. I don't appreciate unsolicited messages, so please don't leave them."
He knows that's a message directed at him.
He needs to tread carefully.
He starts by calling her assistant.
*
She's careful not to stay in one place too long. A half hour here, twenty minutes there; nothing long enough for a meeting.
She gets job offers: newspapers and charities and commercial entities.
The jobs are like flowers, and she throws them in the bin.
*
"Found anything?" asks Logan.
"Logan," Veronica sighs into the phone. "There's nothing here to find."
"He's got to have bodies buried in his office."
"You should just come back to Neptune," she says. "You're clearly not enjoying yourself out there, and we miss you."
"We," scoffs Logan. "Right. Later, Veronica. Thanks for your help."
He hangs up, and rests his head in his hands. Women. Maybe he really would be better off going home. At least there it's just Veronica. And his sister.
He looks at the phone, and thinks about calling his sister.
The phone rings.
*
Chloe leans against the door. "I'm not letting you in," she says.
"This is as hard as I try, Chloe," Lex says. "There's nothing left to do."
"Think about someone else for once," she replies. "That's all you have to do."
"I am," he says. "I'm thinking about you."
She looks at him.
*
"Son," his father says. "I need you to stop asking questions about Lex Luthor."
"Dad?" asks Logan. "Are you even allowed to make phone calls in prison?"
"Of course I am, son," replies Aaron. "Now, listen to me. I'm only looking out for our family, here. You need to stop asking questions about Luthor."
"Why?" snaps Logan. "He going to kill me?"
"He's an old friend," says Aaron. "He would never do that. But look, he's helping me out, and if you keep snooping around he might stop."
"You won't get out of jail? Sounds great to me."
"He won't keep you out," says Aaron, and Logan hangs up.
Logan fucking hates his father.
*
Postcard under the door: fuck you, it says, and it doesn't matter who it's for. Lex folds it once and smiles.
Old friends.
*
"I don't need this," says Lex.
"I know," Chloe replies.
"Don't do it again," he says, and in his head, he sees tomorrow's headlines printed clearly.
Luthor's Presidential Bid, the papers will all say, and he knows everything will be fine.
**
END
veronica mars/smallville
this is just an excuse for a whole lot of fucking.
spoilers for s1 vmars, but it's au after that
this sort of follows on from a restaurant with white tablecloths, but only sort of. and this one is much pornier. and with less point.
most of this was written several months ago, and i found it this afternoon and decided to finish it off and kick it out the door.
***
Logan's never been to Metropolis before, so he starts where every good tourist from California starts: the bars. He doesn't get past the first one, though, because there's this blonde on a bar stool and she looks hot enough and he thinks, yeah, maybe.
He orders two beers, and slides onto the barstool beside her.
"I'm going to offer you this drink," he says, "and it's just because you're good looking. Try not to read into it."
She looks up at him, gives a wry little grin. "Okay," she says, "but you need to know that I'm not going to fuck you."
"That's okay," he says, and it is. She can allow herself the little lie if she wants to, because she'll change her mind soon enough.
"So. I'm not from around here. Can you tell?"
"Yeah," she says, and laughs. "You need to be a little more hard-ass to pass in Metropolis."
She drinks from the bottle, and pauses. "Say," she says, "you're not a journalist, are you?"
*
She kisses kind of sloppily, but it's soft and there's very little teeth, so he blames it on the alcohol and keeps kissing her. They hail a cab, and she tells him they have to go back to his hotel but the name is a haze so they pick one at random, fall out of the taxi and laugh as he tries to book a room.
He doesn't notice that even in her inebriated state she keeps her head down. He's too busy nibbling her neck and running a hand down her body. Too busy getting a room key and wobbling into the lift.
They fall onto the bed, all arms and legs and laughter but when they fuck it's hard. She twists his nipple and scratches his scalp, and when she comes it's totally not his name on her lips, but whatever.
He falls asleep then, and he guesses she must have too, because when he wakes up she's sitting on the edge of the bed, sheet wrapped around her. He puts a hand on her back, and she moans.
"We should not have done that," she says, and it's the last thing she says to Logan because suddenly the room door is open and two women enter the room, and then there's Lex fucking Luthor in Logan's hotel room.
"Chloe," Luthor says, eyes on the blonde. "I wish you wouldn't embarrass me like this."
"Like what?" Chloe asks. Stands and drops the sheet.
Lex Luthor rolls his eyes.
*
Because he's Lex Luthor, and because he has an image to maintain, he doesn't just tug her out of the room and push her into the car. Oh no. He pointedly stands around and stares at her, and she knows exactly what he wants her to do, so instead of putting her clothes back on she drops the sheet and makes like she's got no clue.
"Chloe," he says, and rolls his eyes. "I don't have time for this. Put your clothes on."
She folds her arms across her chest. "I'm fine like this," she says.
"We have a very important meeting today."
"Yeah," she replies. Looks at the clock. "In five hours."
"Chloe," he says, "I'll carry you downstairs over my shoulder if I have to."
"No you won't," she says. "You have more subtle ways of punishing me."
"Hey," says Logan from behind her, and she kind of forgot he was there. Which makes her the crappiest reporter ever, so it's a good thing she's not one any longer. "You can stay here if you need to."
She turns and smiles at him, but as her eyes flash past Lex's face she sees the expression on it, and says, "that's very kind of you. Thank you." Kisses him fondly on the cheek. "But Mister Luthor is right. We really do have to be going." Goes into the bathroom to dress, like she's some other person.
Waltzes out the door without a goodbye, looking pretty good for someone with a hangover.
Mercy opens the door for her. Shuts it after her, and Lex slides in across from her. Before the car can even start, before the door is even fully closed, Lex is on his knees.
"I wish you'd stop doing this," he murmurs against her ear as he unbuttons her shirt. "It takes so much time out of my day."
She lies back in her seat. Just like the sofas in her office, really. Reaches a hand for his collar. "Girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."
"Are you saying I don't look after you?" he asks. Scrapes nails down her side.
"I'm saying, chasing after me gets you all hot and bothered."
She smiles, and it's not quite nice.
That's something Lex taught her.
*
She hates the thought of being a stereotype more than anything, so she refuses to suck him off in the limo. It's like a rule, or something, which he respects, because there's nothing worse than becoming a caricature of yourself.
So he pushes her back into the seat, kisses her neck. Negotiates with her. Undresses her. Touches her until she's gasping, until she's reaching for him, pushing him down. Touches her until she can't breathe, until she's absolutely desperate.
Then he stops, because he likes to piss her off.
*
She's impatient. Logan was pretty good, and she's not one for hiding under a laurel, so it's not like she's been frustrated or anything, but she doesn't have to put up with this crap. When he draws away, she reaches down, keeps going where he left off.
Lex sits back in a crouch. Watches.
When she's done, she looks across at him from heavy eyes. "Put your seatbelt on," she says, and he laughs.
*
"Go to bed," says Lex, as the limo comes to a stop. Mercy opens the door and Chloe peers out.
"I don't get to go home?" she asks, but she doesn't sound surprised.
"Your bed or mine, there's still a meeting in five hours and I'd like to be prepared." He doesn't look at her as he gets out of the car. Expects her to follow.
"Mister Luthor," he hears the doorman murmur. "Miss Sullivan," he hears, and knows she's close behind.
He holds the elevator for her, and as the door closes, he reaches for her hand.
"Pick my bed," he says, softly.
She smiles.
"Only if you've got the bedsheets I like."
*
She wakes alone, sun streaming through the curtains. She's pretty sure she smells, so she wanders off for a shower. She emerges, towel wrapped around her, in search of something suitable for meeting Japanese businessmen, and finds Lex in the study, making notes on his laptop.
"Lex," she says, as she glances past his head at the clock behind, "why does that clock say five past ten?"
"Because that's the time, Chloe," he replies. "Didn't you learn that in elementary school?"
"We missed the meeting?"
"I took it without you," he says. Finally looks up at her. Smiles, all teeth and dazzling in the sunlight. "You needed your beauty sleep."
She throws the towel at him and storms out, and wonders if the effect might be ruined by her nudity.
*
After Luthor and Chloe leave, Logan goes back to sleep. When he wakes up again the sun is low on the horizon, and there are five missed calls on his mobile. Trina. Trina. The lawyer. Duncan. Trina. He erases the voicemails without listening, and goes to pay the bill.
"That's not necessary," says the guy at the front desk. "Miss Sullivan will be covering your expenses."
Logan insists. He's not some poor fucker she picked up off the streets, but the guy is adamant and threatens to call security.
Logan leaves without paying. If she wants to buy him off, whatever, so he goes back to his hotel for a shower and to change.
Later, he finds himself back in the same bar, and slides onto a stool next to the same blond.
"You didn't need to buy me off," he growls into her ear.
Chloe turns to face him. "I didn't," she says, confused.
"Uh, Miss Sullivan will be covering your expenses," he mimics, and she frowns.
"Ah," she breathes.
"So drunk you can't remember spending five hundred?" he snips.
"No," she says, and waves for another drink. "So preoccupied I didn't notice Lex fucking me over again." She lifts her glass. Toasts. "I've heard about you, Logan Echolls, but trust me, you haven't been fucked over 'til it's been a Luthor doing the fucking."
Half an hour later in the alley running alongside the bar, he finds himself doing a little fucking of his own. She wraps her arms around him and pulls him tight. Kisses him hard and runs a hand between them. He fumbles with zippers and buttons until it's just skin and fingers and damp heat, and when she comes she says Lex's name, so Logan fucks her until she comes again and the word 'Logan' drops from her lips. And then he kisses her a little more.
"Come back to my hotel," he whispers, and she looks around.
"I shouldn't," she says.
He grips her arms. "You should. He won't care."
Slowly, she grins. "But that's the thing," she says, "he will."
*
**
The previous night aside, it's been a while since she's had sex with anyone other than Lex.
It's a little weird, but she's not a blushing virgin or anything, and she's never been afraid to try new things, so when he asks her to his hotel, she says yes.
That, and it'll piss off Lex.
It's the little things.
*
Logan wakes, and she's still in the bed. It gets pretty boring watching her sleep, though, so he gets up, and from the balcony he makes a call.
"I need you to do something for me," he says, and over the phone, Veronica groans.
*
"If he's trying to get over you, you'd think he'd pick someone not short, blonde and perky," says Weevil.
Veronica closes the laptop as Wallace laughs. "He's got a point, V."
She throws them out.
*
The sound of a phone ringing draws his attention back to the room's interior, and as he steps back in he sees Chloe groping for her phone. She glares at the phone's display, before rejecting the call and turning the phone off.
"It's probably too late," she says, and turns to look at Logan, "but it's worth giving it a try."
He shuts the door behind himself. "I don't understand."
"Fifty bucks says someone was tracing my cell." She gets out of the bed and starts pulling her clothes on. "I really should have turned it off back at the club, but I was a bit distracted."
He puts a hand on her arm as she reaches for her purse. "I don't like being used," he says.
"I'm sorry," she replies, and pulls him towards her. She kisses him, and it's a battle of teeth and lips and tongues until she pulls away. "If it's any consolation, you were great."
She moves to go, but he keeps his grip on her arm.
"I'm really not keen on this arrangement we've got going here." He gives a half-grin, and he knows it's more of a grimace. "If he's such an asshole, why do you keep on hopping and skipping back to him?"
"He serves his purpose," she says, and she's so earnest he lets go of her arm in disgust.
"Okay, fine, great, whatever," and he lifts up his hands in a sign of submission.
She steps out the door. Doesn't look back.
*
Logan's hotel bill's been paid. Again.
He's pretty sure she was lying to him.
*
She leans back in her chair, flips through some newspapers. Sometimes she likes to do it the old fashioned way, reading actual newspapers rather than doing it all online. The ink on her fingers, that freshly pressed smell. The stories sorted above the fold and below. It's like being in high school again, and she loves that feeling.
The intercom beeps, and she's not hidden away in the Torch offices any longer. "Miss Sullivan," says Sharon, "your five o'clock is here."
"Please send him in, thank you Sharon, and you can go home now."
The door opens, and she watches the departing figure of Sharon for a second before her eyes focus on Lex, and then the door shuts and she can't see anything but Lex between her and escape. She wonders if she should yell at him. For checking up on her. For having her followed. For keeping her out of the meeting with the Japanese. She wants to tell him he's a controlling, possessive son of a bitch, and he's not going to get anywhere if he won't let her do what she wants.
"You're not my five o'clock," she says instead.
"I am now," he says. "I bought Tudor Tech this morning, whilst you were non-comunicado."
She winces.
*
"So tell me."
"He's worth a lot," says Veronica.
Logan rolls his eyes. "And I don't give a fuck. Tell me about Chloe."
He listens to her sniff over the phone, all delicate and shit. "She was an investigative reporter until she disappeared a few years ago. Now she's a consultant for LexCorp."
"That's it?" asks Logan. "Come on, Veronica, I expected better of your investigative skills."
"What did you expect? Logan, this is Lex Luthor you're talking about here. He can make entire families disappear."
"So he's like the mob?"
"Like the mob, yeah, but no secret handshakes and it's all just him."
"Okay, thanks," he says.
"Be careful!" he hears her yell down the phone before he hangs up.
She always was a little too paranoid.
He wonders if she's jealous.
*
He sits on the same stool in the same bar until close to midnight, and only leaves when the bartender starts counting the till.
He takes home the brunette in the corner instead.
She gives pretty good head, so it's not a total loss of an evening.
*
When Logan wakes up, the brunette's gone, and Lex fucking Luthor is in his hotel room again.
Lex sits in an armchair, arms on the rests and fingers steepled together. He watches Logan until Logan snaps. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Right now," says Luthor, leaning back in the chair, "I'm wondering how someone who hails from California can be quite so pale." Logan looks down, takes note of his nudity.
"You'll note I've got no tan lines," he sneers and wanders around the room looking for clothes. Luthor just nods.
"Yes," he says, "and as attractive as you are, Mister Echolls, I'm not here to ogle your body. I've got all the nubile white flesh I need at home."
"And the crux of our problem," says Logan, throwing his hands into the air before pulling on his pants. "The deceptive Miss Sullivan."
"She's not," says Luthor, and for the first time he looks uneasy. "Stop fucking her," says Luthor, and Logan's glad that Luthor's not one to pussy-foot around, not like some millionaires he knows. Fucking poseurs, all of them.
"Can't control her?"
"Nobody controls Chloe," says Luthor as he rises from the chair. "But I have the power to control every other element." He pauses in front of Logan, all menacing heat but the bald head is, frankly, a bit of a distraction. "And I don't like being this crass, but I thought a famous man like you would appreciate the personal touch." He taps Logan on the chest. "Stop fucking her."
"Or what?"
"Have your little friend do some more research, Mister Echolls. She'll fill in the blanks for you."
Luthor shuts the door.
Logan pushes the table over, and searches for his phone.
*
He lets himself into her apartment.
For all she protests, she doesn't use it that often, but it's familiar all the same and he knows where to find her.
He leans against the door frame, watches her at her desk. "Not coming in to work today?"
"Well," she says. Doesn't look up. "I'm obviously unnecessary, so I didn't think I'd be missed."
He's around the desk before she has a chance to move, and he glares down at her before cupping her chin and turning her to face him.
"I always miss you," he says, and leans in to kiss her, but she pushes him away.
"You can't do this to me, Lex," she says. "I'm more than what I'm worth to you." She doesn't move from her chair, just looks up at him. "Please leave," she says, like she's got some control over the situation.
He lets her think that.
*
"What do you mean, disappeared?" Logan says, before Veronica can say hello.
"Hi, Logan," says Veronica. "I'm doing really great. Weevil says hi-"
"Please," and there's a pleading note in his voice, and she's never really been able to say no to him.
"Couple of years ago," Veronica says, and tucks the phone under her ear so she can type. "Chloe Sullivan was reporting for the Metropolis Daily. She submitted an article on the dealings of TransArt, then nothing for six months, when she started consulting for LexCorp."
"Where was she?" asks Logan, his voice muffled.
Veronica frowns at the screen. Ugh. Tell him to fuck off and die, says the text, courtesy of an IM from Mac.
He sounds really worried. He gets that way sometimes, she types back. "I don't know," she says. "There's just a blank until she turns up at LexCorp."
"God, Veronica. What happened to your great detective skills?"
HE CAN FUCK OFF AND DIE, responds Mac, who disconnects just as the dial tone sounds in Veronica's ear.
She doesn't know why Mac hates Logan so much, but that's a mystery for another time and she dials another number and puts the phone back to her ear.
*
Lex sits in his limo and watches the people walk aimlessly by.
He knows what he needs.
*
Chloe spins in her chair. She's not totally sure what she's just done. Maybe she's quit her job. Maybe she's left Lex.
Probably not, she thinks, bitterly.
The comfort in fighting with Lex Luthor is that he never lets go until he's ready, and when he does nothing stops the fall.
*
There's a knock at the door, so it can't be Lex Luthor again, thank fuck, but it's almost as bad because it's Chloe Sullivan.
He rips the door open. "Why does your boyfriend think he can threaten me?"
She leans against the wall opposite. "He's one of the richest men on the planet," she says, "what else does he need?"
Logan shakes his head. "No, it's more than that." He turns back into his room. "Come in," and she follows him into the darkened room. He gestures to her to take a seat and she does, leaning back in the armchair, unconsciously imitating Luthor's posture from earlier.
"He said not to mess with you," Logan continues, "and to have Veronica check it out. But all Veronica could find was that you used to work for some paper, and then you worked for Luthor. Where's the threat in that?" He looks up, finally, and catches Chloe's eye.
She shrugs. "Who's Veronica?"
"A detective I know." He waves his hand; dismisses a lifetime with four words and a heart beat. "Answer my question."
She sits forward in the chair, and bumps knees with Logan. Cocks her head. "Tell me why you're so interested."
Logan shrugs. "I like blondes."
*
Chloe makes a couple of phone calls, pulls a few favours. Puts her feelers out for a new job.
Everybody wants to hire an ex-LuthorCorp employee.
Nobody ever actually hires one.
*
Chloe's phone rings at five past nine one morning a couple of days later. "Where are you?" asks Lex.
"I quit," she replies.
"No," he says. "I don't think so."
*
She pours sugar into her coffee, and flips through the paper. Crap, she thinks as she pages through the news, poor grammar, flawed reporting, and she pushes the papers away in disgust.
Her phone rings.
"Your ten o'clock is ready," her assistant says.
"No," says Chloe. "I don't have a ten o'clock."
A guy slides into the chair opposite her, and holds out a hand. "Ms Sullivan," he says. "I'm Edwards, from GothamWorks."
Sometimes Chloe hates Lex Luthor.
She still takes the meeting.
*
"What part of no don't you understand?" She calls him as soon as Edwards leaves. "I know you're not stupid."
"You didn't mean it," he says.
"I could have sabotaged your stupid meeting," she counters.
"What we're building means too much to you," he says, and breathes out into the silence.
He's right, the fucking bastard, but that doesn't stop her from hanging up on him.
*
When Logan opens the door Chloe's there, and she pushes him inside, slams the door shut and leads him to the bed. She has a hand down his pants before he can say hello, and she has him seeing stars before he can ask her why she's there.
After, she rolls onto her side, her back to him. He doesn't miss the symbolism.
"I'm only keeping you around so I can find out what you know," he says.
"I don't know anything," she replies, and starts looking for her clothes.
He knows she lies.
*
Lex dials Chloe's number himself.
"You've reached Chloe Sullivan," says her voicemail, "leave a message, and I'll get back to you. I don't appreciate unsolicited messages, so please don't leave them."
He knows that's a message directed at him.
He needs to tread carefully.
He starts by calling her assistant.
*
She's careful not to stay in one place too long. A half hour here, twenty minutes there; nothing long enough for a meeting.
She gets job offers: newspapers and charities and commercial entities.
The jobs are like flowers, and she throws them in the bin.
*
"Found anything?" asks Logan.
"Logan," Veronica sighs into the phone. "There's nothing here to find."
"He's got to have bodies buried in his office."
"You should just come back to Neptune," she says. "You're clearly not enjoying yourself out there, and we miss you."
"We," scoffs Logan. "Right. Later, Veronica. Thanks for your help."
He hangs up, and rests his head in his hands. Women. Maybe he really would be better off going home. At least there it's just Veronica. And his sister.
He looks at the phone, and thinks about calling his sister.
The phone rings.
*
Chloe leans against the door. "I'm not letting you in," she says.
"This is as hard as I try, Chloe," Lex says. "There's nothing left to do."
"Think about someone else for once," she replies. "That's all you have to do."
"I am," he says. "I'm thinking about you."
She looks at him.
*
"Son," his father says. "I need you to stop asking questions about Lex Luthor."
"Dad?" asks Logan. "Are you even allowed to make phone calls in prison?"
"Of course I am, son," replies Aaron. "Now, listen to me. I'm only looking out for our family, here. You need to stop asking questions about Luthor."
"Why?" snaps Logan. "He going to kill me?"
"He's an old friend," says Aaron. "He would never do that. But look, he's helping me out, and if you keep snooping around he might stop."
"You won't get out of jail? Sounds great to me."
"He won't keep you out," says Aaron, and Logan hangs up.
Logan fucking hates his father.
*
Postcard under the door: fuck you, it says, and it doesn't matter who it's for. Lex folds it once and smiles.
Old friends.
*
"I don't need this," says Lex.
"I know," Chloe replies.
"Don't do it again," he says, and in his head, he sees tomorrow's headlines printed clearly.
Luthor's Presidential Bid, the papers will all say, and he knows everything will be fine.
**
END
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 07:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 07:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 07:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 04:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 07:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 04:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 08:06 am (UTC)::loves on you::
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 04:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 10:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 04:17 pm (UTC)The funny thing is, everyone has been commenting on hot this was, but I totally didn't realise it was hot...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 04:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 11:08 am (UTC)Damn, but this is good. Very very good.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 04:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 04:47 pm (UTC)Which I told you a while ago when you e-mailed the bulk of it to me, but I leave a comment now anyway SINCE YOU NAGGED ME ABOUT IT!
HAPPY NOW, PEN?! HAPPY?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 04:50 pm (UTC)EEEEECHLOEANDLEXEEE!!
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-07 05:11 pm (UTC)omglexandchloeeee!
This serves only to remind me that I want a Lex in the RPG that I am playing Chloe in. WOE.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-26 04:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-27 07:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-27 07:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-27 07:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-12 12:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-13 10:28 am (UTC)