Unleashed by Blaire (R/NC17)

[Blaire]

Title: Unleashed
Author: Blaire
Rating: R/NC17
Pairing: Chlex
Summary: AU. Lex has taken over LuthorCorp after Lionel's death. He then learns of all the experiment taking place in the labs. Based loosely on the movie of the same name.
Disclaimer: The WB and DC comics own my three main characters. Even if I have already killed one of them off.
A/N: I have many more fics that are WIPs but I'm only currently working on updating this one, about once a week.





1.

Lex stood with his back straight, hands clasped behind him, as he surveyed one of the many rooms of LuthorCorp's testing facilities. He had been observing how the meteor rocks affected those who were in direct contact with it, and he was aware that his father had already collected a large number of 'pets' as they were dubbed.

"Is this the last of them?"

His crisp, articulate voice startled the lab-coated man beside him and he feigned boredom as the man jumped before turning to him. "Ah, as far as meteor rocks are concerned, this is the last one."

Lex narrowed his eyes on the 'pet' on the other side of the impenetrable glass wall. "Very good." He replied with a nod and tucked his hands into the pockets of his pleated slacks. He turned just as a lab door was opened and another 'pet' was escorted in. He looked her over from head to foot, noting the short cut of the blonde hair streaked with dirt, the way her clothes hung loosely on her. He surveyed the way she walked docile-like in front of the scientist behind her. Her movements were slow and calculated. Her head bowed even as she moved forward.

Lex's eyebrows rose simultaneously as his eyes fixed on the metal contraption around her neck. "What's that?"

The man beside him looked up from his recordings in his patients file and followed Lex's gaze. "It's a girl, sir."

Lex looked down at the man beside him and waited for him to go on. When the man shifted under his scrutinizing stare, Lex sighed. "I meant what is that around her neck?"

The man looked up and watched as she proceeded down the hall where she was taken through another set of titanium doors. "It's a collar, sir."

Lex brought his hand up to his face and stroked his chin for a moment. "What purpose does it serve?"

The man's eyes gleamed and he laughed outright. Lex immediately looked down at him, his glare quickly shutting him up. "It's a control device."

Lex looked back up at the door as it shut and then nodded toward the door. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to show me?"

The nurse hesitated a moment and then cleared his throat, clearly nervous. "I don't, exactly, have the level of clearance in order to get you in."

Lex groaned silently and looked back down at the man. When he simply stood there, staring right back at him, Lex said through clenched teeth, "Then why don't you go find someone who can?"

Immediately the man scampered away, leaving Lex standing in the middle of the lab and observation rooms. Impatiently he cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck. A minute passed, then two, and soon an older woman stepped through the doors, her dark hair pulled back in a neat twist, her smile cautious.

"Mr. Luthor." She held out her hand to him and Lex had to refrain from rolling his eyes. He shook her hand briefly and then gestured to the door and the room beyond. Her smile was slightly shaky as she nodded and led him to the door. Immediately it swung open and she led the way through a long metal panneled corridor. As they reached yet another door she began to speak and he had to concentrate in order to pay attention. "Your father began this little experiment close to a decade ago. It's really rather fascinating, if I may be so bold." She went through a brief retina scan and then with her left hand on a screen she swiped her card with her right and a computerized voice above their heads recited her name, complete with the PH and D behind it. He could hear the locks sliding through the bolts in the door and then it too swung open.

Lex stopped and held in a gasp as he looked at what might have been a basement. The walls were made of stone and slate, the stairs in front of him leading down into darkness. "Where exactly are we? I don't recall this room being on the blueprints."

Dr. Miller put a hand to her chest and laughed softly. "Oh, no. No, you definitely wouldn't." She sweeped her hand out in front of her, gesturing to the cavernous room as a whole. "This is what we call Level 0." At his level look she seemed to twitter nervously and start down the steeply descending steps. Lex couldn't help but notice that those too were made of stone. She continued to speak in a hushed but hurried voice as they made their way down, the stairs curving once around and heading in another direction. He could just make out a few soft orbs of light. "This 'pet' in particular is quite fascinating. It was never exposed to meteor rocks. Instead, your father used it as a kind of human conditioning." She looked over her shoulder at him as they neared the rock solid ground. "It's kind of like, spoil a child, and they will want for everything. Give a child nothing, and they won't." She reached her hand out and felt for a light switch. As she flicked the switch upward Lex nearly had to shield his eyes because of all the fluorescent lights that came on. It took him a moment to get used to the light, and he nearly gawked at what he came face to face with. "In this case, condition a human to obey completely to it's master. It will become an actual pet, a dog, if you will." She walked over to where a small wooden desk sat and picked up a file, flipping through it. She smiled up at him, as if she saw nothing wrong with this situation at all.

As his eyes became used to the light, he looked around him, contained his urge to throw up. Because there was a human, in what this large room could only be called a kennel. The sudden twist of his stomach, the bile that creeped up into his throat had him swallowing hard.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

At her voice, a head whipped around in her direction and she smiled at the other doctor. "Dr. Miller." He nodded and walked toward her. "How good to see you."

Lex cleared his throat and the older man stopped and looked him over. "Mr. Luthor. How kind of you to join us."

Lex looked around the room, taking small steps toward the man, across the dirty floor. "The pleasure is all mine, Dr..." He looked down at the man's coat and read his name off, "Dr Kimble."

The older man nodded and pumped Lex's hand twice. "Nice to finally meet the man in charge."

Lex bared his teeth in what some could call a smile. "Likewise." He said as he extracted his hand and his eyes wandered around the room. "Excuse me for being nosy, I saw you walking through the lab and my curiosity got the better of me."

"Oh." Dr. Kimble looked over his shoulder and it was then Lex saw the girl from upstairs. She was sitting on a bare mattress, her legs bent, knees pulled up to her chest. Her small arms wrapped around them, hugging them to herself. Lex fought the sudden urge to sob and reach out for her.

No matter what anyone said or believed of him, he was not an animal. He was not his father. He had a heart, and it still beat inside him. He could not tear his eyes away from her prone figure, even when she turned her face and her clear hazel eyes looked right into his, through him and past him. "Could I?" Lex nodded his head and indicated the girl, and could help but notice the small weary look that passed over the Dr's face as he shrugged and nodded.

"Sure, I don't see what not."

Lex stepped toward the girl, amazed when she kept her eyes locked on his. Behind him Dr. Kimble cleared his throat, her eyes flew over to her master's for a moment before she trembled and turned them down, looking instead at the tops of her knees. Lex closed his eyes briefly and then shot a glare over his shoulder at the other two Dr's. "Why don't you get some air?" He said to both of them.

Immediately Dr. Kimble twisted his hands and shook his head. "Oh, no. I don't think that would be a good idea at all, sir."

Lex leveled his most harrowing stare at him and watched them both nod and retreat. At the sound of the footsteps falling away he turned back around toward the girl and closed the distance seperating them. She still didn't meet his gaze. Her eyes shifted over to his shoes, and then back to the tops of her knees where they held.

He squatted beside her and the ratty mattress, stuffing leaking out of one of the corners. "Hello."

His voice was soft, almost too soft for him to hear, so he tried again. "Hello."

The girl blinked and continued to look down at her knees.

"I'm Lex."

She blinked once again and her eyes darted over to his shoes and away again.

"Can you speak?"

"Lex." She repeated. Lex smiled and nodded.

"That's right. I'm Lex. What your name?" As he said it he reached out slowly, drawn by the metal clasp with the LuthorCorp logo etched in it on her collar. Needless to say, he was surprised when he found his arm twisted behind his back and knee pressed into the middle of his spine while the side of his face rubbed against the dirty stone floor.

"Heel!" A voice yelled and almost as quickly as it had happened, he was turned free and the pressure on his arm and back were alleviated. Lex pushed himself up with his hands and looked over his shoulder where the girl stood perfectly still, her arms hanging at her sides, her blonde hair sticking up everywhere. "I'm so sorry, Sir." Dr. Kimble reached his side and pulled him the rest of the way up. Lex brushed off his shirt and pants and took the handkerchief out of his breast pocket to wipe away the dirt smudged across his face.

"It's no problem." He replied as he stood nearly a foot away from the girl, her eyes downcast. Lex looked down at his shoes, didn't see anything but his reflection. "I'm sure it was my fault." He said as he looked over at the doctor.

Dr. Kimble nodded and took the girl by her elbow, leading her over to a small containment area in the corner of the room, on the wall opposite her mattress. "Bathe." He instructed and he watched in stunned silence as the girl started to remove her baggy clothing. What he didn't expect to see was a woman. Lex cleared his throat and averted his eyes back to the doctor.

"I was going to touch her collar." He confessed.

Dr. Kimble nodded and sighed, running his hands through his dark hair, making it more apparent that it was shot through with differing shades of grays. "Yes, it's aware that the only one to touch it's collar is it's master."

Lex narrowed his eyes at something he'd picked up earlier but hadn't given much thought to. "You keep calling her an 'it'. Why is that?"

"Mr. Luthor." The doctor's disgruntled voice came out on another sigh, this one longer and more drawn out. "I think it's time you learned the background of this experiment."

Lex nodded and heard the water shutting off, he couldn't keep his eyes from darting over to the blonde as she stepped out from under the trickling spray. "I think you may be right, Dr."

[Blaire]

2.

Lex fought the urge to yell, to scream, to throw something against the wall. The girl down in Level 0 was Chloe Sullivan. Chloe Sullivan was an orphan his father had adopted illegally from a shelter for children whose parents had both died. Chloe Sullivan was a 17 year old girl whose life had been stripped away at the young age of 6 years old when his father had decided he was bored and wanted to see what would happen if he kept a little girl locked away in a cage.

Lex flipped through an endless sheaf of papers that were incredibly classified. So classified in fact that they were almost hidden from him. Not even the two doctors that had the top level security clearance to go down to Level 0 had copies of these documents. On his fathers orders they would email them to him directly on a secure connection and then destroy any evidence of the project.

But his father hadn't just done all those things and left it at that, not that that wasn't bad enough. His father had had more in mind than just observation on a young girl. She'd been bought, bribed for, stolen away from her childhood for a reason.

And that was evidence enough of the fact that Lionel Luthor had not been sane. He'd been ill in the head, Lex was sure. Because his father had taken a little girl away from the only thing she knew.

Innocence.

And what he'd given her in return. She'd been conditioned. She knew what it was to starve, he stared down at the documents in his hands with disgust. At one point in time she'd gone longer than a week without food or human contact. She'd been shy as a child in an orphanage, only having been there for nearly two weeks before Lionel had found her and snatched her away, and because of the loneliness, he noted as he flipped through pages and pages of computer print outs and his father's handwritten notes, she had never really learned to speak. Didn't really know the first steps of communication. Never learned to read or write, never learned to do anything really but protect herself, and not even that when it came to his father.

The weekly regimine chart of hers starting from when she was just 10 years old showed the beatings she could take. Scribbled documentation of how many whippings, how long before she'd start to cry, how long she'd start to sob, and finally how long before she'd start to plead.

Each chart showed that she'd been conditioned to detach herself from her surroundings at the drop of a hat. The last few charts showed only that she hadn't showed any weaknesses after 20 lashings, but what made his stomach churn even more than it already was, was that underneath that, with a small star beside it, in his father's own slanted writing was Pet shows true potential.

Lex stood up from his desk abruptly, pushing away from the papers scattered all over it. Pushing away from the rage, the agony, the indescribable need to do something, anything. He took calming breaths as he fought the urge to shudder and cry for the child lost. For the innocent youth forced to live in a cage. Instead he curled his hands into fists of rage and with determined strides, left his office to take care of a few things. First and foremost, to free Chloe Sullivan.

***
He was sure he'd made it to the steel doors of Level 0 with record time, and still he couldn't get anyone mulling around to open the door.

"Are you telling me there are only two people in this whole building who have access keys to this door, and they aren't even here for the day nor are they reachable by phone?"

Marsha, a resident nurse who frequently worked with the 'pets' backed up a little as her boss' words were forced out through gritted teeth.

She allowed herself a laugh, trying to cover up the nervousness behind it. "Well, it is a holiday, Mr. Luthor."

Lex took a step forward and as she started retreating he followed, allowing her to trap herself between a concrete wall and him. He kept a professional distance but didn't bother to mask the disgust on his face. "There is a person down there and I'm not moving until I can get in there. Where do they keep the spare key?"

Marsha gulped, trying to wet her dry throat so her words didn't sound like a croak coming out. It didn't work. "There isn't one." She said hoarsely.

Lex bared his teeth at her. "Then call security and have them come prepared with whatever they might need to break open this door."

Marsha couldn't even glance away at the lethal look in his eyes. "Like what?" She whispered.

"A crow bar, explosives, I don't care how they do it, I want this door opened."

Marsha swallowed convulsively as she made her way to the nurses station and rang for the security team. She may have been hired under Lionel's watchful eye, but he'd never come across as threatening as Lex did. He'd been smarmy and flirty and most of the time very creepy, but she'd never seen the elder Luthor look so determined as she did the younger one at that moment.

***

Ten minutes and three huge security men later, the door was open and the second one was being worked on. Metal scraping against metal, the grunting as men worked open the latched door.

"You're going to have to replace these. I don't think they're ever going to correctly lock again." One security man said absently to Lex.

To which Lex responded, "We're not locking it ever again. As of tomorrow this level will no longer exist." He planned on scheduling the finest contracters in Metropolis this afternoon to pay them handsomely if they could get this entire level concreted in. He couldn't stand the thought of anyone ever going back down there again. Not after he got Chloe out of there.

The door opened with a whoosh once the latch was broken and Lex stared out into darkness. The security men seemed to back away one by one as they stared into the dark room. Lex, however, walked to the opening and found the switch on the wall, flicking it up to turn on the lights, he started his descent into the dim cavernous room below.

To right the wrongs of his father once again.

Chloe laughed as she ran from room to room, her big sisters chasing her. It was the first time she'd felt this free since the police had informed her baby sitter that there had been an accident. Chloe had walked out of her bedroom, rubbing her sleepy eyes, to the sound of hysterical sobbing. She had paused in the doorway between the hall and kitchen, to stare at the huge men in the room, surrounding Laura as she wept into her hands.

"Laura?" Chloe's sleepy voice was rough and one of her hands was stil rubbing at the corner of her eye. The other was full of downy fur and trailing down by her side.

Her sitter looked up from her hands and sobbed her name, then fell to her knees on the cheap linoleum floor, holding her arms out for Chloe to run into them.

Chloe didn't run.

She didn't understand.

She stared at Laura, then at the two police men in their pretty blue informs. One of them was staring back at her, the other looking anywhere but at her.

Chloe had only been 6. But she knew. She'd felt that bone deep unsettling that subconsciously alerts you to important things going on around you. She hadn't understood the ache in her stomach then, but she did now. Just as she hadn't understood why the fine blonde hairs on the back of her neck had raised at the low rumble of Lionel Luthor's calculated voice.

But she remembered running into him.

Chloe took the corner too fast, just keeping out of reach of her big sisters grasp. She heard Sophie calling out behind her, telling her to watch her step, to be careful. But Chloe was running high on the giggles as she flung herself around the banister and into a masculine thigh.

Lionel grabbed the little girl by her shoulder, holding her at arms length as he bent down to inspect her. "Why hello, little one."

Chloe was instantly reminded of the Big Bad Wolf. Lionel stared down into the big green eyes of the precocious blonde. Instantly surrounded by a kind of awe and wonder at such resilience.

Chloe grinned despite the hairs on the back of her neck standing at attention and moved out from under the tall man's hand. She then arched a playful eyebrow at him before saying, "Well hello, big guy."

Lionel stared down at her for a moment before he threw his head back and roared with laughter. Oh, she had spirit this one.

"Mr. Luthor."

Lionel turned around as the orhpanage's caregiver poked her head out of her office.

Lionel smiled as he looked down at the little blonde who was blinking up at him owlishly.

Chloe gasped and then giggled before she used her tiny hands to tug on his pant leg.

When he leaned down far enough she whispered to him, "You're not really a bad guy, are you?"

She'd heard all the other children talking about him, her oldest sister Esme especially. They'd all had horror stories about what he did, who he was.

Lionel's eyes widened in surprise before he let out a startled laugh. He pulled back away from her and set his palm on the top of her blonde head before leaning back down towards her and whispering into her ear, "To some people, I am. Are you a bad little girl?"

Her eyes filled with tears and a tiny choked sob worked its way up from her throat. She put her small hand on his cheek and tilted his face to hers. Lionel locked eyes with the small girl and immediately felt the tears well up behind his eyes. He could feel the softening of his heart. A heart that had been hardened for far too long.

Chloe blinked rapidly, trying to get the tears to go away. Until finally she was composed enough to meet his eyes with hers in focus. "Sometimes I think I am."

Lionel frowned and asked in the same hushed tone she'd answered him in, "Why's that?"

Chloe looked away from a moment, something Lionel would have understood as a calculating pause, before she answered with a sad smile, "God taked away my mommy and daddy. I think he doesn't like me."

Lionel's eyes turned so sad, he didn't even bother to hide it, just ran his hand over her head, ruffling her tiny angelic curls. He hadn't cried since his wife had died, hadn't softened since then, either. Until now.

They hadn't realized that they'd had an audience that day. Hadn't noticed Miss Molly, known as Nanna to all the children in her care, watching them with a fisted hand in front of her parted lips.

***

Chloe looked up at the sound of a throat clearing. Her eyes blurred with memories of a father she'd wanted so badly. A father she'd loved with every part of her being. A father she'd killed for.

[Blaire]

3.

Lex cleared his throat and looked at the small blonde huddled in the corner of the room. She sat with her back to the dirt wall, her knees pulled up to her chest, her forehead resting on them. He watched her hands clench and unclench, watched as her body seemed to shake. He walked over to her, cleared his throat again, ridding the anger that was rising up. He squatted in front of her, keeping his distance and stared at her as she raised her head to look at him.

"Hi."

Chloe looked past him, over his shoulder and around the room. He shouldn't be down here without the doctors. Why was he here?

Her eyes came back to his and held as she licked her dry lips. Lex maintained eye contact, had to remind himself not to be distracted.

He put a hand to the front of his shirt. "I'm Lex." He searched her eyes for recognition, thought he found a spark of memory returning to her. "Do you remember me?"

Chloe rocked forward onto her heels until she was squatting like him. She formed the words slowly in her mind, tried to make her tongue and teeth into the same patterns he had. "Lex."

Lex smiled and dropped his hand back to his side. "You're Chloe."

Chloe stared deep into the blue of his eyes. "You're Chloe."

Lex laughed and was rewarded with a backhand to his face, causing him to stumble backward onto his ass. His face sobered quickly and he pushed himself up to his elbows. He rubbed his jaw and cheekbone with one hand as he studied the girl in the corner. She was still in a squatting position, and she was looking at him curiously. Lex struggled to sit up, the right side of his face throbbing. He clenched his jaw and moved it around, squinted his right eye, didn't feel anything crack. "It's not exactly a handshake, but I suppose it's a start."

Chloe stood up slowly and walked over to him, stared down at the man sprawled on the dirty floor. "You're Chloe."

Lex shook his head and said, "No. Your name is Chloe." He put his free hand to his chest. "My name is Lex."

Chloe looked at him in confusion. He was speaking, and he wasn't making much sense to her. Her name wasn't Chloe. Her name was 'pet'. Or 'it'. She couldn't ever remember being called anything else. She looked down at his hand, splayed against his chest, and didn't miss the way he flinched when she dropped to the floor and sat on his outstretched legs. She touched her hand to his, reminded herself not to hurt him.

"Lex." She took his hand with hers and put it to her chest, over her heart. "Pet."

Lex's eyebrows rose considerably. His mind raced at the fact that she'd just ordered him to pet her. He felt her heart beating under his fingertips, could feel the slope of her breast pressed into the heel of his palm. Then what she said clicked in some deep recess of his mind. "No." He shook his head, almost violently. He took his hand out from under hers and put it to his chest. "Lex." Then he placed his hand over her heart again. "Chloe." He searched her eyes, waited for any sign of recognition to set in. "Not pet." He waited until she looked up from his hand. "Chloe." He strung her name out, let it roll off his tongue, off his lips, slowly and enunciated. "Chloe."

Chloe pursed her lips and raised her shoulder to rub at her chin. Still she kept her eyes on him. "Chloe." She repeated slowly. And earned a nod from the man she continued to straddle. "Chloe." She said again with more conviction. Lex smiled at the tone of voice she used. She smiled right back and with a balled up fist, smacked him in the middle of his chest and said, "Lex!"

Lex fell backwards, the air whooshing from his lungs. Damn the girl could pack a punch, and he didn't think she even meant it. She was just excited. Atleast, he hoped that was the case. Chloe gasped and settled her hands on his shoulder, leaned down to look into his face to make sure he was okay. His breath wheezed in and out and she felt puffs of it on her face. Then her eyes met his and she realized how close their faces really were.

Lex's mind was more focused on breathing and although he'd noticed her leaning over and looking at him, he didn't react. He hadn't planned on it. Then her eyes met his, and shifted lower to his lips and the next thing he knew she was leaning in closer and rubbing her parted lips to his.

Lex groaned at the act and willed his body not to respond. Who the hell knew what she'd do if he accidentally got an erection and she happened to feel it? She'd probably amputate it by hand. The image that came with that thought had him cooling down quickly and he watched her face as she pulled back and looked down at his mouth. She touched her fingers to her lips and then to his. "Chloe...Lex."

Lex's smile looked more like a grimace and he put his hand to her shoulder, trying to get her to sit back so he could sit up.

"Yes."

Chloe shook her head and lunged her face toward his, her lips bumping into his. "Chloe...Lex."

Lex saw the question in her eyes. "Kiss?" He was pretty sure she was asking what it was called, the action she was fumbling for.

She sat back then and studied him. "Chloe...Lex...kiss." Her face bloomed with a bright smile and he let his head fall back as his mind tried to absorb it. He felt her weight move off of him and looked down to see her standing over him again, her hand outstretched. "Hi."

Lex shook his head and got to his feet, took her hand and shook it gently. "Hi."

Chloe laughed, delighted and shook his hand harder. "Hi."

Lex grinned back and stilled her hand with both of his. "Very good."

"Good."

Lex stifled the urge to laugh. Instead he nodded and took hold of her elbow and led her over to where the light shone down directly. "So, Chloe. I don't know if you'll understand this or not, but I'd like to get you out of here."

Chloe smiled up at him and blinked. "Good."

Lex let go of her and rubbed at his forhead. "Okay, how can I put this?" He dropped a hand and took hers carefully. He started to lead her over to the stairs and motioned with his free hand, pointed up to the ruined door to the lab. "Lex," he put her hand to his chest, "take Chloe," he put his hand to her chest, "out." He pointed their joined hands up the stairs and Chloe frowned.

"No."

"No?" Lex asked looking down at her. She shook her head and swallowed. "Kimble."

Lex sighed and blew out a long breath. "Dr. Kimble isn't here."

"Good." Chloe said, nodding.

Lex closed his eyes, briefly. "Look, I don't want to have to drug you or anything. You have to come along willingly." When she just continued to study him he muttered, "And I can't speak caveman all day." He eyed her collar, narrowing his eyes at the LuthorCorp logo. It had to be some type of a latch. Maybe if he could convince her to take it off? He remembered what had happened the last time he'd tried to touch it. Remembered her "doctor" clearly stating that only her master was allowed to touch it. Well, he thought bitterly, her master, his father, was fucking dead and wasn't coming back if Lex had any say so.

"Okay, so we're going." He clasped her hand in his, felt her fingers clutch against his and squeeze. "Up the stairs, Chloe." He led her to the bottom step, waited for her and when she didn't take a step, he did instead. He gave her hand a little pull, waited for her to join him. When she did he looked down at her and smiled slowly. "All right, I guess we're doing this." He led the rest of the way up the stairs and was surprised by the group of people waiting there.

All three security men stood off to the side, watching in awe as Chloe seemed to burrow deeper into his side. He nodded at each of them, held his head up high and walked through the lab and out a door that led to the lobby of the building. When they got through the lobby, he headed for the front door and was brought up short by the man running toward him. Dr. Kimble.

"Mr. Luthor." The older man panted as he came to a stop in front of them, causing Lex to halt.

"Kimble." Lex replied tightly.

"Sir, you can't just...just...take her out. She isn't ready. She needs to be medicated..."

Lex opened his mouth to cut off the doctor when Dr. Kimble reached up to grab the lapel of his suit jacket. Chloe's hand shot out from nowhere and latched onto the arm that belonged to the doctor. Her eyes were locked onto Kimble's, narrowed to green slits.

The laugh that came from Kimble was strained and his face turned a garish shade of red. From embarrassment or pain, Lex wasn't sure.

He put his hand on Chloe's arm and patted her softly. "You can let go."

She didn't react and Lex applied a little more pressure until she glanced over at him, not taking her eyes off of Kimble's for more than a few seconds. "Let go of him." Chloe replied by shaking off Lex's hand and then twisting her arm and the arm she held until Kimble let out a muffled cry of pain.

She stepped up to the doctor and leaned in close. "Lex take Chloe out."

The words were spoken carefully, slowly, and she waited until Kimble overcame his surprise at her speaking to him. He nodded slowly and was rewarded with Chloe dropping his arm. She tucked herself back into Lex's side and Lex steered her around Kimble and out the front doors.

TBC...

[Blaire]

4. Part 1 of 2

Lex whistled softly under his breath. He wasn't sure what he'd have done if she'd gone all kick boxer on the doctor in the lobby. But she'd held herself in check, he thought. She'd done a fine job of getting her point across and then walking away proud. As soon as they stepped through the automatic doors leading outside Chloe flinched and stuffed herself as close to Lex's side as she could get. Lex squeezed her hand softly, the one that was still curled into his. "We're outside now." She seemed to be taking it all in at once. He felt her hand go slack in his, could sense the wonder as she looked around them at the bright sky and the traffic whizzing by in front of them. "Now we're just going to wait here and someone will bring the car around. Then I'll take you to my home." He glanced down at her as the company valet swung into an empty spot in front of the building with his Porsche. She stared in awe at the low slung bullet in front of them. Lex smiled, thinking he probably looked the same way the day he'd seen the model in the dealership showroom.

"It's something else, isn't it?" He led Chloe to the passenger door the valet held open. Chloe leaned down a little, not letting go of Lex's hand, and peered into the car.

"Something else." She said softly, earning an ear to ear grin from Lex. She was too busy touching the seat carefully to notice.

The valet gave Lex his keys and stepped back. Lex thanked the young man and motioned for Chloe to get in. "Just sit down and make yourself comfortable." Chloe looked at him, unsure of what to do. Lex smiled softly. "It's okay, it won't bite." He held her by her elbow and lowered her into the seat. Then he leaned inside and buckled her in. "Just to be on the safe side," he said as she stared at what he was doing.

He made sure all her parts were inside and shut the door, didn't miss the expression of panic on her face as she watched him through the window. Lex held up a finger and jogged around the front of the car to the driver's side. After he settled himself in, he looked over at her and turned the key in the ignition. "This is a car," he said as he ran his hand over the dashboard. She did the same, her fingers bumping into his lightly. "Well, it's not just a car, it's a Porsche, but we'll talk about that later." He tuned the dial to classical music and Chloe jerked her head back looking around her wildly.

"Chloe?"

Chloe shook her head violently, looking around for the music, finally she screamed and put her hands over her ears. Lex flipped through stations until he settled on some soft rock. "Chloe." He grabbed one of her hands and pulled it down far enough for her to hear the change. "It's okay." Chloe slowly lowered her hands from her ears, shaking as she did so, and tilted her head a little to the right. "This is rock. Since you obviously don't think too highly of Chopin."

Chloe settled into the seat, playing with the buttons on her side as she stared at the radio. "Good."

Lex smiled and shifted the car into gear. "Yeah, it's pretty good." He pulled out into traffic and made his way to his penthouse. "I prefer classical while I'm driving, but I can make an exception for you, I suppose."

Chloe looked over at him then her eyes shifted past him and to what was beyond his window. She gasped and tried to lean closer, struggling with the seat belt that held her back. Lex glanced away from the road as she fought with the shoulder strap. He chuckled softly and then pointed out her window. "You have one, too."

Chloe turned her face in the direction his finger was pointing and stopped struggling, sat still, and let her jaw open slightly. She made a sound in the back of her throat that Lex couldn't quite pinpoint the origin of and then she had her hands against the windows, her face pressed between them. "Good," Chloe said with enthusiasm and Lex smiled as he pulled into the building's garage. He rolled down his window and was once again attacked as Chloe pushed against his face and struggled against her belt to get a better look. Lex grabbed her wrist, kept his grip light, and swiped his card. He then rolled his window back up as the metal bar leading into the garage was opened. He leaned over and rolled down her window. "You have one of those, too."

Chloe laughed and stuck her head out the window into the stale air of the underground garage. "Good!" She smiled over at Lex as he turned into a parking space close to a set of elevators. "Lex take Chloe out...good."

Lex turned off the car and reached over her, rolled up her window. "Well it's definitely been interesting."

Chloe nodded and then frowned down at the contraption holding her in place. He could tell she was starting to get a little claustrophobic and was glad the traffic had been smoother than normal. "This is it." He undid her seat belt and opened his door, made his way around to her and opened hers, held out a hand and lifted her out. He shut the door and remote-locked the car, then turned towards the elevators. He reached out to touch the button and noticed the little frown line between Chloe's eyebrows. "Uhm. Would you like to press the button?"

"Button." Chloe looked up at Lex, then down at the little square set in the metal panel. "Press the button."

"I'll take that as a yes." He held her hand in his and pressed one of her fingers to the button. The elevator dinged immediately and opened and Chloe went into a figthing crouch. Lex looked down at her and shook his head. "It's an elevator."

She slowly stood back up as Lex stepped into the elevator and stared out at her, one of his hands placed against the door to keep it from closing. "It will take us home."

"Home," Chloe said and looked in at Lex. She stepped forward and hesitated. "Lex."

The way she said his name tore at his heart. He stepped towards her and opened his free hand. "Come in, Chloe."

Chloe grabbed onto his hand and let him pull her into the elevator. As the doors whirred closed, Lex inserted a small key into another metal panel lined with buttons and an automated voice from above him said, "Welcome home, Mister Luthor." Lex smiled down at the top of Chloe's head, where she was currently burrowed into his side once more.

Lex settled her more comfortably into his side and found himself despising the elevator when it dinged and announced it was at the penthouse. The doors opened into the entry way and Lex held onto Chloe as he stepped out of the elevator. Once on the plush carpet he felt Chloe relax beside him, felt the stiffness seep from her body. He looked down at her bare feet, her dirty toes digging into the thick white carpet. He laughed and was rewarded with a bright smile. She let go of him completely and took a few steps forward. Then she turned around and looked at him. "Lex home."

Lex shook his head and picked up the stack of mail sitting on the small glass table beside the elevator. "No, this is our home. Chloe and Lex's home."

Chloe stared at him wide eyed. He was sure that during her captivity she'd been spoken to. Ordered around, mostly, but she'd been spoken to. She'd been rewarded with a beating for talking back or even trying to repeat a word so he figured she did understand him most of the time. She may not understand more than a sentence spoken to her at a time, but she seemed to be smart enough to get the gist of what he said.

Lex motioned ahead of them, down the hallway and through to the den and study. "You can go." She turned around and looked down the hallway. Lex walked a few steps ahead of her and continued flipping through the mail. "You should probably get a shower. I'll send Maria out later to get you some things. She could probably guess your size, whereas all I see are rags. Anyways, why don't we get something to eat and you can just..." Lex's words trailed off as he entered the den and turned to glance over his shoulder. Chloe stood staring at him from the entry way. Even from the distance between them he could see the tears gathering in her eyes. "Chloe?"

Chloe seemed to realize she'd been crying and furiously wiped at her eyes. She shook her head as he began walking toward her. Lex ignored her protest, positive that if she was going to commence with the ass kicking, she'd have done it by now. She looked so torn, though. He wrapped his arms around her, held her to him and let her weep. When the first big sob came out of her she tried to push away. Lex leaned his chin against the top of her head and held her in place.

"It's going to be okay, Chloe. Everything's going to be okay." He stroked her back with his fingertips, let her cry out and sniffle into his shirt. "I know it's a big change, and we'll try to go slow if you need to." He pulled back and looked down at her, lifted his left hand and thumbed away a tear as it rolled down the side of her dirt streaked face. "It's going to be better." She blinked and looked up at him. "I promise." His whisper put her at ease and she stepped back carefully.

"Bathe," she said slowly. Lex watched her try to reign in her emotions. He nodded and with a soft touch to her arm led her down a different hall and into a bedroom. It was his bedroom, but he didn't think she needed to know that yet.

"There's a shower right through here." He opened up the door that led into the bathroom and was sure he heard her gasp as she walked into the gleaming brilliance of white tile. It was interesting, he thought. When he looked at it, he saw nothing more than a bathroom, but he imagined if he could see it through her eyes he'd probably see a palace. He watched her as she looked around the room. Curiously studied herself in the mirror. He wasn't sure what she saw there. Wondered fleetingly if she saw what he did; a beautiful young woman who had her whole life ahead of her. And it would be a long and healthy one if he had any say in it.