Disclaimer: Smallville and all related elements, characters and © Tollin-Robbins Productions and Warner Bros. Television, All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction, no infringement is intended, no profit is being made.

Author's Note : This is basically a mid episode short for 'Shattered'. One of the better episodes I've seen so far, but than again any episode that is Lex-centric seems to be the better ones. I wished there was a scene between Chloe and Lex in the barn when she was suppose to be watching him, but there wasn't, so I wrote this on a spur of the moment type of thing. I'm reposting this… some of you may remember it being posted ages ago.

As always enjoy and read and review!

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She's really not quite sure what to do, what to say. She just sits there, feeling his gaze on her watching out of the corner of her eye as he in turn watched her. It's unnerving, being subjected to Luthor observation, but she takes in stride, her face a perfect image of indifference.

"Where did Clark go?"

Her blonde head snaps to the side at the question, regarding Lex carefully, watching as he fidgeted with his hands, his gaze moving from her face to his hands and back again in a quick, fluid movement.

"I'm," she clears her throat, not quite sure why it sounded so foreign, so rough, "I'm not really sure," she offered him a soothing smile, but he didn't buy it. Not that she had really expected him to.

"Are you…" he stops for a moment, eyebrow quirking up slightly, and she lets out a silent gust of wistful air because right then, right at that moment he seems so much more like himself, like the man she knew. "Are you afraid of me?"

Chloe's hands stop their own fidgeting, the fascination she had found with the hem of her shirt all but forgotten. The question catches her off guard and it clearly shows in her expression. "No," she shakes her head convincingly, smiling towards him watching as he moved from his current seat to a place next to her on the couch.

She had wanted to tell him the truth, tell him that yes, seeing the man that was suppose to be protecting her singing lullabies to a rolled up blanket didn't do much to reassure her, but she didn't. She lies, maybe because it's easier than telling the truth, maybe because she thought it was her job to reassure him, give him something that he needed.

He grips her arms like he'd done so many times before, stares into her eyes intently. She sees clarity there, understanding, reassurance and suddenly the tables were turned, he'd taken over his previous role as protector and she was the one in need of reassurance.

"I'm going to protect you Chloe," Lex tells her, his smooth voice firm, steady. "I promise."

She broke the gaze, her heart dropping when she realized that the same words that he'd told her merely a week ago didn't reassure her, they scared her. If he couldn't protect himself from his own father how the hell was he supposed to protect her?

"You don't believe me."

Chloe's eyes widen at his tone, the coldness of it. They widen at how quickly his mood had changed, at how quickly he'd moved away from her, at how quickly she felt the loss of warmth on her arms.

"No," she shakes her head adamantly, her eyes wide as she follows his lead and stands as well. "Of course I believe you," Chloe's voice is pleading as she nears him, watching with broken eyes as he moves away. She had never felt this way before, had never felt the need to reassure someone, to protect them, had never felt it so strongly.

"Don't lie to me," he all but shouts, startling her.

"Lex," she begins the strength behind the cold glare he sent her making the hairs on the back of her next stand up instantly. "I wouldn't lie to you," she told him soothingly, the nervousness she felt perfectly masked. It was a Luthor trait she was sure she must have picked up somewhere along the way, she just wasn't sure from which one.

"Do you trust me?" he asks, his eyes narrowing as he took a step closer to her. Her instincts kicked in and she immediately started to take a step back, but she stopped herself, not wanting to make him angrier, actually afraid of what he'd say, what he would do.

"Lex," she begins, but her mouth immediately closes at the look in her eyes, it's retreated back to what it had been earlier when he'd accused her of not believing him. "I do… I do trust you."

She did, was trusting him with her life, trusting him to keep it out of his father's hands, was afraid he wasn't up to the task, but was still trusting him.

It happened in a fleeting second, her hand reaching up, her fingers, with an amount of steadiness she wasn't sure she had possessed at that moment, trailing across his cheek. For a brief second she trails her fingers over the cut above his eye, carefully, gently, in almost a loving gesture, something she would muse later he'd probably never felt. He looked so broken, so torn. He wasn't the man Chloe knew, was the man she needed him to be and it scared her, caused her breath to hitch in her throat painfully.

He flinches at the moment of contact, as if she were physically inflicting pain on him. Chloe immediately moves her hand away, but he caught it, right next to his face, his eyes trailing between the grip he had on her forearm and her face dangerously.

"Don't touch me," Lex hisses coldly, his eyes reflecting his tone, his grip tightening so hard she winces in pain. She knew she'd come away with bruises. She knew he wouldn't be so lucky. "Are you in on this?" he asks, leaning his face in dangerously close, eyes frantically searching hers, "Are you?" he shouts his voice so loud, so close it hurt her ears. "Chloe… how could you…"

"Lex," Chloe winces when he began to twist her arm, "Lex, your hurting me," she whimpers, his grip so tight she wasn't sure blood was reaching her fingertips.

"Answer my question!" he shouts turning her around and shoving her up against something hard, pointed, she wails as what she guessed was the edge of Clark's desk dug into her back. "Answer me!"

"Lex," she grits out, her voice pleading as she tried to wrench her arm away from his grasp. He wouldn't allow it, just tightened his grip, the small blonde releasing a cry as he did so. "I'm not doing anything, I'm trying to help you. Let me help you."

Something must have snapped in him then because he releases the hold he had on Chloe, immediately taking a step back, his eyes widening as he watched her rub her arm. He reaches out a hand to trail his fingers over her skin, just like she had. She flinches, wrenches it away, looking at him sharply as she watches him jump backwards, not knowing how much her reaction has hurt him. "God," he whispers, taking a few more steps back, "I didn't realize… I … didn't…. I'm…"

Chloe hadn't been paying attention, had been attending to her already bruising arm but as soon as he'd trailed offshe looksup once more, her heart beating wildly when she realizes he was no longer there.

It shouldn't have been so hard, he was limping for Christ's sakes and he hadn't even gotten that much of a head start, but for the life of her as she ran down the stairs and out of the barn she couldn't catch up to him. By the time shedoes he hasfound Clark, found the Kent's, and obviously wasn't happy with what he had found. Even less happier when he saw her approach.

"You're all watching me now?" he bites out, Chloe watching as he looked between her and the Kent's, taken aback at the amount of anger he had directed towards her and her alone. He turns to walk away and she starts to reach out to stop him, but it's useless because Clark is there, pulling him back.

"Where are you going?"

"To find Morgan Edge. To prove I'm not crazy," Lex tells Clark angrily, and Chloe swears he looks at her as he says it, however briefly, his gaze angrier than she'd ever seen it.

Chloe watches as Lex gives Clark the ultimatum, telling his best friend that he's either with him or against him. It wasn't much of a choice if you asked her, she knew what Clark would do even before he did it. She knows despite his objections Mr. Kent did too. It still surprises her though, still makes her swallow the painful lump in her throat as she watches them leave.

She dies a little bit when she realized just how high the stakes were, realizes that the hope she has been desperately hanging on to was gone.

Nobody, not even the untouchable Lex Luthor, was going to come out of this unscathed.

End.