The Loyal Opposition, Part 2 of ???
Title: The Loyal Opposition
Author: latetothpartyhp
Rating: PG-13
Genre: drama
Spoilers: through Pandora
Pairings: ETA: I envisioned this as mainly a Chlark confrontation, but what emerged in addition to that were some hints of Chlex friendship, mutual Chless manipulation, and some (mostly) off-screen Clana. There's also a Lexana fight for anyone who's interested. And Cless! We have added Cless!
Warnings: some violence & language - ETA: Character deaths in store.
Summary / Author's Note: Chloe's on a mission for the resistance. Could be a Supernatural crossover if you squint real hard.
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Happy New Year, everyone!
I didn't originally plan on a Part 2, but then one happened anyway. A Lexana Part 2 at that.
Also, I didn't mention this before, but I don't own any of these characters, am not making any money, etc., etc.
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 / Part 15 / Part 16
“That thing is disgusting.”
The clone frowned at her, then turned to Lex, petulant. He smiled at it through the oxygen mask.
“Manners, Lana. Some gratitude would be more becoming. She was created to protect you. You used her sister to that purpose once, if I recall.”
“Isn't it fortunate that I no longer need protection, then.”
“You may be invulnerable, but you're still immensely valuable. You made sure of that when you destroyed Dr. Grohl's research. If you hadn't - well. We wouldn't need to have this conversation now, would we?”
She let every bit of the contempt she felt show on her face. If she hadn't destroyed Grohl's research they would be organizing a resistance to fight Lex and he damn well knew it. She wouldn't let herself get trapped in one of his verbal mazes though.
“What do you want? I assume you didn't summon me here to wax nostalgic.”
“No, I did not.” He turned to the clone then. “You have your orders,” he told it. The clone turned and smirked at her before walking out. That her face was capable of such an expression made her skin crawl. “She's so supportive,” Lex continued. “A man gets to a point in his life when he wants a partner who understands the importance of his work.”
“She's not your partner. She's not even a person. She's an unauthorized copy you programmed to submit to your every whim.”
“Not a person? And here I thought your compassion extended to all sentient beings.”
She gritted her teeth. He was always like this when it was just the two of them. She would not let it get to her.
“Should I go back to the useful work of attempting to decipher code, or are you going to tell me what's going on?”
“See, there's your problem Lana. You were always so demanding. No one wants to be with a woman who's always telling him what to do.”
She drew a deep breath. She would not get caught up. She would not let this spiral into insults.
“I am asking, Lex, to what end did you have me come here. I don't think that's an unreasonable question.”
“Patience. I think you've forgotten how slowly the rest of us must operate. Pamela's made contact. I've sent Nadia out to the rendezvous point.”
She choked. He'd what? “That was not the plan! You do not get to make last-minute changes. Not without approval from the rest of us.”
“Chloe and Oliver did approve. Three out of four constitutes a majority. We all agreed you are too valuable to be exposed until necessary. Nadia will run that risk in your place.”
She ignored the fact that a vote called without her presence did not count. She was too appalled by the insanity. “Have you lost your mind? You've just guaranteed exposure! He will know in an instant she's an impostor.”
“We have composed a plausible cover to explain the lack of radiation.”
“A cover? You have her working as some kind of covert agent?”
“In a manner of speaking. Clark never could resist that body of yours.”
If he only knew. The irony would not be lost on Lex, but she would never confide that to him. His body might have been twisted only recently, but his mind had been sick for much, much longer. She should have known he would think up something like this. She should have stopped this, stopped the others before it began, stopped them from making contact. She could. But what would that make her if she did?
“Clark loved me,” she replied. “That thing you've just sent out is not me.”
“Please. You know better than anyone Clark never knew you for what you really are. I can only imagine that clinging to his girl-next-door image of you was why he was able to stand your company for as long as he did. He'll see what he wants to see. As always.”
It was a full minute before she was able to get herself under control, before she could speak. Anger bubbled up and cascaded down, only to be sucked back up and splash out again. She felt it rise and foam. She would ride it like a horse, feel it surge under her. But she would control it. She would not let it control her.
“You're right,” she said finally. “I'm not the girl in the pink headband anymore. None of are what we were. Especially not Clark. He is one of them now. It's a dangerous assumption to think his priorities will be what they were before.”
It was Lex's turn for silence. That was new. She acknowledged the tiny feeling of triumph that gave her.
“Chloe's still alive,” he said. “That says something.”
“It says you trust the word of your pet psychic - who in turn, assuming she's not lying to you, trusts the word of a criminally psychotic dead witch. I can't believe you of all people don't question this scenario.”
“You were speaking of assumptions earlier. Madelyn's greed is a pretty safe one. She wouldn't have been a very good flunky to your family if she wasn't. She knows the terms of the deal, and the deal states that she stays in communication with Pamela.”
Lana frowned. She was still raw from his earlier comment. She reminded herself upteenth insult he'd thrown at her didn't matter, but what he'd done with Chloe did. She had no idea what it was or why Chloe had agreed to go along with it, or what her ancestor's crazy follower stood to get out of it. It had been another info-bomb dropped at the last minute, and she didn't think they would have said anything if Ollie had not started to make threatening noises. You'd think she would have learned by now.
“If it's not too demanding, may I ask what else the deal states?” Not that he would tell her.
“You may not. You may, however, assist me with a few, uh, functions. My usual nurse is on a mission to bring down the enemy, so I find I need your help.” Her face must have reflected her disgust; his smirk through the mask looked satisfied. “I thought someone with your strong spiritual practice would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate caring? But maybe not.”
The caring move would be to throw him out the window... out into the wild red yonder. They needed him, still. She sighed. “I assume that means you need to take a piss? I'm flattered you consider me worthy to approach that part of your anatomy again.”
His smirk widened. “Oh, it is so much worse than that.”
She sighed. Again. With Lex it always was.