SV fic: The Luthor Horsie (parts 7-9 of 9)

[ciaan]

Title: The Luthor Horsie
Series: the Luthorverse
Rating: teen
Length: 22,570 words
Summary: Lex tries to save his little brothers from his father. AU. Gen.
Notes: I always worry this sounds off-puttingly complicated. It's an AU where, among other differences, the Luthors are the ones to find a certain little baby alien. There are multiple timelines within the universe, though, and so the stories explore different ways things could have gone.
Thanks: To kinetikatrue for the discussion and beta.
Disclaimer: Smallville belongs to The CW/DC Comics/AOL Time Warner.

parts 1 to 3
parts 4 to 6

Part Seven

Luc is sulky when Lian returns with him in tow. Lex is sprawled out with his head at the foot of his bed, staring out the window, contemplating the ability to actually go outside again someday. He rolls over onto his side and looks up when the door opens. Lian is holding Luc's hand, but he lets go and moves away from him as soon as they're inside the room. Luc runs over as Lex sits up.

"Hey, baby. How was school?"

Luc climbs up and snuggles in against Lex's chest. "Full of babies. All stupid, noisy, and disobdebient." He wrinkles his nose.

"Disobedient, huh? Well, that's bad of them." Lex wraps his arms around Luc, pulling him closer.

The sound of Lian's voice causes Lex to look up. "I'm going to hang out with my friends. Bye." Lian turns and heads for the door again.

"Wait, Lian, don't..." But he doesn't stop, just opens the door and disappears out into the hallway. Lex stretches out his hand. "Be careful."

He stares at the door as it swings closed. Lian's not supposed to leave like that. He's clearly annoyed and petulant now, after easing up this morning. But Lex can't go after him. He strokes Luc's shoulder and looks down again.

"I guess it's just us now, baby." He tries to act as if Sarah isn't even there. She's reading again. He's actually starting to get creeped out by her ability to remain so engrossed and still for so long.

"Lian disobdebiment, too." Luc frowns. "He not listen."

"Nah, baby, he's not being bad. He's allowed to go out. Just leave him be, for now."

"Lex listen?" Luc peers up at him, one chubby little hand pressing against Lex's cheek.

"I'll always listen to you." Lex smiles. He's feeling calmer and happier now. Here's Luc, and it's another day, and his baby brother seems fine still. "Can I check your warrior wound again, baby?" He turns Luc around, crooning softly. "You're so brave. You're going to be fine." The cut looks better, healing, no visible infection.

"She stupid." Luc points at Sarah. "She leave?" Sarah glances up at the two of them, face blank.

Lex shakes his head. "She can't leave. She has to stay here, or I won't stop being sick." He stares back at Sarah, trying to see how she reacts to that. She tilts her head slightly, as if acknowledging his scrutiny, but that's all. He keeps watching her, even though, out of the corner of his eye, he can see that Luc is looking at him.

"Sick bad. Read horsie?"

"Are you sure you don't want to learn about Confucius instead? Or Pythagoras?"

"Horsie!" Luc grabs Lex around the neck, and Lex has to ignore Sarah in order to peel his arms off.

He pulls out the book and tells Luc the story, but he keeps watching her, sitting there ignoring them, and he wonders whether there's any way to get through that and to the truth.

Luc's nursemaid shows up a while later, wanting to take Luc for his nap, and Lex feels a stab of anger and fear. He glares up at her from where they're sitting on the floor, coloring. "I'm supposed to be able to have him. Ask my father if you doubt me."

"He needs his nap."

"He can nap here. You want that, baby?"

Luc clutches Lex's arm, crumpling his drawing between them. "Want Lex! No leave!"

She looks at them, opening her mouth, then closing it. Her expression softens. "Alright. But don't expect to make it a habit."

So Lex gets to keep Luc with him for the rest of the day. He sits and does his work while his baby sleeps, listening to the small whine of Luc's breath and watching his side rise and fall. Then he tells Luc about the horsie again, and they draw some more, and eat dinner. Lian doesn't reappear, and Lex wonders but isn't too worried about it. When the nursemaid comes back later in the evening, she says that Lian's home, and Lex finally lets Luc go because it's his bedtime, even though Luc protests. Lex doesn't want him to leave, wants to keep him there forever and hold on to him, shield him from anything in the world with his own body and make sure Luc is eternally safe and happy, but he sends him off to his own room anyway. Luc needs to sleep, and keeping him here won't affect anything.

Once he's gone Lex sighs, tense, and decides he's ready for a change of pace.

He gets the special box from the drawer of his bedside table and pulls out a joint. As he lights it, Sarah looks at him. She laughs.

"Oh, that's going to be good for your recovery."

"Whatever." He takes a long drag, holding it and then breathing out slowly, sinking back against his pillows. "How many years of nurse school did you need to learn that?"

"A lot." She sounds sarcastic, which is good. It's not bland.

"Look. Forget..." He tilts his head to read the title of the book she's holding. "Forget the Mabinogion." He gestures to the other side of the bed, scooting closer to the wall, holding out the joint. For a moment he thinks she'll say no, and he doesn't really care, but then she sets the book aside and comes over, sitting awkwardly on the edge of his bed. But when she puffs on the joint, he can tell she knows what she's doing.

Lex smiles at her. "I knew you couldn't really be that boring. Even I don't spend that much time reading."

"Like there's anything else to do while cooped up in here with you and those kids?"

"You knew what the job was when you accepted it. That's more choice than I got." She hands him the joint again, and he takes a few more drags. "You could've played cards with us or something."

"You didn't invite me."

He stares at her speculatively. "That's true, I didn't. Well, consider yourself invited to everything now."

"Even the cuddling on the bed?" She accepts the joint from him again, and laughs softly.

"You're here now."

"I am. So don't get any ideas."

"I'm a complete gentleman." He spreads his arms out, looking innocent.

"Well then, tell me, why is Derrick's big brother such an idiot?"

Lex keeps his face calm. "Oh, there was this story that went around a while ago about how he wasn't straight enough to turn down a blowjob from some guy, but was much too straight to be gracious about it afterward. Also, he'd been cheating on his math tests. The rumors were so ubiquitous that even the teachers heard them."

"And you had nothing to do with that, of course." She doesn't sound convinced.

"Of course not. I heard about it from Felicia Palmer, just like everyone else." He raises an eyebrow, then smirks briefly, taking the joint back again. "Rumor mills at small schools have some very interesting structures. And Derrick is Lian's best friend, so. I have to protect my brother from bad influences."

"Like porn."

"That was... not typical." He has a few more drags, and the joint is getting low. "Do you have any siblings?"

"An older sister." She accepts the joint from him again, and when she passes it back it's about killed. Lex takes one last drag, feeling the heat of the burning tip singe the edges of his fingers as he sucks it in, not caring about the minor pain. He drops it on the ceramic tile inside the open lid of the wooden box on the table, leaving it there to fade out and cool down.

"Then you wouldn't understand." He's only mildly buzzed, heavy-feeling and slow, gone introspective instead of giddy. At least the thoughts are further away, wrapped in wool and unable to hurt so much as they jounce around inside his skull. "They don't stay little and harmless forever."

Sliding over, Sarah swings her legs up and turns so that she's leaning back against the wall next to him rather than perched on the edge of the bed. "My niece is three. I kinda know."

Lex shakes his head, because it's not the same at all, but he doesn't argue. "Are you from Metropolis?" He wants to know more about her, get a better handle on the situation.

She nods. "Born and raised."

"So, did you go to nurse school here or somewhere else?"

Sarah laughs. "Yes, I did both undergraduate and nursing school at MetU."

Lex is looking in her direction, but he isn't looking at her, he's looking at the window on the far side of the room, staring at the black panes, wondering what's out there tonight. Wondering if someone's looking in. "That's where I'll be next year. I got into other, better schools," pretty much the whole Ivy League, he doesn't say, "but I can't go anywhere far away." Lex had known that already, and Dad had made him apply to other schools anyway. But in the end, he couldn't make Lex attend those schools. Besides, MetU has a building named after Lex's maternal grandfather. Even though the Luthors and the Lucases have almost nothing to do with each other anymore in a personal way, Lionel can't fault MetU too much without losing face. "Business and chemistry, is the plan," Lex says dreamily, gaze shifting from the window to the wall, following the bumps of a mountain range in one of Luc's drawings hung there.

"Aren't you sixteen?" Sarah asks.

Lex chuckles. "I'm graduating a year early. Didn't anyone tell you? I'm a genius." He waves his hand in an excessively, elaborately arrogant gesture.

Rolling her eyes, Sarah laughs again, and that sets Lex off. Maybe he is a little giddy after all. "Oh, I should have known."

"I thought it would be obvious from my library."

She laughs even harder. "Actually, you do have a lot of fancy books with big words. It's impressive. Trying to find anything fun in there is the hard part."

"You're not a total lightweight, judging from some of the stuff you did pick." Lex slides further down the bed until he's more laying than sitting, pushing his pillow back into the wall. Sarah follows suit, using one of the extra pillows.

"Thanks. That means a lot, coming from a certified genius and all." She's become friendly, teasing.

"I should show you the certificate some time. It's really fancy." Lex is aware that he's starting to flirt with her, and he doesn't bother to stop. It's habitual. He's not actually all that interested, but through the low haze in his mind he's aware that she's pretty, and it might be a way to knock events into another course. If he makes a move she'll either say yes or no. If she says yes, she might reveal more of the truth to him, give him another card in his hand in this game Dad's playing that Lex doesn't think is any fun. If she says no, it might rattle her enough to do the same, or get rid of her.

"I'll bet," she replies.

They fall silent for a while. Lex looks at her. Big brown eyes, high cheekbones, a wide mouth, honey strands of hair falling around her face. If she were just some girl, he'd definitely be interested, but she's enigmatic and quite possibly dangerous. While that's a thrill as well, there's too much riding on this for it to really excite him.

He leans in to kiss her, letting his eyelids droop down but not closing them all the way. She puts up a hand and he never reaches her lips.

"No." Sarah shakes her head softly. "You're okay, for a teenage boy, but just no."

That was what Lex expected.

She doesn't appear rattled though. He wonders whether being so unflappable is proof that she's a spy, or whether it's proof that she's a real nurse, a good and unbribeable one. He remembers throwing up and her not responding. He remembers her asking if he wanted food. He doesn't know what to think.

She sits up again, back straight, and Lex stays lying where he is, staring at the ceiling.

Maybe, if he weren't a Luthor, he wouldn't distrust everyone in the world. But he is, and he does. His own father is the biggest threat of all, but outsiders must always be kept at a safe distance.

Sarah runs a hand through her hair nervously. "I hope that it... that whatever has you so worried works out."

Lex doesn't answer.

He's regretting trying to kiss her, because it's made him even more maudlin and gained him nothing. He's been over his head this entire time, completely foiled by Dad at every turn, treading water in a raging river, just barely able to keep from drowning. He's accomplished nothing, won at nothing. He probably shouldn't have let himself smoke up, either, because now his thoughts are wobbling, inchoate. That's what Dad's always said, that a clear head is important, that distraction and delusions lead to tactical errors. Dad doesn't always follow his own dictums, though, and anyway Lex is never sure whether obeying Dad's advice is actually the best way to beat him. Can the master's tools ever really dismantle the master's house?

Lex is trapped in that house, and it's a house of mirrors, shifting and blinding him, with no exit. There's nothing to do but wait, and the waiting is killing him, no actions he can take that will solve anything. He rolls over and buries his face in the pillow, feeling helpless and impotent. Eventually Sarah moves away, going back to the armchair. Lex falls asleep a while later.

When he wakes up it's early Saturday morning, the first light of dawn creeping in the window, and Sarah and all her stuff are gone.

Part Eight

Lex drowses for a little while longer, because he's still tired, still wiped out from all this. When it's brighter out he finally gets up, takes a shower, gets dressed, and then, hesitantly, peers through the keyhole of the door. He hadn't seen anyone outside the window, and he doesn't see anyone in the narrow strip of visible hall, nor does he hear anything out there. He opens the door slowly, and no one comes to stop him.

Lex pads down the hall on slippered feet, as quietly as possible. When he nears the nursery he catches the sound of cartoons from inside, Bugs Bunny bragging about how he can't be caught. He walks in, and there's Lian sprawled out across a beanbag chair, chin in his hands, feet kicking the air behind him as he laughs, a huge bowl of cereal and glass of juice in front of him. He turns, and Lex puts a finger to his lips, and Lian grins even harder, but doesn't say anything. Lex still isn't sure that he's allowed to be out and about.

Lian rolls over, making room, and Lex joins him on the beanbag, sitting down cross-legged. Lian curls up against him, head on Lex's knee, clutching Lex's leg. Lex runs a hand through Lian's hair, parting and brushing the dark strands over the nape of Lian's neck. Whatever mood Lian was in yesterday to make him run off is clearly gone now, and he's being extra clingy again. Lian's mood changes are swift and mercurial. Lex is glad of this new one, because he appreciates having Lian want to be this close. He needs to know where Lian is, know that Lian is safe, and being able to touch him reassures Lex. Elmer Fudd falls into a hole while chasing Bugs, and Lex leans down to whisper in Lian's ear.

"Where's Luc?"

"He's still asleep," Lian whispers back, and Lex can barely hear him over the TV. "I looked in his room earlier."

"Good. You're doing good." Lex sits back up, runs a soothing hand down Lian's back as Bugs dodges a multitude of rifle shots. He stares down at Lian's profile, perfectly-turned nose, pointed white teeth in broad smile, brilliant green eyes trained on the technicolor action. "Where did you go yesterday?"

"To the park until everyone got out of school, then Derrick's house." Lian's breath is warm and damp against Lex's jeans. "Then Rosie's house, because she was having a birthday party."

"Did you take her a present?"

"Yeah. Derrick wanted to give her a box of worms, but I bought her a book." He pauses. "About worms." There's another pause, and then Lian turns his head, gazing up at Lex. "Derrick likes her." His disgusted emphasis on the word 'like' makes Lex have to suppress laughter. Lian's middle school gossip is so ludicrous. Frowning slightly, Lian rolls over even further until he's lying on his back, and Lex slides his right hand around to Lian's stomach. "What's so funny?"

Lifting his left hand from his side, Lex traces his thumb over Lian's cheekbone. "Nothing, really. Did the book have lots of pictures?"

Lian smiles again. "Awesome ones, really detailed."

"Well, maybe it will inspire her to go into biology. There are too few women scientists." Lian doesn't seem to get the joke. He twists his neck to the side to look at the TV again, but stays in his new position. The credits are starting to roll for the cartoon, but Lex knows another one will start in a minute. "Did you see Dad at all yesterday?" Lian shakes his head minutely, mumbling something that sounds like 'nuh uh.' Lex runs his fingers through Lian's hair thoughtfully.

He wonders if there is something he can do after all. He's sure Dad didn't give him all the pertinent information. In fact, he knows Dad didn't. Lex hasn't gotten a glimpse of Lian's file, didn't even see Lian's name or any description that fit him in the lists of xenorite mutations, for one thing. He could get Lian to sneak into Dad's office and search for more of the files.

The only problem is that he has no idea where Dad keeps the files. They could be anywhere in the office, or even somewhere else. It's clear that Dad has whole laboratories devoted to this. Nothing related to it can possibly be anywhere that's easy to find. And Lian isn't exactly subtle most of the time. If Lex sends him in without very specific instructions on where to look, he'd leave far too much evidence of tampering, tear the whole place apart.

He's only a kid, and Lex still wants to keep him innocent.

Tom and Jerry appear on the screen, the cat and mouse chasing each other wildly through the house.

Lex glances around the nursery, so glad to be looking at someplace other than his bedroom, even if it is just here. He had been told to stay in his own room until all this was over, even after he got better. He doesn't know exactly what Sarah's disappearance means, whether it had anything to do with his actions last night or whether it had already been scheduled. It's a relief, though, and he hopes she stays gone.

He leans over Lian's form and grabs up the glass of orange juice, taking a long sip and not tasting anything bad in it, just fruit, which is so much better than it had been the other day. Setting it down, he picks up the bowl of cereal and takes a bite. It's way too sweet, some sugary marshmallow crap, but Lex is hungry, so he has another bite. He has no idea how Lian can stand to go back and forth from sweet cereal to sour juice.

"Don't you dare eat all my cereal," Lian says.

Lex laughs and takes one more spoonful. The door behind him swings open, and he hears a high-pitched shriek. The bowl jounces in his hand as he flinches, milk spilling onto the front of his t-shirt.

"Bad Lian!" Luc screams.

A wave of revulsion rolls over Lex and he drops the bowl beside him, letting it splatter all over the rug, the beanbag, himself. He shoves at Lian, pushes him away, and Lian rolls off, dazed and staring. Lex can't stand to have Lian touching him right now, isn't even sure he wants Lian looking at him. Lian should just go away.

Suddenly Luc is in his lap, small arms wrapping around Lex's neck. "Mine," Luc huffs loudly into Lex's ear. Lex holds on tight to his baby. Everything is right again, everything is happy, and he doesn't want anything more than this.

He can hear the nursemaid behind him, saying something, but he's not sure what at first through the joy buzzing in his ears. Then he turns around, still clutching at Luc.

"Luc, you haven't had your breakfast yet. Come to breakfast," she's saying.

"Go away," Luc tells her, petulant.

A look of fear crosses her face.

"My Lex," Luc says, still staring at his nurse. "You take Lian away."

"Hey!" Lian yells.

Lex wants that more than anything, wants for her and Lian to go away and leave him with Luc. He knows that doesn't make sense. There's no reason for him to want that, and logic wars with emotion inside him.

"Stupid Lian no listen," Luc hisses. He stares at the nursemaid again and Lex follows his gaze. The nursemaid looks even more scared now. Suddenly she turns and leaves, running as if something's chasing her. Luc snuggles closer to Lex, ignoring the spilled milk on Lex's chest. Lex is completely happy with that.

Lex looks over at Lian, who's backed into the far side of the room, face queasy. Is he just responding to the meteorite in Luc's back or is it something else?

The TV's still on, and Lex grabs up the remote, turns it off. He buries his face in Luc's hair, smelling his baby's soft warmth, totally content.

"Read horsie?" Luc whimpers.

Lex is excited by the suggestion. He would love to read to Luc about the horsie.

No, there's definitely something wrong with that. Lex puts up with the horsie because Luc likes it so much, but the prospect of reciting the story again is never an exciting one. Why is he feeling this wave of anticipation and desire? He wants to start talking about the horsie right now and never stop, because it's the best thing ever.

Lex doesn't care how much he wants to do it, he refuses. He has some self-control, after all, and this is clearly messed up.

He stares down at Luc, who stares back at him with wide, impatient blue eyes, round face framed in cherubic red curls.

"I'll tell you horsie soon, baby. First you have to tell me what you're doing."

"Horsie now."

Desire to tell the story surges though him again and Lex fights with it. He's not that weak. He knows how to delay gratification, how to prioritize. Dad always says Lex sucks at that, but Dad is wrong.

"Baby," Lex puts his hands up, grasping Luc's face, fingers spreading across Luc's cheeks, "I'll read you horsie in a minute. Just tell me what you're doing, and then let me look at your warrior wound again, okay?"

"You want to read horsie. I know you do." Luc's voice is firm, confident.

Lex nods. "Yes, I want to read you horsie. I always want to read you horsie."

"No, not always want. Lex not always read. Yessertay, not want to read."

He sighs. "I read you horsie yesterday."

"But not want to read." Luc nods sagely. "I know."

There's a motion in the side of his vision and Lex turns to see Lian walking toward them. Luc turns as well, frowns. Lex is still angry at Lian, though he doesn't know why, angry at everything Lian's done. Lian is disobedient and nasty, and he's been being so difficult lately. Lex wants him to stay away. He scowls.

"Lian bad," Luc says. "Lian not listen. Tell him."

Lian keeps approaching, his eyes narrowed in pain as he gets closer. He stops just a foot away, staring at the two of them. Lex doesn't like that. Lian's proximity is itching at him, clawing at his personal space the way Sarah's presence in his room did, an intruder.

It's wrong. Lex has never felt that way about Lian before in his life. Luc's arms clutch tighter at Lex's neck.

"Make Lian go away," Luc whines into Lex's ear.

Lex grips Luc's chin harder in his right hand, stretching out his left toward Lian. The feeling of disgust overwhelms him, and he pauses, his fingers hovering an inch from Lian's arm.

"What are you doing to him?" Lian growls. He reaches out, catches Lex's hand, and Lex can't stand it, yanks it away. Lian doesn't let go. The force of the motion pulls at Lex's fingers, sends a twinge of pain through him. The wave of disgust fights with the pain as Lex tugs, trying to free himself from Lian's grasp. It's futile. Lian is far too strong for Lex to get away, always has been. The new emotions clouding his brain hold him just as captive as Lian's grip, and Lex is unable to dissipate them. For a second he imagines letting go of Luc instead, trying to push his baby away. Then he's swamped by guilt and remorse for even thinking such a thing, so strongly that he forgets for an instant the hurt in his hand.

That makes him jerk even harder, and he hears his bones grind together sickeningly. It's only been a few seconds since this tug of war started, but Lex can't take it anymore.

"Stop it," Luc cries to Lian. "You hurt him."

"No, you are, you little brat," Lian yells back.

"Both of you stop it," Lex says, surprised to hear how calm and commanding his voice is. He shuts his eyes, breathing deeply. "Lian, let go of me. Luc, you let go of me, too."

Lian's grasp slips away and Lex's hand drops down, falling against his side. He slowly flexes his fingers, to make sure he still can, and releases Luc's face with his other hand. Luc lets go of him and stands up. Lex opens his eyes again. Both of his brothers are standing in front of him, with tension almost visible in the space between them, anger and repressed pain burning in Lian's eyes, petulant annoyance showing on Luc's face. Luc looks very small next to Lian when they stand like that.

The uncontrollable emotions are gone, leaving Lex feeling still and peaceful. And also annoyed, but it's a clean, natural sort of annoyance, fully his own.

He smiles stiffly at Luc. "Okay, baby, tell me what's going on. What are you doing to me?"

Luc's eyelashes flutter as he glances at the floor, and his chin wobbles. "Want horsie."

Lex sighs. He's sickeningly certain that he knows what's happening a lot better than Luc does. Luc may not even be aware of what he's doing. Lex could feel it, though, and the nurse's and Lian's responses confirm it. This is it. It's begun.

There were a number of entries in the files that involved mental powers and manipulations, a man who could make people obey him, a woman with control over her sex pheromones, and more. Luc is somehow, unbelievable as it seems, able to make people experience certain emotions.

Shaking his head slowly, Lex reaches out and gently brushes Luc's hair from his forehead, grasping his chin and tilting his face so that he has to look directly at Lex, ignoring the continued pain in his hand as he moves it. There are tears gathering in the corners of Luc's eyes, and Lex feels a pang in his heart, an entirely normal one. He catches a salty drop with the tip of his thumb as it starts to streak across Luc's face, and Luc sniffles. Lex takes a deep breath.

"Are you affecting my emotions?"

"Lex sad. And angry."

"Not at you, baby. I'm angry at someone else." It's true. This is something Dad will definitely exploit one day, the way he's been planning to with Lian's abilities, as well. It's exactly the kind of outcome that made the risk of Luc dying worth it in Dad's eyes. Now Luc is no longer just the sickly, stupid child. He's a tool of espionage and manipulation. The possibilities flash, sharp and new, through Lex's mind. He strokes his hand across Luc's cheek again, and Luc shivers.

That's when Lex realizes how warm Luc's skin feels, how pinkly flushed he is. Oh, shit. Luc's chin wobbles even more, most likely in response to the new stab of fear Lex is feeling. He presses the back of his hand to Luc's forehead, and that clinches it. Luc is clearly too hot.

"Lex..." Lian asks softly. "What is it?"

The task of explaining anything to either of them weighs far too heavily, pressing Lex down into the ground. He tugs at Luc, slowly pulling his baby into his lap. Luc settles down but then balks as he leans against Lex. "Wet."

Remembering the spilled milk, Lex grimaces. "I'll go clean up again soon. Let me tell you a story first." He gestures, and Lian sits down in front of him, too, though a little ways off. "See, baby, something's happening to you. Lian and I have been through it as well, but the effects are different. There's a... there's a piece of meteorite that's been put inside you, that's a rock that fell from the sky. And it's gone into you like the horsie went into the city, and let out radiation like a bunch of little men, and if the men went around and painted all the buildings in the city, and planted gardens, they'd change it, and they could make it better, and that's what's happening to you." Lex's throat closes up for a second, and he pauses, trying not to be afraid. "You were special already, and now you'll be even more special."

Luc stares at him thoughtfully. "Who? Who put rock?"

"Dad." Lex's voice falters as he says it. He feels Luc stiffen in his arms. Luc's hands clutch tightly at the back of Lex's neck.

"Lex angry at Dad," Luc whispers. "Lex scared."

"I'm not scared. There's nothing to be scared of."

"Not lie." Luc's voice is sharp and firm.

"You're going to get sick," Lian cuts in.

Lex makes a shushing noise at Lian. Lian can't say that. It can't be true. Luc turns his head to look at Lian as well. "Lian bad," he answers. "Lian no listen." Lian glares back defiantly at both Lex and Luc. Lex waits for Luc to cry, to wail, to pitch a fit like he always does when there's mention of sickness. That doesn't occur.

"No, I don't listen to you," Lian answers.

"But you listen to me," Lex replies. Lian's eyes shine brilliantly as he stares unresponsively at Lex. The situation is spiraling even more out of control, and Lex has to get it back in hand, fast.

Turning back, Luc tugs the collar of Lex's shirt. "Lian empy. No mind. Lex full of emshuns. Lex listen, but Lian no listen."

Lex suddenly realizes what Luc's saying, strange as it is. His baby can sense emotions, can cause people to feel whatever he wants, but for some reason he can't sense anything from Lian. Also, Luc is being shockingly calm during discussions of Dad and sickness, while Lex is still reeling at the prospect of Luc being feverish, at the prospect that he isn't safe and finished yet, that he might succumb to radiation still. Figuring out the extent of Luc's abilities and the details of what's going on with Lian will have to wait. What Lex has to do now is make sure that Luc survives, because he still cannot even contemplate the prospect of it being otherwise, of a world without his baby brother.

What he has to do now is another one of those distasteful necessities, another moment of selling his soul. He has to contact Dad and inform him of this new development. Has to hope that Dad's scientists and doctors can keep Luc healthy.

"Baby, don't complain about that now, okay? We're going to go to my room, I'll read you horsie."

"Horsie!" Luc grins, everything always made better like magic by the horsie.

"I do so have a mind," Lian huffs, folding his arms over his chest.

Setting Luc down on the ground, Lex stands up, grabbing Luc's hand in his and leading him toward the door. Lian stays put until Lex turns his head and gestures with his chin, and then Lian trots grumpily along behind them.

"Hungy," Luc grumbles once they've safely gotten inside Lex's door.

Lian stomps to the far side of the room, throws himself down in a chair. "Me, too. You guys ruined my breakfast."

Throwing up his arms, Lex calls to order breakfast for everyone from the kitchen, and then changes his shirt and wipes himself off with a washcloth to clean the spilled milk, while Luc pesters him about reading horsie. Luckily, Lex doesn't feel anything that seems like an unnatural desire to read the story. Maybe Luc has calmed down and is behaving himself. Maybe Luc is getting sick and weak. Lex hopes it's the former.

He sits at the foot of his bed - he's so tired of being in bed - leaning against the wall, and Luc comes and curls up on his lap. Lex is relieved and happy about that, his own relief and happiness, and he's glad that hasn't been affected. He doesn't ever want to lose this feeling or start to be suspicious of it for being too facile. Lian continues to sulk on the other side of the room and Lex says nothing to him about it. It isn't worth the bother at the moment.

He's only just begun with the story of the horsie when one of the maids knocks with breakfast, cereal for Luc, eggs and toast for Lex, servings of both for Lian, the bottomless pit of appetite that he's always been only increased now as his growth speeds up. Lex moves himself and Luc to the floor to eat and continues with the story until the brave warriors of Greece and Troy, united by the magnificence of the horsie, realize their common bond and celebrate together with a huge bonfire and a feast. Dad gets apoplectic whenever he hears about that, but luckily he's not around to hear it very often. If only he had just stayed away completely, and not meddled.

Somewhere deep in his mind, Lex knows there are visions of what he and his brothers could do, could have, could be all together, visions that are as twisted and grandiose as any Dad has dreamed up, visions of miraculously enhanced health and strength and mental faculties, visions of having so many advantages over anyone who came against them that they would be unstoppable. And he knows the factor that his Dad hasn't bothered to count into the equations, knows that ultimately, their loyalty is to each other, rather than to their father. Whatever schemes of triumph and conquest Dad has, he's going to fall if he pushes too hard.

Dad has opened the gates, and his sons are sneaking in.

Part Nine

Lex convinces Luc and Lian to wait in his room while he uses the phone in the nursery to call Dad, since he doesn't want them overhearing this conversation. It takes a while, too many promises that he'll return as soon as possible, too many statements that he can't explain what's happening but it's nothing wrong, too many tiny twinges in his heart that make him want to remain and that he adamantly hardens himself to. There are going to have to be some new standards set in this household if Luc is going to be like this.

Dad answers the phone on the second ring and Lex stands silently, staring at one of Luc's drawings on the wall, a picture with stick figures of their family, all five of them together, Mom, Dad, Lex, Lian, Luc, the way it never was. That picture has been there for two years now, and Lex thinks it odd that Luc actually bothered to put Dad in. He wouldn't have done that lately, even before all these recent events.

"Who is this?" Dad asks into the silence. "Lex?"

"Dad. Yeah."

"What is it?"

"I have... something to report." Lex twines the phone cord tightly around his wrist, clutching at the receiver, leaning back against the wall and resting his elbow on the bookcase. He tells himself that what he's doing will make things better, but it's hard to trust that. It's hard to trust anything in the world, especially Dad. "Luc is... Your experiment worked. But he's feverish, too, and I think he'll get better if the, um, the xenorite is removed. If it's left in, he might just... he might just get sicker." His throat hurts as he says that.

Lionel sounds unfazed. "What are the indications that the attempt was a success?"

"He can... it's some kind of telepathic thing." Lex can still hardly believe words like that are coming out of his mouth. He's had years to explain Lian's powers and his own features to himself, even if he didn't know their cause. But there's a huge gap in his mind between the physically odd yet potentially comprehensible abilities and this kind of physically inexplicable thing, this mental thing. "He can sense other people's emotions. He can even make people feel certain emotions. He did it to me, and the nursemaid, and from the way he's been talking also to the other kids at his school." Lex pauses. "He can't sense Lian, though, and he's been complaining about that, so I don't know what's going on there." There's absolutely no reason for it that Lex can see, there must be some factor that he's unaware of. But how could he know how any of this works at all? He's out of his experience, his depth, struggling to make it.

Lionel hums, as if it all makes more sense to him than it does to Lex, as if he's pleased, and Lex knows exactly what possibilities he's envisioning, the same ones Lex himself did. There are so many uses for that. How could anyone stand against it in negotiations, in anything? Lex was only barely able to deny it because he knew it was happening. He can well imagine that it could get stronger as it develops in Luc, as he practices, as he grows, learns to use it more skillfully and delicately. Lex has also recently been treated to another little demonstration of how inarguable Lian's physical strength is, even though he's only eleven, and the combination of his little brothers there, at that moment, had definitely frightened him. The thought of having his father using them to do whatever he pleases frightens Lex even more. He tries to hold on to the certainty that it won't happen that way, but in the face of Dad's actual presence, even if only his verbal presence, it's more difficult.

"That's wonderful, Lex. Wonderful." It's almost as if Dad reads his mind down the phone lines.

"Dad, please." He hates to beg but he'll do anything at this juncture, anything, to keep Luc from dying. "Please take it out of him. It did what you wanted, you've got the results, don't let them get botched now by too much exposure, by letting him get sick."

"It will take a little while to get everything prepared. I'll have a doctor up there as soon as possible. And Lex... Good job."

It's a relief to hear that Dad will relent and that, Lex hopes, hopes so much, that Luc will be fine. And through that, rubbing against it, Lex's gratitude at his father for complimenting him, his pleasure that Dad is proud of what he did, even when Lex himself is ashamed of it. These twisted emotions are the way Dad always makes him feel. Lex has so much hatred for him and yet he wants, needs, to prove himself to Dad, the most God-like judge he can imagine, the man whose grudgingly-given praise is sweeter than anything. Lex has never put much store in anyone else's opinions, all those ignorant people who don't know the truth about him and his family, those people who are never as successful as his father, those people who pat him on the back at school when he does the simplest stuff, while he knows that he far outstrips them all intellectually. They have such low standards that it's a given Lex will surpass those standards and so the praise means nothing. But Dad... Dad demands greatness from Lex, always, is determined to receive it. Lionel's awful at showing affection, at feeling it, and Lex knows he's more a trophy than a child, but he still wants to be the best trophy he can be, sick as that is, sick as that makes him at himself.

He manages to whisper past the catch in his throat. "Thanks."

"I'll come check on all of you after the procedure is finished." The phone clicks down, connection severed, and a moment later Lex is listening to the dial tone. He sets his receiver down and slumps heavier against the wall, pulling himself together for a moment before he can go back and see his brothers.

Leaving the nursery and going out into the hallway, he can hear the screams before he even opens the door to his room. When he does, he sees that Luc is still on the bed, Lian still in the chair, staying as far away from Luc as he can. The two of them are both yelling as loud as their lungs will allow.

"You killed Mom!" Lian screams.

"Lian bad! Quiet!" Luc screams.

They both turn at Lex's entrance and yell his name in unison, babbling away at him. There's another rush of feeling through Lex, frustration and distaste, and something that moves it inside him and focuses it on Lian. Lex clamps down on his emotions coldly. He is going to bring order to this chaos, set standards that will be followed. His brothers will obey, that he's determined of. No more of this. No more.

He turns to Lian, who stares at him with affected puppy dog eyes, bangs falling in his face and chin stuck out defiantly in contrast. "Don't ever say that, Lian, ever. It isn't true." Lex's voice is strict. He knows that what he's saying is right, he knows it was Dad instead, or Mom herself, or just the fucked up nature of the world. But it wasn't Luc. Then he turns to face Luc, walks over and grabs Luc's arms, kneeling on the floor by the bed, holding him there. Luc's lips wobble, tears in his big blue eyes, and Lex feels the surge of love and protectiveness that he always does, augmented even more this time. "And Luc, you're going to have to learn some manners with this new ability of yours. You can't just go meddling with people's emotions whenever you want to. It's wrong. It's like tying them up or hitting them, you can't infringe on their freedom. Don't do it to me again, baby, understand?"

Two tears roll slowly down Luc's cheeks. Lex knows Luc is putting it on and remains firm. Luc nods, squinches up his eyebrows, leans in and sniffles against Lex's shoulder. Lex isn't sure Luc understands the explanation or the reasons at all, but he thinks that he will, eventually, and for now he ought to at least leave Lex alone and not meddle with him.

There's a knock on the door and Lex nods at Lian, who sidles over to open it, Luc still sniveling onto Lex's clean new shirt. Two of the security guards stand there, along with a woman in a white lab coat. It's the woman who was presenting at the meeting Dad had Lex attend, the meeting where he first learned of all this. She's stern, her hair pulled back into a high, tight ponytail that accentuates her sharp cheekbones and cold eyes, making her look heartless and stiff.

"I'm here for the subject," she says.

"You mean the child," Lex responds, firmly. "My baby brother. I want you to remove whatever you put inside him, make sure he stays healthy."

"I will take him to the proper facilities for it, and return him once it is over."

"No fucking way." Lex doesn't even care that he just swore in front of Luc, who doesn't seem to notice at all, although Lian gives him a shocked glance. "You do it here, with me observing."

"Lex, surely you don't believe I'll perform such a delicate operation in these... surroundings?" She looks around as if Lex's room, neat and clean as he keeps it, is distasteful. Although, really, Lex has to admit that it smells funky now, after all these days where he was sick and locked inside. The security guards stand behind her as if blind and deaf, staring at nothing and unmoving. Lex doesn't even remember her name, and doesn't think she should be allowed to address him like that. He straightens up as much as he can, kneeling on the floor by his bed with Luc buried in his chest. Luc is shivering against Lex, though he remains silent.

"Then I go with you."

"No. Mr. Luthor's orders. You are to remain here with the other child, while I take the subject and finish the final stage of the experiment. We will return him to you when it is over." She still seems emotionless, unfeeling. Lex is horrified, furious at her and at Dad. One of the security guards steps forward, advances to grab at Luc's arm. Luc screams, flails, and Lex leans back and away, out of reach of his churning little fists. It hurts him inside, because he wants to grab and protect Luc, and instead he has to let him go.

The guard flinches, looks stricken, and releases him, retreating a few steps. The other guard and the woman, doctor or scientist, whatever she really is, flinch back as well, the same stricken expressions on their faces. Lian is still standing there, holding the door open, looking uncertain. Lex knows, knows bone-deep, that Luc could drive them away in fear, that Lian could drive them away physically, but he also knows they shouldn't, they can't. That thing has to come out of Luc, and Lex can't safely do it himself. This woman knows how it works, she knows what to do, and Lex will let her take Luc away. He'll feel horrible about it, but he'll let it happen. He's certain that at this point Dad doesn't want Luc to be harmed at all. Now Luc is far too valuable and desirable to have anything happen to him. She'll keep Luc safe and healthy, on Dad's orders.

"Luc, baby, stop it. They won't hurt you. I promise. Just go with them, just for a little bit, and they'll help you. It's like going away to school, just go away with them, just for a bit. You'll be right back. Promise." Lex gathers Luc up in his arms again, presses a Judas kiss to his forehead. "Would I ever let something bad happen to you?"

"No like them," Luc sniffles.

"You don't have to like them. You just have to let them do this one thing. Then they'll be gone."

Raising his head, Luc stares Lex in the eyes. "Lex want."

"I want them to get that thing out of you, yes. I asked them to do it. Now I'm asking you."

Luc turns to them imperiously, letting go of Lex, pulling himself up to his full little kid height. "You do what Lex tell you. You do what I tell you. Take thing out." The woman nods and Luc steps off the bed, Lex steadying him down. He treads haughtily out the door, with the woman and the guards turning and following him. Eventually they vanish around the corner of the hallway. Lian lets the door fall shut as Lex slides down to the floor, leaning back against the side of his bed. He actually hopes Luc doesn't listen to his earlier admonitions, hopes Luc messes with their minds as much as needed to make sure that he's safe through this. Lex covers his mouth with his hand for a moment, biting at the side of his fingers, telling himself again that Dad won't let Luc be hurt now.

"Lex?" Lian's voice is soft, halfway between worry and reassurance.

Lex pushes himself to standing, sick to death of his bed, sick of looking at the far wall from that angle, sick of this room and himself. He walks over and drops into one of the armchairs. "He'll be okay," he whispers.

Lian takes a hesitant step forward, then is suddenly standing right in front of Lex with a blur of air. He drops to his knees, back turned to Lex, and presses his cheek into Lex's lap, wraps his arms around Lex's thighs. Lex reaches out, touches the dark curls at the nape of Lian's neck. "Why?" Lian asks desperately.

"Why what?" Lex needs clarification, because to answer the wrong question will only make whatever it is worse.

"Why am I here? Why am I like this?"

Those questions Lex doesn't know the answer to, just knows that Lian doesn't mean them in the most general philosophical manner. He twines his fingers in Lian's hair, tugging roughly, impotently at it, needing to clutch at some remaining lifeline, staring in front of him blankly, the room a blur. He answers flippantly. "Well, when your mother and your father-"

"Whoever they were."

"You know who they were."

"I've been told who they were. It's not the same. I barely even remember Mom. Lex... It doesn't make sense. How did I get changed? When? Why am I the one who's here? Why was I adopted? Why does the meteor hurt me? Why does Luc say I'm empty?"

Lex has no answers to give about any of that, and he agrees that it doesn't make sense. He cups his hand around the warmth of Lian's neck, feels his pulse fluttering away there. "I don't care why. It wouldn't matter if Mom and Dad found you under a cabbage, you're my bratty little brother." He can't answer with any facts but this. "And I love you." He will have the answers one day, though, he will, he swears it.

"I wish you were the daddy, Lex." Lian sighs warmly against Lex's thigh, voice throaty and tight.

Digging his fingernails into Lian's skin, Lex nods. "Yeah. Me, too." He wants more than anything to be the one in control of all this, the one in control of everything.

They sit without talking for a few moments, Lex listening to the soft sounds of Lian's breathing, stroking over Lian's shoulders and back, feeling the rise and fall of his chest, the constant of life. He thinks over his earliest memories, and he knows that Lian already had all his powers when he arrived, the first time Lex saw him. That was after Lex lost his hair but before he realized how well he healed. He had been shocked by Lian, then decided it was just right that there was something special about his new brother. It wouldn't have been appropriate for him to join the family otherwise. Lex isn't sure, but he believes Lian arrived pretty quickly after the meteor shower. He has some sinister visions of the poor little orphan boy, and how enticing he must have seemed as a subject, one of the first to be deliberately exposed in some Luthorcorp lab. Lex had just been a little kid, but Dad had had access to so much more information. It clearly hadn't taken him long to make the connection and begin working on how to exploit it.

The main question is why Lian is here, and not wherever else the others are. Is he really that much more powerful, more potentially useful? Is there something else Lex doesn't know? He wishes Lian hadn't thought of it, though, wishes Lian hadn't noticed, because he'd rather not have Lian worrying and wondering and, the worst, poking around and asking about it. This is not something to broach with Dad. That's one of Lex's rules, that he never asks the questions when he knows they won't be answered, tries not to tip his hand that way. But Lian doesn't have that restraint.

"Lex..." Lian turns, sliding his whole body around to face Lex, looking up at him, eyes wide and gleaming. "Tell me about Mom." He folds his left arm over Lex's lap, cradles his head in it, reaches out with his right hand and idly fingers at Lex's beltloop. His fingers move too fast for just an instant and Lex shivers at the sensation, as always.

Thinking about Mom is so complex now. It was a lot simpler before he found out that she had exposed herself to xenorite while pregnant. "She used to play peek-a-boo with you. You would move around the room while she wasn't looking, and she'd take her hands from her eyes and say 'there's Lian!' and you wouldn't be there, so she would look around and then point and say 'there!' again." Lian grins, and Lex slides a hand over Lian's face, in front of his eyes. He puts his other palm over Lian's mouth, feeling the shape of it, and Lian bites at him, softly. Lex draws his hands away, revealing first Lian's eyes, then his mouth. "She used to read to us, fairy tales and myths. That was back in the day, when there was more than one story." Lex smiles ruefully.

"I miss her," Lian whispers.

"So do I."

"Don't ever leave."

"I won't." Lex knows Lian isn't stupid enough to think a promise like that can be made and kept, they've both lost enough to know better, but as far as he can ever control it, Lex will keep that promise. They fall silent again, and Lex wonders again if Dad even has any clue what he's really wrought. After a few minutes Lian starts to fidget, entirely unable to just sit still with nothing to do, and Lex sends him off to his cartoons and games, waiting alone for Luc to return.

Lex is unable to concentrate on anything, though he tries. Finally, hours later, just as he's starting to desperately want lunch, the doctor woman reappears with one of the security guards, a sleeping Luc slung in his arms. Lex takes Luc from them, mumbling some kind of thanks for returning him while glaring at them for taking so long and for hurting his brother in the first place, and hefts his unconscious baby into the bed. Luc doesn't stir at all and Lex figures he's been knocked out with something. He feels at Luc's shoulder. The lump of the meteorite piece is gone, Luc's newly re-opened wound sewn up again with fresh stitches and covered with a clean bandage. He still feels hot and feverish, though, and Lex is still worried. They're not out of the woods yet. His fucking bedroom is still a prison and a sickroom.

If Luc gets sick and dies after all this Lex is going to tear the world apart with his bare hands, starting with Dad.

Luc wakes up a few hours later, still hot but not complaining about feeling bad. Lex spends the rest of the day entertaining him, catering to his every whim, not letting him leave the room. It seems so stupid and wrong to Lex that he doesn't get sick, that his body can heal itself and keep itself safe from disease and injury, but that he can't do the same for someone else. He would give anything to be able to guarantee Luc's health. He wishes he could have that power.

It isn't until the next morning, after a night of fitful sleep, Luc cradled in his arms, that Lex feels Luc's temperature return to normal. When he wakes up once in the early hours of the morning and notices that, Lex actually cries with relief, confusing Luc. He clutches Luc tight, his face buried in Luc's curls, wetting them with tears, not at all ashamed of doing so. As far as he can tell, this ought to be the end. This ought to mean that they're past the point where cancer from the radiation is a possibility. Luc is now well and truly through to the other side, a mutation fixed into his body and cells, into his mind, one that will be with him forever, one that they'll all have to learn to live with now.

In that sense it's only the beginning.

Lex isn't sure whether he's supposed to call Dad to report again. He doesn't want to do that right away, anyway. Time enough for it once he's gotten dressed and eaten. All these days with nothing to do feel so short and so long at once, so repetitive. He could swear he just ate breakfast a few hours ago, even though it was yesterday morning. Luc is bouncy and happy this morning, clearly picking up on Lex's new exhilaration. Lex is so incredibly happy right now that he can't worry what the future might hold. Another meteor shower could flatten the house right now and he wouldn't mind at all.

It's Sunday morning. Tomorrow is the first day of spring break and Lex has a lot of homework to catch up on. He's actually able to have thoughts about that now, though, not just thoughts about the horrors of disease and death. He leaves Luc alone for a moment to get some of baby's clothes out of his room, returns with them, and takes Luc into the shower with him, careful not to get the stitches wet. The wound appears to be healing well. Lex presses his hand against it until Luc whimpers, just to make sure, again, that he can't feel anything hiding in there.

Luc is slippery and cheerful, writhing and squirming as Lex washes his hair, asking Lex whether they can go outside to play now and complaining when Lex forces him to use soap.

Just after they get out, when Lex is pulling Luc's shirt down, Lian barges in without even knocking. Luc glares at him, and Lex chastises him for it, but he remains unrepentant. Lex orders breakfast up to his room and Luc starts asking for the horsie. Of course. Lex tells him that he has to wait until after breakfast. Luc eats as quickly as possible, practically inhaling his food, while Lian dawdles at a remarkable rate for someone who can move faster than Lex can see. Lex doesn't let either of them affect him, just enjoys the taste of his eggs and pancakes. After a bit he feels a little less satisfaction with the meal, a little more desire to hurry, and he glances disapprovingly at Luc.

Luc smiles innocently at him, but the feelings fade away.

It's while they're sitting on the bed, Lex reading the story to them with Luc snuggling happily into his chest, head bouncing along with the words, and Lian lying curled up against his legs, arms wrapped around Lex's thigh, that Dad walks in.

"Don't coddle them too much, Lex. I don't want my sons to grow up soft," Dad says, voice firm.

The fact that he finally, now, acknowledges Luc sends a wave of anger through Lex, mixed with a wave of pleasure, pride, and relief. Luc tilts his head up, hair brushing on the underside of Lex's chin, eyes sparkling. Lex tightens his arm around Luc's waist, pulling the book against Luc's side, his other fingers gripping harder into Lian's t-shirt.

"Don't worry, Dad," he replies. "They aren't." If only they could, Lex wishes.

"Can Lex go outside now?" Lian asks softly.

Lionel nods. "Of course. You are all free to return to your normal schedules."

"Return to horsie," Luc orders.

"Luc, do you even know how the story goes, or does your brother just tell you that bastardized version?" Lionel's voice is sharp. Luc doesn't flinch back, like he would have before, just stares right at Dad. Lex is so proud of him for that.

"I know."

The fixed look on Luc's face, his harsh confidence as he says that, cause a chill to spike through Lex's mind. It fades almost immediately, replaced by the warmth of pride again, and he doesn't think more on it. Dad takes a small step back, his mouth twisting.

"Dad scared," Luc continues. "Dad scared of us. Me."

"Nonsense," Lionel huffs. Lian is glancing back and forth between them, calmly, just examining all their faces in turn. His hand wraps tighter on Lex's leg.

Lex is viciously pleased.

"Lex, I expect you to keep up the good work with them," Lionel grinds out, and then he turns and leaves. Luc snuggles up closer to Lex's shoulder and Lian lays his head back in Lex's lap. Lex practically glows. It's wonderful to see Dad get a taste of his own medicine.

Pulling the book out of Lex's hands, Luc glances at the pages, then drops it aside. He leans away, staring at Lex with his huge blue eyes, baby mouth pouting softly. "Go out to play?" he asks, and Lian whoops, sitting up straight. Lex smiles at them both, feeling lighthearted and so full of joy, not worrying about anything.

"Sure." He's so excited to leave his room, the house, finally, that he rushes them out. They walk through the sculpted lawns and gardens that draw so many compliments to a section by the back wall where a playground is set up. Lian disappears, zipping away into the air too fast to see. "One minute clock-time, then I expect you back here!" Lex shouts, to no direction in particular. He isn't stressed.

The outdoors is beautiful, the sky bright blue, the trees covered in spring green, the air soft and warm with a gentle breeze. Taking deep breaths, Lex's heart soars, expands, feels free.

He settles on one of the swings, Luc in his lap, pushing them lazily with his feet, staring at the flowers. Lian appears for a second in front of them, his grin wide, showing sharp white teeth, crinkling the edges of his eyes, as green as the new leaves. He vanishes again, and then Lex feels him catch the swing from behind, give it a gentle shove. Lex clutches Luc tighter to him as his baby laughs happily, Lian pushing them ever higher.