Fic: Aliens 601, For Humans (Part 1) (kind of a b'day fic for jlvsclrk) (2/3, complete)
Title: Aliens 601, For Humans (Part 1)
Author: josephina_x
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: pre-Clex
Rating: PG-13 (mild cursing)
Spoilers: Up through the end of Reckoning in season 5. Goes slightly AU at Lexmas ("when given a nail..."). Things start to snowball here. Spans Vengeance, but references a lot of earlier season 5.
Word count: 20,900+
Summary: Lex may be missing a few prerequisites for this one. He wants Clark to tutor him, but Clark is barely muddling through on his own as it is. Unfortunately, failure is not an option that either of them can live with, and they're worried they're being graded on a curve...
Warnings: Un-beta'd. More Evil Italics Of Doom, emphasis mine. Oh and yeah, there's a lot of thinky!Lex and not so much action. Consider yourself warned.
Disclaimer: Not mine, not-for-profit.
Comments: Yes, please! :)
Author's Note: Previous section located here. Next section located here.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lex had gotten out of work early and was parking in the back alley of the Talon.
As he got out of the car, he dropped his keys. He picked them up and cursed at his inattention that day. He hadn't been able to concentrate completely at work, and now he was making stupid stumbling moves?
Yes, he was upset about Clark, and yes, he was still feeling the hurt of having lost the Black Ship, but he'd dealt with worse before, hadn't he?
Sure I have, Lex told himself, thinking of Julian, and I did so by blocking it out for more than a decade.
...And Clark had better not have been the one to steal the Black Ship away. Though considering how it had been 'acting up' earlier that day, Chloe's appearance at the warehouse twice before, and Clark's appearance on security footage only well after the fact at normal speed -- at what must have been a serious delay in Clark's little blonde agent reporting back to him -- Lex thought that possibility highly unlikely. To say Clark wasn't that good at subterfuge was an understatement, and he'd have had no reason to return to the scene of the crime.
Lex unlocked the back door to the Talon, then slipped his keys back into his pants pocket. He walked up the steps and into the kitchen, and then up the staircase to the loft apartment. He knocked on the door.
"Who're you looking for?" Lois called from below at the bar. The place was nearly deserted at this odd hour, it being between the after-school snacking crowd and the nominal middle-class dinnertime.
Great. Just what I need more of in my life right now: college dropout snark... thought Lex, turning and suppressing a grimace.
"Lana, if she's here," Lex shared. He knew that she usually came to visit her old apartment and hang out with Lois and Chloe sometimes.
"She's not."
Lex stifled a sigh and descended.
"Haven't seen her yet."
Lex perked up at the unexpected sharing of unsolicited information. "She's coming by today?"
"She said she would." Lois gave him a critical look. "Why do you want to see her?"
"I just had something I wanted to talk to her about," Lex dissembled.
"Not cool, jerkface."
Lex's head snapped up, and he glared at her. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, come on. Lana and Clark break up, Clark's dad dies, and you swoop in to gank her before Mr. Kent's body has cooled in the ground? It's called a mourning period. And Clark and Lana would be getting back together again if he weren't in one right now."
"I am not--" Lex said hotly, then realized what he was doing, and forced himself to stop and take a breath. And then close his eyes and count to ten. And then think about counting to thirty, because that hadn't been enough time.
But then he made the mistake of opening his eyes, and saw that Lois was smirking at him like she'd won a prize and obviously thought she'd hit the nail on the head with her comment.
"What kind of mannerless, ill-bred lout do you think I am?" Lex demanded, losing his temper.
"A bald one," she replied promptly, with a flash of teeth that did not deserve to be called a grin.
"You do realize that this sort of disrespectful behavior towards your employer is grounds for termination, don't you?" Lex gritted out, reminding her of her place.
"Then fire me," she shot back brazenly, tossing a towel over her shoulder and leaning against the counter.
He needed to go. He really needed to go before he saw red and did something he would regret. He knew he wouldn't be having nearly this much difficulty dealing with Lane if he'd been in any proper mental state at the moment.
"Did Lana say when she would be stopping by?" he said dryly, in one last-ditch effort to not engage her at her lowbrow, gutter-mouth level.
"Yes."
"...Are you going to tell me when that would be?"
Lois just smiled sweetly at him. "What do you think, cue-ball?"
"So that's a no, then." Right. Lex grabbed a double-chocolate muffin -- the last one -- from the nearly empty glass display. He really needed a quick pick-me-up at the moment, and chocolate with chocolate chips ought to do the trick nicely.
"Hey, you gonna pay for that?"
"Consider it a benefit of store ownership," Lex drawled blandly. But he set it down on the counter and pulled out his wallet.
"Corporate shill," Lois tossed back, taking the bills offered and counting out his change -- he'd been pissy about it and handed her a hundred-dollar bill. "Speaking of which..."
Oh Christ, there's more?
"...how's that revenge thing working out for you?" she said as she passed back his change.
Lex put it away then pocketed it, and stifled another sigh. He generally made it a point to stay informed of his current image in the townspeople's eyes according to the local gossip, but somehow he knew he was going to regret hearing it from Lois's lips. Despite that, he decided that sooner would be preferable to later and, wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible, he asked, tiredly, "What revenge thing?"
"That whole thing where you murdered Mr. Kent because he won the state Senate seat," Lois tossed out with a hard glint in her eye.
Lex froze.
"...What?" he croaked out. And he was barely able to manage even that much.
"Oh, c'mon. You're a Luthor. You wanted something. Mr. Kent got in the way. You took him out so you could get it instead. It's not rocket science. Just admit it."
Lex was having trouble breathing.
"You'll feel better," Lois added, as if it were an afterthought.
"...Might I make a suggestion, Lois?"
"Hmm?"
"Never. Ever. Ever. Say that in front of Clark," Lex said coldly.
"Oh yeah? Why not?" she smiled. "What do you think he'll say?"
"I think he'll say that you don't know what you're talking about, so shut the hell up."
Lex and Lois both jumped, then started again at the loud 'bang!' as Clark dropped the muffin trays he'd been carrying onto the counter right next to Lex.
"Oh, and here's the extra muffins you ordered, Lois," Clark ended, looking none-too-pleased with her.
Lex wondered how Clark had managed to sneak up like that without him noticing, then realized that he'd been engaged with Lois and in a foul mood, so that the possibility that Clark had taken a normal approach wasn't out of the question.
No, the real question was: how had he managed to startle Lois, who had a view of the entire Talon from where she was standing, and should have seen him coming?
Had he used his speed?
...so blatantly, and right in front of the both of them? That seemed out of character.
Thinking it over, Lois wasn't exactly the most perceptive of people, so perhaps it wasn't out of the question that she hadn't noticed, either. And Lex revised his opinion of her innate perspecacity downwards even further when she opened her mouth and said, "Clark, that's-- well, how do you know?"
Clark just stood there and stared at her.
Lex stood there and winced.
Lois, unbelievably, kept going. "I mean, Lex wasn't anywhere to be found that night. Why else would he disappear off the grid like that?"
Clark looked irate, and Lex flashed back to -- warning! step 1 incomplete! no defense against angry alien! -- as he realized exactly how much danger he would be in if Clark believed--
"Lex wasn't there."
Lex sucked in a startled breath.
Lois frowned. "But--"
"Lex wasn't there." Clark repeated adamantly.
"How do you know?" Lois all-but-accused. "He could have--"
"I know because he wasn't there! Ok?!"
But Lois wouldn't let up. "Oh yeah? Well then where was he? He's got no alibi!" Lois said triumphantly.
"He was with Lana!" Clark shot back.
And oh, did that ever derail all of Lex's thought processes at once in a massive trainwreck!
How the hell did Clark know that??? Lex knew Lana wouldn't have told Clark that, Lex certainly hadn't said anything to anyone on the matter, and they were the only two people to have witnessed the near-deadly, missed crash. The bus driver couldn't have I.D.ed Lana's car -- if he'd been paying that much attention to his surroundings, he wouldn't have nearly hit her in the first place.
At least, Lex had thought there had been no one else there to witness the event at the time.
But Clark was known for his last-minute rescues. And for being around to thwart deadly outcomes by not such a wide margin. Though this one had been slimmer than most.
Speed. Strength. ...Combined? Had Clark done something to Lana's car? Or to the bus?
Faster than the speed of sound. Lex reminded himself. Just because I didn't see him, doesn't mean he wasn't there. And wasn't that a chilling thought.
What was an even more chilling thought was: Did he try to kill Lana? With his abilities, Clark could have easily set something like that up.
...But no, if Clark wanted Lana dead, she'd be dead. It wouldn't be hard. A near-miss spoke of a prevented death, not a botched attempt at homicide. Hell, Clark would probably be strong enough to kill Lana easily with just his bare hands, even without the strength and supposed invincibility.
"Lex was... with Lana?" Lois repeated. "And... you're ok with that?" she asked slowly, eyes wide.
"I-- that--" Clark stammered.
"Right. ...Ok, Smallville, nevermind that. --And you know what? Fine. Maybe he wasn't there in person. But you're still being naiive. There are plenty of drugs, that somebody could use in powders or pills or tranquilizer darts, which can cause a heart attack. So that doesn't mean that he didn't call in a professional hit to--"
"LEX IS NOT LIONEL!" Clark bellowed at the top of his lungs, slamming a fist down on the counter.
Lois visibly jumped. Lex was surprised he wasn't clinging to the ceiling by his fingernails, honestly. He felt his heat going rabbit-fast inside his chest and it took an effort not to flinch away... or run. --He'd never seen Clark lose his temper like that. Not all-at-once, explosively, out of nowhere. Not like that. Not without some buildup, some warning. Not without some drug or meteor freak or other outside influence acting on him.
I guess this time, that influence is called 'Lois', Lex thought weakly, and then he was suddenly reminded of step 0, that was supposed to come before step 1 -- that a mentally and emotionally stable Clark was a safe(r) Clark, and a liability if feeling otherwise.
And Clark had paled and was visibly shaking but otherwise motionless, barely even moving his chest to breathe, staring down at the counter. Lex watched as Clark tried to pull himself together... and failed.
"Clark--" Lois started.
Lex didn't even bother to face her, keeping his eyes on Clark as he said in a smooth voice, "Lois, I think I entirely agree with what Clark told you earlier: you don't know what you're talking about, so shut the hell up."
"Excuse me?!"
"You might want to spend a moment to think about what you were just arguing with Clark about before you even consider opening your mouth again, Miss Lane," Lex said darkly, glancing at her.
Lois looked about to retort, then she realized what Lex meant, paled and snapped her mouth shut. She looked at Clark and bit her lip, looking almost ashamed.
Thank you, god.
"I... I should go," Clark said in a wavering, monotone voice, looking a little freaked out himself, at himself.
He didn't even try to apologize, Lex realized with a growing horror. Clark always apologized for what he did when it didn't fall within the polite social norms. Always. Even when it was justified. Even when it wasn't his fault. Even when he hadn't done anything, if he thought someone expected it. And this time he'd lashed out (only at an inanimate object, thank god) and scared Lois, and not even tried to apologize at all. This was so off the norm for Clark that they weren't just off the reservation, they were on freaking Mars.
"I... I have chores." Clark slowly brought his hand back to his side, like it was a dangerous bomb ready to go off.
Lex finally found his voice again. "Chores?" he said, taking a single step forward, reaching out, and gently putting a hand on Clark's arm. He felt fine tremors; Clark was still shaking slightly.
"I... There are things. On the farm. I have to do. For spring planting, and the cow herds."
"No." The word was out of Lex's mouth before he'd even really had the thought.
"I have to..."
"No," Lex said more firmly.
"But I have to..."
Christ, Clark wasn't even really looking at him. Lex let go of Clark's arm, and instead reached up to cup his jaw with both hands, framing Clark's face and turning it towards him. Clark turned along with the pull, haltingly. "Clark, no." Lex repeated.
"I..."
Fuck. Clark looked like he was in shock. Blank. Confused. His mind was caught up elsewhere. He was just running on autopilot: get home, do chores.
"Clark," Lex tried again. "You are not going back to the farm to do chores."
"I have to--"
"Get someone else to do it," Lex demanded.
"--Wh ...What?" Clark's eyes stopped jumping around the edges of his vision and focused on Lex a little.
Thank god, I'm starting to get his attention. "Clark, you are not going back to the farm and doing chores. You shouldn't be doing that right now. You're in mourning. It's too soon for you to..." get back to living with a gaping hole in your life. "No-one expects you to do anything for awhile. You or your mom. Ok?"
"But, the farm..."
"Someone else can take care of the farm."
"No," Clark said, taking a step back. "It's my responsibility."
Lex followed Clark's motion, but let his hands fall down to Clark's chest. "You don't have to, Clark. Someone else can--"
"It's our land," Clark said, with an echo of belligerence, bringing his chin down to frown at the floor.
Lex blew out a breath. Right. He'd forgotten about Jonathan's insistence that the Kent land be farmed by Kents, not outsiders.
"Clark, you aren't dishonoring your father's memory by taking help when you need it," Lex said slowly. Please, please listen. Please don't be as belligerent as your father was about accepting help. Even he let me buy out the mortgage for him, when it came down to it. "You don't have to be Jonathan to honor him."
"But... the farm. I can't..."
"I'll take care of the damn farm, all right?"
Clark's head snapped up. He looked down at Lex, wide-eyed.
"I'll do it all myself, on my own, if I have to. --Jonathan let me help out on the farm before, didn't he? You know I can handle it. He knew I could." Because if Jonathan didn't let outsiders work the farm, but he'd let Lex pitch in, and approved of his work after the fact, how could Lex be classified as an outsider?
...And Lex blinked and then had to stop that line of thought cold, because that was just... a painful thought and...
"...Lex?"
Lex realized he'd dropped his gaze. He tilted his head back up at Clark and blinked again, as he realized that Clark seemed suddenly present again.
"Lex, you-- ...You went really pale all of a sudden. Are you ok?" Clark asked, concerned, as he looked Lex over.
Lex stared up at Clark blankly. Did he really just ask me if I'm ok? he thought incredulously, because that had been the last thing he would have expected out of Clark right now. Trust Clark to think more about others than himself, even when he's hurting so badly he can't even... Lex had to mentally shake himself again, to focus on what Clark was rambling on at him about.
"I mean, you... Oh." Clark's eyes widened slightly. "I... I didn't think... I mean, you didn't really... and he... --I thought..."
Clark blew out a breath, brought his hands up to lightly touch the sides of Lex's shoulders, in a gesture obviously meant to soothe.
Then Clark said, "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking at all. I didn't think you'd miss him, too."
Lex stared up at Clark for a long moment.
...He needed to sit down.
Luckily, there was a stool right behind him at the counter. He wasn't sure he would've made it otherwise.
Christ, what was Clark thinking?! --No, he didn't miss Jonathan especially. He really didn't. The overbearing preachy bastard. Unbelievably hypocritical -- lest Lex forget the papers he had in his wall safe back at the mansion. Jonathan had made it very clear on multiple occasions that he did not approve of Lex, did not want Lex hanging around, did not Clark associating with Lex. Clark had actually fought back and defended Lex against Jonathan on a few notable occasions, and--
Oh. Hell.
Suddenly it made perfect sense why Clark would get so shocky after defending Lex to Lois, when talking about Jonathan -- why he had reacted so badly. It was because he'd gotten stuck between trying to honor Jonathan's memory while also still trying to stay true to his own beliefs, and the grief was too raw to allow enough distance to balance the two without ripping chunks out of him. (...Assuming Clark didn't believe Lex the devil incarnate at this point; his outburst just then certainly indicated otherwise, unbelievably.) The thing was, Clark was never going to win that argument now. Lex could never prove himself to Jonathan, now. Lex could never prove himself to the point that Clark would not still be stuck having to defend him to Jonathan's memory somehow.
God help me, I don't want to know what his last words to Clark were. Probably something salt-of-the-earth about taking care of the farm and a final warning against all things Luthor. And maybe something about loving Clark and taking care of his mother.
But, no. That was all Clark. Lex didn't like the man, and never had done. He'd only ever tried to prove himself to the Kents to make things easier on Clark, back when they had been friends. That was the only reason he'd done it, period, and he wasn't sorry Jonathan was dead, and he didn't miss him.
--He didn't, damn it!
It didn't help that Clark seemed to be having a purely human reaction to his loss of an adoptive parent. Lex needed to remember that Clark was an alien, a horribly dangerous alien Lex needed to be careful in handling, but he just couldn't seem to keep that in mind when interacting with him.
Maybe if I try to think of Clark as a meteor freak? ...But that wouldn't work out; Clark wasn't psychotic. It would be the worst sort of error to treat him as such.
Lex shivered and put a hand to his forehead, stared at a point somewhere around Clark's knees, and had to remember to breathe before trying to answer Clark. "That's not..." he said weakly, which was entirely unintentional, so he paused and had to try again. "Clark... I don't..." That didn't come out any better, either.
Breathe, breathe, look him in the eye, and try again. "I'm fine, Clark. I'm worried about you. You shouldn't go back to the farm. You shouldn't be doing chores, doing Jonathan's work."
"Why?" Clark asked, too confused to fight back further. It really spoke volumes about Clark's presence of mind that he didn't say anything more than that. First time in an age. He really must be having a hell of a time of it. Why is it that he isn't striking out or arguing more when he's so very upset? That seemed counter-intuitive. ...Until overpowering strength came into the equation, at which point... well, other people would be in trouble, not Clark; Lex wasn't sure whether that spoke of thoughtfulness of others, fear, or iron control. But Clark hadn't even cracked the countertop when he'd lashed out. So... Well. No, Lex wasn't going to argue for less control on Clark's part, thank you.
"Clark, your father was... he practically was the farm. You'll see him everywhere there, in everything you do."
"But that's like being close to him. It's like he's there, almost."
Yes, Lex had figured that. That was, in fact, the problem. And there really was no other way to put this. "It'll hurt," Lex ground out.
"So?"
Oh god.
"Clark, it's not... it's not healthy. You're hurting yourself worse than... than you know. You should be trying to spend as little time on the farm as possible right now, until you're past the worst of it and can handle the feelings better."
"It's better than... not being home, like mom."
"Your mother hasn't been home much since...?"
"No. She finds excuses to be out as much as possible. It's not like what she's doing is working any better, though. She's doing worse than I am."
"I'm... sorry to hear that. I hope she's... feeling better soon," Lex ended lamely. God, he was horrible at this.
"Yeah, well, maybe she will be after she finishes getting rid of his stuff."
Lex stared at Clark for a moment.
Clark looked away almost embarrassed. "Yeah, I know. She said she couldn't stand to look at his stuff in the closet, so she was taking it to a shelter in Metropolis."
"In Metropolis?" Lois asked.
Clark glanced over and nodded. "She said she needed to talk to someone at the Governor's office about something with the senate seat."
About time, thought Lex. He'd thought he'd been more clear on the phone about refusing the seat on account of the wife of the victor being the better choice. Apparently his reference to the state's laws regarding a spouse being eligible to take up the seat for their significant other due to debilitating illness or death, and his oblique deference to the voter's choice, had been a bit too byzantine for the Governor's aide he'd talked with. No-one would have wanted a special election, and the authorization really shouldn't have taken that much time.
It hadn't really hurt much at all. He really did believe that Martha would make a fine senator and, quite frankly, if he'd found himself up against her in the race rather than Jonathan, Lex probably would have cut his losses and dropped out before the first primary.
"Huh. Wonder what they want to talk to her for," Lois said, glancing at Lex.
Lex made no comment, and instead focused on something that was nagging at him. "Clark, how much time have you been spending taking care of the farm?" If Clark was working on the farm to pick up the slack... Oh, but he had the strength and speed that it probably wouldn't be a problem for him to handle both the heavier workload on the farm and his collegiate coursework. Full-time farmwork might be nearly impossible for someone else taking his courseload, even without the death in the family, but that just was not the case for someone more than human. ...Damnit. He shouldn't have brought it up.
"Oh, well... a lot, I guess, but that's not a problem. I dropped out of my classes for the semester to take care of... things..." Clark trailed off as he looked back down at Lex and Lex's facial expression registered.
"You did what?!?" Lex burst out, standing.
Clark winced but held his ground.
"It's... there's too much to be done on the farm!"
"Clark--" Lex grated out as he lined up arguments like a volley of spears. For starters, there was no way Jonathan would have been all right with Clark dropping out of college because of him. It had been obvious even to Lex that Jonathan had thought Clark would move on beyond the family farm. A simple farmer's life simply was not Clark's future.
...Oh hell, was it ever not. Not when Clark was a member of an alien world-conquering brood. Though Lex doubted that Jonathan would have approved of Clark taking up that particular line of work as a profession, what with his 'no killing ever' policy. Damn Nixon to hell -- where he had better already be in residence, by-the-by, or Lex was going to be having a serious talk with whomever was in charge of the afterlife around these parts at some point...
"No, look, hey -- even if I had help on the farm, I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the coursework right now anyway, ok?" Clark defended, looking miserable and really not wanting to fight over this. He knew how Lex felt about him and education.
"Jesus, Clark. --You did at least submit the paperwork for the full refund, right?"
When Clark looked at him blankly, Lex added, "Clark, a death in the family is considered extenuating circumstances. Not being able to finish out the rest of a semester because of that sort of... personal upheaval is normal. You fill out the right paperwork, they'll give you a full refund. If you need help with it, let me know." He wouldn't even have to pull strings to force it through -- just call up and yell a little as an anonymous concerned friend of the family. Lex knew how these things went. "--You are planning on picking things up next semester, aren't you?" Lex continued, with warning in his tone. Because he may have to find a way to strangle Clark if he didn't. He wasn't going to have a ill-educated alien conqueror living three miles off his doorstep, thank you very much. This Luthor had standards, and to hell with the increased challenge an advanced schooling might bring.
Clark looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Lex decided to cut him a break. "All right. I supose we can talk about this later."
"Sorry."
"You'd better be. Five years, Clark. For five years now I've been looking forward to finally being able to have a decent conversation with you about ancient warring civilizations, where you might be able to hold your own for once, and now I come to find that you're thinking about leaving me hanging?" Lex gave him a mock glare and slid his hands into his pockets, shaking his head. "Completely unacceptable, Clark." It got him a weak smile from the young alien, and that was a start in the right direction for step 0, at least.
"Sorry," Clark repeated, looking a little sheepish, staring at the ground. Then he looked off to the side and grimaced slightly. "It doesn't really matter anyway. My history professor vanished on us, and I hear the course is being covered by some TA that doesn't know what they're talking about. You'd have to wait a semester until I got a decent teacher again, anyway."
"...Milton Fine?" Lex said. He couldn't believe Clark had brought the man up.
"You know him?" Clark said, and from the sounds of things he really didn't like the idea of that, looking vaguely alarmed.
"By reputation only," Lex said smoothly, and he had to keep the surprise off of his face when he saw Clark suck in a breath and look even more alarmed.
"Lex, you have to stay away from him, he's--" But Clark stopped before finishing whatever warning he had seemed to be giving Lex, and instead said, "...What?" looking at Lois.
"Is that the guy Chloe was trailing the other day? He went into a warehouse and she was researching what was inside. It was a LuthorCorp facility."
Fine was there?!? "That's mainly why I'm interested in him," Lex ad-libbed. "He shouldn't have been on the grounds. Access is restricted to cleared LuthorCorp security staff and authorized personnel only -- or was supposed to be," he ended with a slight grimace, watching Clark. Unfortunately, Clark didn't so much as twitch in shame at his own little B-and-E episode on the grounds; the worst he did was thin his lips in annoyance, seemingly at being caught out by Lois. Lex wondered if Clark knew that he'd been caught on video for at least part of his little visit.
Lex also wondered if Lionel had needled him about Fine and the Black Ship because Fine had been the one to steal it somehow, though how Lionel had found out when even Lex had had no clue as to the nature of the disappearance was beyond him.
Unless Lionel is a traitor working for the other side, and is enjoying rubbing my nose in it while I'm scrambling about for answers, all unawares.
Well, screw that. I'm on to him!
"You don't seem surprised at this," Lois said, eyes narrowing as she watched Clark like a hawk, as well.
"Yeah, well... Chloe told me about it afterwards," Clark said, shrugging and looking away.
"What? Why?" Lois demanded.
"...Because I'm the one who usually helps her out with stories? And I know how to proofread for spelling mistakes?" he snarked at Lois.
"Oh, bite me, Smallville. It's called a spellchecker," Lois responded with an eyeroll. "And why does Lex 'have' to stay away from him, anyway? What's so dangerous about a college professor doing an expose on LuthorCorp?"
And in a flash, Lex suddenly knew what he'd really been dealing with here, at the look Lois currently had on her face, with her focus all on Clark. It was like watching a tiger with a twitching tail, about to leap and gobble someone up. Reporter. She's a reporter! Lex's brain flashed at him, despite the fact that it was a patently ridiculous notion. She was a college dropout, selling muffins, for god's sake. ...But he'd seen that look before. And she was related to Sullivan.
And at the stony look on Clark's face, he realized that Clark had known this for some time. No wonder he doesn't like her, Lex thought. She'll grab onto a notion and dig and dig and won't stop. Lex bet that Clark had been on the receiving end of that tenacious curiousity before, and hadn't liked it one bit, given the expression on his face.
"I don't know, Lois. Chloe didn't find anything in the warehouse," Clark said, crossing his arms. "Maybe if you'd been a better lookout and she'd been able to trust you to handle things on your end, she would have had more time to look around."
"Hey, I am a great sidekick!" Lois objected. "We totally didn't get caught!"
"You both do realize that you're discussing a criminal offense -- breaking into private LuthorCorp property and accessory to the fact -- right in front of me, don't you?"
"Oh, please, at worst that'd be a slap on the wrist, and I know you wouldn't want to piss off The General with getting all petty with Chloe and me when we didn't even find anything except fertilizer," Lois rolled her eyes again, sounding annoyed more than anything, and not worried in the least. "Besides, if you'd had proof of that and really cared, you would've done it by now. Unless there's something you don't want getting out about the place after all..." Lois' eyes lightened.
Lex deigned not to comment. Clark just groaned.
"Oh, come on, Smallville. Don't tell me that you don't worry about what'll happen once he's in office!"
"I find your belief at that being a foregone conclusion highly satisfying," Lex smirked, cutting in.
"--But you know that he'll just end up trying to rule the world or something, right?" Lois ended, glaring at Lex.
Lex blinked at her.
Clark laughed.
Lex turned his head and looked at Clark, who looked nearly as shocked at himself as Lex had been at Clark's response. And that laugh had been abrupt, short, and almost sounded... nervous.
"Geezus, Lois, that's..." Clark bit his lip. "Crazy. Who would do that?" He sounded strained. "I mean, what would Lex do with it, anyway? ...Right?" he said, turning to look at Lex. "I mean, it's, um. Really big. And stuff," he ended, lamely.
"Maybe I'll institute Toga Tuesdays," Lex deadpanned.
Clark laughed again, and this time it sounded geniune. Unlike the previous one, though, when Clark cut off abruptly this time, he looked almost guilty -- ashamed of himself for not feeling horrible for a split-second when Jonathan was still dead and he was not.
Survivor's guilt?
"Seriously? You're not worried at all?" Lois pressed Clark incredulously.
Clark looked at Lois, then down at Lex. Then he crossed his arms again, looked back to Lois, gave her a weak 'well, what can you do?' smile, and shrugged.
Lex suddenly had a burning desire to know who Clark had voted for in the election.
"Oh, fine, Smallville. I see I'm all on my own here," she huffed with disgust, tossing the towel from her shoulder down onto the counter and glaring at Lex again. "I'm not going to let this go, you know," she said warningly.
"Duly noted," Lex replied, feeling better than he had in days.
"Um, you know, I should probably go," Clark ended, turning to do just that.
"Go where?" Lex asked, putting on an innocent air of query.
"Back to the-- oh, c'mon. Really?" Clark said, turning back and running a hand through his hair. "Again? Lex, where am I supposed to go, if not there?" he asked with exasperation.
"Home," Lex said without thinking.
Clark stared at Lex like he'd lost his mind. "I just said that--"
"I mean my home," Lex amended in a rush, wincing mentally. He really couldn't take it back, even if Clark hadn't understood him the first time.
And then he had to deal with Clark staring at him with his jaw dropped slightly. Lex fought the urge to squirm.
"You--" Clark said quietly, looking shell-shocked to the core.
"You can stay with me instead," Lois said quickly. "Me and Chloe, I mean. I don't think she'd mind. I mean, of course she wouldn't mind; why would she mind?" Lois chattered nervously; Lex absently wondered why, but that thought was quickly pushed to the backburner.
"Clark might mind sleeping on the floor, and I doubt Mrs. Kent would enjoy your lumpy sofa," Lex said to Lois, thinking fast, before turning back to Clark. "There's plenty of room, and it will be quiet enough. Almost all of the security has been pulled out and it's nearly back to normal around the place. --Unless you'd rather be around more people," he backpedaled. "That would probably be best, rather the opposite of being alone on the farm, and you know the majority of the mansion staff already; they're friendly. You can choose whichever rooms you want in either wing."
Clark looked back and forth between the two of them, looking shocked. "I... You guys..." he whispered. And he just looked so relieved all of a sudden.
And then tears began to run down his face.
"Oh, Clark," Lex breathed out, stepping up to him and wiping away the tears. Clark looked startled, and brought his hands to wipe his own eyes, with strained staccato laughter, embarrassed. Lex knew then that Clark hadn't even realized he'd started crying.
"I, uh, I'm sorry, I just... uh..." Clark sniffed, as Lex helped him over to a chair to sit, and Lois, looking sympathetic but highly uncomfortable at the emotional display, offered him her towel.
Lex pulled up a chair and sat in front of him, close by. He put a hand on Clark's knee and patted, awkwardly. He wasn't very good with emotional displays, either, and he wasn't so sure that a hug might be well-received just then.
When Clark was calmer, breathing more steadily, he swallowed and briefly met Lex's eyes. "I... I didn't mean to break down in front of you guys. I'm sorry."
"Clark, this is a very emotional time for you. I'd be more worried if you didn't let it out from time to time," Lex responded.
Clark sniffed and wiped his eyes again. "I... I don't think I've cried since... since..." he couldn't get the words out, but Lex knew what he meant and patted him on the knee again.
"Well, I'd say you're about due, then," Lex said gently, sighing slightly in relief.
"Sorry," Clark repeated.
"Don't be," Lex said simply, with a slight smile. "It speaks volumes that you trust the two of us enough to feel comfortable to do so in our presence." And he nearly had to wince at himself as Clark glanced up, then guiltily away, for not thinking through his word choice better.
"Hey, Smallville, try to buck up, ok?" Lois said gruffly, punching Clark lightly in the shoulder. "It gets better."
Clark looked up at her, then glanced at Lex, then tentatively said, "...It does?" Lois nodded. "When?"
"It... takes awhile. The ache never really goes away, but... you get used to it, sort of. Then it gets to be less, and eventually it doesn't hurt to be happy anymore," Lois said lightly.
Lex was reminded that he wasn't the only person in the room who had lost a mother at an early age.
"I don't want to 'get used to it', I want it to go away," Clark said, clenching the towel in a fist and sounding miserable and angry.
"Yeah, well, short of raising the dead, that's just not happening in this life, Smallville. You've gotta get used to that. --I know that may sound harsh now, but I've known guys who come back from overseas who lost buddies, brothers? Families here who lost fathers, sons? Doing the denial thing just hurts everybody way worse, and the come down is even harder at the end."
Clark sighed, and he almost seemed to collapse. "Great. I've gotta just, what, muddle through feeling like this for who knows how long? What am I supposed to do in the meantime?" he said, dropping his head to hold it in his hands.
Lex reached out a hand and tentatively placed it on Clark's shoulder. "Try to survive."
Clark looked up at him. "How did you do it?" he asked, nothing in it but simple need.
Lex tried not to suck in a breath and took it very slowly.
"Well... I guess you could cry a lot and go half-crazy stuck in a P-- in a home where you kept expecting your m-- a parent--" Then he sighed, and gave up. So Lois would just hear it, too. Well, if she tried to do anything with it, he could fire and blackball her if he had to. Lex sucked it up and began again.
"You could go half-crazy stuck in a Penthouse suite where you would keep expecting your mother to come around the corner any second every time you hear footsteps. Or you could get dragged along to social events where everybody else is talking and laughing like nothing's changed, like all the color and life hasn't been ripped out of the world, until you realize that it hasn't for them, just for you, and you can hate them all for it. And you could hate your father, too, for using grief and mourning like a competitive advantage, and wonder if he ever really loved her at all. You could feel relieved when you go back to your horror of a prep school, because at least they have finally decided to enforce the policy of not allowing reporters on the grounds, and are actually inclined and able to keep them away from you so you don't have to worry about shouted questions every time you walk out of a room, or pictures of you hiding in a corner crying your eyes out showing up in the news rags. You could be grateful that your mother never visited you at Excelsior, because you never expect to see her when you wake up in the morning or right before you go to sleep at night. You could be surprised when the bullies there actually give you some space the first couple of weeks because they know what it's like to lose family, even though you were the last person to expect that kind of consideration from them. You could even decide that the adults around you know fuck all about what you want, and start studying science and your biology homework more seriously than you take your economic classes and etiquette lessons because learning about those things actually means something. Because it's something worth doing." Lex had to stop and close his eyes and force his hands to stop shaking, even though his tone never had. Then he opened his eyes and looked straight into Clark's.
"You have friends who care about you, who will hurt when you hurt. You have places you can go, where you won't have to wonder whether you'll expect that your father will be just ready to come around that corner, or already be there working on something when you walk into a room. You won't have to feel that expectation, then remember what happened and be crushed under the weight of bad memories all over again. You'll have a chance to focus on the good memories instead of just the bad, and things will maybe even start to hurt a little less when you do remember them. You can be around other people, who will help you try to remember how to live, and keep on living, and try to distract you from the pain a little, and, with a little luck, even succeed from time to time. You have things you can do, important things, that you can help with, that are more than just a distraction."
"Important things like what?" Lois cut in. Lex was about to tell her off, until he realized that she wasn't being snide. If anything, she was giving him an odd look, only part of which he thought he was able to decipher: 'Don't get his hopes up if you're gonna be wrong. Don't lie to him.'
"Well... Chloe does need your help for her articles, doesn't she?" Lex tenatively put forward to Clark. Chloe would be willing and able to help Clark out. Chloe had lost a mother, too, though not to death, although what had happened might have been worse: not knowing. She'd just... walked away, apparently, and vanished without a trace, and by this point Lex had built up a pretty good picture of how Chloe felt about a story with no leads. He couldn't imagine how she'd handled something of a more personal nature. ...Unless she wasn't, really. It could explain her fascination with weird mysteries.
"Not really."
"Clark," Lex chided.
"Ok, maybe sometimes," Clark mumbled. "But..."
"But nothing. She's your friend, and I know you feel better being around her in general," Lex pushed slightly.
"I guess..."
"You don't have a lot of coursework keeping you from helping her out during the day this semester, I hear," Lex nudged.
He got a small smile from Clark.
But the smile fell away, and Clark looked uncomfortable. "Lex, I can't... the mansion..."
"You're not going to shoot me down even before you ask your mother, are you?" Lex asked.
"Lex, I'm not even sure it's such a good idea," Clark said, looking down at the floor.
I practically told him I was nearly done getting rid of all surveillance, and I will get rid of all the video surveillance soon enough. He didn't want to risk Clark finding the place bugged and accusing Lex of trying to catch him out again. It might be counterintuitive, but Clark seemed to be more free in exercising his abilities in locations with no surveillance, even if there was just as great a possibility of being spotted by a person, instead. Hell, how can I put this so he doesn't get suspicious? Ah, I know.
"Look, you and your mother won't have to worry about anyone sneaking in and trying to bother you with pictures or interviews. I haven't been just getting rid of the beefed up surveillance, I've revamped my entire security staff. Considering the difficulties I've had with electronic surveillance at the mansion as of late," Lex said, reminded of the fiasco with the sherriff's deputies and Lana nearly dying over the missing Black Ship, "I've opted to switching over to extra security personnel instead. And, given the checks and training they had to go through for the senatorial campaign, they're all competent, know each other, and are far more effective a team than I've ever had protecting the mansion and everyone in it. They'll also immediately recognize anyone who isn't supposed to be on the grounds, but since they know you two, I'll only have to tell them I'm extending your access, and that should be that."
"Lex, it's not that. I really do appreciate the offer, but--"
"But what?"
"I don't-- I don't think... It's just..." Clark looked frustated, trailing off.
"Is it Lionel?"
Clark's head snapped up.
"More or less access?"
"...What?"
"Do you want Lionel to have more or less access to your mother?" Lex heard, more than saw, Clark's gasp of breath. "Because if you want less, it will make my day to tell my security staff to shut him out."
"...Lex?"
Lex smirked. "Clark, I know that I've said before that I wouldn't mind us being brothers, but trust me, that definitely would not be a good way to go about it," he said conspiratorily, leaning forward.
Lois made a choking noise. Lex ignored her.
Clark stared at him openly.
Lex just smiled back, waiting.
"...You're serious about this."
Lex nodded.
Clark's eyes went wide. "You--" He swallowed. "You would do that? Really do that? Make him stay away from my mom?"
Lex nodded decisively. "Just say the word."
Clark fell back in his chair, looking stunned. Then something occurred to him and he straightened.
"...Can you do that?" Clark asked more suspiciously.
"Of course."
"Then why haven't you done that before?" Clark asked, frowning.
"Why would I do that before?"
"Oh, I don't know, Lex. Maybe because he makes you miserable and you're always in a bad mood after he visits?" Clark said in consternation.
Lex raised an eyebrow. "What, and kick out family for no good reason?"
"Being horrible to you is a good reason."
Lex gave him an incredulous look.
"Look, I'm not talking about my folks -- I've seen how Pete's family deals with their some of their flaky uncles and cousins; I know how it's supposed to go."
"Amen," Lois chimed in.
Lex frowned at the two of them.
"Why didn't you do it before now? ...If he's so 'horrible'?" Lois asked.
It was amazing how Lois orating something could suddenly make it sound accusatory, even when she was just echoing Clark's earlier question.
"Because if I didn't let him blow off steam that way, he'd just find some other way to take it out on me, at an angle of attack that I might not be expecting. --And no, that isn't a problem anymore, Clark. Don't worry about it. I am well and truly out from under his thumb." Mostly. Except for the bits where Lionel keeps paying people off for information and injecting moles into my staff. Damnit! He really needed to do something about that, and soon.
"I don't know..."
Clark wavering was a good sign. It was time to stop pushing, or Lex would just get push back at this point. "Just think about it? And tell your mother that the option is available, and I would be thrilled if you took me up on it?" ...Ok, maybe he was laying it on a little thick there. He hadn't meant to sound so desperately lonely. Lex hoped it only sounded like that to his own ears.
Clark sighed. "I still need to get back to the farm."
"Well, you would need to pack," Lex put in, pushing a little further, unable to help himself.
"Ok, ok, I'll think about it, I promise!" Clark said gently, almost smiling.
"Good," Lex said definitively.
..All-in-all, as far as keeping his friends close and his enemies closer, this could only be a win-win situation.
Besides, Lex would much rather leave the traitors out in the cold.
Lois and Clark jumped as Lex's sudden blaring ringtone went off.
Lex froze, then his eyes widened as he tried to cooly reach into his coat pocket -- the one without the incriminating photograph packet within it -- and pull out his phone, careful to not scramble for it in an all-fire hurry.
"Was that like, something off the Beaches of Normandy soundtrack?" Lois asked.
"What's that notification sound for?" Clark asked, leaning forward, knowing Lex's ringtone signals far better than the muffin peddler.
"Ah, it's... nothing really. Just business," Lex replied smoothly, snapping the phone closed and putting it away, very mindful of the makeup of his current audience of two, especially blabbermouth Lane.
"Lex, what's wrong?" Clark asked, frowning.
Trust Clark to pick up on his mood. Maybe it's an alien thing? "It's fine, Clark," he soothed, his mind racing. "It's something time-critical, not a huge problem of some sort. I do need to talk to my staff and resolve it, though." He stood and put his chair back, then paused. "You will be all right?" he asked, carefully looking Clark over.
Clark nodded. And he did look more relaxed and settled than he had when he'd come in...
Lex nodded back, pleased. It was an auspicious start for step 0. He turned to go.
"Hey, billionaire! Forget something?"
Lex turned at Lois shrill call, and barely caught his bought-and-paid-for double-chocolate muffin right before it would have hit his face.
"Don't eat it all in one place!" she grinned.
Lex saluted her with it wryly, then turned on his heel and strode out, mansion-bound.
He only noticed the "closed for lunch, will be back at:" clock sign on the front door as he left. He snorted to himself, shook his head, and fixed it. Small wonder no-one came in while we were talking. Lex wondered if Lois had done that on purpose earlier to giver herself an impromptu break, or if someone else had been careless about it, as he made his way to his car and slid in.
Once he was off main street, he flipped open his phone and started talking to his corporate office staff, rapid-fire between bites of muffin. He'd save the new instructions for the mansion staff for an in-person briefing once he arrived home. There was a lot of cleaning up to do before the Kents arrived.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Previous section located here. Next section located here.
Author: josephina_x
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: pre-Clex
Rating: PG-13 (mild cursing)
Spoilers: Up through the end of Reckoning in season 5. Goes slightly AU at Lexmas ("when given a nail..."). Things start to snowball here. Spans Vengeance, but references a lot of earlier season 5.
Word count: 20,900+
Summary: Lex may be missing a few prerequisites for this one. He wants Clark to tutor him, but Clark is barely muddling through on his own as it is. Unfortunately, failure is not an option that either of them can live with, and they're worried they're being graded on a curve...
Warnings: Un-beta'd. More Evil Italics Of Doom, emphasis mine. Oh and yeah, there's a lot of thinky!Lex and not so much action. Consider yourself warned.
Disclaimer: Not mine, not-for-profit.
Comments: Yes, please! :)
Author's Note: Previous section located here. Next section located here.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lex had gotten out of work early and was parking in the back alley of the Talon.
As he got out of the car, he dropped his keys. He picked them up and cursed at his inattention that day. He hadn't been able to concentrate completely at work, and now he was making stupid stumbling moves?
Yes, he was upset about Clark, and yes, he was still feeling the hurt of having lost the Black Ship, but he'd dealt with worse before, hadn't he?
Sure I have, Lex told himself, thinking of Julian, and I did so by blocking it out for more than a decade.
...And Clark had better not have been the one to steal the Black Ship away. Though considering how it had been 'acting up' earlier that day, Chloe's appearance at the warehouse twice before, and Clark's appearance on security footage only well after the fact at normal speed -- at what must have been a serious delay in Clark's little blonde agent reporting back to him -- Lex thought that possibility highly unlikely. To say Clark wasn't that good at subterfuge was an understatement, and he'd have had no reason to return to the scene of the crime.
Lex unlocked the back door to the Talon, then slipped his keys back into his pants pocket. He walked up the steps and into the kitchen, and then up the staircase to the loft apartment. He knocked on the door.
"Who're you looking for?" Lois called from below at the bar. The place was nearly deserted at this odd hour, it being between the after-school snacking crowd and the nominal middle-class dinnertime.
Great. Just what I need more of in my life right now: college dropout snark... thought Lex, turning and suppressing a grimace.
"Lana, if she's here," Lex shared. He knew that she usually came to visit her old apartment and hang out with Lois and Chloe sometimes.
"She's not."
Lex stifled a sigh and descended.
"Haven't seen her yet."
Lex perked up at the unexpected sharing of unsolicited information. "She's coming by today?"
"She said she would." Lois gave him a critical look. "Why do you want to see her?"
"I just had something I wanted to talk to her about," Lex dissembled.
"Not cool, jerkface."
Lex's head snapped up, and he glared at her. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, come on. Lana and Clark break up, Clark's dad dies, and you swoop in to gank her before Mr. Kent's body has cooled in the ground? It's called a mourning period. And Clark and Lana would be getting back together again if he weren't in one right now."
"I am not--" Lex said hotly, then realized what he was doing, and forced himself to stop and take a breath. And then close his eyes and count to ten. And then think about counting to thirty, because that hadn't been enough time.
But then he made the mistake of opening his eyes, and saw that Lois was smirking at him like she'd won a prize and obviously thought she'd hit the nail on the head with her comment.
"What kind of mannerless, ill-bred lout do you think I am?" Lex demanded, losing his temper.
"A bald one," she replied promptly, with a flash of teeth that did not deserve to be called a grin.
"You do realize that this sort of disrespectful behavior towards your employer is grounds for termination, don't you?" Lex gritted out, reminding her of her place.
"Then fire me," she shot back brazenly, tossing a towel over her shoulder and leaning against the counter.
He needed to go. He really needed to go before he saw red and did something he would regret. He knew he wouldn't be having nearly this much difficulty dealing with Lane if he'd been in any proper mental state at the moment.
"Did Lana say when she would be stopping by?" he said dryly, in one last-ditch effort to not engage her at her lowbrow, gutter-mouth level.
"Yes."
"...Are you going to tell me when that would be?"
Lois just smiled sweetly at him. "What do you think, cue-ball?"
"So that's a no, then." Right. Lex grabbed a double-chocolate muffin -- the last one -- from the nearly empty glass display. He really needed a quick pick-me-up at the moment, and chocolate with chocolate chips ought to do the trick nicely.
"Hey, you gonna pay for that?"
"Consider it a benefit of store ownership," Lex drawled blandly. But he set it down on the counter and pulled out his wallet.
"Corporate shill," Lois tossed back, taking the bills offered and counting out his change -- he'd been pissy about it and handed her a hundred-dollar bill. "Speaking of which..."
Oh Christ, there's more?
"...how's that revenge thing working out for you?" she said as she passed back his change.
Lex put it away then pocketed it, and stifled another sigh. He generally made it a point to stay informed of his current image in the townspeople's eyes according to the local gossip, but somehow he knew he was going to regret hearing it from Lois's lips. Despite that, he decided that sooner would be preferable to later and, wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible, he asked, tiredly, "What revenge thing?"
"That whole thing where you murdered Mr. Kent because he won the state Senate seat," Lois tossed out with a hard glint in her eye.
Lex froze.
"...What?" he croaked out. And he was barely able to manage even that much.
"Oh, c'mon. You're a Luthor. You wanted something. Mr. Kent got in the way. You took him out so you could get it instead. It's not rocket science. Just admit it."
Lex was having trouble breathing.
"You'll feel better," Lois added, as if it were an afterthought.
"...Might I make a suggestion, Lois?"
"Hmm?"
"Never. Ever. Ever. Say that in front of Clark," Lex said coldly.
"Oh yeah? Why not?" she smiled. "What do you think he'll say?"
"I think he'll say that you don't know what you're talking about, so shut the hell up."
Lex and Lois both jumped, then started again at the loud 'bang!' as Clark dropped the muffin trays he'd been carrying onto the counter right next to Lex.
"Oh, and here's the extra muffins you ordered, Lois," Clark ended, looking none-too-pleased with her.
Lex wondered how Clark had managed to sneak up like that without him noticing, then realized that he'd been engaged with Lois and in a foul mood, so that the possibility that Clark had taken a normal approach wasn't out of the question.
No, the real question was: how had he managed to startle Lois, who had a view of the entire Talon from where she was standing, and should have seen him coming?
Had he used his speed?
...so blatantly, and right in front of the both of them? That seemed out of character.
Thinking it over, Lois wasn't exactly the most perceptive of people, so perhaps it wasn't out of the question that she hadn't noticed, either. And Lex revised his opinion of her innate perspecacity downwards even further when she opened her mouth and said, "Clark, that's-- well, how do you know?"
Clark just stood there and stared at her.
Lex stood there and winced.
Lois, unbelievably, kept going. "I mean, Lex wasn't anywhere to be found that night. Why else would he disappear off the grid like that?"
Clark looked irate, and Lex flashed back to -- warning! step 1 incomplete! no defense against angry alien! -- as he realized exactly how much danger he would be in if Clark believed--
"Lex wasn't there."
Lex sucked in a startled breath.
Lois frowned. "But--"
"Lex wasn't there." Clark repeated adamantly.
"How do you know?" Lois all-but-accused. "He could have--"
"I know because he wasn't there! Ok?!"
But Lois wouldn't let up. "Oh yeah? Well then where was he? He's got no alibi!" Lois said triumphantly.
"He was with Lana!" Clark shot back.
And oh, did that ever derail all of Lex's thought processes at once in a massive trainwreck!
How the hell did Clark know that??? Lex knew Lana wouldn't have told Clark that, Lex certainly hadn't said anything to anyone on the matter, and they were the only two people to have witnessed the near-deadly, missed crash. The bus driver couldn't have I.D.ed Lana's car -- if he'd been paying that much attention to his surroundings, he wouldn't have nearly hit her in the first place.
At least, Lex had thought there had been no one else there to witness the event at the time.
But Clark was known for his last-minute rescues. And for being around to thwart deadly outcomes by not such a wide margin. Though this one had been slimmer than most.
Speed. Strength. ...Combined? Had Clark done something to Lana's car? Or to the bus?
Faster than the speed of sound. Lex reminded himself. Just because I didn't see him, doesn't mean he wasn't there. And wasn't that a chilling thought.
What was an even more chilling thought was: Did he try to kill Lana? With his abilities, Clark could have easily set something like that up.
...But no, if Clark wanted Lana dead, she'd be dead. It wouldn't be hard. A near-miss spoke of a prevented death, not a botched attempt at homicide. Hell, Clark would probably be strong enough to kill Lana easily with just his bare hands, even without the strength and supposed invincibility.
"Lex was... with Lana?" Lois repeated. "And... you're ok with that?" she asked slowly, eyes wide.
"I-- that--" Clark stammered.
"Right. ...Ok, Smallville, nevermind that. --And you know what? Fine. Maybe he wasn't there in person. But you're still being naiive. There are plenty of drugs, that somebody could use in powders or pills or tranquilizer darts, which can cause a heart attack. So that doesn't mean that he didn't call in a professional hit to--"
"LEX IS NOT LIONEL!" Clark bellowed at the top of his lungs, slamming a fist down on the counter.
Lois visibly jumped. Lex was surprised he wasn't clinging to the ceiling by his fingernails, honestly. He felt his heat going rabbit-fast inside his chest and it took an effort not to flinch away... or run. --He'd never seen Clark lose his temper like that. Not all-at-once, explosively, out of nowhere. Not like that. Not without some buildup, some warning. Not without some drug or meteor freak or other outside influence acting on him.
I guess this time, that influence is called 'Lois', Lex thought weakly, and then he was suddenly reminded of step 0, that was supposed to come before step 1 -- that a mentally and emotionally stable Clark was a safe(r) Clark, and a liability if feeling otherwise.
And Clark had paled and was visibly shaking but otherwise motionless, barely even moving his chest to breathe, staring down at the counter. Lex watched as Clark tried to pull himself together... and failed.
"Clark--" Lois started.
Lex didn't even bother to face her, keeping his eyes on Clark as he said in a smooth voice, "Lois, I think I entirely agree with what Clark told you earlier: you don't know what you're talking about, so shut the hell up."
"Excuse me?!"
"You might want to spend a moment to think about what you were just arguing with Clark about before you even consider opening your mouth again, Miss Lane," Lex said darkly, glancing at her.
Lois looked about to retort, then she realized what Lex meant, paled and snapped her mouth shut. She looked at Clark and bit her lip, looking almost ashamed.
Thank you, god.
"I... I should go," Clark said in a wavering, monotone voice, looking a little freaked out himself, at himself.
He didn't even try to apologize, Lex realized with a growing horror. Clark always apologized for what he did when it didn't fall within the polite social norms. Always. Even when it was justified. Even when it wasn't his fault. Even when he hadn't done anything, if he thought someone expected it. And this time he'd lashed out (only at an inanimate object, thank god) and scared Lois, and not even tried to apologize at all. This was so off the norm for Clark that they weren't just off the reservation, they were on freaking Mars.
"I... I have chores." Clark slowly brought his hand back to his side, like it was a dangerous bomb ready to go off.
Lex finally found his voice again. "Chores?" he said, taking a single step forward, reaching out, and gently putting a hand on Clark's arm. He felt fine tremors; Clark was still shaking slightly.
"I... There are things. On the farm. I have to do. For spring planting, and the cow herds."
"No." The word was out of Lex's mouth before he'd even really had the thought.
"I have to..."
"No," Lex said more firmly.
"But I have to..."
Christ, Clark wasn't even really looking at him. Lex let go of Clark's arm, and instead reached up to cup his jaw with both hands, framing Clark's face and turning it towards him. Clark turned along with the pull, haltingly. "Clark, no." Lex repeated.
"I..."
Fuck. Clark looked like he was in shock. Blank. Confused. His mind was caught up elsewhere. He was just running on autopilot: get home, do chores.
"Clark," Lex tried again. "You are not going back to the farm to do chores."
"I have to--"
"Get someone else to do it," Lex demanded.
"--Wh ...What?" Clark's eyes stopped jumping around the edges of his vision and focused on Lex a little.
Thank god, I'm starting to get his attention. "Clark, you are not going back to the farm and doing chores. You shouldn't be doing that right now. You're in mourning. It's too soon for you to..." get back to living with a gaping hole in your life. "No-one expects you to do anything for awhile. You or your mom. Ok?"
"But, the farm..."
"Someone else can take care of the farm."
"No," Clark said, taking a step back. "It's my responsibility."
Lex followed Clark's motion, but let his hands fall down to Clark's chest. "You don't have to, Clark. Someone else can--"
"It's our land," Clark said, with an echo of belligerence, bringing his chin down to frown at the floor.
Lex blew out a breath. Right. He'd forgotten about Jonathan's insistence that the Kent land be farmed by Kents, not outsiders.
"Clark, you aren't dishonoring your father's memory by taking help when you need it," Lex said slowly. Please, please listen. Please don't be as belligerent as your father was about accepting help. Even he let me buy out the mortgage for him, when it came down to it. "You don't have to be Jonathan to honor him."
"But... the farm. I can't..."
"I'll take care of the damn farm, all right?"
Clark's head snapped up. He looked down at Lex, wide-eyed.
"I'll do it all myself, on my own, if I have to. --Jonathan let me help out on the farm before, didn't he? You know I can handle it. He knew I could." Because if Jonathan didn't let outsiders work the farm, but he'd let Lex pitch in, and approved of his work after the fact, how could Lex be classified as an outsider?
...And Lex blinked and then had to stop that line of thought cold, because that was just... a painful thought and...
"...Lex?"
Lex realized he'd dropped his gaze. He tilted his head back up at Clark and blinked again, as he realized that Clark seemed suddenly present again.
"Lex, you-- ...You went really pale all of a sudden. Are you ok?" Clark asked, concerned, as he looked Lex over.
Lex stared up at Clark blankly. Did he really just ask me if I'm ok? he thought incredulously, because that had been the last thing he would have expected out of Clark right now. Trust Clark to think more about others than himself, even when he's hurting so badly he can't even... Lex had to mentally shake himself again, to focus on what Clark was rambling on at him about.
"I mean, you... Oh." Clark's eyes widened slightly. "I... I didn't think... I mean, you didn't really... and he... --I thought..."
Clark blew out a breath, brought his hands up to lightly touch the sides of Lex's shoulders, in a gesture obviously meant to soothe.
Then Clark said, "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking at all. I didn't think you'd miss him, too."
Lex stared up at Clark for a long moment.
...He needed to sit down.
Luckily, there was a stool right behind him at the counter. He wasn't sure he would've made it otherwise.
Christ, what was Clark thinking?! --No, he didn't miss Jonathan especially. He really didn't. The overbearing preachy bastard. Unbelievably hypocritical -- lest Lex forget the papers he had in his wall safe back at the mansion. Jonathan had made it very clear on multiple occasions that he did not approve of Lex, did not want Lex hanging around, did not Clark associating with Lex. Clark had actually fought back and defended Lex against Jonathan on a few notable occasions, and--
Oh. Hell.
Suddenly it made perfect sense why Clark would get so shocky after defending Lex to Lois, when talking about Jonathan -- why he had reacted so badly. It was because he'd gotten stuck between trying to honor Jonathan's memory while also still trying to stay true to his own beliefs, and the grief was too raw to allow enough distance to balance the two without ripping chunks out of him. (...Assuming Clark didn't believe Lex the devil incarnate at this point; his outburst just then certainly indicated otherwise, unbelievably.) The thing was, Clark was never going to win that argument now. Lex could never prove himself to Jonathan, now. Lex could never prove himself to the point that Clark would not still be stuck having to defend him to Jonathan's memory somehow.
God help me, I don't want to know what his last words to Clark were. Probably something salt-of-the-earth about taking care of the farm and a final warning against all things Luthor. And maybe something about loving Clark and taking care of his mother.
But, no. That was all Clark. Lex didn't like the man, and never had done. He'd only ever tried to prove himself to the Kents to make things easier on Clark, back when they had been friends. That was the only reason he'd done it, period, and he wasn't sorry Jonathan was dead, and he didn't miss him.
--He didn't, damn it!
It didn't help that Clark seemed to be having a purely human reaction to his loss of an adoptive parent. Lex needed to remember that Clark was an alien, a horribly dangerous alien Lex needed to be careful in handling, but he just couldn't seem to keep that in mind when interacting with him.
Maybe if I try to think of Clark as a meteor freak? ...But that wouldn't work out; Clark wasn't psychotic. It would be the worst sort of error to treat him as such.
Lex shivered and put a hand to his forehead, stared at a point somewhere around Clark's knees, and had to remember to breathe before trying to answer Clark. "That's not..." he said weakly, which was entirely unintentional, so he paused and had to try again. "Clark... I don't..." That didn't come out any better, either.
Breathe, breathe, look him in the eye, and try again. "I'm fine, Clark. I'm worried about you. You shouldn't go back to the farm. You shouldn't be doing chores, doing Jonathan's work."
"Why?" Clark asked, too confused to fight back further. It really spoke volumes about Clark's presence of mind that he didn't say anything more than that. First time in an age. He really must be having a hell of a time of it. Why is it that he isn't striking out or arguing more when he's so very upset? That seemed counter-intuitive. ...Until overpowering strength came into the equation, at which point... well, other people would be in trouble, not Clark; Lex wasn't sure whether that spoke of thoughtfulness of others, fear, or iron control. But Clark hadn't even cracked the countertop when he'd lashed out. So... Well. No, Lex wasn't going to argue for less control on Clark's part, thank you.
"Clark, your father was... he practically was the farm. You'll see him everywhere there, in everything you do."
"But that's like being close to him. It's like he's there, almost."
Yes, Lex had figured that. That was, in fact, the problem. And there really was no other way to put this. "It'll hurt," Lex ground out.
"So?"
Oh god.
"Clark, it's not... it's not healthy. You're hurting yourself worse than... than you know. You should be trying to spend as little time on the farm as possible right now, until you're past the worst of it and can handle the feelings better."
"It's better than... not being home, like mom."
"Your mother hasn't been home much since...?"
"No. She finds excuses to be out as much as possible. It's not like what she's doing is working any better, though. She's doing worse than I am."
"I'm... sorry to hear that. I hope she's... feeling better soon," Lex ended lamely. God, he was horrible at this.
"Yeah, well, maybe she will be after she finishes getting rid of his stuff."
Lex stared at Clark for a moment.
Clark looked away almost embarrassed. "Yeah, I know. She said she couldn't stand to look at his stuff in the closet, so she was taking it to a shelter in Metropolis."
"In Metropolis?" Lois asked.
Clark glanced over and nodded. "She said she needed to talk to someone at the Governor's office about something with the senate seat."
About time, thought Lex. He'd thought he'd been more clear on the phone about refusing the seat on account of the wife of the victor being the better choice. Apparently his reference to the state's laws regarding a spouse being eligible to take up the seat for their significant other due to debilitating illness or death, and his oblique deference to the voter's choice, had been a bit too byzantine for the Governor's aide he'd talked with. No-one would have wanted a special election, and the authorization really shouldn't have taken that much time.
It hadn't really hurt much at all. He really did believe that Martha would make a fine senator and, quite frankly, if he'd found himself up against her in the race rather than Jonathan, Lex probably would have cut his losses and dropped out before the first primary.
"Huh. Wonder what they want to talk to her for," Lois said, glancing at Lex.
Lex made no comment, and instead focused on something that was nagging at him. "Clark, how much time have you been spending taking care of the farm?" If Clark was working on the farm to pick up the slack... Oh, but he had the strength and speed that it probably wouldn't be a problem for him to handle both the heavier workload on the farm and his collegiate coursework. Full-time farmwork might be nearly impossible for someone else taking his courseload, even without the death in the family, but that just was not the case for someone more than human. ...Damnit. He shouldn't have brought it up.
"Oh, well... a lot, I guess, but that's not a problem. I dropped out of my classes for the semester to take care of... things..." Clark trailed off as he looked back down at Lex and Lex's facial expression registered.
"You did what?!?" Lex burst out, standing.
Clark winced but held his ground.
"It's... there's too much to be done on the farm!"
"Clark--" Lex grated out as he lined up arguments like a volley of spears. For starters, there was no way Jonathan would have been all right with Clark dropping out of college because of him. It had been obvious even to Lex that Jonathan had thought Clark would move on beyond the family farm. A simple farmer's life simply was not Clark's future.
...Oh hell, was it ever not. Not when Clark was a member of an alien world-conquering brood. Though Lex doubted that Jonathan would have approved of Clark taking up that particular line of work as a profession, what with his 'no killing ever' policy. Damn Nixon to hell -- where he had better already be in residence, by-the-by, or Lex was going to be having a serious talk with whomever was in charge of the afterlife around these parts at some point...
"No, look, hey -- even if I had help on the farm, I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the coursework right now anyway, ok?" Clark defended, looking miserable and really not wanting to fight over this. He knew how Lex felt about him and education.
"Jesus, Clark. --You did at least submit the paperwork for the full refund, right?"
When Clark looked at him blankly, Lex added, "Clark, a death in the family is considered extenuating circumstances. Not being able to finish out the rest of a semester because of that sort of... personal upheaval is normal. You fill out the right paperwork, they'll give you a full refund. If you need help with it, let me know." He wouldn't even have to pull strings to force it through -- just call up and yell a little as an anonymous concerned friend of the family. Lex knew how these things went. "--You are planning on picking things up next semester, aren't you?" Lex continued, with warning in his tone. Because he may have to find a way to strangle Clark if he didn't. He wasn't going to have a ill-educated alien conqueror living three miles off his doorstep, thank you very much. This Luthor had standards, and to hell with the increased challenge an advanced schooling might bring.
Clark looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Lex decided to cut him a break. "All right. I supose we can talk about this later."
"Sorry."
"You'd better be. Five years, Clark. For five years now I've been looking forward to finally being able to have a decent conversation with you about ancient warring civilizations, where you might be able to hold your own for once, and now I come to find that you're thinking about leaving me hanging?" Lex gave him a mock glare and slid his hands into his pockets, shaking his head. "Completely unacceptable, Clark." It got him a weak smile from the young alien, and that was a start in the right direction for step 0, at least.
"Sorry," Clark repeated, looking a little sheepish, staring at the ground. Then he looked off to the side and grimaced slightly. "It doesn't really matter anyway. My history professor vanished on us, and I hear the course is being covered by some TA that doesn't know what they're talking about. You'd have to wait a semester until I got a decent teacher again, anyway."
"...Milton Fine?" Lex said. He couldn't believe Clark had brought the man up.
"You know him?" Clark said, and from the sounds of things he really didn't like the idea of that, looking vaguely alarmed.
"By reputation only," Lex said smoothly, and he had to keep the surprise off of his face when he saw Clark suck in a breath and look even more alarmed.
"Lex, you have to stay away from him, he's--" But Clark stopped before finishing whatever warning he had seemed to be giving Lex, and instead said, "...What?" looking at Lois.
"Is that the guy Chloe was trailing the other day? He went into a warehouse and she was researching what was inside. It was a LuthorCorp facility."
Fine was there?!? "That's mainly why I'm interested in him," Lex ad-libbed. "He shouldn't have been on the grounds. Access is restricted to cleared LuthorCorp security staff and authorized personnel only -- or was supposed to be," he ended with a slight grimace, watching Clark. Unfortunately, Clark didn't so much as twitch in shame at his own little B-and-E episode on the grounds; the worst he did was thin his lips in annoyance, seemingly at being caught out by Lois. Lex wondered if Clark knew that he'd been caught on video for at least part of his little visit.
Lex also wondered if Lionel had needled him about Fine and the Black Ship because Fine had been the one to steal it somehow, though how Lionel had found out when even Lex had had no clue as to the nature of the disappearance was beyond him.
Unless Lionel is a traitor working for the other side, and is enjoying rubbing my nose in it while I'm scrambling about for answers, all unawares.
Well, screw that. I'm on to him!
"You don't seem surprised at this," Lois said, eyes narrowing as she watched Clark like a hawk, as well.
"Yeah, well... Chloe told me about it afterwards," Clark said, shrugging and looking away.
"What? Why?" Lois demanded.
"...Because I'm the one who usually helps her out with stories? And I know how to proofread for spelling mistakes?" he snarked at Lois.
"Oh, bite me, Smallville. It's called a spellchecker," Lois responded with an eyeroll. "And why does Lex 'have' to stay away from him, anyway? What's so dangerous about a college professor doing an expose on LuthorCorp?"
And in a flash, Lex suddenly knew what he'd really been dealing with here, at the look Lois currently had on her face, with her focus all on Clark. It was like watching a tiger with a twitching tail, about to leap and gobble someone up. Reporter. She's a reporter! Lex's brain flashed at him, despite the fact that it was a patently ridiculous notion. She was a college dropout, selling muffins, for god's sake. ...But he'd seen that look before. And she was related to Sullivan.
And at the stony look on Clark's face, he realized that Clark had known this for some time. No wonder he doesn't like her, Lex thought. She'll grab onto a notion and dig and dig and won't stop. Lex bet that Clark had been on the receiving end of that tenacious curiousity before, and hadn't liked it one bit, given the expression on his face.
"I don't know, Lois. Chloe didn't find anything in the warehouse," Clark said, crossing his arms. "Maybe if you'd been a better lookout and she'd been able to trust you to handle things on your end, she would have had more time to look around."
"Hey, I am a great sidekick!" Lois objected. "We totally didn't get caught!"
"You both do realize that you're discussing a criminal offense -- breaking into private LuthorCorp property and accessory to the fact -- right in front of me, don't you?"
"Oh, please, at worst that'd be a slap on the wrist, and I know you wouldn't want to piss off The General with getting all petty with Chloe and me when we didn't even find anything except fertilizer," Lois rolled her eyes again, sounding annoyed more than anything, and not worried in the least. "Besides, if you'd had proof of that and really cared, you would've done it by now. Unless there's something you don't want getting out about the place after all..." Lois' eyes lightened.
Lex deigned not to comment. Clark just groaned.
"Oh, come on, Smallville. Don't tell me that you don't worry about what'll happen once he's in office!"
"I find your belief at that being a foregone conclusion highly satisfying," Lex smirked, cutting in.
"--But you know that he'll just end up trying to rule the world or something, right?" Lois ended, glaring at Lex.
Lex blinked at her.
Clark laughed.
Lex turned his head and looked at Clark, who looked nearly as shocked at himself as Lex had been at Clark's response. And that laugh had been abrupt, short, and almost sounded... nervous.
"Geezus, Lois, that's..." Clark bit his lip. "Crazy. Who would do that?" He sounded strained. "I mean, what would Lex do with it, anyway? ...Right?" he said, turning to look at Lex. "I mean, it's, um. Really big. And stuff," he ended, lamely.
"Maybe I'll institute Toga Tuesdays," Lex deadpanned.
Clark laughed again, and this time it sounded geniune. Unlike the previous one, though, when Clark cut off abruptly this time, he looked almost guilty -- ashamed of himself for not feeling horrible for a split-second when Jonathan was still dead and he was not.
Survivor's guilt?
"Seriously? You're not worried at all?" Lois pressed Clark incredulously.
Clark looked at Lois, then down at Lex. Then he crossed his arms again, looked back to Lois, gave her a weak 'well, what can you do?' smile, and shrugged.
Lex suddenly had a burning desire to know who Clark had voted for in the election.
"Oh, fine, Smallville. I see I'm all on my own here," she huffed with disgust, tossing the towel from her shoulder down onto the counter and glaring at Lex again. "I'm not going to let this go, you know," she said warningly.
"Duly noted," Lex replied, feeling better than he had in days.
"Um, you know, I should probably go," Clark ended, turning to do just that.
"Go where?" Lex asked, putting on an innocent air of query.
"Back to the-- oh, c'mon. Really?" Clark said, turning back and running a hand through his hair. "Again? Lex, where am I supposed to go, if not there?" he asked with exasperation.
"Home," Lex said without thinking.
Clark stared at Lex like he'd lost his mind. "I just said that--"
"I mean my home," Lex amended in a rush, wincing mentally. He really couldn't take it back, even if Clark hadn't understood him the first time.
And then he had to deal with Clark staring at him with his jaw dropped slightly. Lex fought the urge to squirm.
"You--" Clark said quietly, looking shell-shocked to the core.
"You can stay with me instead," Lois said quickly. "Me and Chloe, I mean. I don't think she'd mind. I mean, of course she wouldn't mind; why would she mind?" Lois chattered nervously; Lex absently wondered why, but that thought was quickly pushed to the backburner.
"Clark might mind sleeping on the floor, and I doubt Mrs. Kent would enjoy your lumpy sofa," Lex said to Lois, thinking fast, before turning back to Clark. "There's plenty of room, and it will be quiet enough. Almost all of the security has been pulled out and it's nearly back to normal around the place. --Unless you'd rather be around more people," he backpedaled. "That would probably be best, rather the opposite of being alone on the farm, and you know the majority of the mansion staff already; they're friendly. You can choose whichever rooms you want in either wing."
Clark looked back and forth between the two of them, looking shocked. "I... You guys..." he whispered. And he just looked so relieved all of a sudden.
And then tears began to run down his face.
"Oh, Clark," Lex breathed out, stepping up to him and wiping away the tears. Clark looked startled, and brought his hands to wipe his own eyes, with strained staccato laughter, embarrassed. Lex knew then that Clark hadn't even realized he'd started crying.
"I, uh, I'm sorry, I just... uh..." Clark sniffed, as Lex helped him over to a chair to sit, and Lois, looking sympathetic but highly uncomfortable at the emotional display, offered him her towel.
Lex pulled up a chair and sat in front of him, close by. He put a hand on Clark's knee and patted, awkwardly. He wasn't very good with emotional displays, either, and he wasn't so sure that a hug might be well-received just then.
When Clark was calmer, breathing more steadily, he swallowed and briefly met Lex's eyes. "I... I didn't mean to break down in front of you guys. I'm sorry."
"Clark, this is a very emotional time for you. I'd be more worried if you didn't let it out from time to time," Lex responded.
Clark sniffed and wiped his eyes again. "I... I don't think I've cried since... since..." he couldn't get the words out, but Lex knew what he meant and patted him on the knee again.
"Well, I'd say you're about due, then," Lex said gently, sighing slightly in relief.
"Sorry," Clark repeated.
"Don't be," Lex said simply, with a slight smile. "It speaks volumes that you trust the two of us enough to feel comfortable to do so in our presence." And he nearly had to wince at himself as Clark glanced up, then guiltily away, for not thinking through his word choice better.
"Hey, Smallville, try to buck up, ok?" Lois said gruffly, punching Clark lightly in the shoulder. "It gets better."
Clark looked up at her, then glanced at Lex, then tentatively said, "...It does?" Lois nodded. "When?"
"It... takes awhile. The ache never really goes away, but... you get used to it, sort of. Then it gets to be less, and eventually it doesn't hurt to be happy anymore," Lois said lightly.
Lex was reminded that he wasn't the only person in the room who had lost a mother at an early age.
"I don't want to 'get used to it', I want it to go away," Clark said, clenching the towel in a fist and sounding miserable and angry.
"Yeah, well, short of raising the dead, that's just not happening in this life, Smallville. You've gotta get used to that. --I know that may sound harsh now, but I've known guys who come back from overseas who lost buddies, brothers? Families here who lost fathers, sons? Doing the denial thing just hurts everybody way worse, and the come down is even harder at the end."
Clark sighed, and he almost seemed to collapse. "Great. I've gotta just, what, muddle through feeling like this for who knows how long? What am I supposed to do in the meantime?" he said, dropping his head to hold it in his hands.
Lex reached out a hand and tentatively placed it on Clark's shoulder. "Try to survive."
Clark looked up at him. "How did you do it?" he asked, nothing in it but simple need.
Lex tried not to suck in a breath and took it very slowly.
"Well... I guess you could cry a lot and go half-crazy stuck in a P-- in a home where you kept expecting your m-- a parent--" Then he sighed, and gave up. So Lois would just hear it, too. Well, if she tried to do anything with it, he could fire and blackball her if he had to. Lex sucked it up and began again.
"You could go half-crazy stuck in a Penthouse suite where you would keep expecting your mother to come around the corner any second every time you hear footsteps. Or you could get dragged along to social events where everybody else is talking and laughing like nothing's changed, like all the color and life hasn't been ripped out of the world, until you realize that it hasn't for them, just for you, and you can hate them all for it. And you could hate your father, too, for using grief and mourning like a competitive advantage, and wonder if he ever really loved her at all. You could feel relieved when you go back to your horror of a prep school, because at least they have finally decided to enforce the policy of not allowing reporters on the grounds, and are actually inclined and able to keep them away from you so you don't have to worry about shouted questions every time you walk out of a room, or pictures of you hiding in a corner crying your eyes out showing up in the news rags. You could be grateful that your mother never visited you at Excelsior, because you never expect to see her when you wake up in the morning or right before you go to sleep at night. You could be surprised when the bullies there actually give you some space the first couple of weeks because they know what it's like to lose family, even though you were the last person to expect that kind of consideration from them. You could even decide that the adults around you know fuck all about what you want, and start studying science and your biology homework more seriously than you take your economic classes and etiquette lessons because learning about those things actually means something. Because it's something worth doing." Lex had to stop and close his eyes and force his hands to stop shaking, even though his tone never had. Then he opened his eyes and looked straight into Clark's.
"You have friends who care about you, who will hurt when you hurt. You have places you can go, where you won't have to wonder whether you'll expect that your father will be just ready to come around that corner, or already be there working on something when you walk into a room. You won't have to feel that expectation, then remember what happened and be crushed under the weight of bad memories all over again. You'll have a chance to focus on the good memories instead of just the bad, and things will maybe even start to hurt a little less when you do remember them. You can be around other people, who will help you try to remember how to live, and keep on living, and try to distract you from the pain a little, and, with a little luck, even succeed from time to time. You have things you can do, important things, that you can help with, that are more than just a distraction."
"Important things like what?" Lois cut in. Lex was about to tell her off, until he realized that she wasn't being snide. If anything, she was giving him an odd look, only part of which he thought he was able to decipher: 'Don't get his hopes up if you're gonna be wrong. Don't lie to him.'
"Well... Chloe does need your help for her articles, doesn't she?" Lex tenatively put forward to Clark. Chloe would be willing and able to help Clark out. Chloe had lost a mother, too, though not to death, although what had happened might have been worse: not knowing. She'd just... walked away, apparently, and vanished without a trace, and by this point Lex had built up a pretty good picture of how Chloe felt about a story with no leads. He couldn't imagine how she'd handled something of a more personal nature. ...Unless she wasn't, really. It could explain her fascination with weird mysteries.
"Not really."
"Clark," Lex chided.
"Ok, maybe sometimes," Clark mumbled. "But..."
"But nothing. She's your friend, and I know you feel better being around her in general," Lex pushed slightly.
"I guess..."
"You don't have a lot of coursework keeping you from helping her out during the day this semester, I hear," Lex nudged.
He got a small smile from Clark.
But the smile fell away, and Clark looked uncomfortable. "Lex, I can't... the mansion..."
"You're not going to shoot me down even before you ask your mother, are you?" Lex asked.
"Lex, I'm not even sure it's such a good idea," Clark said, looking down at the floor.
I practically told him I was nearly done getting rid of all surveillance, and I will get rid of all the video surveillance soon enough. He didn't want to risk Clark finding the place bugged and accusing Lex of trying to catch him out again. It might be counterintuitive, but Clark seemed to be more free in exercising his abilities in locations with no surveillance, even if there was just as great a possibility of being spotted by a person, instead. Hell, how can I put this so he doesn't get suspicious? Ah, I know.
"Look, you and your mother won't have to worry about anyone sneaking in and trying to bother you with pictures or interviews. I haven't been just getting rid of the beefed up surveillance, I've revamped my entire security staff. Considering the difficulties I've had with electronic surveillance at the mansion as of late," Lex said, reminded of the fiasco with the sherriff's deputies and Lana nearly dying over the missing Black Ship, "I've opted to switching over to extra security personnel instead. And, given the checks and training they had to go through for the senatorial campaign, they're all competent, know each other, and are far more effective a team than I've ever had protecting the mansion and everyone in it. They'll also immediately recognize anyone who isn't supposed to be on the grounds, but since they know you two, I'll only have to tell them I'm extending your access, and that should be that."
"Lex, it's not that. I really do appreciate the offer, but--"
"But what?"
"I don't-- I don't think... It's just..." Clark looked frustated, trailing off.
"Is it Lionel?"
Clark's head snapped up.
"More or less access?"
"...What?"
"Do you want Lionel to have more or less access to your mother?" Lex heard, more than saw, Clark's gasp of breath. "Because if you want less, it will make my day to tell my security staff to shut him out."
"...Lex?"
Lex smirked. "Clark, I know that I've said before that I wouldn't mind us being brothers, but trust me, that definitely would not be a good way to go about it," he said conspiratorily, leaning forward.
Lois made a choking noise. Lex ignored her.
Clark stared at him openly.
Lex just smiled back, waiting.
"...You're serious about this."
Lex nodded.
Clark's eyes went wide. "You--" He swallowed. "You would do that? Really do that? Make him stay away from my mom?"
Lex nodded decisively. "Just say the word."
Clark fell back in his chair, looking stunned. Then something occurred to him and he straightened.
"...Can you do that?" Clark asked more suspiciously.
"Of course."
"Then why haven't you done that before?" Clark asked, frowning.
"Why would I do that before?"
"Oh, I don't know, Lex. Maybe because he makes you miserable and you're always in a bad mood after he visits?" Clark said in consternation.
Lex raised an eyebrow. "What, and kick out family for no good reason?"
"Being horrible to you is a good reason."
Lex gave him an incredulous look.
"Look, I'm not talking about my folks -- I've seen how Pete's family deals with their some of their flaky uncles and cousins; I know how it's supposed to go."
"Amen," Lois chimed in.
Lex frowned at the two of them.
"Why didn't you do it before now? ...If he's so 'horrible'?" Lois asked.
It was amazing how Lois orating something could suddenly make it sound accusatory, even when she was just echoing Clark's earlier question.
"Because if I didn't let him blow off steam that way, he'd just find some other way to take it out on me, at an angle of attack that I might not be expecting. --And no, that isn't a problem anymore, Clark. Don't worry about it. I am well and truly out from under his thumb." Mostly. Except for the bits where Lionel keeps paying people off for information and injecting moles into my staff. Damnit! He really needed to do something about that, and soon.
"I don't know..."
Clark wavering was a good sign. It was time to stop pushing, or Lex would just get push back at this point. "Just think about it? And tell your mother that the option is available, and I would be thrilled if you took me up on it?" ...Ok, maybe he was laying it on a little thick there. He hadn't meant to sound so desperately lonely. Lex hoped it only sounded like that to his own ears.
Clark sighed. "I still need to get back to the farm."
"Well, you would need to pack," Lex put in, pushing a little further, unable to help himself.
"Ok, ok, I'll think about it, I promise!" Clark said gently, almost smiling.
"Good," Lex said definitively.
..All-in-all, as far as keeping his friends close and his enemies closer, this could only be a win-win situation.
Besides, Lex would much rather leave the traitors out in the cold.
Lois and Clark jumped as Lex's sudden blaring ringtone went off.
Lex froze, then his eyes widened as he tried to cooly reach into his coat pocket -- the one without the incriminating photograph packet within it -- and pull out his phone, careful to not scramble for it in an all-fire hurry.
"Was that like, something off the Beaches of Normandy soundtrack?" Lois asked.
"What's that notification sound for?" Clark asked, leaning forward, knowing Lex's ringtone signals far better than the muffin peddler.
"Ah, it's... nothing really. Just business," Lex replied smoothly, snapping the phone closed and putting it away, very mindful of the makeup of his current audience of two, especially blabbermouth Lane.
"Lex, what's wrong?" Clark asked, frowning.
Trust Clark to pick up on his mood. Maybe it's an alien thing? "It's fine, Clark," he soothed, his mind racing. "It's something time-critical, not a huge problem of some sort. I do need to talk to my staff and resolve it, though." He stood and put his chair back, then paused. "You will be all right?" he asked, carefully looking Clark over.
Clark nodded. And he did look more relaxed and settled than he had when he'd come in...
Lex nodded back, pleased. It was an auspicious start for step 0. He turned to go.
"Hey, billionaire! Forget something?"
Lex turned at Lois shrill call, and barely caught his bought-and-paid-for double-chocolate muffin right before it would have hit his face.
"Don't eat it all in one place!" she grinned.
Lex saluted her with it wryly, then turned on his heel and strode out, mansion-bound.
He only noticed the "closed for lunch, will be back at:" clock sign on the front door as he left. He snorted to himself, shook his head, and fixed it. Small wonder no-one came in while we were talking. Lex wondered if Lois had done that on purpose earlier to giver herself an impromptu break, or if someone else had been careless about it, as he made his way to his car and slid in.
Once he was off main street, he flipped open his phone and started talking to his corporate office staff, rapid-fire between bites of muffin. He'd save the new instructions for the mansion staff for an in-person briefing once he arrived home. There was a lot of cleaning up to do before the Kents arrived.
~*~*~*~*~*~
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