FIC: Silence 7/10 (Clark/Lex, FRC) *Smallville*
Sorry this has taken so long to get out, folks. I seriously hadn't planned for it to take over two weeks. Chapter VIII won't be posted on Wednesday either, because I have two very close fic deadlines this week (and only one of them is sort of ready--half ready, but at least it's *some* ready) though I am working on it. It'll probably take another couple of weeks, and I might try to get all the three remaining chapters finished all at once as soon as those fic deadlines are out of the way. Trust me, I'll be happy once this is done! :)
I hope you enjoy this part!
Title: Silence 7/10
Author: soft_princess ( soft.princess@gmail.com )
Website: Fly With me
Word count: this part: 5,992
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Rating: this part: FRT
A full header/disclaimer can be found in part 1.
Previous parts are here.
***
Chapter VII
"Lex," Gabe said as Lex came into the penthouse. "I had a phone call from the Planet. They want to know where you stand." Gabe poured a glass of scotch for Lex and handed it to him. "I told them you'd get back to them as soon as you've had time to talk to your father." He paused, obviously waiting for Lex to agree, continuing when Lex nodded. "Since that won't happen until he's in town in the morning, that gives us time to catch up." Gabe looked pointedly at Lex, bringing his own glass to his lips.
Gabe shook his head, smiling. "You little rascal. You told me when you hired me that you'd stopped all your investigations."
"Yes, well," Lex sighed, "I had to. We thought that if it looked like we'd stopped looking then my father would stop leading us on. We got more than enough the dead ends. We had to make everyone believe we'd stopped, just in case my father ever asked." Lex sipped at his glass, sitting down on his chair.
"I can see the point," Gabe admitted, but then he frowned. "Your father, Lex? I thought Clark had run away."
Lex snickered. "I wish he had. He would have been easier to find."
Gabe shook his head again and took a last sip from his glass before putting it down on the table. "You didn't really go on vacation, then."
Chuckling, Lex put his glass beside Gabe's and leaned over, putting his elbows on his knees and shaking his head. "No, I didn't."
"The research you had me do, on Marysville--"
"I found out my father had gone there three times in a month, so I thought it was worth investigating. The research you turned up was enlightening, to say the least. There's a small research lab set not too far outside of the city limits. I'll let you guess who owns it."
"Ah." Gabe nodded, and settled more comfortably in his seat. "You have a long story to tell; I'm all ears."
Lex smiled. "The details don't really matter at this point. We just have to stop him from going forward with that conference."
"So you know what your father is going to expose tonight?"
Lex nodded, thoughtful. "We can't let that happen."
"I agree, but you have to give me the details, Lex. I can't help if I'm navigating blind."
"My father is going to expose alien life on Earth. I think that's pretty self-explanatory."
Gabe looked at him, bemused, and then stood, reaching for the phone on the kitchen counter. "Let me make a couple of phone calls, and then you're going to tell me everything."
***
"What are you scared of?" Clark knew Martha was trying her best not to sound worried, but she was worried and it showed in her voice: worried for him, for Lex--at the moment, especially for Lex. Probably. Clark himself could keep from imagining all the ways this could go wrong. That was one of the things he was scared of, but certainly not the only one.
"I--I'm--" Clark sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm scared I won't--" He rolled his eyes at his inability to say what he had on his mind and then took a deep breath. "I'm terrified that I won't wake up if I go back to sleep again." He leaned his elbows on his knees and hid his face in his hands. "I don't want to get caught up in my dream." His voice was muffled, but he knew his mother had heard him; she had to.
Martha rubbed his back soothingly. She made that noise that meant she wanted to say something, but she stayed silent. It wasn't hard to figure out that she just didn't know what she could say right now, and Clark himself didn't know what he needed to hear. All he knew was that he needed her. She wrapped both her arms around him and hugged him tight. "I don't know if you'll dream or not, but I do know you'll wake up, because we won't let you drift away from us again. I can promise you that." She stood and held her hand to him. Clark looked at her, and finally stood, taking her hand in his. "Now go to bed, please."
***
Lex groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"Awake?" Gabe's voice reached Lex's ears, and he sat up.
"Yeah, yeah," he said. "I'm awake."
"Good," Gabe said, putting down a cup of coffee on the table. "I was going to wake you up anyway." He sat down on the couch next to Lex and gave him his cell phone. "Your father's back in Metropolis as of fifteen minutes ago. Call him before he calls you, because you know he will."
Lex nodded, cradled the phone in his hand, and reached for the coffee. "Let's get this party started," he replied dryly. He gulped down half of his cup, cleared his throat, and dialed Lionel's private number.
"Lex!" Lionel sounded awfully cheerful on the other end of the line; it made Lex cringe. "How nice of you to call, son. I was just about to call you."
"I don't doubt that," Lex muttered. "What's this all about, Dad?"
"Oh, Lex, you know perfectly well what it's all about."
With a sigh, Lex decided against acting like he was clueless. "You can't go ahead with this. You have no proof."
"Oh, really? I have plenty of proof. But I'm willing to offer you a deal."
Lex really hated that tone of voice Lionel was using; the overconfident one that Lex could never figure out if he was bluffing or not. He rubbed his forehead; he had been waiting for this, maybe not for the tone, but he knew his father would try to rope him into something, and he was pretty sure what that was. "If you're planning on asking me to give him back to you, you're out of luck."
"Son, I think it'd be in your best interests to hand it back." Lionel sound cold, determined; if Lex hadn't known his father, he probably wouldn't have picked up on it, but right now, it scared him.
"Him, dad, him. And no, I don't think it is."
"Well then, son, if that's how you feel, I don't think we have anything more to say to each other."
What the hell was Lionel playing at? "What are you going to do?"
"Expose him, of course," Lionel said calmly, as if he was discussing the weather. "Expose them, in fact: your little toy, and every-mutant there is out there." He spat out the word. "They're dangerous, Lex. It's time the population knew what threat they face, and I'll be there to help them deal with it once they decide to take action."
And with that, he hung up.
Trying to change Lionel's mind was just not going to happen. Lex would need help. He frowned. Yes, he had a plan. Well, the beginning of a plan.
***
Clark blinked, his hand reaching for the clock on his bedside table. Then he realized it wasn't ringing, but something was. He sat up and waited a moment, trying to figure out what was making that sound. He rubbed his face tiredly. Then the sound stopped and he could hear his father's voice.
"Sure, Gabe, we'll hurry." Jonathan knocked on Clark's door, opening it without waiting for Clark's response. "Do you want us to--yes, I understand."
Clark looked at his father, still blinking. The light was hurting his eyes a little.
"Clark, Lex wants you to call him on his cell phone as soon as you're awake. I'll wake your mom."
Clark groaned and rolled out of bed, reaching for the phone that Jonathan had tossed on his bed and quickly dialling Lex's phone.
"Lex Luthor," a voice answered on the other end of the line, and Clark frowned. Lex sounded angry.
"It's me."
"Clark," Lex said, and Clark imagined that he could hear him smile. "I'm sorry to rush you into this, but I need you to do something for me. I know you're not a hundred percent, but this is something really important."
"What is it?"
"I need you to go find Chloe and bring her to Metropolis as fast as you can. We can't do this without her."
"Do what?"
"I have a plan," Lex said quickly, although he didn't go into any detail. "She has some vital information that I need for it to work."
Clark started getting dressed, reaching for his shirt and pulling it on. "I'll get the truck--"
"No, Clark, she's too far away. You need to fly."
Clark stopped suddenly, almost tipping over in the middle of pulling on his jeans. "No. Lex, I can't--"
"Yes, you can; you told me."
"No, you don't--you don't understand. I haven't--I've never flown in the--in the real world before, I don't even know if I can." And I wanted to take you flying first, not Chloe; and I need time, and-- Clark fell back on the bed, closing his eyes.
Clark heard Lex sigh on the other end of the phone line. "Now's the time to find out if you can. It's really important that we get Chloe here. Now. Before my father speaks to the press."
"God, Lex."
"Clark," Lex said, his voice suddenly soft and gentle. "I believe in you. I know you can do this. Find Chloe and bring her here, please."
Taking a shaky breath, Clark finished pulling on his pants. Lex believed in him; Clark owed it to him to at least try. "Okay. Where is she?"
"Gotham." Lex gave him the address of Chloe's building.
"You've got to be kidding me. Even--even in my dream I never flew that far."
"I'm calling her as soon as you're on your way. She'll be waiting for you."
"Lex--"
"Clark! Please, I know you can do this. I believe in you," he repeated more firmly. "Now go outside, and do--whatever you do to get you to fly. I know your body didn't remember--well, anything after you woke up, but your brain does. I know you can do this."
He had to do this. It was the first thing Lex was really asking of him, and it was Chloe, and Clark really missed her. If she could help with Lex's plan, whatever it was, then he needed to go get her. He wasn't sleepy anymore; he had something to do, and he would. If only he could fly--
"Clark?" Lex sounded worried.
He had to try. "I'm gonna give the phone to dad," he told Lex, running down the stairs. "Dad!" Not waiting around to give anyone an explanation, he tossed the phone to Jonathan, who caught it easily, and ran outside. As soon as he was out the door, Clark started running faster and faster into the field, letting his mind free itself of any doubts. Then he leapt into the air--
And he was flying. Over the fields and away from Smallville, he was flying. With a triumphant laugh, he turned to the east, pushing against the wind. He would be in Gotham in no time.
***
"Lex!" Jonathan was panicked on the other end of the line.
"What?"
"He's flying! Clark's flying! What the hell is going on?"
"Yes!" Lex said, triumphantly. "I knew he could do it. Don't worry, he'll be back by the time you get here. Just hurry, I'll tell you everything about it when you arrive."
"All right, but you'd better give us a damn good explanation for this."
"I will." Lex hung up, grinning. This whole plan might just work after all.
The relief Lex felt dissolved quickly, though, leaving behind a deep-seated worry… and maybe just a little bit of jealousy. He told himself it was stupid to be jealous of Chloe. Clark might have said Lex would be the first one he took flying, but this was an emergency; it was the fastest way for Chloe to reach Metropolis, and if Lex was correct, the only way as well. He was certain that Lionel had people watching closely for any sign of Chloe's reappearance, and thus plane or car or bus was out of the question. Even if Lionel couldn't stop her from entering the city, he would know, and prepare for anything she might throw at him. But this way, with Clark flying her in, no one would notice.
At least, Lex seriously hoped no one would. He knew he was putting Clark in danger; Jonathan and Gabe both had told him so. Now, he was wondering if it was worth it. If defeating his father was worth the possibility of exposing Clark's secret anyway.
"Stop your little self-recriminations, Lex. Clark knows what he's doing; you're the one who told us that. We need to plan how we're going to move." Gabe handed Lex another cup of coffee, and sat on the sofa, pulling papers out of a file. "This is what I've been able to find about Marysville. There isn't much going on at the plant that we can find through the legal channels, just a few very legal pharmaceutical tests. I don't think we can find any more dirt on it."
Lex groaned; he'd been expecting that. It would have been just a little too easy if a quick search had given them what they needed. Chloe would be instrumental to the plan, but her information would only cover the more--personal aspects of it. He was starting to despair when his phone rang.
"Lex Luthor," he answered quickly, and then blinked. This was some strange coincidence. "Lydia, please calm down. I thought I told you to leave Marysville." He stopped and listened. "In Metropolis? Why did you think that would be a good idea? You didn't--okay." He gave Gabe a tentative smile. "I think we have a use for you. I'll have a friend pick you up at the corner of Kennedy and Third in ten minutes." He hung up, a wolfish smile spreading on his face. Perhaps they had a chance to defeat his father after all. "Lydia is in town."
Gabe nodded and stood. "I'll pick her up."
***
With a thump, Clark landed on the top of the building, and looked around, smiling when he noticed the young woman hiding under a doorway a few feet away, her eyes wide.
"Clark?" Chloe looked at him, blinking and obviously on the verge of tears.
Clark walked to her swiftly and engulfed her into his arms, careful not to crush her back. "Chloe, thank God, you're okay."
"I'm okay? What about you're okay? You're--" Chloe pulled herself apart, holding Clark at arm's length and looking him over. "God, Clark! You're--here, and alive, and--flying."
Clark laughed, hugging her to his chest again. "I'll--I'll explain on the way, but we have to go."
"Whoa!" Chloe exclaimed as Clark lifted her and himself from the ground, quickly picking up speed and flying towards Metropolis. "When Lex said he was sending someone to pick me up, I thought he meant a helicopter!"
Clark chuckled, looking straight ahead. "Lex doesn't do things halfway."
"You're telling me that?" Chloe tightened her arms around Clark. "Did I ever tell you about my fear of heights?"
"Just don't look down."
"You know that only guarantees that I'm going to, right?" Chloe smiled, hiding her face in the crook of Clark's neck. The wind was blowing around them, and Chloe shivered.
"Not if I don't let you turn around."
"Just don't drop me."
"Never."
"So--is this new? The flying thing? Because I always knew you were different, but this is pretty hardcore."
Clark sighed. "You have no idea." He took a deep breath. "I'm not a mutant, Chloe."
Chloe nodded against his shoulder. "I know," she said, her voice muffled. "God, Clark, I know. I didn't want to know, I tried not to know, and now you're--here, and--"
"I'm an alien."
Chloe clutched him tight, not able to say anything to that.
"I'm sor--"
"If you say you're sorry for not telling me sooner, I'm going to kick your little Martian ass--"
"Kryptonian--" Clark interrupted her.
"Kryptonian, whatever--I'm going to kick your little Kryptonian ass as soon as we land. If I ever get the use of my legs back after this. Seriously, Clark, don't. We were kids, and I was playing with fire. It's a good thing I didn't know. Fuck knows what I would have done with the information." She stayed silent for a minute, listening to the sound of Clark's heart beating against her ear. "What happened?" she whispered. "You know, why did you disappear?"
Clark picked up speed again, trying his best to shield Chloe against the wind. "I guess you'd call it 'every alien's worst nightmare'--"
"Oh. Oh God, Clark." Chloe held on more tightly, but didn't say anything else for the rest of the flight home.
***
Gabe was on a coffee run; Martha and Jonathan were on the balcony waiting for signs of Clark and Chloe's arrival; and Lydia was sitting on the sofa, shuffling through the papers they had on the Marysville facility. "I know what you're going to say," she'd said to Lex when she arrived at the penthouse just ten minutes earlier. "Save it; you need me."
Lex hadn't argued with that. He showed her to the couch and gave her the documents Gabe had found.
"You really won't get far with these," she said now, holding up the papers she'd been reading.
Lex looked up at her from his own papers. "What do you mean?"
"It's just a façade."
"Yeah, we figured as much," Lex sneered.
"They're the official reports," she added needlessly. She bent down and picked up her briefcase, the one Lex remembered seeing in her car. "You want the dirt? You need these." She pulled out a stack of files and put them on the table.
Jonathan had walked in while they'd been talking, and he looked at the files dubiously. "What are those?"
Lydia shook her head and avoided Jonathan's gaze. "Before we broke Clark out I snooped into Dr. Guffman's office--he's Luthor's puppet in Marysville, basically his right-hand man," she added for Jonathan's benefit. "And I got these. If you want to know what's really going on there, it's all in here."
Jonathan was eyeing Lydia warily. Lex had tried to explain to him the role Lydia had played in Clark's escape when he and Martha had first gotten there and they'd been waiting for Gabe and Lydia to come back, but Jonathan was hard to convince. "Why should we trust you?"
Lex took a deep breath and was about to speak, but then Lydia answered for herself.
"Mr. Kent, if you don't want to trust me, that's fine. I'm just trying to help, and at this point, I think you need me." She stopped, thinking, and then shook her head. "I have to say this, though, I'm sorry, really sorry for my part in your son's captivity. I admit that I was driven by curiosity at first--" She was obviously waiting for some sort of agreement from Jonathan, but if he did agree, he wasn't giving any sign of it--which Lex himself would have expected, but Lydia didn't know the man as well as Lex now did.
She continued after a minute: "--but not at the expense of his life. He might not be human, and yes, everyone who was working on him knew that, but he's his own person. It took me a while to realize it, and by then I was just completely desperate to keep my job. That's when Lex came into the picture and--I saw a way out." She paused, then took a deep breath. "Mr. Kent, if I can help your son survive that, if I can start to put things right for him, then I will. Because it's not right, no matter where he comes from. It's not right."
Lydia turned back to Lex, her face flushed and her hands trembling slightly as she handed him the first file. "These files are what you've been looking for. Dirt on your father's other experiments. Your father was doing simultaneous research on a biochemical weapon that was made of meteor rocks. He was also conducting a smaller, but deadlier, experiment on a way to duplicate the meteor mutations."
Lydia had a lot more potential than Lex had given her credit for. He should hire her. LexCorp was almost ready to rise from its ashes, and Lex might need someone like Lydia on board. He quickly scanned the first pages of both files. A smile crept on his face, and he was going to say something, when a loud voice coming from the doorway interrupted him.
"Well, well, isn't that a cozy little family picture!"
"Chloe!" Martha hurried to the door, where Gabe, Clark, and Chloe were coming in, and engulfed Chloe in her arms.
"I found them downstairs," Gabe said, putting the coffee tray he had been holding on the dining room table while Clark closed the door behind them all, beaming.
"Lydia," Clark said as he came closer to the sofa, sinking to the floor by Lex's feet.
"Hey, good to see you recovered."
Clark nodded, looking up at Lex. "Why is she here?"
Lex grinned, holding up the files. "She's got ammo."
"Hey! I thought I had the ammo!" Chloe exclaimed indignantly.
Lex turned to look at her, shaking his head at the mock-pout on her face. He really had missed her. "Oh, you have ammo, she has ammo, it's all a big ammo family," he said with a laugh. "It's good to see you, Chloe."
"You too, Lex," she said. She held out her hand to Lydia and introduced herself. "Chloe Sullivan."
"Lydia Coleman. What kind of ammo do you have?"
"Oh, all kinds," Chloe replied with a smirk and a shrug.
"What's the plan?" Clark looked up at Lex, frowning.
"We'll be taking over my father's press conference," Lex replied, pointing at the stack of papers on the table. "We're going to play his game, really. He wants to expose you, so we're going to expose him Chloe has information that'll bring my father down. Lydia has what we need to give LuthorCorp that extra push so the same thing happens to it. That'll make sure my dear father never actually rise again. He's had it coming."
"Neat!" Chloe looked impressed. She came closer to the sofa, fumbling inside her shoulder bag and handing Lex a thick folder. "Everything I had on your father three years ago, and everything else I found since. This, Lex, if it gets out, could be enough to drive him to suicide. Especially if we get his empire to crumble with him. Are you sure that's what you want?"
"He had Clark kidnapped. He experimented on him for three years. He killed his own parents--my grandparents--for money; his whole empire is built on their blood. He's done everything he could to kill you, Chloe. He's--" He shook his head, not really wanting to get into the detail of what Lionel had done to him. "He's never showed the slightest hint of remorse at anything he did," he continued, and grabbed the file from Chloe's hands. "He's the one who put himself into this mess. We're just bringing it to the surface."
"It's karma," Clark whispered, leaning his head against Lex's knee. Lex's hand immediately came to rest on Clark's head, fingers brushing the hair softly.
Chloe looked at them intently, and Lex held her gaze. He knew she was assessing the situation, but finally she shook her head and sat on the floor, leaning against Clark's shoulder. Clark immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her close. "I just want everyone to realize that this might not be as easy as it sounds. I mean--I tried, and look where it got me… I've been running away and hiding from him for three years."
"No, it won't be easy," Gabe admitted, handing Lex his coffee. "But we've got to try."
"We're not backing out," Lex added, looking at everyone in the room in turn. "We have one chance to stop my father from exposing Clark. Tonight. If my father manages to get the word out that there is an alien in Metropolis--that there are mutants around--the media will be all over that news and won't pay attention to anything else we might try to say. Especially if he has photographic evidence, and I'd bet my life that he does."
They all looked around at each other nervously. Lex understood their fear and shared it, but he was becoming more confident by the second. With Lydia and Chloe's information, all of which seemed to have hard evidence to back it up, they might just accomplish this and get out of it without a scratch. However, it might be easy to convince himself of it, but convincing everyone else in the room might be a bit hard to accomplish.
"Oh, wait." Lydia's voice resonated in the room, breaking the silence. "I also got my hands on some of Clark's files!" She dug through her briefcase and pulled out another file.
"Give me that," Jonathan said, reaching for it, but before he could close his hand on it, Clark grabbed it.
Next thing Lex knew, there was a fire in the hearth, and Clark was back to sitting against his leg, eyes focused on the fire and breathing erratically. Lex touched Clark's hair soothingly. "Thank you, Clark."
"Wow."
Lex looked up at that, and found Lydia staring. She was going to say something else, but he shook his head, and she relented.
"Clark--" Jonathan started.
"No, dad," Clark said, body trembling against Lex. "I don't want anyone to--to see that."
"It's okay, Clark," Lex whispered, shooting a warning look at Jonathan, who seemed to get the message. "No one needs to see them. You did good."
Gabe looked just as shaken as Lydia was, but Chloe--who didn't look in the least bit surprised--was shaking his head at him, and said: "Later, Dad."
"I don't think that was all of it," Lex finally said to Lydia, and she shook her head.
"No, I could only grab a few of them that I knew no one would notice were gone--which basically means the less important stuff. Only Dr. Guffman has access to the rest of it."
"We'll have to figure out a way to get those files dealt with." Lex didn't like the sound of that at all. Lionel probably had the files transferred somewhere else by now.
"But those files wouldn't be the only ones," Gabe interjected, coming closer and sitting on a chair. "Lionel would keep copies…"
"I thought of that," Lex said, frowning slightly. "He'll have copies with him at LuthorCorp for the conference. Some hard evidence too, like pictures and videos, if he has them."
Lydia nodded at that, picking up a sheet of paper from her stack. "There were videotaped experiments, hundreds of photos, and reports on our findings in multiple copies-I think I remember Dr. Guffman asking for three copies of every report we'd make."
"One for the doctor, one for Lionel," Martha mused out loud. "What about the third one?"
"Probably a secret stash," Lex said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I don't know. At this point, we need to focus on having the files we know of destroyed and take care of the rest later. If they're kept hidden, no one but my father would know where, and it'd be a waste of our time to try to figure out where he keeps them."
"I agree," Chloe said, pulling her laptop out of her bag and powering it up. "That's something we can coax out of him afterwards."
"Unless," Lex started, sighing. "Unless the files are in someone else's hands and that person has orders to release them if anything happens to my father." He was playing idly with Clark's hair, the movement supposed to be soothing for Clark, but Lex found it was calming for him too.
"I don't think so," Lydia intervened. "From what I've heard, he's started being careless and overly confident over the last year or so, and he's not thinking of all the possibilities. He wouldn't think that far ahead."
"How would you know?"
Lydia shrugged. "I have my sources too. We need to destroy all the files Lionel has with him, first," she added, changing the subject quickly. Lex frowned, but decided not to say anything about it. Yet.
Clark looked up. "I can take care of that."
"You're not going anywhere near the press conference," Jonathan said vehemently, moving away from the wall, but Martha stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"He has to do his part," she said softly.
"He already has, Martha."
"No." Clark looked at his father defiantly. "I can have all the files gone within minutes, and nobody would notice. You guys wouldn't be fast enough."
"Lionel will only have copies with him," Gabe interrupted them. "Even if Clark or anyone else can get to those files, they won't be the originals. He'll keep those in his office," he added, looking at Lex.
That was something Lex hadn't thought about. "Well, that's something else we have to figure out."
"I think I can help," Lydia announced, pulling her cell phone from her pocket.
Well, there we go, Lex thought. "How? You know someone who works for my dad?" he asked, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer already. It was the only way she could have insight into Lionel's state of mind.
She grinned at him, and put her phone to her ear. "Exactly."
"Who?"
"Dominic Senatori." Lydia pulled the phone away, obviously figuring out that she'd need a few more minutes to convince Lex.
Lex tried not to look surprised. He shouldn't be, since he'd known, well, forever that Dominic's loyalties could change easily--if it was in his best interest--but still, that he would 'befriend' someone like Lydia… that was surprising.
"I mean, I wouldn't blame you for not trusting him, but I can tell you, he's not liking this situation any better than you are. Although, he has his own reasons for it."
"This is good news, Lex," Gabe intervened, standing up and starting to pace the length of the room. "I know Dominic, and if he isn't happy with your father, he'll turn against him in a heartbeat."
"For the highest bidder, you mean," Lex added bitterly. Gabe was right, though; the promise of a job once all was said and done, and possibly a pay raise, and Dominic would be eating in Lex's pocket.
"He's already more loyal to Lex than Mr. Luthor," Lydia said, surprising Lex.
"I always figured Dominic hated me."
"He doesn't, not really," Lydia replied, uncertainly. "I can't really explain it, because I'm not him, but... there's stuff he told me that you'd want to know."
Jonathan huffed, and Lex saw him grab Gabe's arm and pull him down to the chair. "You're making us dizzy, Gabe, just calm down." Then he turned to Lex. "I'm not liking this, Lex. I wouldn't trust anyone who works for your father."
Lex nodded, but looked at Lydia instead of Jonathan. "I'll need to speak to him before you mention anything about this."
She agreed easily. "I don't know if that'll make a difference, but he told me that--he had me hired because he knew I wouldn't like what they were doing and… well, he was pretty sure you'd figure it out sooner or later, and you'd need someone there to help you out."
Lex blinked at that and frowned. "I wouldn't have guessed he had the balls, to be honest."
"He probably wouldn't have even thought about that if your father hadn't been getting weak. He's getting careless, and Dominic seized the opportunity, I guess." She shrugged.
"How did you meet him?" Lex asked, still frowning. His fingers were threading through Clark's hair, softly.
"He came to Marysville for your father almost a year ago when I was still doing regular drug research. I mean, we all knew there were parts of the facility where we weren't allowed in, some top-secret stuff that no one ever talked about, but there really is just normal drug research going on there. Anyway, I ended up showing Dominic around, and then we stumbled on one another at a local restaurant. He got me the top-secret job.
"Well, then," Gabe interrupted them, obviously tired of listening to them. A quick look around the living room showed that Martha was curled up against Jonathan's side, and Chloe was still standing against the wall. "Call Dominic, Lex. Make sure he's loyal to us before you tell him anything else."
"We should have him meet us here, I guess," Lex thought out loud, not confident that this was the best idea, but at least they could make sure Dominic was on their side.
"No." Jonathan shook his head, finally sitting on a chair. "He's not trustworthy, so he shouldn't see Clark. Lex and I, or Gabe, can meet him somewhere, but not here."
Martha pulled another chair closer to her husband and sat. "I agree. And he can't see what we have against Lionel."
Lex nodded. "All right. Call him, Lydia, then give me the phone. I'll speak to him."
She agreed, standing and moving away from them as she dialled.
Gabe sat in her place, looking down at Chloe and smiling. "We have five hours left before the press conference. We need to put all of this together." He nodded to the three files.
Chloe nodded, smiling up at her dad. "Already started." She turned to Clark and touched his arm. "You want to help?" she asked when he looked at her.
"Sure." He leaned over and started to read over her shoulder, hands reaching for a file on the coffee table. "What do you need me to do?"
"Just look over the data I have, see if there's anything else to add-"
While they were talking, Lex picked up the file Chloe had brought. She probably had a presentation with all the information ready and wouldn't need the file, and he needed to see what it was all about. Opening it, he started reading. "Chloe?"
She looked up at him. "I told you. It's everything."
"But this--they're my medical records."
"The originals yes. Before your father tampered with them." She looked at him innocently. "I told you I had all the dirt, Lex. These would have sent you to a regular hospital for detox, not Belle Reve."
Martha and Jonathan exchanged a look, just as Clark knelt before Lex and pulled him in for a quick, soft kiss, not caring about everybody's eyes on them. "I told you."
Lex nodded, his hands shaking. "Yes, you did." He leaned his forehead against Clark's.
Gabe cleared his throat. "I don't want to interrupt this sweet little moment, kids, but Senatori's on the phone."
Lex looked up, blushing, to find Lydia standing just a few feet away with the phone in her hand. Lex picked it up. "Dominic? How do you feel about a change of loyalties?"
***
I hope you enjoy this part!
Title: Silence 7/10
Author: soft_princess ( soft.princess@gmail.com )
Website: Fly With me
Word count: this part: 5,992
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Rating: this part: FRT
A full header/disclaimer can be found in part 1.
Previous parts are here.
***
Chapter VII
"Lex," Gabe said as Lex came into the penthouse. "I had a phone call from the Planet. They want to know where you stand." Gabe poured a glass of scotch for Lex and handed it to him. "I told them you'd get back to them as soon as you've had time to talk to your father." He paused, obviously waiting for Lex to agree, continuing when Lex nodded. "Since that won't happen until he's in town in the morning, that gives us time to catch up." Gabe looked pointedly at Lex, bringing his own glass to his lips.
Gabe shook his head, smiling. "You little rascal. You told me when you hired me that you'd stopped all your investigations."
"Yes, well," Lex sighed, "I had to. We thought that if it looked like we'd stopped looking then my father would stop leading us on. We got more than enough the dead ends. We had to make everyone believe we'd stopped, just in case my father ever asked." Lex sipped at his glass, sitting down on his chair.
"I can see the point," Gabe admitted, but then he frowned. "Your father, Lex? I thought Clark had run away."
Lex snickered. "I wish he had. He would have been easier to find."
Gabe shook his head again and took a last sip from his glass before putting it down on the table. "You didn't really go on vacation, then."
Chuckling, Lex put his glass beside Gabe's and leaned over, putting his elbows on his knees and shaking his head. "No, I didn't."
"The research you had me do, on Marysville--"
"I found out my father had gone there three times in a month, so I thought it was worth investigating. The research you turned up was enlightening, to say the least. There's a small research lab set not too far outside of the city limits. I'll let you guess who owns it."
"Ah." Gabe nodded, and settled more comfortably in his seat. "You have a long story to tell; I'm all ears."
Lex smiled. "The details don't really matter at this point. We just have to stop him from going forward with that conference."
"So you know what your father is going to expose tonight?"
Lex nodded, thoughtful. "We can't let that happen."
"I agree, but you have to give me the details, Lex. I can't help if I'm navigating blind."
"My father is going to expose alien life on Earth. I think that's pretty self-explanatory."
Gabe looked at him, bemused, and then stood, reaching for the phone on the kitchen counter. "Let me make a couple of phone calls, and then you're going to tell me everything."
***
"What are you scared of?" Clark knew Martha was trying her best not to sound worried, but she was worried and it showed in her voice: worried for him, for Lex--at the moment, especially for Lex. Probably. Clark himself could keep from imagining all the ways this could go wrong. That was one of the things he was scared of, but certainly not the only one.
"I--I'm--" Clark sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm scared I won't--" He rolled his eyes at his inability to say what he had on his mind and then took a deep breath. "I'm terrified that I won't wake up if I go back to sleep again." He leaned his elbows on his knees and hid his face in his hands. "I don't want to get caught up in my dream." His voice was muffled, but he knew his mother had heard him; she had to.
Martha rubbed his back soothingly. She made that noise that meant she wanted to say something, but she stayed silent. It wasn't hard to figure out that she just didn't know what she could say right now, and Clark himself didn't know what he needed to hear. All he knew was that he needed her. She wrapped both her arms around him and hugged him tight. "I don't know if you'll dream or not, but I do know you'll wake up, because we won't let you drift away from us again. I can promise you that." She stood and held her hand to him. Clark looked at her, and finally stood, taking her hand in his. "Now go to bed, please."
***
Lex groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"Awake?" Gabe's voice reached Lex's ears, and he sat up.
"Yeah, yeah," he said. "I'm awake."
"Good," Gabe said, putting down a cup of coffee on the table. "I was going to wake you up anyway." He sat down on the couch next to Lex and gave him his cell phone. "Your father's back in Metropolis as of fifteen minutes ago. Call him before he calls you, because you know he will."
Lex nodded, cradled the phone in his hand, and reached for the coffee. "Let's get this party started," he replied dryly. He gulped down half of his cup, cleared his throat, and dialed Lionel's private number.
"Lex!" Lionel sounded awfully cheerful on the other end of the line; it made Lex cringe. "How nice of you to call, son. I was just about to call you."
"I don't doubt that," Lex muttered. "What's this all about, Dad?"
"Oh, Lex, you know perfectly well what it's all about."
With a sigh, Lex decided against acting like he was clueless. "You can't go ahead with this. You have no proof."
"Oh, really? I have plenty of proof. But I'm willing to offer you a deal."
Lex really hated that tone of voice Lionel was using; the overconfident one that Lex could never figure out if he was bluffing or not. He rubbed his forehead; he had been waiting for this, maybe not for the tone, but he knew his father would try to rope him into something, and he was pretty sure what that was. "If you're planning on asking me to give him back to you, you're out of luck."
"Son, I think it'd be in your best interests to hand it back." Lionel sound cold, determined; if Lex hadn't known his father, he probably wouldn't have picked up on it, but right now, it scared him.
"Him, dad, him. And no, I don't think it is."
"Well then, son, if that's how you feel, I don't think we have anything more to say to each other."
What the hell was Lionel playing at? "What are you going to do?"
"Expose him, of course," Lionel said calmly, as if he was discussing the weather. "Expose them, in fact: your little toy, and every-mutant there is out there." He spat out the word. "They're dangerous, Lex. It's time the population knew what threat they face, and I'll be there to help them deal with it once they decide to take action."
And with that, he hung up.
Trying to change Lionel's mind was just not going to happen. Lex would need help. He frowned. Yes, he had a plan. Well, the beginning of a plan.
***
Clark blinked, his hand reaching for the clock on his bedside table. Then he realized it wasn't ringing, but something was. He sat up and waited a moment, trying to figure out what was making that sound. He rubbed his face tiredly. Then the sound stopped and he could hear his father's voice.
"Sure, Gabe, we'll hurry." Jonathan knocked on Clark's door, opening it without waiting for Clark's response. "Do you want us to--yes, I understand."
Clark looked at his father, still blinking. The light was hurting his eyes a little.
"Clark, Lex wants you to call him on his cell phone as soon as you're awake. I'll wake your mom."
Clark groaned and rolled out of bed, reaching for the phone that Jonathan had tossed on his bed and quickly dialling Lex's phone.
"Lex Luthor," a voice answered on the other end of the line, and Clark frowned. Lex sounded angry.
"It's me."
"Clark," Lex said, and Clark imagined that he could hear him smile. "I'm sorry to rush you into this, but I need you to do something for me. I know you're not a hundred percent, but this is something really important."
"What is it?"
"I need you to go find Chloe and bring her to Metropolis as fast as you can. We can't do this without her."
"Do what?"
"I have a plan," Lex said quickly, although he didn't go into any detail. "She has some vital information that I need for it to work."
Clark started getting dressed, reaching for his shirt and pulling it on. "I'll get the truck--"
"No, Clark, she's too far away. You need to fly."
Clark stopped suddenly, almost tipping over in the middle of pulling on his jeans. "No. Lex, I can't--"
"Yes, you can; you told me."
"No, you don't--you don't understand. I haven't--I've never flown in the--in the real world before, I don't even know if I can." And I wanted to take you flying first, not Chloe; and I need time, and-- Clark fell back on the bed, closing his eyes.
Clark heard Lex sigh on the other end of the phone line. "Now's the time to find out if you can. It's really important that we get Chloe here. Now. Before my father speaks to the press."
"God, Lex."
"Clark," Lex said, his voice suddenly soft and gentle. "I believe in you. I know you can do this. Find Chloe and bring her here, please."
Taking a shaky breath, Clark finished pulling on his pants. Lex believed in him; Clark owed it to him to at least try. "Okay. Where is she?"
"Gotham." Lex gave him the address of Chloe's building.
"You've got to be kidding me. Even--even in my dream I never flew that far."
"I'm calling her as soon as you're on your way. She'll be waiting for you."
"Lex--"
"Clark! Please, I know you can do this. I believe in you," he repeated more firmly. "Now go outside, and do--whatever you do to get you to fly. I know your body didn't remember--well, anything after you woke up, but your brain does. I know you can do this."
He had to do this. It was the first thing Lex was really asking of him, and it was Chloe, and Clark really missed her. If she could help with Lex's plan, whatever it was, then he needed to go get her. He wasn't sleepy anymore; he had something to do, and he would. If only he could fly--
"Clark?" Lex sounded worried.
He had to try. "I'm gonna give the phone to dad," he told Lex, running down the stairs. "Dad!" Not waiting around to give anyone an explanation, he tossed the phone to Jonathan, who caught it easily, and ran outside. As soon as he was out the door, Clark started running faster and faster into the field, letting his mind free itself of any doubts. Then he leapt into the air--
And he was flying. Over the fields and away from Smallville, he was flying. With a triumphant laugh, he turned to the east, pushing against the wind. He would be in Gotham in no time.
***
"Lex!" Jonathan was panicked on the other end of the line.
"What?"
"He's flying! Clark's flying! What the hell is going on?"
"Yes!" Lex said, triumphantly. "I knew he could do it. Don't worry, he'll be back by the time you get here. Just hurry, I'll tell you everything about it when you arrive."
"All right, but you'd better give us a damn good explanation for this."
"I will." Lex hung up, grinning. This whole plan might just work after all.
The relief Lex felt dissolved quickly, though, leaving behind a deep-seated worry… and maybe just a little bit of jealousy. He told himself it was stupid to be jealous of Chloe. Clark might have said Lex would be the first one he took flying, but this was an emergency; it was the fastest way for Chloe to reach Metropolis, and if Lex was correct, the only way as well. He was certain that Lionel had people watching closely for any sign of Chloe's reappearance, and thus plane or car or bus was out of the question. Even if Lionel couldn't stop her from entering the city, he would know, and prepare for anything she might throw at him. But this way, with Clark flying her in, no one would notice.
At least, Lex seriously hoped no one would. He knew he was putting Clark in danger; Jonathan and Gabe both had told him so. Now, he was wondering if it was worth it. If defeating his father was worth the possibility of exposing Clark's secret anyway.
"Stop your little self-recriminations, Lex. Clark knows what he's doing; you're the one who told us that. We need to plan how we're going to move." Gabe handed Lex another cup of coffee, and sat on the sofa, pulling papers out of a file. "This is what I've been able to find about Marysville. There isn't much going on at the plant that we can find through the legal channels, just a few very legal pharmaceutical tests. I don't think we can find any more dirt on it."
Lex groaned; he'd been expecting that. It would have been just a little too easy if a quick search had given them what they needed. Chloe would be instrumental to the plan, but her information would only cover the more--personal aspects of it. He was starting to despair when his phone rang.
"Lex Luthor," he answered quickly, and then blinked. This was some strange coincidence. "Lydia, please calm down. I thought I told you to leave Marysville." He stopped and listened. "In Metropolis? Why did you think that would be a good idea? You didn't--okay." He gave Gabe a tentative smile. "I think we have a use for you. I'll have a friend pick you up at the corner of Kennedy and Third in ten minutes." He hung up, a wolfish smile spreading on his face. Perhaps they had a chance to defeat his father after all. "Lydia is in town."
Gabe nodded and stood. "I'll pick her up."
***
With a thump, Clark landed on the top of the building, and looked around, smiling when he noticed the young woman hiding under a doorway a few feet away, her eyes wide.
"Clark?" Chloe looked at him, blinking and obviously on the verge of tears.
Clark walked to her swiftly and engulfed her into his arms, careful not to crush her back. "Chloe, thank God, you're okay."
"I'm okay? What about you're okay? You're--" Chloe pulled herself apart, holding Clark at arm's length and looking him over. "God, Clark! You're--here, and alive, and--flying."
Clark laughed, hugging her to his chest again. "I'll--I'll explain on the way, but we have to go."
"Whoa!" Chloe exclaimed as Clark lifted her and himself from the ground, quickly picking up speed and flying towards Metropolis. "When Lex said he was sending someone to pick me up, I thought he meant a helicopter!"
Clark chuckled, looking straight ahead. "Lex doesn't do things halfway."
"You're telling me that?" Chloe tightened her arms around Clark. "Did I ever tell you about my fear of heights?"
"Just don't look down."
"You know that only guarantees that I'm going to, right?" Chloe smiled, hiding her face in the crook of Clark's neck. The wind was blowing around them, and Chloe shivered.
"Not if I don't let you turn around."
"Just don't drop me."
"Never."
"So--is this new? The flying thing? Because I always knew you were different, but this is pretty hardcore."
Clark sighed. "You have no idea." He took a deep breath. "I'm not a mutant, Chloe."
Chloe nodded against his shoulder. "I know," she said, her voice muffled. "God, Clark, I know. I didn't want to know, I tried not to know, and now you're--here, and--"
"I'm an alien."
Chloe clutched him tight, not able to say anything to that.
"I'm sor--"
"If you say you're sorry for not telling me sooner, I'm going to kick your little Martian ass--"
"Kryptonian--" Clark interrupted her.
"Kryptonian, whatever--I'm going to kick your little Kryptonian ass as soon as we land. If I ever get the use of my legs back after this. Seriously, Clark, don't. We were kids, and I was playing with fire. It's a good thing I didn't know. Fuck knows what I would have done with the information." She stayed silent for a minute, listening to the sound of Clark's heart beating against her ear. "What happened?" she whispered. "You know, why did you disappear?"
Clark picked up speed again, trying his best to shield Chloe against the wind. "I guess you'd call it 'every alien's worst nightmare'--"
"Oh. Oh God, Clark." Chloe held on more tightly, but didn't say anything else for the rest of the flight home.
***
Gabe was on a coffee run; Martha and Jonathan were on the balcony waiting for signs of Clark and Chloe's arrival; and Lydia was sitting on the sofa, shuffling through the papers they had on the Marysville facility. "I know what you're going to say," she'd said to Lex when she arrived at the penthouse just ten minutes earlier. "Save it; you need me."
Lex hadn't argued with that. He showed her to the couch and gave her the documents Gabe had found.
"You really won't get far with these," she said now, holding up the papers she'd been reading.
Lex looked up at her from his own papers. "What do you mean?"
"It's just a façade."
"Yeah, we figured as much," Lex sneered.
"They're the official reports," she added needlessly. She bent down and picked up her briefcase, the one Lex remembered seeing in her car. "You want the dirt? You need these." She pulled out a stack of files and put them on the table.
Jonathan had walked in while they'd been talking, and he looked at the files dubiously. "What are those?"
Lydia shook her head and avoided Jonathan's gaze. "Before we broke Clark out I snooped into Dr. Guffman's office--he's Luthor's puppet in Marysville, basically his right-hand man," she added for Jonathan's benefit. "And I got these. If you want to know what's really going on there, it's all in here."
Jonathan was eyeing Lydia warily. Lex had tried to explain to him the role Lydia had played in Clark's escape when he and Martha had first gotten there and they'd been waiting for Gabe and Lydia to come back, but Jonathan was hard to convince. "Why should we trust you?"
Lex took a deep breath and was about to speak, but then Lydia answered for herself.
"Mr. Kent, if you don't want to trust me, that's fine. I'm just trying to help, and at this point, I think you need me." She stopped, thinking, and then shook her head. "I have to say this, though, I'm sorry, really sorry for my part in your son's captivity. I admit that I was driven by curiosity at first--" She was obviously waiting for some sort of agreement from Jonathan, but if he did agree, he wasn't giving any sign of it--which Lex himself would have expected, but Lydia didn't know the man as well as Lex now did.
She continued after a minute: "--but not at the expense of his life. He might not be human, and yes, everyone who was working on him knew that, but he's his own person. It took me a while to realize it, and by then I was just completely desperate to keep my job. That's when Lex came into the picture and--I saw a way out." She paused, then took a deep breath. "Mr. Kent, if I can help your son survive that, if I can start to put things right for him, then I will. Because it's not right, no matter where he comes from. It's not right."
Lydia turned back to Lex, her face flushed and her hands trembling slightly as she handed him the first file. "These files are what you've been looking for. Dirt on your father's other experiments. Your father was doing simultaneous research on a biochemical weapon that was made of meteor rocks. He was also conducting a smaller, but deadlier, experiment on a way to duplicate the meteor mutations."
Lydia had a lot more potential than Lex had given her credit for. He should hire her. LexCorp was almost ready to rise from its ashes, and Lex might need someone like Lydia on board. He quickly scanned the first pages of both files. A smile crept on his face, and he was going to say something, when a loud voice coming from the doorway interrupted him.
"Well, well, isn't that a cozy little family picture!"
"Chloe!" Martha hurried to the door, where Gabe, Clark, and Chloe were coming in, and engulfed Chloe in her arms.
"I found them downstairs," Gabe said, putting the coffee tray he had been holding on the dining room table while Clark closed the door behind them all, beaming.
"Lydia," Clark said as he came closer to the sofa, sinking to the floor by Lex's feet.
"Hey, good to see you recovered."
Clark nodded, looking up at Lex. "Why is she here?"
Lex grinned, holding up the files. "She's got ammo."
"Hey! I thought I had the ammo!" Chloe exclaimed indignantly.
Lex turned to look at her, shaking his head at the mock-pout on her face. He really had missed her. "Oh, you have ammo, she has ammo, it's all a big ammo family," he said with a laugh. "It's good to see you, Chloe."
"You too, Lex," she said. She held out her hand to Lydia and introduced herself. "Chloe Sullivan."
"Lydia Coleman. What kind of ammo do you have?"
"Oh, all kinds," Chloe replied with a smirk and a shrug.
"What's the plan?" Clark looked up at Lex, frowning.
"We'll be taking over my father's press conference," Lex replied, pointing at the stack of papers on the table. "We're going to play his game, really. He wants to expose you, so we're going to expose him Chloe has information that'll bring my father down. Lydia has what we need to give LuthorCorp that extra push so the same thing happens to it. That'll make sure my dear father never actually rise again. He's had it coming."
"Neat!" Chloe looked impressed. She came closer to the sofa, fumbling inside her shoulder bag and handing Lex a thick folder. "Everything I had on your father three years ago, and everything else I found since. This, Lex, if it gets out, could be enough to drive him to suicide. Especially if we get his empire to crumble with him. Are you sure that's what you want?"
"He had Clark kidnapped. He experimented on him for three years. He killed his own parents--my grandparents--for money; his whole empire is built on their blood. He's done everything he could to kill you, Chloe. He's--" He shook his head, not really wanting to get into the detail of what Lionel had done to him. "He's never showed the slightest hint of remorse at anything he did," he continued, and grabbed the file from Chloe's hands. "He's the one who put himself into this mess. We're just bringing it to the surface."
"It's karma," Clark whispered, leaning his head against Lex's knee. Lex's hand immediately came to rest on Clark's head, fingers brushing the hair softly.
Chloe looked at them intently, and Lex held her gaze. He knew she was assessing the situation, but finally she shook her head and sat on the floor, leaning against Clark's shoulder. Clark immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her close. "I just want everyone to realize that this might not be as easy as it sounds. I mean--I tried, and look where it got me… I've been running away and hiding from him for three years."
"No, it won't be easy," Gabe admitted, handing Lex his coffee. "But we've got to try."
"We're not backing out," Lex added, looking at everyone in the room in turn. "We have one chance to stop my father from exposing Clark. Tonight. If my father manages to get the word out that there is an alien in Metropolis--that there are mutants around--the media will be all over that news and won't pay attention to anything else we might try to say. Especially if he has photographic evidence, and I'd bet my life that he does."
They all looked around at each other nervously. Lex understood their fear and shared it, but he was becoming more confident by the second. With Lydia and Chloe's information, all of which seemed to have hard evidence to back it up, they might just accomplish this and get out of it without a scratch. However, it might be easy to convince himself of it, but convincing everyone else in the room might be a bit hard to accomplish.
"Oh, wait." Lydia's voice resonated in the room, breaking the silence. "I also got my hands on some of Clark's files!" She dug through her briefcase and pulled out another file.
"Give me that," Jonathan said, reaching for it, but before he could close his hand on it, Clark grabbed it.
Next thing Lex knew, there was a fire in the hearth, and Clark was back to sitting against his leg, eyes focused on the fire and breathing erratically. Lex touched Clark's hair soothingly. "Thank you, Clark."
"Wow."
Lex looked up at that, and found Lydia staring. She was going to say something else, but he shook his head, and she relented.
"Clark--" Jonathan started.
"No, dad," Clark said, body trembling against Lex. "I don't want anyone to--to see that."
"It's okay, Clark," Lex whispered, shooting a warning look at Jonathan, who seemed to get the message. "No one needs to see them. You did good."
Gabe looked just as shaken as Lydia was, but Chloe--who didn't look in the least bit surprised--was shaking his head at him, and said: "Later, Dad."
"I don't think that was all of it," Lex finally said to Lydia, and she shook her head.
"No, I could only grab a few of them that I knew no one would notice were gone--which basically means the less important stuff. Only Dr. Guffman has access to the rest of it."
"We'll have to figure out a way to get those files dealt with." Lex didn't like the sound of that at all. Lionel probably had the files transferred somewhere else by now.
"But those files wouldn't be the only ones," Gabe interjected, coming closer and sitting on a chair. "Lionel would keep copies…"
"I thought of that," Lex said, frowning slightly. "He'll have copies with him at LuthorCorp for the conference. Some hard evidence too, like pictures and videos, if he has them."
Lydia nodded at that, picking up a sheet of paper from her stack. "There were videotaped experiments, hundreds of photos, and reports on our findings in multiple copies-I think I remember Dr. Guffman asking for three copies of every report we'd make."
"One for the doctor, one for Lionel," Martha mused out loud. "What about the third one?"
"Probably a secret stash," Lex said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I don't know. At this point, we need to focus on having the files we know of destroyed and take care of the rest later. If they're kept hidden, no one but my father would know where, and it'd be a waste of our time to try to figure out where he keeps them."
"I agree," Chloe said, pulling her laptop out of her bag and powering it up. "That's something we can coax out of him afterwards."
"Unless," Lex started, sighing. "Unless the files are in someone else's hands and that person has orders to release them if anything happens to my father." He was playing idly with Clark's hair, the movement supposed to be soothing for Clark, but Lex found it was calming for him too.
"I don't think so," Lydia intervened. "From what I've heard, he's started being careless and overly confident over the last year or so, and he's not thinking of all the possibilities. He wouldn't think that far ahead."
"How would you know?"
Lydia shrugged. "I have my sources too. We need to destroy all the files Lionel has with him, first," she added, changing the subject quickly. Lex frowned, but decided not to say anything about it. Yet.
Clark looked up. "I can take care of that."
"You're not going anywhere near the press conference," Jonathan said vehemently, moving away from the wall, but Martha stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"He has to do his part," she said softly.
"He already has, Martha."
"No." Clark looked at his father defiantly. "I can have all the files gone within minutes, and nobody would notice. You guys wouldn't be fast enough."
"Lionel will only have copies with him," Gabe interrupted them. "Even if Clark or anyone else can get to those files, they won't be the originals. He'll keep those in his office," he added, looking at Lex.
That was something Lex hadn't thought about. "Well, that's something else we have to figure out."
"I think I can help," Lydia announced, pulling her cell phone from her pocket.
Well, there we go, Lex thought. "How? You know someone who works for my dad?" he asked, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer already. It was the only way she could have insight into Lionel's state of mind.
She grinned at him, and put her phone to her ear. "Exactly."
"Who?"
"Dominic Senatori." Lydia pulled the phone away, obviously figuring out that she'd need a few more minutes to convince Lex.
Lex tried not to look surprised. He shouldn't be, since he'd known, well, forever that Dominic's loyalties could change easily--if it was in his best interest--but still, that he would 'befriend' someone like Lydia… that was surprising.
"I mean, I wouldn't blame you for not trusting him, but I can tell you, he's not liking this situation any better than you are. Although, he has his own reasons for it."
"This is good news, Lex," Gabe intervened, standing up and starting to pace the length of the room. "I know Dominic, and if he isn't happy with your father, he'll turn against him in a heartbeat."
"For the highest bidder, you mean," Lex added bitterly. Gabe was right, though; the promise of a job once all was said and done, and possibly a pay raise, and Dominic would be eating in Lex's pocket.
"He's already more loyal to Lex than Mr. Luthor," Lydia said, surprising Lex.
"I always figured Dominic hated me."
"He doesn't, not really," Lydia replied, uncertainly. "I can't really explain it, because I'm not him, but... there's stuff he told me that you'd want to know."
Jonathan huffed, and Lex saw him grab Gabe's arm and pull him down to the chair. "You're making us dizzy, Gabe, just calm down." Then he turned to Lex. "I'm not liking this, Lex. I wouldn't trust anyone who works for your father."
Lex nodded, but looked at Lydia instead of Jonathan. "I'll need to speak to him before you mention anything about this."
She agreed easily. "I don't know if that'll make a difference, but he told me that--he had me hired because he knew I wouldn't like what they were doing and… well, he was pretty sure you'd figure it out sooner or later, and you'd need someone there to help you out."
Lex blinked at that and frowned. "I wouldn't have guessed he had the balls, to be honest."
"He probably wouldn't have even thought about that if your father hadn't been getting weak. He's getting careless, and Dominic seized the opportunity, I guess." She shrugged.
"How did you meet him?" Lex asked, still frowning. His fingers were threading through Clark's hair, softly.
"He came to Marysville for your father almost a year ago when I was still doing regular drug research. I mean, we all knew there were parts of the facility where we weren't allowed in, some top-secret stuff that no one ever talked about, but there really is just normal drug research going on there. Anyway, I ended up showing Dominic around, and then we stumbled on one another at a local restaurant. He got me the top-secret job.
"Well, then," Gabe interrupted them, obviously tired of listening to them. A quick look around the living room showed that Martha was curled up against Jonathan's side, and Chloe was still standing against the wall. "Call Dominic, Lex. Make sure he's loyal to us before you tell him anything else."
"We should have him meet us here, I guess," Lex thought out loud, not confident that this was the best idea, but at least they could make sure Dominic was on their side.
"No." Jonathan shook his head, finally sitting on a chair. "He's not trustworthy, so he shouldn't see Clark. Lex and I, or Gabe, can meet him somewhere, but not here."
Martha pulled another chair closer to her husband and sat. "I agree. And he can't see what we have against Lionel."
Lex nodded. "All right. Call him, Lydia, then give me the phone. I'll speak to him."
She agreed, standing and moving away from them as she dialled.
Gabe sat in her place, looking down at Chloe and smiling. "We have five hours left before the press conference. We need to put all of this together." He nodded to the three files.
Chloe nodded, smiling up at her dad. "Already started." She turned to Clark and touched his arm. "You want to help?" she asked when he looked at her.
"Sure." He leaned over and started to read over her shoulder, hands reaching for a file on the coffee table. "What do you need me to do?"
"Just look over the data I have, see if there's anything else to add-"
While they were talking, Lex picked up the file Chloe had brought. She probably had a presentation with all the information ready and wouldn't need the file, and he needed to see what it was all about. Opening it, he started reading. "Chloe?"
She looked up at him. "I told you. It's everything."
"But this--they're my medical records."
"The originals yes. Before your father tampered with them." She looked at him innocently. "I told you I had all the dirt, Lex. These would have sent you to a regular hospital for detox, not Belle Reve."
Martha and Jonathan exchanged a look, just as Clark knelt before Lex and pulled him in for a quick, soft kiss, not caring about everybody's eyes on them. "I told you."
Lex nodded, his hands shaking. "Yes, you did." He leaned his forehead against Clark's.
Gabe cleared his throat. "I don't want to interrupt this sweet little moment, kids, but Senatori's on the phone."
Lex looked up, blushing, to find Lydia standing just a few feet away with the phone in her hand. Lex picked it up. "Dominic? How do you feel about a change of loyalties?"
***