Destiny Back On Course

Disclaimer: They're obviously not mine, but I like to tinker with them.

Chapter 1

To say that everything was shot to hell in Smallville was an understatement but that had never seemed to bother the locals. Well, Clark Kent was by no means a local and he was about to lose his mind. Everything had come to a race for survival: he was busy hiding his secrets from the surviving members of his senior class (strange occurrences were harder to hide in a group of only 15 people who knew pretty much everything about each other's movements), his friendship to Lex had ended irrevocably two months ago with his engagement to Lana and an ultimatum for his secrets, Lionel Luthor was tearing Smallville apart in an attempt to crush LexCorp and someone definitely had way too much info on the caves.

He longed for the times when he would count on his friend's genius mind to navigate him through his dilemma but said friend was now too bitter from too many lies, damaged both physically and mentally from his battle with his father and had finally left when he plain refused to give up his secrets, shutting himself and Lana inside the castle. Clark suspected that the Lana thing was supposed to wound him mortally but she had never held much appeal without the weight of her necklace or the guilt of her orphaned state on Clark. Besides mourning the loss of friendship, Clark was now convinced that someone was in possession of his secrets since Jor-El's voice in the caves had died saying that the Runes of Heritage were about to be reunited.

"Clark, honey, you'd better stop daydreaming and get going if you don't want your father to start pulling the fence by himself!"

"Sorry Mum, I'm going."

"Mr. Howard, we've had an agreement and I expect you to fulfill your part as I have mine."

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"Surely, Mr. Luthor you of all men can understand the trouble I had to go to and, considering the uniqueness of the artifact, you can see that I could have very well made this an open bid and gotten a much better price for it."

"The only other person interested in this rock is my father and since lately all my collaborators have either experienced various unfortunate events or have simply disappeared I doubt that you have enough friends willing to look for you if Lionel Luthor were to decide that he'd rather have this for free. Not that they would ever find anything, of course. Now take your money and leave before I have to have you removed. "

Venomous looks had long ago ceased to bother Lex and the jerky departure of the pudgy little man had no power to deflect his attention from the stone he finally had in his possession.

Years of struggle and sacrifice and he finally was about to have it all: LuthorCorp was practically his, the only thing prolonging the wait being Lionel's inability to concede defeat and sign it over to avoid its total destruction. And now, he had in his hands the key to the most rewarding treasure of all, Clark's secrets, and he was about to tear them from him even if it was rubbing him raw inside. These victories were all he had left and he was alone in celebrating them; this final battle had cost him all his human ties, even Lana - the ultimate weapon he had held to Clark's throat - eventually preferring to warm his father's bed instead of his. But now he had this.

"Will you be dinning in the main hall, sir, or shall I set everything here?"

"No, thank you, Constance, I won't be dining tonight, I have more pressing business. Fell free to take the rest of the evening off."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I must insist. You need to take better care of yourself."

Lex chuckled.

"I'm sure that wouldn't stop you from coddling me and I know better than to rob you of your main distraction. If it makes you feel better, we can have a little celebratory snack later on to mark my latest victory. Now leave me alone."

"Very well, but I will return."

"I'm sure you will. I won't be taking any calls either."

Attention back on the precious thing in his hands, Lex opened the vault and closed it behind him, although privacy was not an issue these days. His father's machinations had managed to drive even the servants away, Constance the sole remaining one. He found he rather enjoyed the situation, especially as she shared his hatred for the man.

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Constance had been in charge of Lionel's apartment in Metropolis for two years until one night when he decided to entertain a business associate at home. Lex was late as he usually was just to piss Lionel off, even if that time Victoria was to blame as she found it amusing to molest him in the limo, while circling the exclusive residential area. The wait had proven too much for Hutchinson who had sought his entertainment under Constance's skirt. Her violent reaction made him break the business deal and storm off. An enraged Lionel was a man who no longer cared for hiding his true nature and he started to demonstrate to her how she should have submitted to such a client. Lex and Victoria, hearing her screams from the elevator, had arrived just as she was hit unconscious with a small statue and Lionel was poised above her half naked body with a manic glee in his eyes. The ensuing fist fight had done more for Lex's psyche than a year of therapy and a battered Lionel was forced to back down after having offered such juicy blackmail material to the Hardwicks.

Lex had personally supervised Constance's recovery at the castle and offered her the position of cook three days after, when Lionel came with the deed to a house in Miami in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement. She had spit in his face and would have probably left him with quite a few bald patches if Lex hadn't reluctantly intervened, worried that even the threat of the Hardwicks would no longer keep his father from arranging her disappearance.

Constance became the only constant in his life for the past year and a half, turning into a silent shadow who somehow saw everything that she wasn't supposed to see, entered rooms at the precise moments when he needed an excuse and arranged for all the various cracks, fist shaped holes in walls and hand imprints in solid steel to be fixed without question while she gushed about how wonderful that young Clark was and how difficult it must be for him to balance all the strangeness of Smallville with the "particularities" of being Lex's friend. If it wasn't for the nervous eye tick Lionel got every time she walked into the room (and it was only when he showed up the she always had to get urgent detailed instructions on what cutlery patterns she must order or what exact diameter and angle of curvature the dessert dishes must have) he would have assigned her long ago to his penthouse in Tokyo if only to stop her incessant mother henning.

TBC