Road to Rediscovery
Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.
Lex was just putting the finishing touches on the public statement he would be making the next day when his secretary buzzed him to let him know that his 12 o'clock was there.
He was smiling politely when the man came in and Lex got his first good look at Mr. Clark Kent. Well, his first in-person look, that was. His people had naturally taken plenty of pictures and had put together a file on him.
Clark Kent had been adopted when he was three but nothing was known of his life before then. Given that Clark would have been too young to speak coherently enough to answer questions about his background, perhaps that wasn't surprising. Clark had spent his childhood in the little town of Smallville which wasn't all that far from Metropolis.
His mother was Martha Clark of the Metropolis Clarks but had inexplicably given all of that up to marry a parochial farmer by the name of Jonathan Kent. The couple had no biological children and no other adopted children. Jonathan had died of a heart attack in 2006 on the very night that he won the position of state senator so his wife took the job and was so successful – and connected – that she was later appointed as a US Senator, a position she still held.
Clark had attended less than a year of college at Met U yet had still been employed at the Daily Planet with his girlfriend Lois Lane for several years. While there, the pair had received considerable attention for their exclusive interviews with Superman and Lois had been the first reporter to report on his existence.
Lex wasn't sure that he trusted this mysterious and seemingly omnipotent alien who claimed he wanted nothing more than to spend his days fighting crime but he had decided to take a wait and see approach until the day when either Superman proved to be an alien menace to be dealt with or he had gotten his life together a little more fully and had the time to worry about it.
None of this, however, was why he had asked to meet with Clark.
It had been several months now since he had lost his memory and this was just not acceptable. His scientists had as of yet been unable to reverse the damage but that didn't mean that he couldn't find out as much about his own life as he could.
Clark Kent and his family seemed to pop up an awful lot. There was an article about an accident that he and Clark had been in in Smallville and records showed that he had lived there for seven years. Martha had been working for his father for a few months when the man had been blind and had been rumored to date him after her husband's death. Jonathan had been running against Lex for senator and had actually beaten him. Clark was the best man in his first wedding and there were photos of Clark's parents, though not of Clark himself, at his second one.
"Mr. Kent, please have a seat," Lex invited, gesturing imperiously towards the chair across the desk from him.
Clark did so, looking rather apprehensive. No doubt he had no idea what Lex wanted. Whatever their past might have been, Clark had made no effort to contact him since the memory loss so there was evidently no present relationship.
But then, Clark looked rather uncomfortable in his own skin so it was difficult to tell how much of it was the meeting. He appeared to be a handsome man (the words 'Greek god' came to mind) though it was as if he was doing everything he could to disguise this with tacky glasses, a cheap ill-fitting suit, and terrible posture.
"Mr. Luthor," Clark said, extending a hand to shake. It felt a little unnatural to be addressed that way by Clark despite the fact that that was how most people addressed him. It felt almost as unnatural as it did to address Clark as 'Mr. Kent.' A remnant from the past, perhaps. "I was told that you would grant Lois and I an exclusive interview if I agreed to meet with you but I must confess that I don't know what this is all about."
"Of course," Lex said smoothly. "My apologies, Mr. Kent. You are aware, I trust, that I suffered extensive memory loss just a few months ago?"
Clark nodded. There was a flash of emotion in his eye though Lex couldn't tell if it was guilt or relief or a mixture of both. Interesting.
"You seem to be doing very well, though. It's not every man that can get himself declared alive after being legally dead and take back control of his former company so quickly," Clark noted.
"And making a profit, as well," Lex said, smiling pleasantly. "You're right, of course, and though I can't be sure I do get the feeling that I've never been just any man."
"No, that is true," Clark agreed distantly.
"And surprisingly, the memory loss may yet prove to be a blessing," Lex said thoughtfully. "I would be facing a lot of awkward questions about why I'm not dead and the death of the former LuthorCorp board if I weren't."
"I can imagine," Clark said sympathetically. "I don't really know much about any of that, though."
"Really?" Lex raised an eyebrow. "I understood that your close friend Chloe Sullivan is married to Oliver Queen, CEO of the company that was attempting to merge with LuthorCorp on the day of the tragedy."
"Oliver and I are friends, yes," Clark admitted. "But we don't talk about his business. I find all that stuff to be a little boring, to be honest, and I'm a journalist besides. Plus, you know, I wasn't there. Maybe you should ask Oliver about it."
"I might," Lex replied. He decided to change the subject. "Of course, it won't be LuthorCorp for very much longer."
Clark frowned. "What do you mean?"
"LuthorCorp was a corporation founded by my father and run by myself and by a Tess Mercer for a time but I remember none of it. LuthorCorp is the past and so I've decided to bring LexCorp into the future."
That got a reaction.
"LexCorp?" Clark asked carefully.
Lex nodded. "Indeed. It may seem a little…gauche to name the company after myself but I already share a name with the company."
"Oh, it's not that," Clark hastened to say. "It's just that…this isn't the first time I've heard of LexCorp."
"Oh?" Lex asked, intrigued.
"It must have been at least a decade ago," Clark told him. "Your father had sent you to Smallville to gain experience in business. You did better than he thought you would and he offered to let you come back to Metropolis. You declined and-"
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Lex cut in. "But do you know why I declined? That seems like a good offer."
Clark shrugged. "You said something about wanting to build your own power base and find your way away from your father and his influence." Clark actually smiled. "You compared yourself to Alexander the Great."
Lex had heard of Alexander the Great, of course, but didn't know a great deal about him. But now he had a link to his past that was more than just a list of facts; this was an actual interest of his. He had no idea if he would still find the subject as fascinating as he had before but he still made a mental note to look into it later.
"Your father accepted your decision at the time but a few weeks later he came to inspect the factor and, even though productivity and profit were up, your father fired everyone and shut down the factory to destroy your credibility and force you to return to Metropolis."
Clark seemed to be waiting for him to say something. Was he expected to be angry at this injustice? He just couldn't work up any ire. He barely knew his father's name, let alone had any personal feelings about him. He didn't even feel particularly connected to his own past self.
"You're well informed," Lex said instead.
Clark shrugged again. "The LuthorCorp factory employed half the town. It if closed down then the town would die."
"Where does LexCorp come in?" Lex inquired.
Clark looked almost proud. "You weren't just going to stand back and let your father destroy Smallville on a whim. You took the inheritance from your mother and organized an employee buyout. You eventually worked things out with your father but that was LexCorp. As far as names for your company goes, I think you could do worse."
An altruistic move designed to save a small town heedless of risk or cost? That didn't sound like him. That didn't sound like him at all.
"We knew each other back then." It wasn't a question.
"How did you know that? You said you didn't remember anything." It was almost an accusation.
"That car crash made headlines and I've done my research," Lex explained.
Now Clark looked outright worried. Was he hiding something? And if he was, was it a secret worth knowing?
"Could you tell me about that?" Lex requested. "I found the article to be a little…lacking."
Clark nodded. "Oh, of course. I was standing on a bridge and then you lost control of your car and almost hit me. I had to jump in after you and pull you out. You needed CPR."
"You saved my life."
Clark looked a little embarrassed. "I guess so."
He seemed anxious, almost like he was waiting for something. Dreading it, perhaps.
"So I was driving like a maniac, then," Lex concluded.
That earned a startled laugh from Clark. "A maniac in a Porsche. That was how you signed the thank-you card," he explained.
"At least I had good manners, then, after nearly killing you," Lex said dryly.
"More than good manners," Clark assured him. "You bought me a truck."
Lex frowned. "Indeed? How close was I to hitting you?"
"Oh, not very," Clark said carelessly. "I saw you coming and had enough time to get out of the way even though you couldn't stop the car."
"Do you know what caused the accident? Or was it just my abysmal driving?" Lex asked.
Clark seemed almost disappointed at that. "Apparently some wire fell off the back of a truck and you ran over it."
"Was that when we first met?" Lex asked.
Clark nodded. "We became friends after that. It's a little unlikely, I know, because of our age difference and the fact we really didn't have that much in common but since most of the town either hated your father or worked for you I guess there weren't a lot of options."
"The farm boy and the billionaire," Lex mused. "Yes, I bet that raised some eyebrows."
"The farm boy and the billionaire's son," Clark corrected automatically.
Lex titled his head.
"That's what you called it," Clark clarified. "And you really have no idea."
"I know that you were my best man during my first wedding. That marriage didn't last long," Lex remarked.
Clark looked like he'd tasted something sour. "Yes. Desirée Atkins. All I know is that you went on a business trip and came back with a fiancé. She wanted to kill you and inherit your money and when that all came out she went to jail and you two ended things."
"How very unfortunate," Lex replied. "Still, that could have ended worse. We must have been close if you were the best man."
"You didn't give yourself a lot of time when planning the wedding to ask anyone else," Clark said, grinning ruefully. "But you're right; we were close friends. Best friends, even."
"And yet you weren't at my second wedding less than a year later even though your parents were," Lex said casually.
Clark winced. "No, I wasn't. I was supposed to be the best man but something came up and…I ran away from home for a few months after that. It just wasn't a good time. I'm sorry."
"I'm not offended," Lex promised. "That marriage lasted a little longer than the first one."
"Only because you were missing all summer after she tried to kill you," Clark said, practically growling. "I did go to your funeral, you know. We all thought you were dead when your plane went down."
"I don't seem to have much luck with wives, do I?" Lex said absently.
"You might have better luck if you dated them for longer than the time it takes to find a ring before popping the question," Clark said tightly. He shook his head. "Sorry, it's just…"
"I quite understand," Lex assured him. "Two wives trying to kill you so close to each other and you've got to start asking yourself if you're doing something wrong. A failure to properly screen your girlfriends is more comforting than there just being something about you that makes people want to kill you."
Clark looked like he was considering saying something but held his tongue. Lex knew from the police reports he'd looked through that there had been a lot more attempts on his life in Smallville than just those two.
"What happened to Dr. Bryce?" Lex inquired. "And do you know why she wanted me dead?"
"No one knows," Clark answered. "I think that if she's still alive that she has the sense to stay below the radar. And I think you said something about how she was paid by someone who wanted to get to your father to kill you."
"Popular man, my father," Lex said wryly.
"Tell me about it," Clark agreed.
"There were other people who tried to kill me back in Smallville," Lex remarked. "You saved me a few times from what I can gather."
Clark shrugged. "You and another friend of mine always seemed to attract the psychos. I'm not sure what it was about her but with you it was mostly your father, I think. Fortunately, I had another friend who was really good with research and I can hold my own in a fight so I could help out a few times."
Lex wasn't quite sure what to say to that. "That must have been some truck," he finally settled on.
Clark looked surprised. "Oh, I didn't keep it."
"Why not?" Lex asked, honestly curious. "You should have gotten something from all those heroic deeds."
"My dad didn't believe that you should get rewards for basic human decency," Clark said awkwardly. "And anyway, we weren't friends because of your money. I think that if I'd taken the truck you never would have believed that."
Lex pounced on that. "What did happen to our friendship, Clark? I take it that it's a thing of the past?"
Clark hesitated. "It is, yes. I'm sorry that it had to end the way it did but, looking back, it seems almost inevitable and I'm surprised we lasted for as long as we did."
"I'm afraid you'll have to tell me that story," Lex prompted.
"There was this girl, Lana Lang," Clark said slowly. "She had lived next door to me for as long as I can remember and I'd been in love with her for years. We dated a few times but somehow, no matter how we felt about each other, we could never make it work. Well, a few months after we graduated high school we had a really bad break-up. I honestly thought that we'd never get past it. We actually did date again two more times after that but it took us a long time before we could even be friends again."
"I see," Lex said, trying to sound sympathetic. He didn't have much natural sympathy for people who refused to read the writing on the wall.
"After that really bad break-up, you two started spending more time together and eventually started to go out," Clark said, looking pained. "Eventually, you two got married. Lana had a miscarriage, though, and things between you two fell apart so she left. The two of us never quite got past Lana."
"It seems so absurd to let a girl come between friends," Lex said idly. He knew that Clark wasn't telling him the whole story or else he wouldn't have spent time in prison for Lana's murder when she ended up being very much alive but he knew that miscarriages could lead to what could be called a 'messy break-up.' "Why would I date her if I knew how much you loved her if we were still friends?"
Clark shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. We never sat down to rationally discuss it. Things were a little rocky between us at the time anyway because my father, who was never really a fan of yours, was running against you for state senator. Pretty much everyone in our group, including me, sided with my father so I guess you were feeling a little abandoned and Lana was still there so…"
Lex took a deep breath. "Well, for what it's worth, I'm sorry, Clark."
Clark drew back, looking as though that were the last thing he had ever expected to hear. "I…thank you Le-Mr. Luthor. It means a lot."
It would seem Clark wasn't comfortable calling him 'Mr. Luthor' either.
"So that's the end of the story?" Lex inquired, just to be sure.
"Just about," Clark confirmed. "You were still around for a year or so before disappearing and then a few months later was the LuthorCorp board incident that we thought killed you. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help but that's really all I know."
"Oh, don't worry about it," Lex said, waving a hand. "You've given me plenty of help. If we weren't friends anymore than I really can't expect you to know what happened to me."
"I really wish that I could help," Clark said again.
Lex stood and walked over to the door to let Clark out. "You can schedule that interview with my secretary on your way out."
Clark looked at him for a long moment and Lex got the impression that he wanted to say something but didn't know if he should.
"I'm so sorry about what happened to you," he said finally.
Lex nodded and politely thanked him and then Clark was gone and Lex had one more piece of the puzzle.
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