Hello everybody! This is my very first Smallville fanfic so I'm very excited to be posting it and to hopefully get tons of feedback! (hinthintreviews) I have been in love with the show since the eighth grade and I have just recently graduated so we've been together a long time. I must admit that I dropped out for a little while when the WB moved Smallville to Wednesday nights and I only got chopped up peices of episodes when my recorder decided to work (No DVDR I'm poor lol). My story mainly focuses on the Luthors and their family dynamic, but never fear there will be Clark Kent and all our other favorite characters.If you find anything not accurate it is probably because I had to use some authors perspective to make my story work so just go with it if you don't mind. Without Further ado! (P.S. I don't own Smallville nor am I making any money off this fic)

Chapter 1: A Snapshot of the Early Years

Lionel Luthor buried his throbbing head in his hands as he nursed his fourth glass of scotch for the night. He had never looked or felt more awful in his life. He had secluded his family in The Mansion far away from the prying eyes of the world who were just waiting to see the business tycoon crack with the pain of it all. The Mansion was a huge daunting house with a pension for echoing. He couldn't sleep, he barely ate, and all he could hear at every moment of every day was that baby's damnable shouts.

"Mrs. Jenkins shut that thing up!" Lionel roared before wincing at the gravely sound of his own voice. His daughter was one week old today. That meant Lillian had been dead for that long. God, Lillian! With Julian's devastating death Lillian's illness had only grown worse and when they found out that by some miracle or curse she was pregnant again Lionel was sure the baby would never make it to term.

When the disease finally ravished her earthly body the doctors had been just in time to pull the baby prematurely from her womb. Lucinda Lillian Luthor was a mite small, but she was a fighter and went home with her father the day of her mother's funeral. Surging to his feet Lionel charged up the stairs as fast as his sloshy body would allow. What did he pay that damn nanny for? He slung open the door to the nursery with such force that had it been anything less than solid oak he would have made a hole in the wall.

"MRS. JENKINS!" Instead of the slightly middle aged plain woman that he expected to be rocking his inconsolable infant he found his seven year old son. Lex stared at his father wide eyed his own face stained with tears.

"I-I'm sorry dad. I tried to get Lucy to be quiet, but she won't. She-she's not wet or-or hungry or s-sleepy." It took Lionel a minute to realize what he was seeing. Lex clung tighter to the wailing squirming bundle not sure how his father would react. With a voice as calm and coaxing as he could muster Lionel held out his arms for his daughter, horrified memories of what he believed had happened to Julian flashing through his mind.

"Lex hand me your sister. Give her to me." The little boy let out a long sniff transferring the baby to her father's arms with reluctance. Lucy's screams instantly silenced into shaky hiccups. "Where's Mrs. Jenkins?" Lex wiped his runny nose on the sleeve of his wrinkled shirt trembling slightly.

"She's not here."

"Where is she?" He asked trying to clear his head long enough to understand what was going on. He wished he had refrained from any alcohol this evening.

"Gone." Lex had never been particularly loquacious, but his monosyllable answers were pushing it.

"How long has she been gone Alexander?" He forced himself to keep from snapping though he did use his son's full name to help him focus. It didn't look like either of his children could handle being spoken to harshly.

"Three days. She left a note. S-She's not coming back." At those words Lucy began to whimper again. "Don't hurt her dad," Lex begged sure that her pitiful noises would enrage his drunk father. Lionel looked shocked that his son believed he would physically harm his infant daughter.

"Lex I would never hurt your sister." Large fat tears rolled down Lex's cheeks and Lionel resisted the urge to admonish him for being weak. Concessions could be made for the loss of a parent. "Have you been taking care of Lucy for three whole days?" Lex nodded. The baby looked perfectly fine besides her hiccups. He supposed his fear was unfounded, Lex seemed very protective of his sister. It seemed like he was itching to get Lucy away from him. "Why didn't you tell me Mrs. Jenkins had left?"

"I didn't want you to send Lucy away. She's not too much trouble dad. I'll keep her out of the way. I know she's not a boy-but!" Lex was getting hysterical and Lionel was forced to raise his voice to get his attention.

"Alexander! Look at me! Look at me!" The boy snapped his mouth closed at his father's harsh tone, "We are Luthors. She is a Luthor. I would never send her away."

"I'm sorry father," Lex apologized quickly gaining control of his emotions. Lionel would only put up with so much for so long especially with alcohol swimming through his system.

"Apology excepted son. I don't know where you get these things." He shook his head looking back down in the face of his tiny daughter. He ran rough fingers over the smooth skin of Lucy's face and was surprised when she gripped his finger tightly in her strong little fist. "Go to bed Lex, I'll take care of Lucy until we can find a new nanny." Lex didn't waste any time obeying his father's direct command.

Lionel sat down in the ornate rocking chair beside the cherry wood sleigh crib and cradled his daughter closely. This had always been Lillian's job so he was flying blind. He sighed as Lucy's green eyes disappeared behind dark lashes and succumbed to sleep. Apparently screaming at the top of her lungs had tuckered the little thing out. Tomorrow, Lionel decided, tomorrow he would put the pieces of the Luthor family back together. It was time for both him and Lex to stop grieving and move on with their lives. They were Luthors after all. This weakness was unacceptable.

"Daddy!" Lucy squealed racing through the large townhouse, her short five year old legs carrying her as fast as they were able. Her brother barreled through the room just feet behind her, his lanky growing form slowing him down considerably. "Daddy! HELP!!"

"Wait Lucy don't!" Lex called after the young girl frantically as Lucy flung open the huge double doors to her father's office without a thought. She dismissed everyone else in the crowded board room as she tackled Lionel's legs. The Luthor patriarch had been coaxing a rather reluctant business owner into selling out to Luthorcorp. He grunted slightly as he was hammered with 43 pounds of squealing little girl.

"Save me!" She giggled practically crawling up his legs and into his arms, "Save me from Prince Alexander daddy. He wants to lock me in his dungeon and tickle me until I tell my secrets." She smiled fetchingly at him, but Lionel was not impressed. His young daughter looked shocked when his arms which she had forced her way into ceased to support her as she fell hard on her bottom. Her lower lip made an appearance and began to tremble, but she sucked it in at her father's stern, slightly scary look. Before Lucy had and time to react to being rebuffed by her father Lex was there sweeping her safely into his own arms.

"My apologies for the disturbance gentlemen, father," Lex bowed his head slightly and backed out of the room, his sister held tightly to his chest. He wasted no time whisking her to the safety of the nursery wing of the Townhouse.

"Put me down Lex!" she demanded her small voice laced with hurt and confusion. Not once in her short life had her father dismissed her so harshly. It was really odd to Lex how Lionel doted on his daughter. And while he thrust his son almost ruthlessly into the business world that was his heritage he did his best to keep Lucy as far away from it as possible.

"How about I read you a story?" Lex offered generously. Wednesdays were the nanny's day off and most the time Lex hung around trying to keep his energetic little sister out of trouble. He didn't get to see her much anyways due to the boarding school that he attended nearly all year round. His three months of summer where mostly spent with Lucy, whom he was fiercely protective of. Her uncertainty from before was put out of her mind as she nodded eagerly.

"Will you do the voices?" Lex scrunched his nose up and began to refuse her, "Please Lex! The voices are the best part! If you're not going to do the voices I might as well read to myself." He consented reluctantly.

"Okay Luce, but if you tell anyone I'll never do them again."

"I swear," she promised solemnly tracing an 'x' over her heart with her finger. Lex struggled to keep a straight face.

It did not take long for Lionel to finish up his business conference with exactly the results that he had gone in to procure. A signature graced the bottom of a contract despite the interruption from his excited daughter. Up until now, Lionel decided, he had been much to soft with his daughter. In memory of his wife that she so resembled he supposed. While Lucy's hair had his dark brown coloring it was as curly and rambunctious as Lillian's had ever been. And when Lionel looked into his daughters daunting green eyes he could almost swear he was seeing his wife's soul. Lionel shook the thought away, what a purely irrational train of thought.

With sure swift strides Lionel's long legs ate up the distance to the nursery. He was sure after what had occurred Lex would have secured his sister away in her proper place. That would be changing also. She was too old to be sleeping in a nursery, it was time Lucy had a proper room and a proper tutor. That girl was smart as a whip and had been reading on her own for about a year and a half now, Lionel was sure under the tutelage of a master she would blossom. She might not be heading up the company, but she was a Luthor and Lionel was not about to raise some uneducated wild whore of a girl. She needed to be dealt with a firm hand to keep her in line and to keep her from embarrassing the family.

He found his children as he expected in the nursery which was crammed full of every type of toy imaginable. His twelve year old son stood in front of an enraptured audience a piece of juvenile fiction clutched in his hands as his voice dipped sinisterly. Lionel stood unobserved for several minutes as his heir ran through a number of characters, each one's timber of voice reaching new heights. The five year old sat completely engrossed her hands clapping in delight. It was during one of Lex's more passionate scenes that he noticed the addition to his audience reclining in the door way.

"Father!" Lex exclaimed dropping the book in surprise. Lucy also twirled around her face shining.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed and she would have hugged him in greeting had it not been for the sternly controlled expression on his face. She seemed to physically wilt under his gaze her head hanging low.

"Lex if you would excuse us I have something I need to discuss privately with your sister."

"She's just a little girl," Lex protested sure that whatever Lionel needed was not going to sit well with Lucy.

"Don't be jealous Alexander, you and I will be having a spirited discussion as well." The look Lex's father sent him made his stomach turn to rocks. Lex exited the room reluctantly though he did not stray far from the door. It was thick; however, and nothing of consequence could permeate the barrier. Lionel was in the room for a total of three minutes and forty-two seconds (Lex had left his watch on the side table and was forced to count) before exiting and leaving in his wake a sobbing wreak of a five year old. Lex was surprised that Lionel allowed her the luxury of tears. He instantly made to go to his distraught sister, but was forcefully stopped by his father's bellowing voice.

"I leave you in charge of your sister for one afternoon and she ruins an important business meeting!" Lex winced though he didn't waver. He had born worse storms of his father's before, "If you can't handle a five year old child how can I expect you to run an entire company! You are weak Lex and simpering around your sister is only making you more so. I have half a mind not to allow you any where near her if this is to be the result!" Lex visibly pale at the words. He had no doubt in his mind that Lionel would do as he pleased. Before he could respond to his father's shouted words Lucy came racing out of the nursery her tear streaked face blotching with angry red.

"No!" She shouted kicking Lionel's shin with her bare foot. Her tears had effectively stopped and Lex suddenly realized that was the whole point of Lionel's little game, "Leave him alone! If you take Lex away I'll-I'll...!"

"What will you do Lucinda?" Lionel asked harshly grasping her thin arms as he bent down to her level. "Tell me how you would make me pay!" He prompted her. He small cherubic face was growing more and more pinched as her anger and desperation mounted.

"I'll hurt you daddy," she hissed fiercely trembling with rage, "I'll hurt you just as bad!" She was shouting now too. "I won't let you take Lex away!" Lionel let his mask slip as he let out a boisterous bark of laughter which only made Lucy angrier and a bit confused.

"That," he pointed at Lucy triumphantly as if to prove a point to his son, "is a Luthor." She was still breathing heavily and she had no idea what had caused her father's sudden shift of moods. He thrust a handkerchief into the small girl's hands, "No tears, not anymore Lucinda. Tears make you weak and no one takes threats seriously from one who weeps. Luthors are always strong. Do you understand?" Lucy shook her head completely flabbergasted.

"Did I do something right?" she asked in a small meek voice glancing in her brother's direction not sure how she was supposed to respond to that statement. He nodded and was surprised that instead of smiling as he expected she frowned harder.

"Then you won't send Lex away?" She troubled her bottom lip, her voice suspicious and untrusting.

"As long as you behave yourself." Lionel walked away with a satisfied nod as quickly as he had come and Lucy wasted no time scampering to her brother's side. He put an arm around her shoulders ruffling her curls affectionately.

"I love you Lucy," he offered with meaningful look. It wasn't often he said those words. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"I couldn't let daddy send you away," she whispered leaning into her big brother. Lex sighed, we'll Lionel could have done worse he thought. He offered her a grim smile in return.

"Come on kid I'll finish the book." She sniffed once more before allowing her brother to lead her back towards the nursery. "With all the voices," he added before she could ask.

"Dad won't be mad?"

"Dad won't know," Lex was satisfied to hear her small giggle.

Tada! There you have it my introduction chapter. Review if you liked, review if you didn't like. I want to hear it all! The next chapter which should be up in a week or so will show Lucy older and the actual story should progress from there. Thanks for reading!