TITLE: Scion
RATING: R
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing (dammit)
SPOILERS: Progeny, S6, then AU
SUMMARY: Lana discovers the secret about the baby she lost.
PAIRINGS: Lex & Lana of course!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I started writing this during the hiatus between Combat and Progeny based on the spoilers that we had at the time. I just thought the un!baby thing was stupid and decided to rewrite it. Haha. Scion was originally written as a short serial to be posted in segments at DTS. doesn't post my stories correctly most of the time, so if it seems like there should be some kind of break between paragraphs, there most likely originally was. My apologies for that and I hope you enjoy the fic.
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Lex was lying, that much was clear, but something about the way he flinched when she mentioned the baby made her think that there was more to it. When she'd been told by the doctor at Smallville General that it looked as if she had never been pregnant, Lana had been filled with fury. How dare he lie to her like that! Make her believe that she was carrying his child, and then make her believe that it had died. That she had been a failure!
She couldn't even look at him in the days following that revelation, but she didn't confront him about it. She kept her mouth shut for fear of making things worse than they already were. And in her silence she thought of all the different ways she could make him pay. She couldn't leave obviously, and she was already as distant as the North Pole, so instead she plotted murder.
It had to look like an accident of course, and the scenarios ran through her head. Falling down the stairs? A classic move to be sure, but also a little over done. Still, she was going to file that under maybe. Poison had already been covered, as well as hiring a boytoy to do the dirty work, and it would be a little repetitive to get him on a plane and send his ass into the sea.
God, Helen had been good.
Lana rolled over in bed and looked at the clock. It was 2:30 a.m. and Lex still wasn't home. Where the hell was he? He was usually in bed by midnight groping and grabbing for sex, and as angry as she was, well, not all of him was bad. But for the past two weeks Lex was late, and that bothered her. Not just because it had been way too many days since her last orgasm, but because she didn't know where he was, and what could possibly be more important to him?
Not willing to sit still any longer, she cast her covers off and jumped up out of bed. Grumbling, she put on her robe and slippers before walking to Lex's office. Pitch-blackness greeted her, and she flicked the light switch to look around. The fireplace hadn't been lit and everything appeared to be in order, indicating that he hadn't been home in a while.
There were no papers left out on his desk (which would have been convenient), so she opened drawers and peeked around. Finding nothing useful, she flipped open his laptop and entered in her birthday as the password. "Login Failed," it said. Bastard must have changed it. She began typing in random phrases and dates. Their wedding day- no. His mother's maiden name- no. Julian's death date- no.
After thinking for a moment, she typed in a painful memory. July 27 2007- the due date of their pretend baby. To her enormous surprise, the computer granted access. She pushed away feelings of anger and grief and concentrated on what she was seeing. There were several files for Luthorcorp, but none of those looked interesting. She scrolled past dozens of them and came across a file labeled C-L. Inside were hundreds of pictures, some old but most recent of her and Clark. It seemed she was being followed pretty much everywhere she went.
There were also sound files, which meant that her cell phone was bugged. She listened to a few, but cringed after hearing herself complain to Chloe about missing Clark. All of this was newsworthy, but it didn't tell her what Lex was up to, so she decided to check his recent emails.
Her interest was immediately piqued when she saw so many from doctors, people with an endless stream of abbreviations after their names. She clicked on the first.
Mr. Luthor. We've been able to slow down the age accelerator to manageable levels. Intelligence seems to be nearing peak. Strength tests conclude that subject is close to being invulnerable to harm. If it gets much stronger, we will have a hard time keeping it contained. Please advice on next step.
Immediately, she clicked on his Sent folder to see what he had to say.
Continue running the conditioning program till I get there.
What was a conditioning program? Was this a freak in 33.1? Why would Lex want to make someone older? Had it been a child? Had it been. . .
"Snooping is such an ordinary thing to do isn't it?" Lana jumped at the voice and looked up to see Lionel standing in the doorway. She glared at him, and he continued. "Honestly Lana. You're a billionaire's wife now, you should be able to think of more interesting ways to accumulate information." He sneered at her with that ridiculous grin of his.
One day, she was going to shoot that man right in the ass.
"I am trying to find out where my husband is," she answered coolly.
"Ahh," he said, stroking his beard and walking forward slowly. "That's very dutiful of you. One might even assume that you were concerned for your . . .husband."
It was pointless to beat around the bush. "Where is 33.1?" she asked. He looked a little surprised at her question.
"And why do you assume there is one?" he answered evasively.
"Of course I know that it exists Lionel, now tell me where it is." She closed the laptop and stood up to walk over to him. His expression was contemplative, as if weighing options.
"You know, the saying 'be careful what you wish for' may seem trite, but in this case I think it would be wise for you to heed the warning."
"I'm not interested in any warnings from you Lionel," she said menacingly. "Tell me the truth."
He laughed a little and told her what she wanted to know.
Lana stopped the car and checked the address again. 2257 Reservation Road. She peered out at the nondescript building in front of her and frowned. It looked abandoned, and indeed she could see nothing at all to indicate that anyone had occupied it in years. The only signs of life were the litter of soda cans on the ground and graffiti decorating the walls.
Scowling, Lana made a mental note to kill Lionel as well when she finally managed to bump off Lex. It would be like a bonus.
She stepped out of the car, holding her purse close to herself, and tapped the .357 inside it for reassurance. This was not the best neighborhood to be in at night. As if any part of Metropolis actually was.
Stepping forward with purpose, Lana walked up to what she assumed was the front of the building. The locks on the door were new, and that was encouraging. After testing the knob, she couldn't help but smirk to find it locked, considering the usual state of Lex's security.
A tiny click to the left drew her attention, and she turned to find out what had made the sound. Nothing seemed to be there, but upon hearing the click again, she moved closer to the source: a run down black mailbox. It was normal except for the tiny hole in the center, and she realized what it was- a camera. Someone was watching her.
What should she do? Pretend not to have noticed? Stamp her feet and order the fools to open the damn door? She opted for the first, preferring to keep her cards close to her chest.
Rounding the building, she looked for another way in. 33.1 was like a prison; designed to keep people in, rather than out. There were a few more doors, all firmly locked, but right before she returned to the front, a loose window presented itself. She opened it after a little prodding, and squeezed herself through.
Lana dusted herself off, and wrinkled her nose. It was dirty and smelled faintly of urine, making her wonder if this was what a crack house looked like. Holding her hand inside of her purse, she walked out into the darkened hallway to see light coming from the top of a nearby stairway.
Taking a deep breath, she climbed the stairs slowly with her eyes and ears wide open, alert for anything. It was cleaner on the second floor, and smelled slightly better, so that was a plus. A strange bubbling sound coming from a door at the end of the hall caught her attention, and she walked towards it expectantly. There were still no people sounds to be heard, and she didn't know if that made her feel better or worse.
The door pushed open easily, and it took a moment for her eyes to readjust to the dim. The room glowed green from dozens of barrel shaped containers filled with the brightly colored liquid. Machines were attached to them, and hoses pumped fluid in and out, accounting for the bubbling noise she'd heard.
As she stepped closer to the nearest container, curiosity gave way to horror at what she saw. Tiny, twitching beings lived inside these concoctions, each of various sizes and stages of growth.
With her eyes wide open, Lana stepped up to the largest creature on shaky legs, her mouth dropping open into a large O. It was obviously human, and alive. She could see straight through it's pearly iridescent skin at its rapidly beating heart, and felt her own begin to match its rhythm.
What has Lex done? she thought. WHAT HAS LEX DONE?
"Oh my God," she whispered through trembling lips.
As if understanding, the baby lifted its head and opened it's eyes to look at her. Lana sucked in a sharp breath and screamed.