Dreams

All of Lex's weaknesses were secret. No one knew about them. His slight stature was seen by some as a weakness, but the truth was that it was a strength. It allowed him to surprise his prey. No one still living knew of his relationship with his father. Some had passed away by natural means, and others had been disposed of. No one knew…except for Mercy Graves.

He had let her in. She didn't ask to be, not verbally, at least. He saw how much she cared; he saw that curious, concerned look in her beautiful, bespectacled eyes when he showed his darker side, the side that was hurt. She never said anything or asked him about it. She just did whatever he needed. It was almost because she hadn't asked him that he told her. He knew she would be a captive audience, would listen without speaking, and was especially certain that she wouldn't judge him.

It had started off simply: hinting that his father wasn't as great a man as everyone thought he was. But he said that to many people. The real compromising action was when he began suggesting that Lex, Sr. hadn't treated him so well. He could tell from her eyes when he spoke of such things that she had surmised the ugly truth, but still, she said nothing. It was particularly relieving that she didn't look at him any different in their day to day life. There were no glances of pity or grief. She didn't see him as broken, or as any less of a man.

He confided in her more and more, revealing a little bit about himself every time. Sometimes, he felt that he went too far, and he would become angry with himself and with her, and order her to leave. One evening, when he was shivering with rage and glaring at her, she refused and instead reached out to him. He flinched and backed away, but she was unshakeable, and he ended up letting her hold his shoulders and speak comforting words down to him. She became his refuge, and he cursed himself for it.

Then, he began having dreams about her. They were sensual in nature and as hard to pin down as smoke. He couldn't remember what happened in them, but he knew they usually involved fingertips gently touching skin, and lounging in each other's laps, and whispering names. He always woke up with a throbbing erection, but he never came from them. They were PG-13 enough that he could look her in the eye when he saw her the next day. His desire for her was sufficiently tame that he could keep it under wraps. Lex was nothing if not controlled. This new weakness of his would remain invisible to the rest of the world.

Until one night he spent with a theatre actress. After doing the deed, he fell asleep next to her. He awoke the next day to discover she was gone, which was fine by him. He texted her that afternoon to ask how she was, and she responded with, "why were you saying your assistant's name in your sleep?" From what he could gather from the rest of their heated conversation, he had been stroking her back while whispering "Mercy" over and over again. Needless to say, he blackmailed her. He had seriously considered killing her, and he had mentally planned various ways to do it (car accident, robbery gone wrong, poisoning), but after cooling down, he realized how childish that would be.

It took him a while to realize that his rage wasn't just for his own pride, but for Mercy's honor, as well. If it got out that her boss was pining after her, it would destroy her reputation. He was beginning to think of them as a unit, two people whose fates were inexplicably tied together. He needed to destroy the people who were enemies to either of them, because that meant they were enemies to both of them.