Rated: G
Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville, Superman, Lex or Lionel Luthor. They belong to DC Comics, Warner Brothers Entertainment, and the creators of Smallville (the show) itself, Al Gough and Miles Millar.
Genre: Alternate Universe. Gender Bending. One Shot (unless my muse decides differently).
Summary: Lillian finds out and is not happy with Lionel, she does some thinking and planning of her own.
Author's Note: According to the Official Guide for Smallville, Lillian Luthor has dark hair.
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Lionel arrived home by helicopter two days after the shower, the boy securely in a harness. As he flew, he realized the sheer audaciousness of his actions-there was no way he could pass this child off as the nine year old Lex. Physical appearance aside, how would he explain the fact that he was younger than he should be without sparking an outside investigation into his labs?
The people he did certain projects for would not be pleased if the public was made aware of the kinds of things Luthor Labs did for them.
He could've kicked himself for going with such an emotion based response to finding the boy and losing Lex. It had been a response he would have berated Lex for. Emotion had no place in the world of a Luthor. Nor should it drive their actions and yet, two days ago, he had allowed emotion to override his training.
He prided himself on his logical thought process, on applying his astute business sense to everything he did. This made no sense and was sloppy work for a Luthor. His father would be appalled by his lack of foresight. While some things could be explained by the meteor shower, not everything could. How was he to turn this disaster to his advantage?
He still wasn't entirely sure he knew what had happened in the cornfield that day. There was something more at work than a simple meteor shower, especially when it brought a child to him who showed no signs of the damage that existed in those who had been exposed to the meteor rocks. The boy was perfectly healthy-almost frighteningly so.
Getting out, he turned and accepted the boy from one of his assistants. "Make sure the office files that paperwork as soon as they can," he ordered, seeing Dominic waiting by the door. Curtly nodding to his associates, he joined the man, keeping the boy's head covered up. Already, he was wondering just how to silence his and Lex's trip to the Smallville Medical Center. If he could keep Lex's new look out to the press, he may just manage to salvage the situation.
"Sir, Mrs. Lillian is inside," Dominic uneasily whispered, knowing not to call her by the Luthor name. He, like everyone else, was unsure about the true status of the Luthor marriage. But unlike the others, Dominic knew not to gossip. He knew how to keep the rumors silenced and the naysayers away. It was really because of him that the world did not realize just how shaky their union was.
Lionel was proud of the fact that he managed not to stumble, though he was surprised to hear that she was there. In retrospect, he should not have been. It was something he really should have expected after all that had happened. But he was not ready to face Lillian, "the study?" he calmly asked, "Or the parlor?"
The door opened and she stepped out, her eyes instantly finding them. "Lex?" she called out, voice trembling only minimally. Rushing forward, she stopped upon reaching them and stared, frowning violently. "Lionel, where is my son?"
"Right here," he smoothly replied, moving to go past her. Seeing her there was too painful and brought up memories better left forgotten.
"That is not Lex," she frostily replied, stepping in front of him. She hadn't even taken a glance at the boy under the blanket-she knew her child. Lex was her blood and fire, the only thing in this marriage she considered of any worth. "He is too lean. He's not the right build-and he has black hair instead of red. Is this the child of some whore of yours? This is still my house and I will not have any child begotten upon some trollop here."
"We need to talk," Lionel pushed past her, not wanting to have this discussion out in the open where anyone could hear them. It may have been inevitable but it would be done where he was comfortable, "Inside. And no, he isn't."
Her eyes narrowed and the sunlight glinting off of her dark hair created a dark halo about her face, shadowing it. "You will tell me what happed, Lionel. I entrusted Lex into your care with the absolute assurance that nothing would happen to him. I do not see him."
"Mom!" the boy chirped happily, suddenly waking up and staring at her. The blanket slipped further back, revealing his startling eyes, confused when she did not look at him. "Mom!" he tried again, frowning unhappily at her as she continued to ignore his outstretched arms. Tears filled his eyes and he started to cry, reaching out for her.
Lillian was helpless to resist the cry of this boy, though she wanted to ignore him-she knew nothing of this boy.
Nothing. He was not her own, he was an interloper. "Don't think this changes anything," she harshly warned, accepting him from a relieved Lionel. Rocking the boy close and murmuring soothing words of pure nonsense, she tucked his head under her chin. Turning on her heel, she marched into the house.
Lionel followed her, helpless to do anything else. Of all the things he expected, seeing his wife at the house was not one of them. Lillian Luthor had not stepped foot in their home in almost five years, after the violent miscarriage of their second child. That was an event he'd done everything in his power to keep silent.
To this day, no one save the two of them really knew what had happened on that hellish day.
Still, she could be the help he sought. If he could just get her to help him, that was. There just might be a chance to salvage the whole rotten situation. Entering the library, he sat down by the fire and watched her with the boy, thinking they looked right together. Like a living Madonna and her child, though he knew she would be angry with such a sacrilegious thought.
"Well?" she asked, getting straight to the point. The boy snuggled on her lap, staring at the mixed jewel bracelet on her wrist, interested in it. She jangled it a few times, keeping his attention focused on it rather than on her and Lionel.
Dully-knowing he couldn't face her for this tale-he watched the flames in the fire. Watched the way they danced along the red brick of the chimney, reminding him of the sky in Smallville. As first, his words were spoken haltingly, in a shaken voice as he remembered finding Lex twitching restlessly on the floors of Luthor Corp's lab. Glancing only once her way, he dryly explained what the purpose was behind that particular creation.
The experiment had been commissioned by one of the branches of the military. They had wanted to find out if it was possible to temporarily manipulate the biology of someone. They had given them access to some information they had found somewhere in Antarctica. To change them into the opposite gender for purposes of protection and infiltration. The tests had not revealed anything wrong with it, so they felt it was all right to allow Lex to try it. Thinking nothing of it-and wanting to test his son's strength-he had allowed them to try it. Besides, Lex had asked after it, had been able to postulate quite intelligently on the subject and offered some solutions that were both practical and applicable.
But the more he spoke, the colder and firmer his tone became, as if feeling Lillian's revulsion for his actions made him stronger in some way. He sat up straighter, then leaned back as though what he was saying was of no consequence to him. Cogitation returned to him and everything came sharply into focus. He was back in control of himself and would soon have the situation well in hand.
Though she played with the boy, she was listening to him, half horrified by his actions after the meteor shower. "You…experimented on Lex, turning him into a girl. She was then injured in the metero shower, nearly comatose from the trauma, and you turned her over to CPS?!?" she asked, voice almost deadly with murderous intent, "To be lost somewhere in the bureaucracy?"
"I would never ask Lex to do something I was not willing to do myself. He was interested," he insisted. "Lex took it freely and without coercion."
"You never ask Lex to do anything-you tell Lex plainly and in no uncertain terms what he will do," she bitterly retorted, "And you spell out the consequences firmly."
"I know where she is," he ignored her interruption, somewhat unsettled by the look. Though he knew his wife had sharp claws hidden underneath her rather civilized attitude, they had rarely been directed at him with such obvious intent. It gave him a thrill to have it directed at him. "I did not think Lex had survived. Once I found out that Lex had, I attained samples of her blood. I sent them to the labs. The experiment would have lasted only forty eight hours. Instead, the changes to her are permanent. The shower altered her biology completely."
"So, it makes it all right to abandon her?" she asked, horrified at his blatant disregard for the life they had created. Never before had she been so disgusted with her husband, not even after he found out about his various affairs. Those women may have had him for a time but he always came back to her in the end. This, though, this was something far different and she couldn't reconcile herself to this atrocious act of his.
"Lillian, I have plans for our…daughter," he said the word as though it was poison. "Plans that do not include being lost somewhere or fostered to some kind of idiot yokel, she is still a Luthor. As soon as I can, I will handle her adoption. I believe the Allans wanted a child."
"Lex is ours," she protested, hating the way he spoke about Lex. Hating the cold way he had denounced her worth and still planned Lex's life in the way he saw fit, "We should bring her home."
"I will not have that..that thing in this home, corrupting this boy! Lex is a bald monstrosity, a weak limb," he snapped, finally facing her. The fury in his eyes was absolute and uncontained, focused on her. "She needed to be purged from all of the weaknesses inside of her. Since that was not possible, Lex was cut away."
It was an old argument, one she never won. Lionel could not see beyond his own perceptions of strength and power. To him, Lex had never been strong or capable of living up to what he wanted of her. Fear gripped her as she realized what it meant for the innocent boy who sat on her lap, idly listening but not really understanding what was going on between them.
Lex had never had that problem. There always seemed to be an understanding about the way things worked in this family. She had always wondered about this precognitive sense of his, worried over what such a talent would do to him in the long run. Though she had to admit-if only to herself-it did keep him out of the worst of Lionel's angry attacks. But this child would not be able to learn these things. He was too innocent. If left to Lionel's tender mercies, he would be.
In order to save him, she had to sacrifice Lex.
"All right," she took a deep breath, firming her resolve. This boy needed her to protect him. This was something she could do, even if she didn't think she could do it well. "You need me at your side to accomplish this...unfortunate undertaking. The press will seek me out even if I remain estranged from you. They will come after me, seeing blood in the water and I refuse to run again."
"I appreciate that," he dryly interrupted, stilling at her look.
"You may not think so in a moment," she warned, somewhat amused. "I have two conditions before I agree to do anything, Lionel. And the first means the most to me-you must leave Lex alone and out of any of your devilish plans. She's been through enough at your hands. Grant her as normal a life as she can possibly have now."
"Lillian," he started.
"No-you leave Lex alone. You're good at that," she bitterly spat out. But there was a firmness in her eyes that pierced his intently. "Or this whole charade ends now. I could ruin you, and for Lex and this boy, I will."
She was not just referring to his partnership with Morgan Edge and Lionel knew it.
He gnawed his lip, it was a small thing to ask of him. And yet, it was dangerous in ways that he could already see spiraling out of his control. From all that he'd heard-and he had kept watch on the strangely bald and silent child from the moment he heard of her arrival-Lex had no memory of anything before the shower. She did not speak.
But that did not mean that she would be in that condition forever. With time and the proper care, even the worst of wounds healed and their child had been visited by a kind woman who helped her and seemed to love the little freak. If what he heard was anything to go on, she wanted to adopt her. It was this healing that caused Lionel the most fear. If he left her alone, he would not be able to monitor her, not be able to ward off the danger if-and when-it came.
And he was no fool, he knew that it would come.
Lex was a Luthor with all the survival skills that name entailed. She would no be content with mediocre, she would press for the truth. Within her body, the truth of who and what she was would scream out against the injustice of her life. She would search for her identity with the ruthless passion that was a part of them and she would find what she sought.
He would not hide that information from her. Even now, he needed to test his child, find out her measure. She was born an Luthor and no name change would alter that.
Still, his wife was right. If this was too work, he needed her help-if for no other reason than to keep the press happy and away from prying to deeply into their secrets. They were very fond of his wife and she knew how to play them. "And your second condition," he slowly agreed, silently promising that he'd keep an eye on Lex anyway.
"You follow my lead," she replied, keeping cool in the face of his concession. There was no softening of her posture. It remained stiff and unyielding. "Has this boy had a full exam? What is his approximate age? Any damage caused by the meteor shower?"
"There was a preliminary exam to make sure he was fine but I wanted our doctor to examine him in depth. The last thing I needed was for some incompetent fool to harm him. There were no injuries at all. As for his age, he doesn't talk much, just phrases and words he's picked up. I would not place his age over four, unless the boy is slow for his age. Mentally deficient in some manner," he added thoughtfully, knowing it was a distinct possibility. "His height seems to suggest a child between five and seven."
Jangling her bracelet once more, she flipped her wrist several time, watching as he studied it intently. "Can you take this off?" she softly asked. He glanced up at her momentarily before looking back at the bracelet. There was something in his eyes as he reached out and undid the hidden clasp. Smiling happily, he showed it to them, waiting anxiously for her pronouncement on his achievement.
"He's certainly not slow, so young but tall for his age," she observed, before turning to the boy and hugging him, "Very clever of you, Julian," she added, kissing his cheek.
The boy yawned sleepily, hand tightly clenching the bracelet as his eyelids drooped. Without breaking his hold, she took the ends of the bracelet and wrapped it about his wrist.
"I would guess he's no younger than three, possibly four. But only a full physical will determine how old he is. Did he sleep the whole trip here?" she continued, as though she had not heard what she called him. But she knew-she knew who this boy had to be. It was the only way she could live with her choice, by giving this boy the name Lex had chosen.
Lionel shook his head, deeply shaken to hear what she called the boy. That was to be the name of their second child had he lived. "He only fell asleep five minutes before we arrived. From what the hospital staff said, he didn't sleep at all."
"He can't be Lex," she reiterated her silent conclusion. Her look silenced him, "A difference in a year can be explained but five or six years? No, this boy will have to be…Julian," though she had not stumbled the first time, now she did. Lillian wondered if it was because she was not talking to him. "The official story will be that Lex died in Smallville's meteor shower. Julian found you there when he escaped from my watch. In your shock, you didn't want to deal with reporters hammering you over the death of one son and the injury of another. I trust that you made sure there were no pictures?"
"Do you really think that people will believe that he got all the way to Smallville by himself," he skeptically asked, pointing out one of the major flaws in her plan. Though if he was being truthful, he would admit that it was a good plan. "And how do we explain the fact that no one has heard of our second child?"
"I was in the area, Lionel-charity event, remember? The one you insisted I go to in order to create good will towards Luthor Corp," she acidly replied. "As for his birth, I am sure you remember as do I a certain pregnancy of five years ago. The end result is why I took Lex and left you, secluding myself. I needed to be away from you, from this world you created, and I needed time to recover. I could no longer handle the stress of your businesses and the social life I was required to maintain in order to help you out."
Lionel remembered that period all to well. It was mostly characterized by long, seemingly endless arguments over things he did not even recall. Her second pregnancy had definitely been far worse than her first-and lasted longer. Lex had been three weeks premature. In contrast, Julian has been a month overdue.
Though he really didn't want to bring it up, he said, "The baby was lost before he was born and it nearly killed you."
"A fact that only you and I know as the others involved were killed in an earthquake. Since then, I have kept a low profile, hidden in villages that are so remote, there is hardly any access unless you have the right kind of resources and money. Lex was in school, I had no reason to be seen as everyone knew how difficult my pregnancy was. My habit of going into seclusion after giving birth is well known. Most will think this was just a vacation. As for servants, Anna is my woman as Dominic is you. She will not betray me," she rose to her feet.
Walking to the door, she paused and looked back at him, "Take care of things while I put Julian down. Oh, and Lionel?"
"Yes?" he absently asked, already dialing the phone on the stand by his chair.
"Leave Lex alone-I mean it," her voice was softer than the hard look in her eyes as she reiterated her first condition. Turning, she left him alone.
"Anna," she greeted the tall, stern blonde with a slight, pained smile. The cool brown eyes never left hers, never showed a sign of shock as she accepted the sleeping baby. "See that Julian gets a bath when he wakes up from his nap. I am afraid that he shall no longer get to spend time with his brother. He was lost in the devastation." Her voice barely wavered on the lie.
The stern expression softened momentarily, seeing what her lady would not reveal, "I am sorry for your loss, ma'am."
"Thank you," she murmured, watching her leave. It was only when she was completely alone that she allowed the tears to fall. "Lex," it was an almost feral cry of grief and pain. She fell to her knees, leaning against her bed, sobbing helplessly. The comforter clutched in her hand, she jerked on it as though it could hide the agony she felt tearing through her.
Her baby, her only child, lost to her in some hick town and all because she had believed Lionel's promise. She had believed him when he said no harm would come to Lex. That Lex would enjoy the tour of his lab, to see what new creations his scientists were working on. Lex had always been fascinated by labs and the many ways science had improved the lives of humans.
Lillian could see his face when he took apart his first inhaler, trying to see how it worked. How curious he'd been that such a tiny thing could give him the life giving oxygen he so desperately needed to live. He had taken it apart and then put it back together when he saw Lionel's displeasure.
She would never believe him again-NEVER.
