Chapter 2: The real thing
The drive up to the cabin was slow due to the bad weather. Kate and Lex tried to keep the conversation light as neither of them wanted to bring up the elephant in the room. Finally at about 3:00 p.m. they arrived at the cabin. Lex got out of the car and grabbed the bags as Kate fumbled with her keys to open the door. Lex stopped at the doorway and dropped the bags. He surveyed the room and was afraid to step in because it made him feel like he was in a dream. In the living room there was a large fireplace decorated with gold bells and greenery and next to it was a large tree that almost took over the whole room. It was lit up and had lots of presents under it. Beyond the living room was the kitchen that had mistletoe under the entrance arc in the wall and then was decorated with greenery all around the room. The kitchen led to the hallway which had a small Christmas Village that lined it placed strategically on shelves throughout the hall. The hall led to the bedrooms where Lex preceded to take the bags. Each of the three bedrooms had a mini fireplace that was decorated with the same gold bells as the main one and each had a mini tree next to the fireplace. Lex put the bags on the bed and walked back to the kitchen.
"Someone is overly enthusiastic about Christmas." He said.
Kate turned to him and said "Well most people aren't scrooges" She said as she walked toward the bedroom. She turned to face him again, "I always come up here a week before to decorate. That way it is all set for the holidays. It was a Wilson family tradition when my parents were alive. We all came together." She looked at him with a sad smile and continued, "You can take the room across the hall. Sorry there is only one bathroom but we weren't made of money like some people!" He rolled his eyes at that comment. "Come on let's get out on those skis and see what you got." She said cocking her eyebrows in a challenge.
He smirked, "Be careful most people who challenge a Luthor, always regret it later."
"I'll take my chances, now get changed and I'll meet you outside. Something tells me you don't want to ruin that Armani suit of yours in the snow." She said as she walked into the bedroom and closed the door.
Out on the slopes they had several races in which Kate won. Lex used the excuse that he hadn't been skiing since the time he and his dad and his mother went out to his grandmother's farm in Montana. When Kate finally decided to slow down and let him catch up he ran right into her and they both tumbled into each other. They landed on the soft snow with Lex lying on top of her and their faces inches away. They stood looking at each other for a moment and then Lex grabbed her hand and lifted her to a sitting position. They both laughed.
"I am sorry, Kate I guess I am a lot more rusty than I thought." He said as he stood up and brought her with him.
"It's okay Lex, you actually made it sound like there was going to be a competition earlier but the way you have been going you'd be lucky to race in the beginner's league." She said as they walked over to the bench.
Lex was a bit frustrated as he wasn't used to losing and he didn't like to be a disappointment. "Well I am sorry to disappoint you Kate but it appears that I am a failure at yet another thing in my life." He said as he sat down next to her. She looked at him as her smile disappeared and she got more serious.
"Lex, I am sorry- I didn't mean it that way." She said taking off her skis. She turned to him and brushed his face with her hand. "You are not a failure at anything, in fact quite the opposite. You always get what you want no matter what obstacles stand in your way. I sometimes question your ethics but you still find a way to protect what you hold most precious. That my friend is anything but a failure."
Lex took her hand in his. "A lot of good it's done me. I have no friends, no parents and no wife." He gave her a sad smile.
"Lex, you are misunderstood and judged on a daily basis just for being who you are and if people don't take the time to get to know you the way I have then it's their loss." She replied as she shivered. "It's cold, let's go inside and get some hot cocoa and watch a Christmas Carol. It's high time you see that it's never too late to change the path you are on." Kate said as she got up from the bench and Lex grabbed her hand to stop her. "I appreciate the faith you have in me Kate but I am afraid that I may let you down just as I have everyone else in my life." He said following her into the cabin.
"Lex, I understand why do the things you do. The world isn't black and white as Clark and the others see it. Sometimes to protect the people we love we have to things that we wouldn't normally do. It's the greys in the world that make us who we are. You could never let me down." She said as she turned toward the kitchen. "You go have a shower and I'll get the hot chocolate and the movie ready."
Lex nodded in agreement and walked into the bathroom and shut the door. He turned the shower on and took off his clothes. He stepped in and let the warm water pour down his skin. He wondered to himself when the other shoe was going to drop. He had tried hard to suppress his paranoia but now when he was alone he let his doubts get the best of him. He knew that Kate's parents had died and he knew that they died in a LuthorCorp plant explosion when he had been managing the plant. He occasionally wondered if that was why Kate had agreed to work with him because she had some master plan up her sleeve and that maybe she ask him here to hold him hostage and try to get her revenge on him for the death of her parents. He shook the water off his body and turned the shower off. She never indicated to him that she blamed him but sometimes when she looked at him she had a look of disappointment. Why wouldn't she want to get revenge for his selfishness, everyone else around him did? He thought back to the conversation they had earlier about doing what it takes to protect those you love. Maybe she knew that he was being blackmailed at the time and that he had done everything he could to protect the people at the plant but they had to pay for him just being who he was, a Luthor, and he ultimately couldn't do anything to escape that. If she knew, she had told him in so many words that she understood. He put on a clean shirt and a pair of jeans.
It was the only pair he owned and he usually wore them for riding and stepped out of the bathroom only to see her sitting on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate staring into the Christmas lights. He came up behind her "A penny for your thoughts." He said as he sat down and put his hand on her arm.
She turned to face him. "I was just thinking about the last Christmas we spent here a year before the accident. For years I had wanted a very expensive diamond ring that I had seen. My father always said that that ring was for the husband that I would one day have to put on my finger. I rolled my eyes at him because he knew the reason I had closed myself off to love and that was his way of trying to tell me that it was okay for me to open up again. Anyway, so that Christmas my dad gave me a replica of that ring and he made me promise that I would give it back to him the day I found my prince. But he said for right now, he would be my prince, until the right one came. It was the best gift I ever got." She said as she wiped a tear off her face. "The next year when they died it took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that they were really gone. Even though I could feel them sometimes and I have all these memories of them the fact is they are gone and there is nothing I do can replace them." She looked him straight in the eye know.
"Kate, I am so sorry." He started to say and she stopped him.
"Lex, don't blame yourself. Blame and resentment will only get you started on the path that I have seen you carve out for yourself ever since you killed your father." Lex looked at her in surprise, how the hell did she know about that, there was no one else there that night except Clark. "Lex, I can see it in your eyes every time you look at those clones. You think you can create this family that you never had but that isn't real. Don't worry, Lex I am not going to say anything, if he was my father I would have done the same thing, eventually."
Lex didn't know what to think. She has something on him now to hang over his head and he didn't like being the prey. He didn't know how long she had known but she obviously hasn't told anyone so far. Lex shifted uncomfortably away from her. She sensed his unease and scooted closer to him. "Lex, I would never intentionally wish anyone harm, I am Doctor and we have a code but I can believe that that man probably had you so twisted in knots that you could claim insanity! Look the point is that you have been through so much in your life that you deserve a break and this guilt you carry isn't going to help. Neither is running away from who you are and pretending that you have some new family with new memories. I wanted to run too when I lost my parents but you have to move forward." She said desperately trying to break through the walls she could tell he had erected upon learning that she knew his deepest secret.
He pulled away from her again and started pacing in front of the couch. "Well since it appears you know so much about me why don't you tell me what it is you want from me Doctor. You don't expect me to believe that you are going to keep my secrets for free do you? I mean did you bring me up here to blackmail me?" He stopped pacing and stared at her with a coldness that she had never seen in him before.
She got up from the couch and brought his eyes level with hers. It was important she make him see that she was sincere. "I know you may find this hard to believe Lex, but I don't want anything from you. I just want you to release the demons you have inside and allow yourself to be happy. And no, I did not bring you up here to blackmail you; I brought you up here to have a little fun. To get away from life for a while." She looked over at the television "…and to watch a Christmas Carol."
She said as she walked back to where she was sitting and patted the couch for him to come back and sit down. Lex looked at her and he could tell she was sincere but that paranoid voice inside him wouldn't let him believe what was right in front of him. All his life everyone was out to get something from him and here she was telling him she wanted nothing from him. She was offering to take his burden away and carry it herself. If he let himself, he knew he could get swept away in this dream and he was afraid that one day he would wake up and be burned as usual. He hesitantly walked over to the couch and sat down. He smiled at her and said. "Okay let's watch the movie, it's late and we have to get an early start tomorrow." She smiled at him and started the movie. She could tell he still wasn't sure what to do with what she had told him earlier but he was at least willing to try and accept what she was offering. That had to be enough for now.
Lex found the movie very interesting and almost too close to his own life for comfort. He had seen the ghost of his mother before showing him the future he could have had if he had decided to make the right choices two Christmas's ago. He didn't think it would be beyond possible that his Father, now dead would come back to haunt him as well and not just in his consciousness. He could also see Clark as the Ghost of Christmas present. He shook his head and smiled down at the angel that lay in his lap. Kate had fallen asleep halfway through the movie. He didn't want to wake her so he carefully got up from the couch and scooped her up in his arms. He brought her into the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He brushed a hair out of her faced and she stirred. She turned on her side toward him and he heard her mumble, "This is real, Lex, I am not going anywhere. It's not too late to change your destiny scrooge." And then she turned around again with her back toward him. He stared at her for a moment in disbelief. He knew she had a thing for him but until that moment he didn't know just how deep her feelings were. She was offering him the perfect gift but he didn't know if he could accept it. The truth was he didn't know whether he could fully let go of his past and be the person she deserved. He didn't have much fight left in him. Until today he was going to give into the darkness that consumed him and just accept that side of himself. After hurting everyone he was close to he really didn't want to hurt her. Lex shook his head and left her to her sleep. He walked into his bedroom and laid his head on the pillow. He didn't know if he could fight anymore but being here with her he felt as if he was so close to his dream that he could taste it and unlike the clones he had of his brother and mother in warehouse 303, she was real.
