Lex spent the next couple of days berating himself inwardly for being foolish enough to get his hopes up so high. Grudgingly, he told David what had happened and braced himself for another round of teasing, but that didn't occur. Instead, David was completely sympathetic and Lex wondered if he'd been that transparent in how quickly he'd nearly fallen for Clark Kent.

And now he was kidding himself. Nearly fallen? He'd been two heartbeats away from practically declaring his undying love for the reporter. Lex was thoroughly disgusted with his own actions over the last week. No wonder Lionel had so often accused him of being ruled by his emotions. Evidently, it was the truth.

Even more disheartening was the fact that he'd been unable to resist looking into Clark Kent's story about knowing Lucas from Smallville. There was a lot more information than he would have thought, although he shouldn't have been surprised from what he knew of Lucas. His brother seemed determined to put even Lex to shame with some of his escapades.

Apparently, the first time that Clark Kent had met Lucas Luthor was in saving his life after Lucas had driven his car off a bridge. Clark had happened to be nearby, dove in and pulled Lucas out of the river, and then given him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He realized with some dismay that he was absurdly jealous that Lucas had had Clark's mouth on his where Lex would never get that chance.

Clark's name showed up in the Smallville Ledger quite frequently, actually, usually after rescuing some town member from one of the weird mutants that were crawling all over the tiny town for some reason. Lex decided that Clark was either very brave or very stupid to go around challenging such creatures on a regular basis. It wasn't until he stumbled on a website for the high school's newspaper, the Smallville High Torch, that Lex had another epiphany.

The meteor shower that had caused him to lose his hair had affected many other people in the town as well. Perhaps even Clark himself, because some of those rescues just seemed too incredible to believe. How on earth had Clark stood up against a man who could set things on fire, a girl who could change her shape at will, a boy who could make people do whatever he commanded just by saying so, and a girl who could physically teleport herself from one place to another? And those were just a few of the stories in the Torch! There were dozens more along the same lines.

In fact, it seemed to be the same story over and over again. Otherwise normal teen suddenly goes mutant and goes crazy, rampaging through some part of the town, threatening others in some way. (Oddly enough, the perpetual victim seemed to be some girl named Lana Lang. Her name popped up almost as much as Clark's, only he was habitually the rescuer and she was the rescuee. Either her, or the editor of the Torch herself, one Chloe Sullivan.) After a brief period in which the mutant caused malice and mayhem around the town, Clark Kent showed up and somehow managed to save the day. His explanations of what exactly happened always seemed a little vague to Lex.

To his surprise, Clark had also been arrested a couple of times. One instance was for getting into an altercation with a schoolmate that had been so intense, the other boy had gone to the hospital. The other was for suspicion of committing arson, although the charges were later dropped. Lex found that almost too astonishing to believe. He considered himself a fairly good judge of character – except when it came to his heart, unfortunately – and he would never have pegged Clark Kent for an arsonist.

Even more intriguing was the fact that the real arsonist had turned out to be none other than Lucas' new gold-digging wife and she had been revealed to be a meteor mutant as well. She could control men through some kind of pheromone and make them do whatever she commanded. This 'Desiree' had then tried to get Clark Kent to kill her new husband. How the hell had Clark been able to resist her when it seemed that no one else could? It was the most bizarre thing Lex had ever heard of and he ended up spending two solid days just investigating Clark Jerome Kent.

He was only able to break away when his boss called him at home and demanded to know why he'd called in sick for the third day in a row, and told him if he wanted to keep his job, Lex had better get his ass into the lab pronto, National Medal of Science winner or not. Still, even back at work he found himself constantly distracted by the thoughts of dark hair, green eyes, and the most beautiful mouth he'd seen in years.

Lex had thought that Clark might try to press the matter, but other than one rather rambling phone message the evening of their disastrous date, he'd heard nothing more from the reporter. Frustratingly, Lex had been unable to bring himself to delete the message as of yet. In fact, he had gotten into the habit of calling his voicemail a couple of times a day just to listen to it.

"Hi, Lex, this is, um, Clark. Clark Kent. I, uh, I just wanted to say again that I'm sorry about not telling you that I know your dad. I mean, it didn't occur to me that you'd be mad. Which is, ah, really stupid of me, I know. I mean, I know you don't get along with him. Shit, everyone in Metropolis knows that, but I swear…I just didn't think! I do that a lot sometimes, not thinking about important stuff, I mean. Not that that means I didn't think our date was important, Lex, cause I did…I still do! I wish you'd give me another chance, but if you don't, I guess I understand. Even though I really, really like you, Lex. I mean a LOT. Damn, that'll probably freak you out as much as the Lionel thing. Shit, I am so totally fucking this up…"

At this point, there was a thunk and a small clatter, and Lex could hear Clark mumbling to himself. He thought it sounded like Kent believed he'd hung the phone up, but had somehow failed to break the connection.

"Great Rao, I am such an idiot. Great going there, Kal, ruin what could be the best thing of your life before it even gets started." A loud sigh. Then a startled exclamation, as Clark must have realized the phone line was still open. "Oh, shit!" And the message ended.

Those few muttered words, ones he'd had to listen to numerous times before he'd been able to make them out, intrigued Lex so much that he almost considered calling Clark and asking him to explain them. What kind of exclamation was 'Great Rao'? Lex had never heard of such before and he knew dirty words in a dozen different languages. He still wasn't sure if Clark had called himself 'Cal' or if he'd said something like 'pal' because that part of the message was pretty muffled. Either way, Lex wasn't sure if he was glad to be away from someone who may be using an assumed identity or if he was just fascinated by everything about Clark Kent and wanted to know more.

But it couldn't really be an assumed identity, unless he'd assumed it when he was about twelve, because that's when stories about Clark Kent started popping up in the Smallville Ledger. Maybe Kent had multiple personalities and Lex should be thanking his lucky stars he'd gotten out of a potentially dangerous situation before the reporter went completely schizo on him.

"And I am thinking about this way too goddamned much," Lex groaned aloud as he lost his place in transcribing his notes for the fourth time. With a renewed determination to forget that he had ever met Clark Kent, Lex put the whole mess out of his mind and focused on his work.

He'd finally managed to lose himself in the work once again, when he was distracted by an odd tapping noise. Lex turned to glance at the door to his lab curiously when the tapping happened again, a little louder this time. With a frustrated sigh, he stood and walked over to the door, ready to let someone have it for interrupting his work when he'd just been able to get himself re-situated.

He whipped open the door, and faltered on his scathing speech because there was no one there. Well, that was even worse! Were the people he worked with reduced to playing practical jokes now? Angry, and really wanting someone to vent that anger on, Lex turned around to stalk back over to his phone. He'd get to the bottom of this quick enough.

He'd punched in the first two numbers of Sandy's extension when the tapping noise sounded again, and this time he could tell it was not coming from the door. Lex turned his head to look out the window and dropped the phone in shock.

Superman was floating outside his window.

Superman was floating outside his window!

Lex stared at the superhero open mouthed for a moment, and then blinked as Superman gave a little wave. Dazed, Lex waved back and wondered if he was dreaming. Superman gestured towards the window with a raised eyebrow. Lex simply continued to stare at him, until he realized that the man was asking if he could come in.

Extremely flustered, and very annoyed by that fact, Lex tried to calm himself as he fumbled with the window to open it. The glass pane swung outwards and Lex stepped back as Superman floated into the room and touched down gently onto the floor. Lex was awed at how graceful the alien was.

"Lex Luthor, I presume?" Superman said, and Lex felt a shiver go through him at how richly deep his voice was.

"Yes, I'm Lex Luthor," he replied, a little unnerved that the superhero knew who he was. As much as he was awed by being in the alien's presence, Lex still had those suspicious Luthor genes.

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm here. I'm a friend of Clark Kent."

Lex was flabbergasted. Clark had sent Superman to speak for him? On the one hand, Lex was irritated that Kent thought Lex was so easy as to be overwhelmed by a flying man that he obviously hoped Lex would forgive him and talk to him again. On the other hand, he was a little impressed by Kent's sneakiness.

"Clark sent you to try and apologize for him?" Lex said, allowing a tiny sneer to cross his face.

Superman just gave him a puzzled look. "No, I'm unaware of any disagreement you might have had with Clark. He simply mentioned your name to me when I was telling him about a project I have in mind."

"Oh," Lex said, a little abashed, and told himself that was not disappointment he felt. He gave a nervous little cough, and then cursed himself for that small tell, before gathering his composure and looking coolly – he hoped – at Superman. "A project, you said?"

"Yes," Superman said, and flashed Lex a brief smile that definitely caused Lex's heart rate to increase a little. "How much do you know about me, Mr. Luthor?"

"I read the article that Ms. Lane wrote when you first arrived in Metropolis, the one that said you were from a planet called Krypton," Lex said. He declined to mention that he had that and every other article that had ever appeared in the Daily Planet about the alien in a scrapbook at home.

"Ah, yes, Lois Lane's article, the one that gave me this lovely nickname," Superman said, his tone a little dry.

Lex paused a moment before he answered. Was Superman teasing with him? How…exciting. Lex scrabbled for that Luthor control before he made an utter ass out of himself. He hoped that the superhero couldn't tell he was about to pop with glee.

"Well, I did think Superman was a tad egotistical," Lex said casually, and prayed that the man had a sense of humor.

Superman gave him another little grin and said, "See, I thought so, too, but by the time I saw the article, well, I was pretty much stuck with it."

"So, what is your name then?" Lex asked. Superman hesitated and Lex realized his blunder. "Oh, but of course you probably don't really want people to know that, do you?"

"I don't mind if certain people know it. My true name is Kal-El."

He gave Lex an intense stare as he shared this bit of information, and Lex found himself swallowing just to keep his mouth from going completely dry.

"Kal-El. That's a very nice name," Lex said inanely, his whole being distracted by the alien's eyes on him.

Superman seemed to relax a little then and toned down the intensity of his gaze on Lex. "So, the article told how I came from Krypton and crash-landed here on earth. What I didn't tell Ms. Lane is that there's no going back to Krypton for me. My planet was destroyed and I am the last known survivor of my race."

"That must be a difficult burden to bear," Lex said quietly. He'd often felt alone after leaving his father, but – as much as Lex despised Lionel – at least his father was still there. He didn't like to think that he was naïve enough to hope for a reconciliation someday, but that tiny little hope that was buried deep inside his soul would probably never go completely away. Kal-El would never have that chance.

"It can be. But my father left me a lot of his knowledge about Krypton, so I feel as though I have a small piece of him and my mother always with me."

"That's a small comfort, though, I'm sure," Lex said sympathetically.

"Yes, but it is a comfort, nonetheless. The problem is, most of the information that my father sent with me is about Krypton itself, the history and the culture of our people. There's not much there that's about, well, me."

"I don't understand. Isn't the history and culture of your planet all about you?"

"In a way, yes, but then again, not really. I'm not sure if my father really understood all the ramifications of what my living on this planet really meant. It's Earth's yellow sun that gives me my powers. If I were living on Krypton, which had a red sun, I'd be as normal as the next person. No strength, no flight, no heat vision. I don't think he truly comprehended what my life would be like here, although he did know that the yellow sun would give me a strength that humans don't have."

"The sun gives you your powers?" Lex asked, absolutely fascinated by how much the superhero was sharing with him. "How?" he asked, the scientist in him rabidly curious to know.

"I'm not certain myself of how it actually works, but I think I'm basically like a solar battery. I soak up the sun's rays and they…give me these abilities somehow," Superman said, with a little shrug.

"Wait, how long have you been on this planet? That sounds like something that would take years…" Lex trailed off as he realized what he was saying, and also at the chagrined look on Superman's face. "Oh, my god, you've been here for years already, haven't you?"

"Can I trust you, Lex?" Superman asked, his face serious now.

"Yes, you can. I swear that anything we say here will go no further, Kal-El."

"The story I told Lois about crash landing here in a ship was true, but it happened when I was only three years old."

Lex couldn't help it. His mouth dropped open in shock. Superman chuckled lightly and reached out to push his chin up with one finger. Lex sincerely hoped that he wasn't blushing at the gentle touch.

"My adoptive parents found me in a field, and, luckily for me, rather than turn me in to the government, they decided to raise me as their own. I went to high school, dated, did chores, had fights with my friends, and eventually decided to make my life here in Metropolis, just like thousands of other small-town kids. The only difference was that I developed these powers as I grew. The older I got, the stronger I got, and I knew that I couldn't let these gifts go to waste. But I also knew that I didn't want to give up my private life, so I created Superman."

"Incredible," Lex breathed. Then he blushed a little as he realized how hero-worshippy that sounded. "I mean, how incredible that you decided to use your gifts for the good of mankind, rather than for your own benefit. You could do practically anything and no one would ever be able to stop you."

Superman's face became very stern. "I would never do anything to harm the people of Earth, Lex. I take my powers and my responsibilities very seriously."

"Of course, that's what I meant," Lex said. He cleared his throat nervously, cursing himself silently at all the ways he was showing his weakness. His father would be appalled, but this was Superman! The Kryptonian was lucky that Lex wasn't drooling all over his cape. "So what exactly is it that I can do for you?"

"Well, I brought you this…" Superman reached somewhere into the folds of his cape and brought out a test tube filled with a red liquid.

Lex was momentarily distracted, wondering where in the hell he had pockets on that suit, but dragged his eyes back to Superman's face.

"This is a sample of my blood. I was wondering if you might be willing to analyze it for me and…I don't know, tell me more about me?" Superman said with a little shrug.

Lex couldn't help it; his mouth gaped open again in shock. "I…I don't know what to say, Kal-El. The honor, I mean, I can't believe you would trust anyone, let alone me…" Oh, god, now he was actually babbling!

"Say that you'll help me. Naturally, I would prefer that you not publish your findings. I do have to be careful of certain unscrupulous people taking advantage of knowledge about me. Ms. Lane has already found herself in a couple of risky situations because people think that she's a personal friend of mine."

"She's not a close, er, personal friend, then?" Lex asked and then could have kicked himself. Could he sound any more jealous?

Superman grinned at him. "Not as close as she'd like to be, believe me."

Lex was intrigued; and interested. He could swear that it was almost like the superhero was flirting with him. But surely he couldn't be so fortunate as to have two gorgeous guys in less than a couple of weeks coming on to him. Lex knew he was attractive, but his love life had been fairly bleak before Clark Kent…and now possibly Superman? No, he was imagining things, he had to be!

He reached out and took the tube from Superman's hand, and it was not his imagination that Kal-El's fingers brushed softly against his own. To his surprise, it was the hero's turn to blush slightly, and Lex cocked an eyebrow, suddenly feeling a little back on top of his game.

Superman coughed and took a step back, folding his hands behind his back. "I'd like to thank you in advance for your help, Lex. I'm certain that whatever information you can uncover for me will be invaluable."

"How will I get in touch with you to let you know about any results?" Lex asked with a little smirk. Oh, he definitely had the upper hand now. Who would have thought that Superman could be so…human? Although Lex supposed it wasn't so out of the realm of possibility since he had been raised as a human. How very interesting indeed.

Again, Superman reached into the cape and brought out, of all things, a cell phone. He wiggled it in the air and grinned a little sneakily. "I can give you my number. I got this pre-paid phone while in disguise, so I'd have a way to keep in touch while being Superman."

Lex was impressed, but curious. "What do you do if you're in the middle of stopping a bank robbery and it rings?"

"I have it set on vibrate. Whoever calls me just has to wait until I'm done vanquishing the bad guys before I call them back. Though only a few people have this number. If I need to talk on it while I'm in uniform, I just fly up high enough where people can't see me. I get much better reception up there, too," he said.

Lex pulled out his own cell and dutifully punched in the number that Superman called out to him. He hesitated to offer his own number in return, afraid it would be too presumptuous – why would Superman ever need to call him? – but was quietly thrilled when the hero asked for it.

"It's been very nice meeting you, Lex…" he paused in the middle of that sentence, his head turning to gaze intently out the window. "I have to go, there's a fire over near Wilmont. Let me know whenever you get some test results back, won't you?"

Lex assured him that he would get started as soon as possible, although he said he couldn't set any kind of timetable, seeing that he'd have to fit this project in around his real job, and thanked him again for his trust.

"Clark said you were a good man," Superman said as he stepped out of the window. He seemed about to fly off when he turned back around with a mischievous grin. "Clark's a good man, too, Lex, and he likes you a lot. Maybe you could give him a second chance?"

Before Lex could finish sputtering out the protests to that, Superman took off like a rocket and was out of sight within seconds.

TBC