Chapter 7 - Matching Wits with Madmen

Lex appeared from behind the door of the particular classroom that Clark was in. He didn't want to be seen but listened as this Professor Fine continued lecturing on the Roman Empire. In his mind, he wondered how someone from his former race on Krypton would want to hide out as a lowly college professor, attacking the one person in the area that seemed, at least in this time, to be decently fair.

Clark shook his bald head and reminded himself that he was Lex. That was the fair and honest thing about the man at the time. Even Lionel and his ending of the Leviathin project before its announcement to the military was already coming under scrutiny of the board as becoming soft. Dealing with the fallout himself, Lionel left for an early morning meeting in D.C. leaving Clark and his Smallville self to delve into Fine's past.

The news continued to roll in from Clark about the different projects that Fine researched, some according to Lionel, were not even of public knowledge. Lex wasn't convinced that they weren't just chasing a tree hugging professor that didn't like Luthorcorp, but Lionel felt otherwise.

Hearing Clark's name, Lex moved into the light behind the last row of chairs and sat down. "Mr. Kent, what about you? What if you found out that Lex Luthor, the emperor of the company was a dangerous, unstable megalomaniac bent on destroying your world?"

Lex watched and listened for an answer as Clark stammered over his words. He felt he would have had the same answer at his age. Seeing Clark get up and leave with the others, Lex quietly descended the stairs to stand right in front of this professor. "Interesting lecture. I really liked the bit about the megalomaniac. You're getting dangerously close to libel."

Fine turned and looked at his one on one competition. "The great Lex Luthor in my presence. I must have won the prize." Picking up his notes from the podium, he quietly smiled to himself and then noticed Lex had not moved. "It's only libel if it is not true. All my statements are based firmly in research."

Lex turned and stepped in from of the professor as he tried to walk out the door. "And you're calling me the dangerous one? Perhaps one might consider looking deeper into your past." Lex watched as Fine's eyes rolled slightly to avoid the gaze at the particular moment. "I may have perhaps caught that research bug just today," Lex added.

"Good, there's nothing you will find that fairs remotely to your own history, or that of your family's," Fine quipped as he tried to move past Lex without success.

Clark hated using Lex's current status to get anywhere, but was quickly learning that was the only way Lex got anywhere. Perhaps the same in his own world. Leaning in to the man he had quickly learned to mistrust, he put his hands in his pockets. "As you may know I give generously to this particular institution."

Professor Fine smirked at the blatant threat coming from the younger Luthor. Still something felt not quite right with Lex there. The presence of power didn't seem to exude itself outwardly, as if the younger Luthor was choosing words more carefully than normal. "Yes, I know. The buying of influence is part of my second semester. Good day Mr. Luthor."

Lex watched the professor turn before quipping, "If you have a second semester." Fine simply turned and nodded at the random remark before walking out the door. Lex leaned against the podium and wondered how things were going on the other end.

Feeling the phone in his pocket vibrate, he picked it up and saw the number. "Hey, how did it go?"

"It's a basement job, but I'm in enough to give me access to records and a computer database here. The only problem is my computer hacker didn't exactly switch dimensions with us." He could hear the stress in Lois's voice. In their life, Jimmy found and cracked everything for them. This would be harder to do.

Clark ran his hand along his bald head in frustration as the lights started to dim in the classroom. "Ok, get what you can and meet me back at the mansion." Looking at the other number calling, he knew he had to cut it short. "Lionel is on the other line. He's taking care of the business side of things. See you soon."

With Lois as Chloe now embedded at the Daily Planet, things were about to get a whole lot easier, as long as no computers were involved. Picking up an errant piece of paper off the floor, Clark read the notes, made a basket from across the room and left, without seeing that Fine had never left the room at all.

********

After ceremoniously carrying Lois over the threshold even though she had been at his apartment times before, Clark put her down and started for the phone just to have his hand taken again.

"What are you doing? That's why we have time off where we don't have to work," Lois devilishly smiled as she ran her hands up and down Clark's chest.

Lex wanted to groan. First, this was the exact type of woman that he intended to avoid on purpose in Smallville because he was Lex Luthor and second, this, he was now convinced, was not his Lois. He was smart though. He knew not to come out and ask straightaway if she knew where Chloe was. He wasn't sure what the situation was except that he, or Clark, was now married to a clone.

"I'm just making one phone call before we call it a night." He kissed her on the forehead. Gazing into her proud, happy eyes, she was something if not completely real in look and feel. She's not Lois, she's not even Chloe, he kept repeating to himself in order to keep his hands at bay. "Now, why don't you go freshen up and maybe find something easier than the dress to lounge in."

Lois turned and smiled before pressing her lips firmly to his. Lex uncharacteristically grunted in surprise as she left and grabbed him in the crotch just to return as he picked up the receiver. "Honey," Lois pouted. "I need help out of the dress."

Lex put the phone down again and smiled. His will was slowly fading as the thing in front of him was just as human without the brains. She felt just like the Lois in this time, just no soul. Playing along, he twisted her around and heard her yelp in excitement as he started each button of the dress. Slowly, the back revealed the extra layers underneath and he sighed, knowing there were still parts she had covered. Kissing the back of her neck down to her shoulder, he ran his hands down her soft skin and whispered, "There. Now I'll be just a few minutes."

Lois held her dress up around her as she turned and giggled before disappearing into the bathroom. Lex rolled his eyes and vowed that cloning would only happen for him when the person is the exact copy and not some sex crazed child version. Picking up the receiver again, he quickly called the church.

"St. Anthony's."

"Yes, this is Clark Kent and I was wondering if I could talk to the officiant that had me and my wife sign the marriage license?"

"Mr. Kent, he has left for the evening, but he did deliver the license after the preacher signed it. It will be filed with the county. Mr. Oberhause should be in tomorrow morning at 9. Is there anything else?"

Lex didn't know what else to ask that wouldn't give away the situation. "No thank you. Have a good evening." Lex hit end on the receiver and heard the shower start knowing it bought him a little more time. He dialed another number.

"Clark? Honey?"

"Hi mom," Lex said with a strange sense of reluctance. "I needed to talk to you about something." Lex kept a close eye on the bathroom and continued to listen as the water ran. "Did something strange happen today while we were all at the wedding?"

"I don't think so, but your father is in watching the news." Lex could hear Martha walk across the room in hotel they had finally found. Hearing silence from his folks, he could hear the television in the background and knew he had a serious problem.

"Mom, you and dad stay put there. Call if something go awry and I'll personally take you to the airport. And if Lois happens to come visit you or her parents, just act normal."

"Clark what's going on?"

Lex debated quietly to himself about telling them the truth and remembered that Clark always told his parents everything or so it seemed. At least this Jonathon wasn't as judgmental. "I think Lois is a clone."

Hearing the parents both gasp, he suddenly felt very protective over people he had only met a few days earlier. "It's ok, but I'll talk to you soon. The shower just stopped."

"Son, what are you going to do? It's your wedding night." Lex knew exactly what his father meant. The clone knew no difference in that she only played the part.

"Act natural, but stall. Goodnight." Quickly hanging the phone up, he watched the door and spun out of his tux and into his robe, preparing a bottle of champagne along the way. Sitting down on the couch, he smiled.

Lois opened the door and sighed at her new husband. Nervous about her first night that she could really remember, she pulled up her long silk gown and sat with him. "Are you trying to romance me Mr. Kent?"

Clark smiled as he kissed her shoulder and felt her quiver. "Is it working Mrs. Kent?"

************

Chloe nodded her head back and forth and squinted, but still only saw fuzz. Moaning in the chair, she felt something in her mouth and around her hands and feet. Opening her eyes, she looked over and eyed the man she had signed the marriage license with and then couldn't remember.

"The whole time I was away I was consumed by the memory of your beauty. The memory, I can assure you, did not do you justice." The man glanced in Chloe's direction just as she was starting to put the pieces together.

Chloe eyed the chemical the man rubbed on his face after removing the wig just to see more hair, strange brown curls atop the man's head. More curious than afraid at the moment, Chloe continued to watch as the special effects makeup started to peel from the edges and the man gave the mask a tug.

Chloe watched as the man's face came into full view and then swallowed as the man that was this dimension's Lex Luthor turned to gaze at her with what could only be described as predatory passion. Letting out a sigh, she knew that her Lex was then married to a clone.

As Lex removed his mask and the glue, Chloe continued wondering if her Lex had figured it out yet. He was smart, but not quite the villain that he obviously could become. She had to find a way out. Just tell this Lex the truth that he doesn't even have the right Lois Lane. That wouldn't work.

Then she was curious if people were actually looking for this Lex. Missing half the day, she knew there was much more to the story than she was allowed access. Then how to play this Lex. Was flight, fight, or give in the easiest way to have him fold to her. Careful, she knew Lois would be terrified and played that card as he watched her from the mirror.

********

Lionel paced the mansion study thinking about the fascinating meeting that Clark and Lex both had with Fine. Knowing that business was suddenly taking a backseat to the situation at hand, he had stopped by the warehouse that his real son, Lex, had secretly housed away a space ship.

The piece was remarkable. The lines, not even lines really, more like liquid that seemed to move with the motions of your own hand. Scientists, the best in the world, couldn't scratch, crack, tear, or otherwise break it with any known earthly object, not even diamond. Still, the cameras in the building would cease to work and pick up static only at what where precise times at night and even during the day.

These schedules he had already sent to the Daily Planet to Chloe, or Lois, either of which Lionel had learned could dig up a story if there was one there. Lex, or Clark, was a little harder to crack. Softer than his own son, he knew that this Clark had seen much more and experienced much more than the Smallville Clark, which made him a worthy alibi. Still worried about Fine sniffing out the possible difference in personality, he had sent Lex to Metropolis to meet up with Chloe.

"Mr. Luthor sir, a visitor," the butler announced before opening the door and remaining present for the meeting.

Lionel turned and glanced at the gangly looking man. "Ahh, Professor Fine, the muckraker of the Luthor dynasty. My son said he had a very interesting, yet brief conversation with you."

Fine nodded at the odd choice of Luthors he was introduced to. "I guess I should be impressed and should have brought my pencil where the great teacher of Lex Luthor could entertain me with his version of corporate villainy."

Lionel laughed. This man was out of his league and not a college professor by any stretch of his imagination. "So what gifts did you bring me?"

Fine laid the documents down on the pooltable and smiled. "Your son asked, maybe said, he was going to look in on my past since I was inspecting his. So I am saving him the trouble. In there is every success, every failure."

Lionel pushed the papers around. Records from supposed schools he had worked, attended. Feeling for official stamps, the papers, the biography of the man in front of him, easily forged. He had played the infantile card of the same way once before. "And you expect Lex to swallow all this? If you consider me the teacher of the great villain, you must know that I have played this trick before." Leaning into the professor, he grinned. "You're going to have to try harder."

Lionel, pleased with himself, watched as Fine recalculated in his head the next move. To his credit, he was fully expecting Lex and was already off balance with the surprise elder. Lionel took a swig of the scotch on the bar and smiled.

"You may want to look at the last page Mr. Luthor. Even the man behind the villain would be surprised."

Lionel flipped to the back of the stack and glanced at the papers before looking at Fine. "How did you get this?"

"I think the board at the university would be interested in how funding from Luthorcorp to the university is only being used to fund questionable experiments for Luthorcorp's bottom line. On campus, but off the corporate books, and by your expression, not under daddy's watchful eye."

Lionel continued reading though the pieces and carefully plotted his next move that would be completed far before his real son returned. He watched as Fine played the rest of the balls that were on the pooltable before handing him the cue.

"I wonder what the university dean would think of your son then?" Fine locked eyes with Lionel. He was not one that he had anticipated having to work out in his equation. Still, the Luthors played almost identical. "Now, who's teaching the lessons Mr. Luthor."

Fine started out the door as Lionel nodded to the servant silently. Touching his lapel, the servant did the same before proceeding to follow Fine out of the mansion. Gulping down the last bit of the scotch, Lionel leaned against the table and eyed the experiments that Lex had started under his nose and behind his back. Fine may prove to be the enemy, but his son was not proving much better.

*********

Chloe sat at the desk in the Daily Planet when she heard a gasp from everyone on the basement floor. Looking up, she watched as Lex walked in and approached her desk. "Mr. Luthor, can I help you? You know this is the funeral and wedding announcement division?"

Clark resisted to the urge to lean on Lois' desk or grab her and kiss her. The urge was killing both of them. "We need to talk. My dad sent you some material?"

"Yeah, when he sent the information over the main fax machine with a Luthorcorp logo on the top, even the main editor began thinking he had me in the wrong place. Let's go upstairs to the conference room." Chloe grabbed the file off the desk and led Lex up the stairs back into the main foyer of the Daily Planet.

The editor, Mrs. Kahn, came out of her office and watched as her new hire and the most famous man in Metropolis disappeared into the conference room. Now her curiosity peaked. Knowing that as a teenager, Sullivan had easily been given a gift of a column by Lionel Luthor, she wondered now if there was more to the story. Ordering up a copy boy, she made excuses to watch the room as the last shade closed.

Inside the room, Lois and Clark both sighed before Clark pushed Lois up against the railing of the window. "God, I need you, just to taste you."

"Even with my blond hair? Sounds a little kinky," Lois joked about the obvious out of body make out session. Wanting to make another joke, she swallowed them as lip clung to her and a hand went up her blouse. Feeling the man that she knew as Clark cupping her breast in his hand, she leaned her body forward to feel the bulge in his pants.

"I don't care who the hell I look like, they can fix it when we get back to normal," Clark grunted out as he felt Lois' hands on the back of his bald head. Propping her up, she wrapped her legs around him and rode him as much as she could before reality clicked.

Pulling out of the breathless kiss, Lois moaned. "Clark, they saw a freshman college student and a billionaire walk in here. We can't be caught this way." Instantly, Clark stepped back and Let Lois fall gently to the ground and straighten out her clothes.

"Right," He looked at the woman in front of him. Chloe had natural beauty like his Lois, but something else he liked. "What do you think of her clothes?"

Lois looked at him as she opened the file. "They're nice, smart looking actually. Why?" Lois waited for Clark to answer and smiled. Maybe she would look for something like it when they returned, if they returned. Looking back at the charts that Lionel sent, she glanced up at Clark and shook her head. The irony still got to her.

"The spikes and static are all between midnight and five a.m. And again in between two and five in the afternoon. It's as if someone is tripping the outlet to sleep or take a break." Lois continued looking over the other numbers in the report and Clark read over the numbers.

"Clark has a class at nine and then works in Fine's office from one to six." Clark stopped as Lois looked up at him.

"What is it?"

"Clark says Fine's never there from two to five. He takes his lunch then. Do you think..."

"Chloe," a knock at the door accompanied the greeting before the door opened. "Ms. Sullivan, Mr. Luthor. I am hoping we are not infringing on anything of importance but we a have a resource for a front pager that needs the room if you two kids are done."

Clark looked at the older woman and nearly wanted to laugh. Looking at Chloe gathering her things, he noticed the reason as her lipstick was slightly smudged. Leaning over her at the table, he whispered something and Mrs. Kahn watched Chloe discreetly wipe the side of her lip.

As the two started leaving the room, Lex felt a hand on his arm. "Mr. Luthor, I understand the need for your privacy but please do not bring your lack of integrity into my newsroom."

Lois watched in awe as a look of anger that she never had seen on Clark's face appear on this Lex's face. She had seen that look in her dimension before.

"Your newsroom?" Lex quietly responded to the chief. Nodding in Chloe's direction, he headed up the stairs knowing what it would take to keep all these changes under wraps.