Chapter 26 - Trap
Lex arrived back at the farm before Martha did on her first day of work. He figured she would probably be late, getting her bearings, so he brought home takeout from a restaurant he thought his family would like. He doubted it would be as good as her cooking, but she would need the break.
Martha usually gave him a hug when he arrived home, so when she walked in, looking much more exhausted than he was expecting, he opened his arms for her.
It wasn't her usual hug. She clung onto him, her arms shaking.
He rubbed her back a little, the way she usually did for him when he was distressed. "What's going on, Mom?"
"Lionel was at the plant."
He pulled back, holding her at arm's length. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you, threaten you?"
"No, nothing like that. He told me that . . . that we weren't the first family you'd attached to."
Lex frowned. "What do you mean?"
"He said that there was another couple, back when you lived in Metropolis. He said you called them your parents, but it was all a game, and they were devastated when you lost interest in them."
Lex's blood boiled. Making up stories outright wasn't a commonly used page of the Luthor playbook, but this wasn't the first time, either. "None of it is true," he said. "I promise." Direct denial was also not a Luthor thing to do, but Lex had learned from the last time he'd been accused of something he didn't do.
"I know, sweetie." She cradled his face in her hand. "He doesn't give up, does he?"
"It runs in the family." Lex swallowed as she took her hand away. "What did you say?"
"I, uh . . ." Her face turned red. "I punched him."
Lex blinked. "You—you what?"
"I lost my temper, and I punched him in the face." She turned her hand over, showing her knuckles, which were badly swollen. "Hopefully he won't give you a hard time because of it."
"Ah. I—I don't think . . ." Lex didn't know what to say. He wouldn't have expected that from his mom, though he supposed it shouldn't really have surprised him, given her tenacity. "Wow."
"Will it be a problem?"
"Uh . . ." Lex turned away, considering. On the one hand, Lionel wasn't one to allow an insult or slight to pass quietly. On the other hand, a punch to the face wasn't the kind of insult that most aggravated Lionel. Attacks to his power and sense of control were much more dangerous. He couldn't think of many people who had actually had the nerve to strike his biological father in the first place. At best, Lionel might actually find it impressive or amusing. At worst, he'd be embarrassed.
"Well?"
"Honestly, I don't think you need to worry. Not about this." Lex gave her a slight smirk. "Now, if he finds out my research team hacked into his files, it might be a different story. But I'll take the brunt of his wrath for that one."
He'd meant that to be comforting, but one look at her face reminded him that it was anything but.
"No, Mom, I'll be fine." He smiled. "I've survived him for twenty-three years."
"Twenty-four, now."
Lex looked down at his hands. "Ah. I guess you're right."
Martha beamed, went over to the fridge, and took out a frosted cake. "You didn't think I'd forget, did you?"
He breathed in to ask when on earth she'd had time to make and decorate a cake, but he just chuckled instead. He'd learned not to ask.
His mother pulled him into her arms again. "Happy birthday, sweetie."
"Thanks, Mom," he said, relaxing into the embrace. He refrained from reminding her that the hug meant as much as, if not more than, the cake. That kind of talk just made her sad.
Lex made sure to get a full report from Martha on everything that was happening at Lionel's labs. She was able to give him a bit more information than the team had brought him before. From what he could tell, she'd contributed to their understanding a little with insights about why Lionel might have made certain decisions over others, and she'd made a couple of suggestions to help avoid getting caught, but she was no scientist—putting her on the team didn't lead to any sudden breakthroughs. The biggest advantage to having her in charge of the team was the fact that he had no doubt he could trust her entirely.
But there was one other advantage to having her on the team: she had some tactical suggestions for how to handle the situation that the scientists on the team couldn't have suggested—they were always asking about whether they could replicate the experiments, and he was constantly having to shut them down.
Martha suggested that he take the risk of revealing some of the things he knew as a bargaining chip, and then ask for a project to work on for his time in Metropolis, a part time position of sorts. It would give him a chance to explore the less ethical practices at LuthorCorp; most of them wouldn't be worth exploiting, as the legal repercussions would be little more than a wrist slap, but some would inevitably be more egregious.
It was much, much better than waiting for Lionel to find out he'd hacked into the LuthorCorp files. This way, he'd have the upper hand, use the information to his own advantage.
Lex arrived an hour early for work the following Monday. Using the information as leverage, he worked his way through the layers of security. He didn't make it all the way into the lab in the hour he had, but he managed to get ahold of a sample from the lab, and he bribed and threatened until he found out what it did.
His scientists had been right. Lionel was raising the dead. And he was holding human test subjects captive to do it.
Lex didn't bother with greetings when he arrived at Lionel's office. He marched right up to his desk and placed down the vial.
Lionel picked up the vial, mock confusion on his face. Confusion was the one emotion Luthors were never quite able to fake. "What is this?"
"An experimental medication. Not exactly FDA approved, but I assume you're working on the patent."
Lionel scoffed. "Lex, I don't have time for twenty questions."
"I know about the lab at Metron. It gives new meaning to the term Human Resources."
"You know, there are hundreds of projects in development at LuthorCorp. You'll have to forgive me if I'm not current on all the details about, ah, what, Metron?" He picked up his coffee cup and sipped at it.
"You're secretly developing a serum that has a certain Lazarus effect on the dearly departed."
"Resuscitating the dead?" Lionel raised his eyebrows.
Lex opened his briefcase, pulling out a file. "So far, the Kafkaesque trials have caused patient's bodies to deteriorate while their minds retain consciousness. It sort of bypasses the code of ethics, but I suppose if you were successful, it could mean business."
Lionel took the file and glanced through the papers. "I applaud your moral outrage, but, um, these papers don't specifically confirm any of your accusations, son."
"Although, they would raise a few eyebrows at the Daily Planet."
Lionel laughed—a sound Lex had learned to fear. "What do you want, Lex? Do you want me to shut down the project?"
"No, of course not." Lex steeled himself. "I want to be put in charge of it."
Lex should have known that Lionel had given into his demands too quickly.
The paperwork was drawn up in minutes, and the whole project transfer took less than an hour. He shouldn't have been surprised to find out that there had been instabilities brewing in the project. Eight people were dead by the end of the day, and Lex had just signed the papers that said it was all his fault.
He should have known.
"What do I keep telling you, Lex?" his darkness taunted. "You're going soft."
That was big talk from his inner darkness, considering it had done nothing to warn him this was coming, and considering it wasn't make any suggestions as to what to do next.
"Make a deal with the FBI, get them to put a wire on you, pick up evidence when you're with Lionel. It'll save you and take him down."
As much as Lex hated to take advice from his inner darkness, he had to admit the idea had merit. It would save him from going to prison, and it would be the first real progress he'd made in his fight against Lionel. Jonathan would hate it if he knew Lex was taking his dark side's advice, but he'd also hate it if Lex got himself sent to prison just because Lex didn't want to entertain suggestions from the other side of his mind.
He'd just hold off on telling Jonathan exactly where the idea had come from. It wouldn't be a problem if he didn't make a habit of it.
He could have been imagining it, but he almost thought he could feel his darker side humming to itself.
Lex headed back to the mansion to prepare for the fall out. He was lucky he managed to get a call in to his lawyer before the police showed up to arrest him. He was already in hand cuffs when FBI Agent Loder showed up.
"This better be important," Loder said. "Your lawyer may have friends in high places, but I'm not a believer in the trickle-down theory."
"I want to make a deal." Lex rubbed his wrists, which were
"Why should I do that? From what I understand, they're building a strong case against you."
"As flattered as I am to be the object of so much attention, you and I both know I'm only the consolation prize."
Loder crossed his arms. "I'm listening."
"Tell the cops to drop the charges and give me immunity, and I'll give you the biggest arrest of your career."
"What are we talking about?"
Lex couldn't quite hide the tears in his eyes when he made the offer: "I'll help you bring down my father."
A/N: I just want you all to know: this story isn't 100% prewritten or outlined, but I'm expecting it to be about the same length as If She Looked Over.
