Apologies for the delay, writers block and a lack of internet are to blame.

The sun beating down onto the back of her neck, Martha was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of tyres on farm's dirt track road. She looked up from her planting, her hand rising to shade her eyes from the sun, squinting as she attempted to make out who was visiting. For a moment, her heart skittered and stopped at the sight of the expensive black vehicle that was slowing as it drew to a halt. Then she took in the soft top and the over the top alloys and felt herself calm. There was an instant that she had feared it was Lionel, she hadn't heard from him in the two weeks since their confrontation, since he had returned to Metropolis and his silence unnerved her. She knew him too well to believe that he was willing to let any suspicions he had about Clark and his belief that she had stolen from him slide, and so all she could do now was wait for his next move. Clearly it wasn't to be today, the car was too small and too flashy to fit Lionel's taste, he liked sleek and elegant and he would never dream of driving himself.

Her thoughts proved to be correct when she saw Lex step out of the car, adjusting his sunglasses as he looked around the farm, a faint smile settling on his mouth when he spotted her, his hand raising in a brief greeting. Martha settled back on her heels, watching the dust from the road settle onto his sparkling paint work, and called out a reminder to him, "Clark is in school."

His smile momentarily widened, walking closer as he replied, "I might have been lax in attending my expensive school, but I do vaguely remember the class times. It's actually you I'm here to see."

Martha couldn't help the flicker of surprise that crossed her features at Lex's words. She pushed herself quickly to her feet - too quickly – and felt herself stumble slightly, a cold sweat prickling her skin as her vision blurred in at the edges. The moment passed and she shook her head as she sucked in a few deep breaths, suddenly aware that Lex was next to her, his arm around her, his face pinched in concern. She blinked away the last of the fuzziness she felt, barely cognizant of Lex murmur of concern as she realised that her hand was curled into the sleeve of his jacket, pressing a fair amount of dirt into the no doubt expensive material. "Your suit," she muttered, frowning at the mark as she drew her hand away.

Lex gave a careless shrug. "It doesn't matter," he assured her. He frowned down at her. "Are you well?"

"Yes," she replied quickly, shooting him a brief smile, "It's surprisingly warm today and I think I stood up too quickly." Dusting her hands off her jeans, she continued, "Now how can I help you?"

Lex tilted his head, taking in the colour that was returning to Martha's cheeks and decided to let the last minute or so pass, she otherwise looked well, and after all her reasoning behind her stumble made sense, he was aware from his recent discussions with Clark that she was working all hours on the farm. "I had a proposition that I would like to discuss with you."

Looking at him with undisguised curiosity, Martha nodded as she replied, "Well then I suggest we take this inside, get out of this heat." She stepped past him adding, "You wouldn't think it was only April."

Stepping into the farmhouse, Martha went to the sink and washed her hands quickly and vigorously, glancing at Lex to see him looking around, a small smile on his face as his head tilted. "Is that home baking I smell?" He asked hopefully, suddenly sounding years younger as he glanced around the room.

Martha couldn't help but smile at his tone, her eyes meeting his as she nodded, "It is, peanut butter cookies. She gestured towards the cooling rack that was resting next to the oven. "Help yourself."

"Clark won't mind?"

"He doesn't know about them, and even with his impressive appetite he will struggle to eat all of them," she remarked, a lilt of amusement in her tone.

"As long as I'm not diminishing your share."

Her nose wrinkling slightly, Martha shook her head. "I've not really been in the mood for cookies of late, but they're one of Clark's favourites and he's been doing so much work around the farm…" She gave a small shrug. "I thought he deserved a treat."

Picking up a cookie, Lex paused and remarked with faux casualness, "He can't be the only one having to pick up the slack." His eyes lifted and met hers as he continued, "It must be quite the adjustment now your farmhands are gone."

Now they were getting to the point, Martha thought to herself. Lex could be very like his father but he didn't quite meet Lionel's talent for subtlety, yet. Pulling out a jug of lemonade from the fridge, she poured two glasses and pushed one towards Lex, answering, "It is, but we'll manage. After all we managed for months beforehand."

"You did," he acknowledged, "but it's hardly ideal."

"Life seldom is, but then I doubt you came here to discuss the vagaries of life." Her eyebrow arched.

Lex made a soft noise of amusement, he wasn't surprised that his father had enjoyed the company of Martha Kent, he appreciated quick wit and enjoyed a challenge. She had quite often been in the background of his interactions with the Kent's, but it turned out there was much more to her than just a farmwife. "You're right," he admitted. "I came to offer you a job."

She was surprised at his words and she leaned against the kitchen countertop. "A job?" she echoed. "And why would you do that? Did Clark put you up to it?" She asked suddenly, a hint of suspicion creeping into her tone.

"He didn't," Lex assured her. "However, he did mention that you seemed to be missing work." He didn't mention that Clark had expressed a concern that she was reacting to the sudden change by throwing herself into farm work and exhausting herself in the process.

Bristling slightly, Martha folded her arms across herself. "I appreciate my sons concern, but I don't need you to offer me a job out of pity."

Lex shook his head. "I wouldn't offer anybody a job out of pity. In that respect I'm my father's son," he remarked ruefully. "But what Clark said got me thinking." He took a sip of lemonade before continuing, "Trying to find a personal assistant who met all of my father's sometime ludicrous demands had become the bane of my existence. You are the only one out of the many, and I mean many, over the years that he has ever had a good word to say about, even after you handed in your resignation. That's no small feat and looking at your record of work with him, I would be foolish not to try and recruit you into my business now that you're available." He gave a casual one shouldered shrug. "That's of course if you wanted to return to the working world."

"Coy doesn't suit you Lex," she told him calmly. "So, given that you have multiple assistants already, what is it you're offering me?"

Straight to the point, he liked that. "It's the Talon. Lana has done a…she's done well to get the Talon up and running," he stated carefully and diplomatically. "But she has school and what everything with Whitney and her aunt moving away, she doesn't really have the time to manage a business." He didn't want to add that the account keeping was abysmal, she would find that out soon enough, and that she struggled at times to manage the staff. "It needs a manager, a full time one and I believe that you are the right person to take on that role."

Martha arched an eyebrow at him, still slightly unconvinced that this wasn't just another of Lex's generous offers to her family to repay Clark for saving his life. "And why is that? After all I have no managerial experience."

Lex gave a quiet chuckle under his breath. "You aren't going to make this easy for me, are you?"

"I just want to be certain that I'm being offered a job based on my own merits and not because you feel you have a debt to pay."

He had the grace to look slightly embarrassed at her words, if only she knew how big that debt was. Clark had saved his life and in return he had set that tacky journalist on him, the same journalist who had been found dead only yards away from Jonathan Kent. The guilt clawed at him, the memory of that frantic, excited last message that stated he had found something big would echo in his head some nights as he wondered if that's why Mr Kent hadn't been in the storm shelter with his wife, where he should have been. He wanted, no needed, to make life easier, better for them but he knew they wouldn't accept his charity and he dreaded to think how they would react if they knew his secret. "I'll admit that I owe Clark a great deal," he replied carefully. "But there would be multiple ways I could offer that help that would avoid putting you in a position of responsibility in one of my business ventures. I'm offering you this job because I know you can do it and because I would prefer to hire someone who knows the town." He gave a shrug, his hands open in a plaintive manner. "It's what's best for the business."

"And you hope if it was me then it would be easier to persuade Lana to take a back seat."

Lex nodded. "There is that, she finds it…difficult to separate her personal emotions from what is best for the business."

"One of the pitfalls of being a teenager."

"Indeed, but not something I want to spend large amounts of my time dealing with." He eyed the tray of cookies again. "And needless to say, my terms of employment would be generous."

"You can have as many of those as you like," Martha told him, unable to stop herself from smiling at the way he then quickly scooped three cookies into his hand. "I'm sure it would be generous, but what I would prefer is a realistic offer. I mean it Lex, I don't want special treatment."

"Admirable. Alright," he gave a mock long-suffering sigh. "I'll cancel the personal jet."

Martha's mouth twitched as she tried not to smile at him, she knew that would just encourage him to continue trying to push his luck, trying to get her to accept more than she should. "That sounds wise."

"So, what if I match your previous salary, including the farm hands of course." He held up a hand. "Which before you argue, is a reasonable offer, after all you'll be in sole charge of the day to day running as well as advertising and promoting the business and you can't give that your full attention if you're worried about everything that needs done here."

She couldn't deny that his logic made sense but she also knew that he was trying to make her and Clark's life easier, a fact that Jonathan could never reconcile himself with. Martha gave a thoughtful sigh, she didn't want charity but then again she knew she was capable of the job and he was right, if she had no-one to help on the farm then she couldn't take it on. It wouldn't be fair to expect Clark to run the entire farm, he had to build his own life and if he chose the farm then she wanted it to because that's what he wanted and not because he felt he had to. Jonathan would tell her to turn the offer down, to find another way rather than to place herself at the mercy of the Luthor's, but then she had none of her husband's stubborn pride. Lex and Lionel were similar in so many ways but they weren't the same, you couldn't hold the son accountable for the acts of the father. Then there was the simple truth that she simply wanted to work, she enjoyed it, enjoyed the challenge. Finally, she answered him. "When do you want me to start?"

His eyes gleamed with triumph. "Monday," he replied firmly. "I'll arrange for the same farmhands you had before so they will know what needs done and where everything is."

"You've got a deal." Martha refilled his lemonade glass as she added, "Now, tell me about Helen."

Lex broke into a wide smile that he instantly tried to hide as he asked, "Has Clark mentioned her?"

"He has, but I'd like to hear it from you." She nodded towards the stools, watching him hoist himself onto one before sitting opposite. Sitting back slightly she listened to Lex, because really, she thought it was about time that someone took an interest.