Title: Yes I Am
Author: PepperjackCandy
Series: No
Archive : LexSlash, my writing at fanfiction.net
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Clark/Lex, other
Category: Romance
Spoilers for: References to Rogue, sort of hinty-conjectury thing for Zero.
Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics.
Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net.
A/N: Contains sort of hinty-thing based on (a) LexLovesClark's screencaps of the spoiler promo and (b) my own conjecture based on reading an article in the Smallville Ledger.
Thanks to c1everish for the beta.
This was suggested by Cat, who requested a fic using Melissa Etheridge's "Like the Way I Do" for a Lex/Clark confontation over Vicky. It sort of expanded on me, and now contains six scenes/plot developments inspired by different Melissa Etheridge songs (seven, including the title). List of songs/scenes will follow in world o' author's notes to be posted as Chapter 2 at ff.net.
=======
"Phelan could really have hurt you, Clark." Lex leaned across the table towards the younger man.
Clark wanted to tell Lex that Phelan couldn't have hurt him -- physically, at least -- but knew that would be too close to admitting his secrets to his friend. "I know. But he didn't. I'm fine. You're fine. It's all over."
Lex seemed to be able to see the omission in Clark's response. Nevertheless, he said, "You're right. It is all over."
The tension between the two dissipated and Lex leaned back. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, sipping at their coffees and enjoying being together.
The serenity was broken by the arrival of Victoria. She didn't intrude loudly, but she did intrude, sliding into their booth with nothing but a quiet, "There you are, Lex."
Clark tensed up. He hadn't warmed up to Victoria, but she was Lex's friend, and so he mustered up a small smile. "Good evening, Victoria."
Victoria looked across at Clark, seeming to be surprised to find him there. "Oh. Hello, Clark."
Then, she pouted at Lex. "I thought we were going to spend the evening at the castle together. Alone." She reached her right hand up and ran one burgundy-tinted fingernail down the outside curve of Lex's ear. Lex closed his eyes and shivered with pleasure.
Clark's stomach tensed up, and before he knew what he was doing, he stood, "I just noticed the time. I've got to run."
Without a backward glance, he dashed toward the door of the coffee shop. Near the door, he collided with someone. "Sorry." He said as he looked down into a cherubic face with bright blue, piercing eyes. He shrank away from the girl's gaze and nearly ran for the door.
"No problem." She said to his retreating figure.
Once he was outside, Clark lurked in the shadows and watched the coffee shop, keeping an eye on Lex and Victoria's window. Victoria slid in closer towards Lex, pressing her lipsticked lips to his. Clark could almost hear Lex's moan as he gave himself up to her kiss.
After a minute or so, Victoria and Lex separated and Lex said something to her, his eyes half-lidded and sultry, and together, they stood and walked, hand-in-hand, from the coffee shop.
Why am I doing this? Clark wondered as he stalked behind Lex and Victoria as they walked, arms around each others' waists, back to Lex's car.
Lex opened the passenger's side door for Victoria and kissed her.
Looks like he's trying to eat her. Clark thought, caught between fascination and revulsion.
When Lex's hand moved to cup Victoria's breast, Clark ran home as quickly as he could.
~~~
Lex looked across the table at Clark. He'd spent the previous week shadowing Clark, playing guardian angel, and he'd do it all over again to keep his own, personal, guardian angel safe. He leaned across the table. "Phelan could really have hurt you, Clark."
As usual, Clark was too nonchalant about his own safety. "I know. But he didn't. I'm fine. You're fine. It's all over."
He wanted to insist, argue, something. But the fight went out of him as he realized that he should just be grateful that Clark was still here. With him. "You're right. It is all over."
Clark gave Lex one of his heart-stopping smiles, then, and Lex allowed himself to bask in the glow -- just for a few minutes.
Then Victoria arrived. "There you are, Lex." She cooed as she slid into the booth next to him.
Lex stiffened. He'd left the castle to get *away* from her.
Clark, ever polite, offered Victoria a smile and said, "Good evening, Victoria."
"Oh. Hello, Clark." Victoria said, then dismissed him, pouting at Lex. "I thought we were going to spend the evening at the castle together. Alone." She ran a fingernail along the edge of Lex's ear and he closed his eyes, pretending that the ostriches were right to stick their own heads in the sand, and that if he couldn't see Clark, Clark couldn't see him prostituting himself like this. Distaste at his own behavior made him shudder.
Well, apparently, the ostriches were close. Closing his eyes made Clark leave. "I just noticed the time. I've got to run."
And then Clark was gone.
The deal he'd struck with Victoria, his body in exchange for a leg up within Hardwick Enterprises, was easier to follow through on with Clark gone. Without those blue eyes, those accusing blue eyes, those beloved blue eyes, watching him.
"So now that we've gotten rid of the child, what do you say we go back to Castle Luthor, hmm?" Victoria purred in a way that Lex had once found incredibly enticing.
And he could still find it arousing, or at least, arousing enough. "Mmm. Sounds good to me." He murmured back as she raised her brightly-colored lips to his.
He gave himself up to her kiss, drowning in the sensations, submerging his unfortunate attraction to Clark Kent in a wealth of auburn hair and expensive perfume.
She pulled back from him, both dazed and breathing heavily. "Why don't we take this somewhere less public?"
"You used to get off doing it in public, Victoria."
"I still do. Just not quite this public."
He smirked and took her hand, leading her from the coffee shop.
They walked with their arms around each others' waists back to his car, and as he opened the passenger's side door for her, she whispered, "Now *this* is the kind of public display I could get off on."
She kissed him, hot and sweet, and wet. Not the kiss he was longing for, but it was *a* kiss, and he responded, pushing her backwards into the car as a sudden breeze sprung up, making his jacket tails dance.
~~~
Clark ran home. He tried to bury himself in homework, but images of Lex there under the streetlight, pressed up against Victoria, wouldn't leave him alone. What was he doing with her now?
He stood and paced back and forth, images of Lex and Victoria kissing flashing back and forth with memories of the porno movie he and Pete watched on the sly when his brother had left one in the living room the previous summer.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He walked out to the barn, then up to the Fortress, looking into the telescope at what Lex jokingly referred to as Castle Luthor. The windows of the castle were dark, except for a faint glow in what Clark guessed was probably Lex's bedroom.
Before he had time to reject this course of action, Clark was standing beneath the balcony outside of the window. He stared up at the window, then let his eyes examine the stone walls of the castle. They were fairly rough, and with his extra strength, Clark was pretty sure he could scale the wall.
He quickly, quietly, climbed the wall, finally clambering over the stone railing onto the balcony.
What he saw inside made him vault from the balcony and retch into the bushes below.
~~~
Lex awoke when he heard a muffled thump outside his bedroom window. He lifted his head up, but postcoital lethargy won. The dogs would be barking if it was an intruder. He assured himself, his head flopping back down onto the pillow.
"Lex?" Victoria's muffled voice came from somewhere in the vicinity of his chest.
Dammit "Nothing. Go back to sleep."
A quiet snoring told him that Victoria had followed his advice. He closed his eyes.
What would it be like, having Clark here in bed with me? Lex wondered. He spat a stray strand of Victoria's hair from his mouth. Less hair, for one thing.
He relaxed into his fantasy. Though Clark's hair . . . God! So thick and dark. I wish I'd invented that color.
Victoria shifted in her sleep, pushing her leg between his. His leg. Between mine. Longer than this. Firm. Well-muscled. Hairy. That got a reaction.
Now he was on a roll. His hands. His lips. Definitely his lips. Pouty, full, soft and pink.
Apparently, his arousal had awakened Victoria, because she was awake, her dark eyes reflecting the dying firelight. "Ready for another round?" She asked.
"Always."
~~~
Clark was sprawled on the ground beneath the window, the taste of coffee and stomach acid in his mouth. So. That's what vomiting feels like. He thought dazedly, once he could think again. *Not* something I'm in any hurry to experience any time soon.
Why the hell did I react that way? Let's see, sexy naked woman. No problem there. Sexy naked woman asleep. Her long, auburn hair . . . . That's fine . . . spread out over Lex. His stomach clenched and he looked back at the bush where he'd lost his lunch, wondering if he'd need it again.
Fortunately, he didn't.
He stood on shaky legs and began the trek home, thinking about this turn of events the whole way. It's not like Lex is unattractive. Images of Lex - his blue eyes the first time they saw each other by the bank of the river, that little dot of whipped cream on his upper lip at the Beanery, the way he came to make sure he and Clark were all right after Tina had robbed the bank, the wistful look in his eyes when he told Clark how he'd lost his hair, Lex putting his own life on the line to save his class from Earl . . . No. Not unattractive at all.
But when he was kissing Victoria, Clark flinched. And in bed with her, his stomach clenched.
Clark didn't like the direction his thoughts were taking. He started grasping at straws. Pete in bed with Victoria. Hm. Interesting . . . . But definitely not distressing.
So I guess I'm going to have to face facts. I don't want to share Lex with Victoria. I. . . He steeled himself and tried again. I want him for myself.
When he returned home, Clark spent a sleepless night tossing and turning. He went out to the barn and up to the loft, looking out at Castle Luthor longingly through the telescope. How can I do this to you, Lex? How can I repay your kindness, your friendship, with this . . . attraction to you? I can never, *ever*, let you know how I feel about you. We can only ever be friends.
~~~
Daylight Saturday morning found Clark already busily engaged in his assigned chores.
"Morning, Son." Jonathan said as he joined Clark in the barn.
"Morning, Dad."
"Sleep well?"
"Yeah."
"We didn't hear you come in last night."
"I was really, really quiet?"
"Hm."
"I was. I came in . . . a little later than usual. I had some thinking to do."
"About what?"
About how I'm apparently a gay alien. Or at least a bi alien? Who is in the process of dishonoring his best friend with his lustful intentions. "Stuff."
"Mmm. Girl 'stuff'?"
Clark nodded, hoping his father would leave it at that. "Sort of."
Jonathan laughed and clapped Clark on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Some day you and Lana will work this whole thing out."
Later, after his chores were done, Clark ate a hearty lunch, took a shower, and returned to the Beanery, hoping to just happen to run into Lex.
Some alt-rock song was playing on the overhead sound system as Clark sipped his coffee and did his reading for English.
"Hey."
Clark looked up, and into the blue eyes of . . . "You're the girl who . . ."
"Yeah. That bumped into you last night."
"I'm sorry . . ." He said.
"I wanted to apologize . . ." She began.
They laughed.
"May I join you?" She asked.
"Sure." He nodded.
She sat down across from him. "Gina."
"Clark."
"That's a nice name."
Clark nodded. "It was my mom's maiden name."
She laughed softly. "I was named for Gina Lollobrigida."
Clark crinkled his forehead confusedly at her.
"She was an old-time movie actress from Italy. My mom was nuts for old movies."
"Was?"
Gina shrugged. "She died a few years ago."
"Oh. So it's just you and your dad?"
"Yeah. I guess. So, I guess you're a local?"
Clark nodded. "That obvious?"
"Well, you're all . . . flannelly. Not much call for that even in Seattle, anymore."
Clark chuckled, looking at Gina's black shirt and pants with silver accessories. "And you're from . . ."
"Oh, here and there. Metropolis most recently. I'm a sophomore at Metropolis University, but I'm taking a semester off to travel."
"And so you started with Smallville, Kansas?"
She lifted a shoulder in a gesture approximating a shrug. "I'm a poli sci major. My dream is to represent Kansas in the U.S. Senate. In order to do that, I need to know my constituents."
"Well, you've come to the right place for that. We're the constituentest." He grinned at her as she smiled and rolled her eyes.
~~~
Lex woke up. He could feel someone else in bed with him and smiled. He could remember telling Clark that he loved him and then demonstrating that love in excruciating detail. Clark was still here.
"Lex?"
It was Victoria's voice. Clark's presence in his bed had been, as it always was, a dream. Way to kill a mood, Victoria. "Victoria."
She swiveled around so that her chin rested on Lex's chest. "Penny for your thoughts."
"Hardly worth that." He smiled. "Just thinking about this. Us."
Victoria smiled crookedly. "Us?"
Lex nodded. "Us."
As she moved up in the bed to kiss him, Lex thought, Yes, us. Because I don't dare aspire to what I really want.
~~~
Clark and Gina talked for hours, until Clark noticed the time.
"My mom should be putting dinner on the table any minute now."
"Oh. Well, then I'll let you go."
Something made him say, "No. Don't go. Come home and have dinner with my family. You don't know anyone here in town yet . . ."
She looked surprised and pleased. "Oh. I'd like that. Thank you."
Clark smiled widely.
They stood. "Ooh! I think I had too much coffee. I'll be right back." With a smile, she headed for the ladies' room.
He watched her walking away. He didn't know why, but something about her seemed familiar. Then a disturbing yet comforting thought came to him. Blue eyes. Black hair. From 'here and there.' You don't suppose she's from my home planet?
In the ladies' room, Gina came out of the stall and watched herself washing her hands. Gazing deeply into her own blue eyes, she whispered, "Divide and conquer. Remember, divide. and. conquer."
~~~
After dinner, Gina pushed herself away from the table and stood. "Thank you for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Kent. It was delicious. Can I help you clean up?"
"No, thank you, Gina."
"Gina?" Clark asked. "Why don't I show you the loft? I have a really great telescope up there."
Gina smiled at him. "That'd be nice."
After putting on their coats, they stepped out into the night. It was chilly enough that their cheeks soon turned rosy from it, their breath evaporating in steam as they walked.
"Well, here it is." Clark turned on the light and indicated his sanctuary.
"Very nice." Gina sounded genuinely impressed. "Your folks must love you a lot to give you a personal space like this."
"Yeah. They're great." Clark said, genuinely. He crossed to the telescope, joggling it slightly. He couldn't remember the last time he'd used it if he was watching the stars or Lex's castle. He'd never thought about it before, but he really had phased out watching Lana in favor of Lex as his feelings for his friend became . . . more. "Well, here's the telescope."
Gina walked to it and looked into it. She gasped. "Look at the moon!" She looked up at him. "You can see Neal Armstrong's footprints with this thing!"
"Rea - " Clark took a step forward, then realized she was kidding. "Ha, ha."
Gina laughed, scrunching her nose up in such a cute way that Clark had to laugh, too.
She stepped closer to him. "Clark?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you come here?"
"Sure." He walked over to her.
She stood, her full height just barely passing his pectoral muscles. But Clark still felt somehow overpowered by her as she looked up into his eyes, then down at his lips.
Is she going to kiss me? Clark thought dazedly.
She reached up and pulled his head downwards towards her own.
At the last second, Clark remembered her *blue* eyes and her *black* hair and stepped back. "Wait - Wait just a second."
"What?" She looked genuinely confused.
"Um, I don't know how to say this. I . . . was adopted."
"All right. . ."
"And, well, we have the same hair color, and eye color, and I was thinking that maybe . . ."
"We could be siblings?"
"Or something, yeah."
She laughed. "Not a problem, Clark. I know who my biological parents are. I got my coloring from my mother. I only have one sibling. A brother. Well, half-brother, technically. He lives with his mom. We have the same father."
"Oh."
"Yeah. So. Since we know that we aren't related, can I kiss you?"
"Um. Yeah." Clark blushed as he closed the distance between them.
Gina reached up and pulled Clark's head down again. "Close your eyes." She said as she pressed her lips gently to his.
Inside the house, Jonathan and Martha watched their son and the young woman kissing.
"You know, Clark said he was having girl trouble this morning. I assumed it was Lana. Apparently I was wrong." Jonathan said as he put his arm around his wife and kissed the top of her head.
~~~
Sunday, Clark showed Gina some of the sights of Smallville.
They hit some of the spots on Chloe's Wall of Weird, like the house where Abe Snodgrass used to live, before his goose started literally laying golden eggs. He now lived in a mansion in Keystone City.
They went to the more traditional sights, too. The Talon Theater, which had been in continuous operation for 62 years, the fountain on State and Main that had miraculously escaped damage in the meteor shower, and the giant ear of corn sculpture that had been commissioned by the chamber of commerce, ostensibly to commemorate the meteor shower, but rumor had it the reason was more linked to the fact that the mayor's grandson was an unemployed artist.
At noon, the bells in the tower of city hall chimed.
"Crap! Is it noon already?" Gina said.
"Yeah."
"I've got to run. I'm meeting a friend for lunch in Kerrville at one."
"Do you need a ride?"
"No. I've got my own car. But thanks, though." She walked over to him and lightly kissed him good-bye. "I'll see you when I get back?"
"Sure." Clark grinned.
He turned to head back toward home, and found himself face-to-face with Lex.
"Ah!" He exclaimed, startled.
"Sorry for startling you." Lex said with a curiously cold smile. "Who's your friend?"
He looked over Clark's shoulder at Gina's retreating form.
"Gina."
"Gina . . ."
"Thomas."
"You seemed awfully . . . close for having just met."
"Oh?"
"Well, I don't see you kissing Chloe or Pete, and you've known them a lot longer than you've known her."
"You think she's not pretty enough for me or something?"
"I just think she's not *Lana* enough for you. I busted my butt trying to get you with Lana, and. . . God!" Lex spun on his heel, turning away from Clark in his frustration.
Clark wondered how things became so contentious so quickly and sought to calm things down. He hurried to catch up to him. "Lex. You're my best friend. If you can't be happy for me and Gina, then . . . . How can you expect me to be happy about you and Victoria?"
"What does *that* have to do with anything?"
Clark wanted to grab Lex's shoulders and shake him. To grab him by the waist and pull him close for a kiss. To hit him over the head and drag him back to his cave by the . . . wait a second. Clark came back to his senses. That won't work. Lex doesn't have any hair.
"Nothing. All right?" What, Lex? What is it about Victoria? Why, Lex? Why her, and not me?
But Lex didn't hear his silent questions. "Fine. I'll talk to you later, Clark." With that, Lex turned on his heel and walked away.
Clark ran a hand through his hair as he watched Lex walk away. What can she give you that I can't? Brief flashes of female anatomy ran through his mind, and with it, a slight, frustrated, embarrassment. Not that. But he likes me. And trusts me. I can't believe he feels that way about . . . *her.*
Lex walked away from Clark trying desperately to resist giving away his frustration by running his hand over his scalp. Smooth, Luthor. Take up with Victoria and then get angry with Clark for getting himself a girlfriend. Like you have a claim on him.
Lex laughed softly, a vaguely manic sound. And what would you have done if he and Lana Lang had hooked up? Do you honestly believe that would ever have happened? Of course it wouldn't. It was *safe* to encourage Clark's infatuation with Lana, because Lana Lang is a silly, frivolous girl who wouldn't recognize the value of a guy like Clark if he was the last man on Earth. But this Gina. She's an unknown quantity. She could very well see how wonderful Clark is and I could lose him forever.
Lex had returned to his car by then and turned off the alarm before getting back in and driving away.
Clark waited until Lex had turned the corner and he was alone on the street before switching to his full speed and heading directly home.
~~~
Gina drove to the outskirts of town, onto the property of an abandoned farm. She opened the door of the barn, but it was dark inside, so she merely shouted "I'm here." Through the open door.
"Hello, darling." A woman's voice said throatily.
Gina turned, a sly grin on her face. "Let me just look at you for a second."
"Why look when you can . . ." Victoria crossed the distance between them in a few steps and gathered Gina into her arms, kissing her firmly, passionately, on the lips.
A few minutes later, they separated by a few inches. "God, I've missed you." Victoria sighed as she kissed Gina again.
"Me, too." Gina kissed Victoria, then lowered her head so that their foreheads rested against each other. "So, how're things on your end?"
Victoria smiled crookedly. "Just perfect. Lex thinks that I'm in this just to get a leg up at LuthorCorp. And you?"
"Well, I saw Lex walking up to Clark as I left. I think you were right. They just needed a little more to push them apart."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Victoria sighed. "I've seen Clark in action. He's remarkably dense when it comes to human nature. Always willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. If Lex recovers from his broken heart enough to confess to Clark, Clark will welcome him back with open arms, and we'll be back to square one."
"Well, then, I'll just have to let Clark in on a few of Lex's secrets, so he can know exactly what kind of person he's dealing with."
Victoria kissed Gina again. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
Victoria grinned, taking Gina by the hand. "It's been quite a task to do this without Lex finding out, but we diverted the water from the well out back here, and used the windmill to provide the power, and look what we have."
With a flourish, Victoria opened the door, indicating for Gina to walk inside.
Gina's jaw dropped. The inside of the barn had been turned into a loft apartment. "Wow."
"Thought you'd like it. Let me give you the tour."
~~~
Lex returned home, still stewing over seeing Clark and Gina together.
He walked right past the note from Victoria saying that she was meeting a friend for lunch and instead headed directly up to his bedroom. He pulled an ornate wooden box out from under his bed and moved to the fireplace, where the fire from the night before still smoldered.
He took out some small pieces of wood, gently coaxing the fire back to life. When he was certain it was strong enough, he added larger pieces of wood, until the fire blazed like new.
While the fire built back up to full strength, Lex picked up the phone and quickly punched ten numbers. "Frank? Lex Luthor."
He paused. "Just fine. Look, I need you to do a favor for me. I've got an old wreck here."
Another pause. "A Porsche. The body's completely scrapped, but I thought you might be able to find some salvageable parts."
Another pause. "No, you don't need to see me about it. Just ask Javier for the key to the garage when you get here. You can just take it away and do whatever you want with it."
Pause. "That's all right. Don't worry about the check. Send the money to your favorite charity or something."
Lex returned to the fireplace and opened the box, withdrawing from it a purple shirt, bloodstained and with a tiny tear in the cuff. With a grimace, Lex balled it up and tossed it into the flames.
While the shirt burned, Lex returned to the phone. He pressed one of the recorded numbers and waited while it rang. Then he sighed heavily. "Damn. Answering machine." He gathered his wits and said in his most professional, yet falsely cheerful, voice, "Nixon. Lex Luthor. You know that assignment you were working on for me? 86 it and bring me whatever you have right now. I've got a more important assignment for you to work on instead. I'll fill you in when you bring your results by."
By then, the shirt had all but disappeared. Lex returned to the box. He pulled out a notecard and skimmed it over. Luthor Hall. He read near the top. January 13, 2002 it said at the bottom. He tossed that neatly into the flames and watched it burn.
~~~
Gina and Victoria lay in bed, their clothes strewn around them on the floor of the loft apartment Victoria had built in this abandoned barn. Victoria leaned up, kissing Gina's sternum lightly.
"Why are you doing this?" Gina asked.
Victoria cocked an eye at her, silently asking if Gina didn't like being kissed like that.
"No. Not *that*," Gina insisted. "This. Going back to your old boyfriend and . . . seducing him." She could barely get the word out.
Victoria moved up to Gina's mouth, kissing her lightly. "I'm not doing this for me at all. I'm doing it all for you."
~~~
Lex watched the final mementos of his infatuation with Clark disappear, wishing he felt as free as he felt he should feel. Or something like that.
The phone rang, and a moment later, Javier's voice came over the intercom. "Mr. Luthor. You have a call on 5879."
Lex sighed and reached up to his nightstand, punching the button and picking up the receiver. "Lex Luthor."
"Good . . . afternoon, Mr. Luthor. This is Arthur Ferguson of the law firm of Peabody, Evans and Winters in London."
Those are Sir Harry's lawyers. Lex thought. "Yes, Mr. Ferguson. How can I help you?"
"Actually I was calling for Victoria Hardwick, but it's my understanding that she's not available at the moment."
She isn't? Lex wondered, noticing for the first time that he hadn't seen or heard anything of her since he'd returned home. "Would you like me to take a message for you?"
"Yes. Could you please have Miss Hardwick give me a call when she returns home? She has my number."
"I'll do that."
"Thank you, Mr. Luthor."
Lex hung up the phone, then glanced back at the fire, which was still burning merrily but no longer showed any evidence of the other things he'd thrown into it.
Sighing, he stood and went downstairs to ask where Victoria was.
~~~
By the time Clark came home, the sun was already setting. He'd taken a long walk, trying to calm down from his confrontation with Lex, with only partial success. Jesus! He swore silently. What the hell was with Lex? Just *attacking* me like that. 'She's not Lana enough for you.' Whatever that means. . .
Not wanting to think anymore, Clark threw himself into his homework.
~~~
Fresh out of the shower, dressed and made up, Gina and Victoria stood in the living room of the apartment, kissing.
"I've got to go. Dinner with the Kents tonight." Gina said as she finally broke away from her lover's embrace.
Victoria smiled and touched Gina's upper lip with her fingernail. "We've got to do something about the mismatched lipstick."
Gina grinned when she saw a smear of her own bright red lipstick on Victoria's upper lip. "Maybe we can compromise on a berry color or something."
Without comment, Victoria leaned in and kissed Gina soundly. "Now, go. Your boyfriend," her lips twisted in distaste, "is waiting for you."
"Are you jealous?" Gina asked, astounded. "You brought this on yourself, you know."
"I know." Victoria said petulantly, her burgundy lower lip sticking out in a pout. "But you're only supposed to be protecting him from Lex, not having dinner with his family."
"I'm sticking close to him, Victoria. Just like we agreed. And anyway, it won't be forever." She promised. "We'll be together soon." She kissed Victoria.
After they separated, Gina said, "I love you."
Victoria smiled. "I love you, too."
~~~
When Victoria returned to Castle Luthor, she walked in the front door and called out, "Lex!"
"In here."
She walked into the den, where Lex sat staring into the fire, a glass of something tawny, she assumed it was scotch, in the hand that rested on the arm of the sofa. She walked around to stand in front of him. "Is everything all right?"
Lex sighed heavily. "I didn't see your note at first. Where were you? Your apartment?"
Nonplused, Victoria could only respond, "What?"
Lex chuckled mirthlessly. "You know what I'm talking about. The apartment you built into the barn out at the old Reilly place."
Victoria's mouth worked soundlessly.
"The electrician you used is the brother-in-law of my accounts payable manager. They thought that I was the anonymous client converting the barn and Aretha asked me about it. Never try to get away with anything in a small town. Everyone's related to everyone else, and word eventually gets out."
Before she could respond, he raised a hand to stop her and said. "You need to call your father's attorneys."
The sudden change of topic brought her up short. "My father's attorneys?"
"Yes. An . . . "
"Arthur Ferguson." They said in unison.
"I wonder what Arthur wants." Victoria mused. She shrugged. "Oh, well. I'll just pop on up to my room and give him a call."
With that, she left the room and headed off to her bedroom.
~~~
"Hi."
Clark looked up from his biology homework at the sound of Gina's voice. "Hey." He smiled.
Gina sat down on the floor next to him. "What're you doing?"
"Biology."
She wrinkled her nose. "Not my favorite subject."
"It's not so bad." Clark shrugged. "So, how was . . .?"
"Kerrville. It was good. It was really nice to see my friend again."
Clark smiled. "Good. I'm glad."
"So? You been up to much?"
"Nah. Just homework. And I saw a friend of my own for the first time in a couple of days."
"Oh? Who?"
"Lex Luthor." Clark felt a stab of distress as he said Lex's name.
Gina made a displeased face.
"What?" Clark asked, wanting immediately to defend Lex.
"It's just a rumor."
"Then it probably isn't true."
"Well, the only reason it's just a rumor, they say, is because Lionel Luthor can't buy campus gossip like he can the police and the media."
The mention of Lionel put Clark on edge. "What about Lionel Luthor?"
"It's really about Lex Luthor. You know he went to Met U, right?"
Clark nodded. "But he didn't finish there. He got his degree from Princeton."
"Yeah. Well, rumor has it that the reason he left Met U was because he killed someone while he was a student there."
Clark flinched, almost as if she'd slapped him.
Gina, who'd been congratulating herself on driving the wedge a little farther between Lex and Clark, suddenly felt awful. She offered him a conciliatory smile and changed the subject. "So, are we going down to dinner or what?"
~~~
Victoria came downstairs a few minutes later, her eyes red and puffy.
Lex, genuinely concerned, walked over to her and put a hand gently on her arm. "What is it?"
"My . . . my father. He died today." She started crying.
Lex pulled her to himself, rubbing her back consolingly while she cried.
Once she was cried out, he maneuvered her gently down onto the sofa. "Would you like a drink?"
"Yes, please."
Once he returned to the sofa with the drink, Victoria took it from him and sipped at it. "Thank you." She sighed, relaxing against the back of the sofa and they sat there, sipping their drinks and watching the fire spark and crackle.
After a few minutes, Lex broke the silence. "So, what comes next?"
Victoria sniffled. "My father's funeral is Tuesday."
Lex stood and walked to the phone. "Then we probably should start packing now. We're going to be spending more than nine hours in the air tomorrow."
"We?"
"Of course. You don't think I'd send you off to your father's funeral alone, would I?"
"There was a time when you would have."
"Well, I guess I've grown up a little since then."
She looked up at him, staring deeply into his blue eyes. "Yes. I guess you have."
~~~
Early Monday morning, Lex called his assistant at home to let her know that he'd be taking a couple of days off for Sir Harry's funeral.
Meanwhile, Victoria called Gina. "Hi. It's me."
"Hi!" Gina said brightly. "I didn't expect to hear from you again so soon."
"I just wanted you to know that I'm going to be out of town for a couple of days."
"All right. What's up?"
"I . . ." Victoria mentally flipped a coin and decided to tell the truth. "Lex and I are going to London for my father's funeral tomorrow."
"Oh, Victoria. Are you all right? Do you want me to come to the funeral?"
"No. I mean, yes. I'm fine. And no, I don't want you to come. Lex will be there and . . ."
"And you don't want him to see us together."
"Yes. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I knew when we started this that we wouldn't be able to be together in public like we want, but that'll come in time."
Victoria smiled. "Yes. It will. Once we've gotten you what you deserve."
"Yeah." Gina's voice sounded wistful. "Well, I'll be thinking of you while you're in England."
"Me, too."
Victoria hung up the phone and returned to her packing.
~~~
Clark was waiting at the stop when Pete and Chloe got there.
"Wow! You made the bus this morning." Chloe said, surprised.
"No. The bus came early. We all missed it." Clark deadpanned.
It wasn't early enough in the morning for Chloe to be fooled by that, so after the initial adrenaline rush, she realized he was kidding and narrowed her eyes at him. "You . . ." She snarled in mock outrage.
"So, to what do we owe this honor?" Pete asked.
Clark shrugged. "I just . . ." couldn't sleep after my fight with Lex yesterday "thought I'd get a slightly earlier start than usual."
"So, what were you up to all weekend?" Chloe pried. "Pete and I called a couple of times, but you were always busy."
"Not much." Clark lied. "Just this and that." He could feel himself starting to blush.
Chloe got that look on her face. The one that said she knew there was more to the story than Clark was telling.
Pete then proceeded to tell Clark all about their weekend while they waited for the bus.
They got off of the bus, and as they walked into the high school, a guy Clark didn't know at all clapped him on the shoulder. "Good going, Kent. Your new girlfriend's really hot. I hear she's in college, too."
"Thanks." Clark said numbly as the other guy headed off into the crowd.
"New girlfriend?" Chloe asked, her interest piqued.
"Yes. I have a girlfriend."
"Ooh! Details?"
"What's to tell? Her name's Gina, she's a sophomore at Met U," he shrugged. "We met on Saturday."
"You're a fast worker, Clark." Pete said admiringly.
"Were you planning on introducing us to her?"
"Sure. I should be seeing her after school. Would you like to go somewhere, sort of a . . ."
"Double-date?" Chloe asked with a laugh, enjoying the look of discomfort on Pete's face. "I'd love to. Pete?"
Pete shrugged. "Sure."
~~~
After school, Clark met up with Gina at the Beanery. "I've got a couple of friends who'd like to meet you." He said, blushing. "If that's all right."
She smiled broadly. "Sure it's all right. I'd love to meet your friends."
"Good. Because, um, here they come now."
Pete and Chloe joined them at the table. After the customary greetings, the four sat down together.
"So, Clark tells me you're a student at Met U?" Chloe asked.
Gina nodded. "Poli sci, pre-law. I want to go into politics eventually, though."
Pete leaned forward avidly. "Political science? I thought you needed a degree in, like, English to get into law school."
"Well, my father's a lawyer and he suggested poli sci, because most of his classmates were poli sci majors. But in their firm, they've got a lot of former English majors, plus," she thought for a moment, "an elementary education major, a theater major, and . . . one man who was a surgeon for a few years before he went to law school."
"Really?"
Gina nodded. "Of course, experience helps, so if you can get, like, a part-time job at a law firm during college, do so. I actually have a job at my dad's firm, but I'm taking some time off from that, as well."
"I didn't know you want to be a lawyer, Pete." Clark said approvingly.
Pete shrugged. If his complexion had been lighter, he would have been blushing. "It's something I've thought of, but I'd never really planned to do it."
"You should." Chloe said. "At the rate things are going, we'll be glad to have a lawyer for a friend."
~~~
Victoria walked across the graveyard following Sir Harry's burial, Lex following in her wake. "Arthur! Arthur Ferguson!" She said as she reached a fair young man in a dark suit and trenchcoat.
Arthur turned. "Miss Hardwick!" He exclaimed, taking her hands in his and meeting her in the middle to kiss her cheek. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
She smiled a little, sadly. "Thank you. But I'm bearing up under it as well as I can." She looked to her right, and seeing that Lex had joined them, said, "Arthur, this is Lex Luthor."
"Oh, right. I believe I spoke with you on the telephone on Sunday?"
"Yes. Pleased to meet you." Lex shook Arthur's hand firmly.
Arthur turned back to Victoria. "We'll need you to stay in London for a few days. Is that all right with you?"
"Why do I need to stay?"
"Why, to fill out all of the paperwork to take over Hardwick Enterprises, of course."
Victoria looked surprised. "Oh. I hadn't even thought of that."
"Well, there's not much of it, fortunately. We need to cancel your father's shares of stock and issue you new shares in your own name, of course. And the shareholders will have to elect you to the board of directors. And the board of directors will have to elect you President and Chief Executive Officer. And after that, you can go back to . . . Kansas, is it?"
Victoria smiled wryly. "Yes. Kansas. It's not much." She gave Lex a calf-eyed look. "But it's home."
Lex stiffened at his girlfriend's insult, but he didn't rise to the bait. Instead, he said, stiffly, "Will you be needing me to stay?"
Victoria smiled at him. "Why not? You can do your work remotely, right? It'll be like a sort of honeymoon for us."
Lex smiled wanly. "Yes. I guess it will be."
~~~
When they returned to their suite, at 8:00 p.m., Victoria hurried into the guest bathroom, her cell phone in tow.
Knowing she couldn't afford to put her lover's number in speed dial, she had to dial it from memory. A few rings later, Gina answered.
"Hello?"
"It's me."
"Victoria! How are things going?"
"It's going to be a while before I can come back. They want me to take the reins of Hardwick Enterprises right away. I have to visit the transfer agent tomorrow to get my shares of Hardwick Enterprises. Then on Friday, we're having a meeting of the board of directors so that I can be elected President and Chief Executive Officer."
"What about Lex?"
"He'll stay here with me. It will be a good chance for you to bond with Clark."
"Victoria?!?" She heard Lex calling her name.
"Well, that's him calling now." Victoria said.
"You'll call?"
"Of course."
"I love you."
"Me, too." Victoria hung up, then tucked the phone into her pocket and left the bathroom to join Lex.
~~~
Thursday after school, Clark began to worry. He hadn't seen Lex since their argument on Saturday. If Clark was completely honest with himself, he would have to admit that he missed Lex.
He ditched Pete and Chloe and walked to Castle Luthor. He tried the doorknob but found it locked. He knocked.
A few minutes later, Lex's butler, Javier, answered the door. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kent," he said suavely.
Through long practice, Clark ignored Javier referring to him as 'Mr. Kent.' "Hey, Javier. Is Lex here?"
"No. I thought Mr. Luthor would have contacted you. He had to travel to London for Miss Hardwick's father's funeral. He is due back on Saturday, I believe."
"Oh. I'm very sorry for Victoria. Is there anything I can do? You know, send flowers or something?"
Javier smiled warmly. "I'm afraid not. Sir Harry's funeral was yesterday."
"Oh. Well, can you have Lex give me a call when he returns."
"I'm certain he will." Javier responded with an odd smile.
Hardly daring to wonder what Javier meant by his last comment, Clark headed for home.
~~~
On Saturday afternoon, once they'd returned from London, they lay in Lex's bed together.
Victoria rolled over and rested her head on Lex's chest. "Good morning," she singsonged as she idly drew circles around one of his nipples.
"You're cheerful." Lex smiled down at her. "Evidently, being CEO of Hardwick Enterprises agrees with you."
"Well, it's what my," her voice hitched, "my father raised me to do. Like your father raised you to run LuthorCorp one day."
He nodded, admitting the truth of her statement.
She chuckled throatily. "Kind of amusing, eh? That your father went to all that trouble to . . . seduce Dominic away from Daddy, only to have it come to nothing."
"Well, my father never intended to stay yoked to your brother forever, you know."
"I know. But once Daddy found out that Dominic had been plotting with your father, he disowned him. I was his only chance."
Lex snorted. "Fortunately, I'm an only child, so when my father finds out about us . . ."
"He won't have any choice but to accept it."
~~~
Unfortunately, they didn't have long to wait before Lionel found out about them. He called later that day. "I hear that you've been . . . seen with Victoria Hardwick."
"Oh? Where did you hear that?"
"Well, you haven't been exactly hiding it, Lex. Going to Sir Harry's funeral with her?"
"Her *father* had *died*, Dad."
"And that means . . .?"
Lex sighed heavily. "Common human decency. You may have heard of it? It's all the rage in some circles."
"Very funny. Now, I've considered this carefully and I've decided that you need to marry her."
"What?!?!"
"Don't tell me that you've never thought of it. I happen to know for a fact that you once planned to marry her as soon as you turned eighteen."
"Yes, but," that was just to spite you "I never expected you to endorse the idea."
"There was never any benefit to it before. Sir Harry and Dominic could always reconcile, and then you'd be stuck with *her* and nothing to show for it.
"Though," he added as an afterthought, "the two of you would be a better match than your mother and I were. You are certainly cut out of the same cloth." He snorted indelicately.
Lex ignored the insult in this last statement. "So, is it an order that I marry Victoria?"
"No. Of course not. It's just . . . a suggestion."
Which means it's an order. "Well, I'll certainly consider your . . . suggestion."
"I'm sure you will."
After father and son hung up, Lex walked downstairs. Do I dare defy my father on this? Should I? Do I even *want* to? Whatever insult he meant by it, he's right. Victoria and I are a much better match than Dad and Mother. Or Clark and me. He snorted. Right. Clark and me. Like that would ever happen.
His steps took him into the den, where Victoria was watching the fire crackling on the hearth, and suddenly he knew that he'd made his decision. Now it just remained to talk to Victoria about it.
He moved to stand in front of her. Then he walked away, towards the window, staring out at the snow beyond the glass. Then he walked back to stand by Victoria's side. Running a hand over his mouth, he walked to the bar and poured himself a scotch and finally broke the silence. "Would you like a drink?"
"No, thank you."
Lex threw the scotch back in one gulp, then poured himself another. "You sure?"
"Yes, thank you."
He gunned this scotch as well, and then, feeling better than he had in days, he walked back to Victoria. He sat down on the sofa next to her, then slid down onto the floor, kneeling at her feet.
"Lex . . .?"
"What do you say we go to Las Vegas and get married?"
Victoria worked her mouth soundlessly for a moment. If Lex could have heard her thoughts, he would have heard, Well, don't say you never thought about it, Victoria. How much easier everything would be if you could get him to marry you. But I never honestly expected him to go for it. So, then, what's your problem? I still want to know . . . "What brought this on?"
Lex shrugged. "I just thought, you know, that we'd be a good fit together. And we've been down this road before, after all."
"What about your father?" Well, I wanted Lionel to disown him . . .
"Dad . . . will not be a problem. So? Yes or no?"
Victoria fought down a bright grin. "Yes. Yes, I will marry you."
"Great. I'll call ahead and make all of the arrangements. You might want to pack something white for the actual wedding. You know, for tradition's sake."
"Call ahead? Pack?"
"Of course. Las Vegas. I thought we'd better not waste any time. Don't want irate parents, shareholders, former significant others, etcetera getting in our way, do we?"
"Of course not. Las Vegas. Wow. I never thought . . ."
"It won't be at an Elvis chapel or anything. My Dad knows a justice of the peace in Las Vegas, and he has a suite reserved at the Regent, so Judge Franks could just marry us in the sitting area."
"Oh. All right." Not the wedding I would have dreamed of, but it won't change the fact that I'm going to be married to Lex, so it'll all work out.
They headed upstairs to pack for a second time.
Lex walked into his bedroom and looked out the window in the direction of the Kent farm. Well, if I ever would have had a chance with you, Clark, it'll all be over by midnight. You might have consented to making our friendship more once, but having an affair with a married man? It would never happen.
Momentarily drained, Lex rested his head against the cool glass of the window.
Victoria threw open the door of her closet and began selecting clothes, throwing them on the bed as she dialed Gina's number. The answering machine picked up.
"Hi. It's me. Well, our plans have taken a sort of left turn, but it'll all work out even better this way. Lex has proposed to me and we're off to Las Vegas tonight. He knows a justice of the peace who'll marry us. I know, but it really will work out. Lex won't be in the picture forever, you know, like my father, and I think the two of us can handle LuthorCorp together, right? Oh, hell." Victoria realized that she might have said too much. "Well, anyway. I love you and I'll call you when I come back."
She hung up.
Lex finally got himself together enough to start making plans. I've got to call Paul first. He picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hi, Paul? It's Lex Luthor."
"Yeah. It has been a while. Look, I need something in kind of a hurry."
"More of a hurry than that. Can you whip up a quick prenup?"
"Nothing special. Just the usual. In the event of divorce, yadda yadda."
"Right."
"After it's done, fax it to Arthur Ferguson. He's in London. Damn. What's the firm name? Peabody, Evans and Winters. That's it."
"Oh, the bride's name? Victoria Hardwick."
"Thanks. We'll be staying at my dad's suite at the Regent in Las Vegas. You can fax it there after you and Arthur finish your negotiations."
He hung up, then called the justice of the peace.
~~~
Still smiling, Gina returned to her apartment. She'd spent the day with Clark, and while he could never replace Victoria in her heart, she certainly saw what attracted Lex to him.
She walked into the kitchen, where she saw the message light on her answering machine blinking and she hit the play button. What she heard made her blood run cold.
~~~
Lex and Victoria walked through the lobby of the Regent Hotel, hand-in-hand. Lex pulled her to him for a brief kiss.
"What brought that on?"
Lex shrugged. "I figured that if we're going to be married, we might as well start acting the part."
"So when does the petty squabbling start?"
"Not until after the honeymoon's over." He grinned at her as he walked to the reception desk to pick up the key for the suite.
After he had the key in hand, he smiled at her. "Now, we go upstairs, call Judge Franks, change clothes and sign the prenup that should be waiting for us in the fax machine. Then we're all set."
~~~
Gina hurriedly dialed the phone. "Clark. You've *got* to get over here immediately."
"What's wrong?"
"I can't . . . I need to tell you in person. Please. Hurry."
"All right. I can be there in five minutes."
~~~
Lex hung up the phone. "Judge Franks is on his way. He'll be here any minute."
"Well, can you keep him busy for a while? I've *got* to do something about my hair."
Lex sighed heavily. "All right. But don't take a shower or anything. We don't have that kind of time."
"I won't be more than ten minutes. I promise."
~~~
Clark, out of breath from emotional stress, rather than physical exertion, ran up to Gina's apartment. "What is it?"
"Come here."
She walked him into the kitchen and played Victoria's voice mail for him.
"That's it? You wanted to tell me that Lex is marrying Victoria? Why should I care?"
"I know you care, Clark, but that's *not* why I brought you here. What part of 'Lex won't be in the picture forever, like my father' don't you get, Clark? You know what happened to her father."
"He died. But I thought it was a heart attack."
"I'm not so sure about that. I can promise you that once Lex and Victoria are married, Lex's days will be numbered."
Clark felt his stomach drop clear through his abdominal cavity at her words. "You don't think that . . ."
"Yes. I do. I think that Victoria will hire someone to kill Lex. I'm sure of it."
"How can you be so sure?"
"There's no time. We've got to stop Lex from marrying her. *You* have to stop him."
"Why me?"
"Because, Clark. He would listen to you."
"May I borrow your phone?"
"Sure."
Clark picked it up and dialed Lex's cell phone number.
~~~
"Good evening, Judge Franks." Lex said expansively as he opened the door of the suite to admit the older gentleman.
"It's good to see you again, Lex." Judge Franks said with a smile. "Haven't seen you in a while. You didn't make the LuthorCorp Christmas party this year."
"Well, you know how it is. I was too busy actually running Fertilizer Plant Number 3 to get away for the party." Lex grinned. "Can I get you a drink?"
"No, thank you. Now, where's the bride?"
Lex rolled his eyes. "She's still getting ready. You know how women are."
From somewhere they heard a distant ringing. "Is that your phone, Lex?" The judge asked.
"Yeah. It's my cell phone. But whoever it is can leave a message. Or call back later."
~~~
Clark paced the floor of Gina's kitchen. "He's not picking up. Dammit! You don't suppose he's already . . ."
"No. He can't be." Gina shook her head. "I suppose we can get through by calling the switchboard?"
"You try that. I'm going to try something else." Clark headed for the door.
"Clark!"
"What?"
"If you can get through to them, Victoria will try to bluff. You can disarm her, though, by mentioning my real name."
"Your *real* name?"
Gina nodded. "It's Lena. Good luck."
"You, too." Clark ran back down to the street level, then kept to a normal human pace until he'd left Smallville city limits. Then he switched to superspeed and headed off, hoping he knew exactly where to find Las Vegas.
~~~
Dressed in an eggshell-white suit, Victoria emerged from the master suite into the sitting area.
Lex smiled proudly as he said, "Victoria. This is Judge Franks. Judge Franks, this is my fiancee, soon to be my wife, Victoria."
"I'm very pleased to meet you." Judge Franks shook Victoria's proffered hand. "So, shall we get started, then?"
~~~
How the hell am I supposed to find Lex in this? Clark wondered as he walked the Strip, dodging tourists and gamblers of every stripe.
He stopped and centered himself for a moment. My eyesight's always been better than average, and I also have that X-ray thing. My hearing's always been good, too. I wonder if I have a sort of X-ray gift for my ears, too? Could I possibly sort Lex's voice out of all of this madness?
He focused. And heard Lex's voice saying, "I do."
Hell! He quickly pinpointed the direction he'd heard Lex's voice coming from and took off running.
A stranger's voice, then, "Victoria Hardwick, do you take Lex Luthor to be your Husband?"
"I do"
"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?"
"I do"
"Do you have wedding rings?"
"We ordered them from the plane, and I picked them up on the way in. They're . . . in my briefcase."
Clark was standing outside a large white stucco building. A sign above the carport said Regent Las Vegas.
Well, here goes nothing.
Keeping his ears tuned to the sound of Lex's voice, Clark headed into the building.
He had no time to be impressed by the surreal lobby with its ambient lighting and thick oriental rug. All he could hear was Lex's voice saying, "Ah! Here they are."
"Repeat after me. I, Lex Luthor,"
"I, Lex Luthor,"
"Take thee, Victoria Hardwick,"
"Take thee, Victoria Hardwick,"
"To be my Wife . . ."
Clark stood outside the door. Hoping he was in the right place, he knocked.
"To be my Wife . . ."
Yes. That was Lex's voice. I'm in the right place. "Lex!" He yelled, knocking louder.
"What the hell? Clark?!?"
"Yes. Please let me in!" He pounded on the door as hard as he dared.
"Come on, your honor, let's get this finished." Victoria said.
Something about Victoria urging the judge on made Clark's adrenaline surge. In desperation, Clark pushed against the door - hard. It gave in a cloud of splinters.
"Clark!" Lex's voice was torn between surprise and anger as he walked across the sitting area to Clark's side..
"Sorry about the door," He said as a reflex, before saying, "You can't marry her."
"Are you all right? Why can't I marry her?"
"Because. She's going to have you killed."
"What?"
Victoria left her spot and walked towards them. "Lex, you can't believe him!"
Lex shot her a venomous look before asking Clark, "Why do you think that?"
Clark looked directly into Victoria's eyes. "I heard the message you left on Lena's answering machine."
Victoria's eyes flew wide at the mention of Lena's name. "No. You couldn't have. I never admitted anything on that message!" She exclaimed.
Lex's head snapped around in her direction. "What?" He looked back at Clark. "Can you keep an eye on her?"
Clark nodded. "It'll be my pleasure." He went to stand next to Victoria.
Lex picked up the phone and dialed the hotel switchboard. "Yes. Could you please connect me to the police department?"
The judge tapped Lex on the shoulder. "Will you be needing me any longer?"
"I don't think so." Lex shook his head.
"Well, then I'll be going."
As the judge left the trio alone in the room, Lex said into the phone. "Yes, this is Lex Luthor. I *think* we have a murderer in our custody."
"No, I didn't actually hear her confess myself. A friend of mine did."
"Well, she's not here."
"In Kansas."
"I can reach her by phone and have her come out to Las Vegas. I have access to a private jet and . . ."
"Her answering machine."
"I think she'd be able to bring it with her."
"Yes. Thank you. We'll see you in a few minutes."
Lex hung up the phone. "The police are on their way."
"They'll never convict me." Victoria snarled. "There's no evidence."
"They've made remarkable progress in forensic science in recent years, Victoria. And you might want to watch the confessions." Lex smiled coldly.
~~~
The next morning, Clark and Lex were walking around the gardens that surrounded the hotel when they were joined by Lena.
"Hi." She smiled at them hesitantly. "I just came by to say my farewells. They exhumed Sir Harry's body and have found hypodermic needle marks on his arms. They're pretty sure he wasn't an I.V. drug user, so they're now looking to see if someone gave him something to make him have that heart attack."
She sighed. "Anyway, they want me to make a statement at Scotland Yard. Well, I thought that traveling would be a good thing this semester. I just didn't expect to be going to London."
"You're leaving?" Clark asked flatly. "Without an explanation?"
"Actually, there were a few more things I needed to say."
"Like why you told me your name was Gina, when it's really Lena?"
"Yeah. Like that. You see, I . . . we . . . *I* . . . didn't want Lex to know."
"Didn't want me to know what?" Lex asked.
"Who I am."
"And who *are* you?"
She looked genuinely surprised. "You mean you don't know?"
"Know what?"
She sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. Lex sat next to her, and Clark sat next to Lex. "What do you know about your mother's illness?"
Lex wrinkled his forehead. "She was sick for as long as I can remember. My whole life, I guess."
"Longer, actually." She paused, shrugging. "My mom told me the whole story, so I'd understand, you know."
"Understand . . ."
"Your mom. She was born with a heart defect. They thought they'd fixed it when she was a child, but . . . . Lionel has never explained this to you?"
Lex shook his head. "And Mom always had such trouble with her health, that I never questioned her about when it all started or anything."
"Well, after she gave birth to you, the defect got worse. They told her that she couldn't afford to have any more babies. Lionel . . . took a mistress at that point. My mom."
"Are you trying to tell me that . . ." Lex couldn't bring himself to say the words.
"Um, yeah. I'm your sister. Half-sister, actually. I haven't had any kind of DNA test or anything, but I do know that Lionel paid my mom off after she was already pregnant with me. She kept a photocopy of the check.
"That's actually sort of why Victoria asked me to come to Smallville."
Her cell phone rang. "Hello? Yes, I see. I'll be there in a minute."
She turned back to face them.
"You can't leave it just like that," Lex pleaded with her. "Why did Victoria have you come to Smallville?"
"We are . . . we *were* lovers. She came up with this scheme to get you disinherited for getting involved with her, only Clark got in the way. The two of you were so . . . close," she said in an insinuating tone, "that she needed a distraction for Clark so she could get you all to herself. So, figuring that the same thing that worked for her, transferring her interest in one of Lionel's children to the other, might work to keep the two of you apart, she asked me to come to Smallville."
The cell phone rang again. "Crap. I've . . .I've got to go. It's my ride to the airport." She stood, and backed slowly away. "I don't know when I'll be able to talk to you . . ."
"Just go." Lex told her. "But give me a call once you're back in the States. I think we have things to talk about . . . little sister." He added bemusedly.
After Lena left, Lex turned to Clark.
"I believe her." Clark babbled. "Because I can see it, you know, the whole Lionel's offspring thing, and well, when she said that we're close, I . . ."
"Clark. Shut up." And to make sure that Clark followed his instructions, Lex lifted his head a fraction of an inch, stopping the flow of words with his mouth.
And then nothing more was said for a long time.
Author: PepperjackCandy
Series: No
Archive : LexSlash, my writing at fanfiction.net
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Clark/Lex, other
Category: Romance
Spoilers for: References to Rogue, sort of hinty-conjectury thing for Zero.
Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics.
Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net.
A/N: Contains sort of hinty-thing based on (a) LexLovesClark's screencaps of the spoiler promo and (b) my own conjecture based on reading an article in the Smallville Ledger.
Thanks to c1everish for the beta.
This was suggested by Cat, who requested a fic using Melissa Etheridge's "Like the Way I Do" for a Lex/Clark confontation over Vicky. It sort of expanded on me, and now contains six scenes/plot developments inspired by different Melissa Etheridge songs (seven, including the title). List of songs/scenes will follow in world o' author's notes to be posted as Chapter 2 at ff.net.
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"Phelan could really have hurt you, Clark." Lex leaned across the table towards the younger man.
Clark wanted to tell Lex that Phelan couldn't have hurt him -- physically, at least -- but knew that would be too close to admitting his secrets to his friend. "I know. But he didn't. I'm fine. You're fine. It's all over."
Lex seemed to be able to see the omission in Clark's response. Nevertheless, he said, "You're right. It is all over."
The tension between the two dissipated and Lex leaned back. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, sipping at their coffees and enjoying being together.
The serenity was broken by the arrival of Victoria. She didn't intrude loudly, but she did intrude, sliding into their booth with nothing but a quiet, "There you are, Lex."
Clark tensed up. He hadn't warmed up to Victoria, but she was Lex's friend, and so he mustered up a small smile. "Good evening, Victoria."
Victoria looked across at Clark, seeming to be surprised to find him there. "Oh. Hello, Clark."
Then, she pouted at Lex. "I thought we were going to spend the evening at the castle together. Alone." She reached her right hand up and ran one burgundy-tinted fingernail down the outside curve of Lex's ear. Lex closed his eyes and shivered with pleasure.
Clark's stomach tensed up, and before he knew what he was doing, he stood, "I just noticed the time. I've got to run."
Without a backward glance, he dashed toward the door of the coffee shop. Near the door, he collided with someone. "Sorry." He said as he looked down into a cherubic face with bright blue, piercing eyes. He shrank away from the girl's gaze and nearly ran for the door.
"No problem." She said to his retreating figure.
Once he was outside, Clark lurked in the shadows and watched the coffee shop, keeping an eye on Lex and Victoria's window. Victoria slid in closer towards Lex, pressing her lipsticked lips to his. Clark could almost hear Lex's moan as he gave himself up to her kiss.
After a minute or so, Victoria and Lex separated and Lex said something to her, his eyes half-lidded and sultry, and together, they stood and walked, hand-in-hand, from the coffee shop.
Why am I doing this? Clark wondered as he stalked behind Lex and Victoria as they walked, arms around each others' waists, back to Lex's car.
Lex opened the passenger's side door for Victoria and kissed her.
Looks like he's trying to eat her. Clark thought, caught between fascination and revulsion.
When Lex's hand moved to cup Victoria's breast, Clark ran home as quickly as he could.
~~~
Lex looked across the table at Clark. He'd spent the previous week shadowing Clark, playing guardian angel, and he'd do it all over again to keep his own, personal, guardian angel safe. He leaned across the table. "Phelan could really have hurt you, Clark."
As usual, Clark was too nonchalant about his own safety. "I know. But he didn't. I'm fine. You're fine. It's all over."
He wanted to insist, argue, something. But the fight went out of him as he realized that he should just be grateful that Clark was still here. With him. "You're right. It is all over."
Clark gave Lex one of his heart-stopping smiles, then, and Lex allowed himself to bask in the glow -- just for a few minutes.
Then Victoria arrived. "There you are, Lex." She cooed as she slid into the booth next to him.
Lex stiffened. He'd left the castle to get *away* from her.
Clark, ever polite, offered Victoria a smile and said, "Good evening, Victoria."
"Oh. Hello, Clark." Victoria said, then dismissed him, pouting at Lex. "I thought we were going to spend the evening at the castle together. Alone." She ran a fingernail along the edge of Lex's ear and he closed his eyes, pretending that the ostriches were right to stick their own heads in the sand, and that if he couldn't see Clark, Clark couldn't see him prostituting himself like this. Distaste at his own behavior made him shudder.
Well, apparently, the ostriches were close. Closing his eyes made Clark leave. "I just noticed the time. I've got to run."
And then Clark was gone.
The deal he'd struck with Victoria, his body in exchange for a leg up within Hardwick Enterprises, was easier to follow through on with Clark gone. Without those blue eyes, those accusing blue eyes, those beloved blue eyes, watching him.
"So now that we've gotten rid of the child, what do you say we go back to Castle Luthor, hmm?" Victoria purred in a way that Lex had once found incredibly enticing.
And he could still find it arousing, or at least, arousing enough. "Mmm. Sounds good to me." He murmured back as she raised her brightly-colored lips to his.
He gave himself up to her kiss, drowning in the sensations, submerging his unfortunate attraction to Clark Kent in a wealth of auburn hair and expensive perfume.
She pulled back from him, both dazed and breathing heavily. "Why don't we take this somewhere less public?"
"You used to get off doing it in public, Victoria."
"I still do. Just not quite this public."
He smirked and took her hand, leading her from the coffee shop.
They walked with their arms around each others' waists back to his car, and as he opened the passenger's side door for her, she whispered, "Now *this* is the kind of public display I could get off on."
She kissed him, hot and sweet, and wet. Not the kiss he was longing for, but it was *a* kiss, and he responded, pushing her backwards into the car as a sudden breeze sprung up, making his jacket tails dance.
~~~
Clark ran home. He tried to bury himself in homework, but images of Lex there under the streetlight, pressed up against Victoria, wouldn't leave him alone. What was he doing with her now?
He stood and paced back and forth, images of Lex and Victoria kissing flashing back and forth with memories of the porno movie he and Pete watched on the sly when his brother had left one in the living room the previous summer.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He walked out to the barn, then up to the Fortress, looking into the telescope at what Lex jokingly referred to as Castle Luthor. The windows of the castle were dark, except for a faint glow in what Clark guessed was probably Lex's bedroom.
Before he had time to reject this course of action, Clark was standing beneath the balcony outside of the window. He stared up at the window, then let his eyes examine the stone walls of the castle. They were fairly rough, and with his extra strength, Clark was pretty sure he could scale the wall.
He quickly, quietly, climbed the wall, finally clambering over the stone railing onto the balcony.
What he saw inside made him vault from the balcony and retch into the bushes below.
~~~
Lex awoke when he heard a muffled thump outside his bedroom window. He lifted his head up, but postcoital lethargy won. The dogs would be barking if it was an intruder. He assured himself, his head flopping back down onto the pillow.
"Lex?" Victoria's muffled voice came from somewhere in the vicinity of his chest.
Dammit "Nothing. Go back to sleep."
A quiet snoring told him that Victoria had followed his advice. He closed his eyes.
What would it be like, having Clark here in bed with me? Lex wondered. He spat a stray strand of Victoria's hair from his mouth. Less hair, for one thing.
He relaxed into his fantasy. Though Clark's hair . . . God! So thick and dark. I wish I'd invented that color.
Victoria shifted in her sleep, pushing her leg between his. His leg. Between mine. Longer than this. Firm. Well-muscled. Hairy. That got a reaction.
Now he was on a roll. His hands. His lips. Definitely his lips. Pouty, full, soft and pink.
Apparently, his arousal had awakened Victoria, because she was awake, her dark eyes reflecting the dying firelight. "Ready for another round?" She asked.
"Always."
~~~
Clark was sprawled on the ground beneath the window, the taste of coffee and stomach acid in his mouth. So. That's what vomiting feels like. He thought dazedly, once he could think again. *Not* something I'm in any hurry to experience any time soon.
Why the hell did I react that way? Let's see, sexy naked woman. No problem there. Sexy naked woman asleep. Her long, auburn hair . . . . That's fine . . . spread out over Lex. His stomach clenched and he looked back at the bush where he'd lost his lunch, wondering if he'd need it again.
Fortunately, he didn't.
He stood on shaky legs and began the trek home, thinking about this turn of events the whole way. It's not like Lex is unattractive. Images of Lex - his blue eyes the first time they saw each other by the bank of the river, that little dot of whipped cream on his upper lip at the Beanery, the way he came to make sure he and Clark were all right after Tina had robbed the bank, the wistful look in his eyes when he told Clark how he'd lost his hair, Lex putting his own life on the line to save his class from Earl . . . No. Not unattractive at all.
But when he was kissing Victoria, Clark flinched. And in bed with her, his stomach clenched.
Clark didn't like the direction his thoughts were taking. He started grasping at straws. Pete in bed with Victoria. Hm. Interesting . . . . But definitely not distressing.
So I guess I'm going to have to face facts. I don't want to share Lex with Victoria. I. . . He steeled himself and tried again. I want him for myself.
When he returned home, Clark spent a sleepless night tossing and turning. He went out to the barn and up to the loft, looking out at Castle Luthor longingly through the telescope. How can I do this to you, Lex? How can I repay your kindness, your friendship, with this . . . attraction to you? I can never, *ever*, let you know how I feel about you. We can only ever be friends.
~~~
Daylight Saturday morning found Clark already busily engaged in his assigned chores.
"Morning, Son." Jonathan said as he joined Clark in the barn.
"Morning, Dad."
"Sleep well?"
"Yeah."
"We didn't hear you come in last night."
"I was really, really quiet?"
"Hm."
"I was. I came in . . . a little later than usual. I had some thinking to do."
"About what?"
About how I'm apparently a gay alien. Or at least a bi alien? Who is in the process of dishonoring his best friend with his lustful intentions. "Stuff."
"Mmm. Girl 'stuff'?"
Clark nodded, hoping his father would leave it at that. "Sort of."
Jonathan laughed and clapped Clark on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Some day you and Lana will work this whole thing out."
Later, after his chores were done, Clark ate a hearty lunch, took a shower, and returned to the Beanery, hoping to just happen to run into Lex.
Some alt-rock song was playing on the overhead sound system as Clark sipped his coffee and did his reading for English.
"Hey."
Clark looked up, and into the blue eyes of . . . "You're the girl who . . ."
"Yeah. That bumped into you last night."
"I'm sorry . . ." He said.
"I wanted to apologize . . ." She began.
They laughed.
"May I join you?" She asked.
"Sure." He nodded.
She sat down across from him. "Gina."
"Clark."
"That's a nice name."
Clark nodded. "It was my mom's maiden name."
She laughed softly. "I was named for Gina Lollobrigida."
Clark crinkled his forehead confusedly at her.
"She was an old-time movie actress from Italy. My mom was nuts for old movies."
"Was?"
Gina shrugged. "She died a few years ago."
"Oh. So it's just you and your dad?"
"Yeah. I guess. So, I guess you're a local?"
Clark nodded. "That obvious?"
"Well, you're all . . . flannelly. Not much call for that even in Seattle, anymore."
Clark chuckled, looking at Gina's black shirt and pants with silver accessories. "And you're from . . ."
"Oh, here and there. Metropolis most recently. I'm a sophomore at Metropolis University, but I'm taking a semester off to travel."
"And so you started with Smallville, Kansas?"
She lifted a shoulder in a gesture approximating a shrug. "I'm a poli sci major. My dream is to represent Kansas in the U.S. Senate. In order to do that, I need to know my constituents."
"Well, you've come to the right place for that. We're the constituentest." He grinned at her as she smiled and rolled her eyes.
~~~
Lex woke up. He could feel someone else in bed with him and smiled. He could remember telling Clark that he loved him and then demonstrating that love in excruciating detail. Clark was still here.
"Lex?"
It was Victoria's voice. Clark's presence in his bed had been, as it always was, a dream. Way to kill a mood, Victoria. "Victoria."
She swiveled around so that her chin rested on Lex's chest. "Penny for your thoughts."
"Hardly worth that." He smiled. "Just thinking about this. Us."
Victoria smiled crookedly. "Us?"
Lex nodded. "Us."
As she moved up in the bed to kiss him, Lex thought, Yes, us. Because I don't dare aspire to what I really want.
~~~
Clark and Gina talked for hours, until Clark noticed the time.
"My mom should be putting dinner on the table any minute now."
"Oh. Well, then I'll let you go."
Something made him say, "No. Don't go. Come home and have dinner with my family. You don't know anyone here in town yet . . ."
She looked surprised and pleased. "Oh. I'd like that. Thank you."
Clark smiled widely.
They stood. "Ooh! I think I had too much coffee. I'll be right back." With a smile, she headed for the ladies' room.
He watched her walking away. He didn't know why, but something about her seemed familiar. Then a disturbing yet comforting thought came to him. Blue eyes. Black hair. From 'here and there.' You don't suppose she's from my home planet?
In the ladies' room, Gina came out of the stall and watched herself washing her hands. Gazing deeply into her own blue eyes, she whispered, "Divide and conquer. Remember, divide. and. conquer."
~~~
After dinner, Gina pushed herself away from the table and stood. "Thank you for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Kent. It was delicious. Can I help you clean up?"
"No, thank you, Gina."
"Gina?" Clark asked. "Why don't I show you the loft? I have a really great telescope up there."
Gina smiled at him. "That'd be nice."
After putting on their coats, they stepped out into the night. It was chilly enough that their cheeks soon turned rosy from it, their breath evaporating in steam as they walked.
"Well, here it is." Clark turned on the light and indicated his sanctuary.
"Very nice." Gina sounded genuinely impressed. "Your folks must love you a lot to give you a personal space like this."
"Yeah. They're great." Clark said, genuinely. He crossed to the telescope, joggling it slightly. He couldn't remember the last time he'd used it if he was watching the stars or Lex's castle. He'd never thought about it before, but he really had phased out watching Lana in favor of Lex as his feelings for his friend became . . . more. "Well, here's the telescope."
Gina walked to it and looked into it. She gasped. "Look at the moon!" She looked up at him. "You can see Neal Armstrong's footprints with this thing!"
"Rea - " Clark took a step forward, then realized she was kidding. "Ha, ha."
Gina laughed, scrunching her nose up in such a cute way that Clark had to laugh, too.
She stepped closer to him. "Clark?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you come here?"
"Sure." He walked over to her.
She stood, her full height just barely passing his pectoral muscles. But Clark still felt somehow overpowered by her as she looked up into his eyes, then down at his lips.
Is she going to kiss me? Clark thought dazedly.
She reached up and pulled his head downwards towards her own.
At the last second, Clark remembered her *blue* eyes and her *black* hair and stepped back. "Wait - Wait just a second."
"What?" She looked genuinely confused.
"Um, I don't know how to say this. I . . . was adopted."
"All right. . ."
"And, well, we have the same hair color, and eye color, and I was thinking that maybe . . ."
"We could be siblings?"
"Or something, yeah."
She laughed. "Not a problem, Clark. I know who my biological parents are. I got my coloring from my mother. I only have one sibling. A brother. Well, half-brother, technically. He lives with his mom. We have the same father."
"Oh."
"Yeah. So. Since we know that we aren't related, can I kiss you?"
"Um. Yeah." Clark blushed as he closed the distance between them.
Gina reached up and pulled Clark's head down again. "Close your eyes." She said as she pressed her lips gently to his.
Inside the house, Jonathan and Martha watched their son and the young woman kissing.
"You know, Clark said he was having girl trouble this morning. I assumed it was Lana. Apparently I was wrong." Jonathan said as he put his arm around his wife and kissed the top of her head.
~~~
Sunday, Clark showed Gina some of the sights of Smallville.
They hit some of the spots on Chloe's Wall of Weird, like the house where Abe Snodgrass used to live, before his goose started literally laying golden eggs. He now lived in a mansion in Keystone City.
They went to the more traditional sights, too. The Talon Theater, which had been in continuous operation for 62 years, the fountain on State and Main that had miraculously escaped damage in the meteor shower, and the giant ear of corn sculpture that had been commissioned by the chamber of commerce, ostensibly to commemorate the meteor shower, but rumor had it the reason was more linked to the fact that the mayor's grandson was an unemployed artist.
At noon, the bells in the tower of city hall chimed.
"Crap! Is it noon already?" Gina said.
"Yeah."
"I've got to run. I'm meeting a friend for lunch in Kerrville at one."
"Do you need a ride?"
"No. I've got my own car. But thanks, though." She walked over to him and lightly kissed him good-bye. "I'll see you when I get back?"
"Sure." Clark grinned.
He turned to head back toward home, and found himself face-to-face with Lex.
"Ah!" He exclaimed, startled.
"Sorry for startling you." Lex said with a curiously cold smile. "Who's your friend?"
He looked over Clark's shoulder at Gina's retreating form.
"Gina."
"Gina . . ."
"Thomas."
"You seemed awfully . . . close for having just met."
"Oh?"
"Well, I don't see you kissing Chloe or Pete, and you've known them a lot longer than you've known her."
"You think she's not pretty enough for me or something?"
"I just think she's not *Lana* enough for you. I busted my butt trying to get you with Lana, and. . . God!" Lex spun on his heel, turning away from Clark in his frustration.
Clark wondered how things became so contentious so quickly and sought to calm things down. He hurried to catch up to him. "Lex. You're my best friend. If you can't be happy for me and Gina, then . . . . How can you expect me to be happy about you and Victoria?"
"What does *that* have to do with anything?"
Clark wanted to grab Lex's shoulders and shake him. To grab him by the waist and pull him close for a kiss. To hit him over the head and drag him back to his cave by the . . . wait a second. Clark came back to his senses. That won't work. Lex doesn't have any hair.
"Nothing. All right?" What, Lex? What is it about Victoria? Why, Lex? Why her, and not me?
But Lex didn't hear his silent questions. "Fine. I'll talk to you later, Clark." With that, Lex turned on his heel and walked away.
Clark ran a hand through his hair as he watched Lex walk away. What can she give you that I can't? Brief flashes of female anatomy ran through his mind, and with it, a slight, frustrated, embarrassment. Not that. But he likes me. And trusts me. I can't believe he feels that way about . . . *her.*
Lex walked away from Clark trying desperately to resist giving away his frustration by running his hand over his scalp. Smooth, Luthor. Take up with Victoria and then get angry with Clark for getting himself a girlfriend. Like you have a claim on him.
Lex laughed softly, a vaguely manic sound. And what would you have done if he and Lana Lang had hooked up? Do you honestly believe that would ever have happened? Of course it wouldn't. It was *safe* to encourage Clark's infatuation with Lana, because Lana Lang is a silly, frivolous girl who wouldn't recognize the value of a guy like Clark if he was the last man on Earth. But this Gina. She's an unknown quantity. She could very well see how wonderful Clark is and I could lose him forever.
Lex had returned to his car by then and turned off the alarm before getting back in and driving away.
Clark waited until Lex had turned the corner and he was alone on the street before switching to his full speed and heading directly home.
~~~
Gina drove to the outskirts of town, onto the property of an abandoned farm. She opened the door of the barn, but it was dark inside, so she merely shouted "I'm here." Through the open door.
"Hello, darling." A woman's voice said throatily.
Gina turned, a sly grin on her face. "Let me just look at you for a second."
"Why look when you can . . ." Victoria crossed the distance between them in a few steps and gathered Gina into her arms, kissing her firmly, passionately, on the lips.
A few minutes later, they separated by a few inches. "God, I've missed you." Victoria sighed as she kissed Gina again.
"Me, too." Gina kissed Victoria, then lowered her head so that their foreheads rested against each other. "So, how're things on your end?"
Victoria smiled crookedly. "Just perfect. Lex thinks that I'm in this just to get a leg up at LuthorCorp. And you?"
"Well, I saw Lex walking up to Clark as I left. I think you were right. They just needed a little more to push them apart."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Victoria sighed. "I've seen Clark in action. He's remarkably dense when it comes to human nature. Always willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. If Lex recovers from his broken heart enough to confess to Clark, Clark will welcome him back with open arms, and we'll be back to square one."
"Well, then, I'll just have to let Clark in on a few of Lex's secrets, so he can know exactly what kind of person he's dealing with."
Victoria kissed Gina again. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
Victoria grinned, taking Gina by the hand. "It's been quite a task to do this without Lex finding out, but we diverted the water from the well out back here, and used the windmill to provide the power, and look what we have."
With a flourish, Victoria opened the door, indicating for Gina to walk inside.
Gina's jaw dropped. The inside of the barn had been turned into a loft apartment. "Wow."
"Thought you'd like it. Let me give you the tour."
~~~
Lex returned home, still stewing over seeing Clark and Gina together.
He walked right past the note from Victoria saying that she was meeting a friend for lunch and instead headed directly up to his bedroom. He pulled an ornate wooden box out from under his bed and moved to the fireplace, where the fire from the night before still smoldered.
He took out some small pieces of wood, gently coaxing the fire back to life. When he was certain it was strong enough, he added larger pieces of wood, until the fire blazed like new.
While the fire built back up to full strength, Lex picked up the phone and quickly punched ten numbers. "Frank? Lex Luthor."
He paused. "Just fine. Look, I need you to do a favor for me. I've got an old wreck here."
Another pause. "A Porsche. The body's completely scrapped, but I thought you might be able to find some salvageable parts."
Another pause. "No, you don't need to see me about it. Just ask Javier for the key to the garage when you get here. You can just take it away and do whatever you want with it."
Pause. "That's all right. Don't worry about the check. Send the money to your favorite charity or something."
Lex returned to the fireplace and opened the box, withdrawing from it a purple shirt, bloodstained and with a tiny tear in the cuff. With a grimace, Lex balled it up and tossed it into the flames.
While the shirt burned, Lex returned to the phone. He pressed one of the recorded numbers and waited while it rang. Then he sighed heavily. "Damn. Answering machine." He gathered his wits and said in his most professional, yet falsely cheerful, voice, "Nixon. Lex Luthor. You know that assignment you were working on for me? 86 it and bring me whatever you have right now. I've got a more important assignment for you to work on instead. I'll fill you in when you bring your results by."
By then, the shirt had all but disappeared. Lex returned to the box. He pulled out a notecard and skimmed it over. Luthor Hall. He read near the top. January 13, 2002 it said at the bottom. He tossed that neatly into the flames and watched it burn.
~~~
Gina and Victoria lay in bed, their clothes strewn around them on the floor of the loft apartment Victoria had built in this abandoned barn. Victoria leaned up, kissing Gina's sternum lightly.
"Why are you doing this?" Gina asked.
Victoria cocked an eye at her, silently asking if Gina didn't like being kissed like that.
"No. Not *that*," Gina insisted. "This. Going back to your old boyfriend and . . . seducing him." She could barely get the word out.
Victoria moved up to Gina's mouth, kissing her lightly. "I'm not doing this for me at all. I'm doing it all for you."
~~~
Lex watched the final mementos of his infatuation with Clark disappear, wishing he felt as free as he felt he should feel. Or something like that.
The phone rang, and a moment later, Javier's voice came over the intercom. "Mr. Luthor. You have a call on 5879."
Lex sighed and reached up to his nightstand, punching the button and picking up the receiver. "Lex Luthor."
"Good . . . afternoon, Mr. Luthor. This is Arthur Ferguson of the law firm of Peabody, Evans and Winters in London."
Those are Sir Harry's lawyers. Lex thought. "Yes, Mr. Ferguson. How can I help you?"
"Actually I was calling for Victoria Hardwick, but it's my understanding that she's not available at the moment."
She isn't? Lex wondered, noticing for the first time that he hadn't seen or heard anything of her since he'd returned home. "Would you like me to take a message for you?"
"Yes. Could you please have Miss Hardwick give me a call when she returns home? She has my number."
"I'll do that."
"Thank you, Mr. Luthor."
Lex hung up the phone, then glanced back at the fire, which was still burning merrily but no longer showed any evidence of the other things he'd thrown into it.
Sighing, he stood and went downstairs to ask where Victoria was.
~~~
By the time Clark came home, the sun was already setting. He'd taken a long walk, trying to calm down from his confrontation with Lex, with only partial success. Jesus! He swore silently. What the hell was with Lex? Just *attacking* me like that. 'She's not Lana enough for you.' Whatever that means. . .
Not wanting to think anymore, Clark threw himself into his homework.
~~~
Fresh out of the shower, dressed and made up, Gina and Victoria stood in the living room of the apartment, kissing.
"I've got to go. Dinner with the Kents tonight." Gina said as she finally broke away from her lover's embrace.
Victoria smiled and touched Gina's upper lip with her fingernail. "We've got to do something about the mismatched lipstick."
Gina grinned when she saw a smear of her own bright red lipstick on Victoria's upper lip. "Maybe we can compromise on a berry color or something."
Without comment, Victoria leaned in and kissed Gina soundly. "Now, go. Your boyfriend," her lips twisted in distaste, "is waiting for you."
"Are you jealous?" Gina asked, astounded. "You brought this on yourself, you know."
"I know." Victoria said petulantly, her burgundy lower lip sticking out in a pout. "But you're only supposed to be protecting him from Lex, not having dinner with his family."
"I'm sticking close to him, Victoria. Just like we agreed. And anyway, it won't be forever." She promised. "We'll be together soon." She kissed Victoria.
After they separated, Gina said, "I love you."
Victoria smiled. "I love you, too."
~~~
When Victoria returned to Castle Luthor, she walked in the front door and called out, "Lex!"
"In here."
She walked into the den, where Lex sat staring into the fire, a glass of something tawny, she assumed it was scotch, in the hand that rested on the arm of the sofa. She walked around to stand in front of him. "Is everything all right?"
Lex sighed heavily. "I didn't see your note at first. Where were you? Your apartment?"
Nonplused, Victoria could only respond, "What?"
Lex chuckled mirthlessly. "You know what I'm talking about. The apartment you built into the barn out at the old Reilly place."
Victoria's mouth worked soundlessly.
"The electrician you used is the brother-in-law of my accounts payable manager. They thought that I was the anonymous client converting the barn and Aretha asked me about it. Never try to get away with anything in a small town. Everyone's related to everyone else, and word eventually gets out."
Before she could respond, he raised a hand to stop her and said. "You need to call your father's attorneys."
The sudden change of topic brought her up short. "My father's attorneys?"
"Yes. An . . . "
"Arthur Ferguson." They said in unison.
"I wonder what Arthur wants." Victoria mused. She shrugged. "Oh, well. I'll just pop on up to my room and give him a call."
With that, she left the room and headed off to her bedroom.
~~~
"Hi."
Clark looked up from his biology homework at the sound of Gina's voice. "Hey." He smiled.
Gina sat down on the floor next to him. "What're you doing?"
"Biology."
She wrinkled her nose. "Not my favorite subject."
"It's not so bad." Clark shrugged. "So, how was . . .?"
"Kerrville. It was good. It was really nice to see my friend again."
Clark smiled. "Good. I'm glad."
"So? You been up to much?"
"Nah. Just homework. And I saw a friend of my own for the first time in a couple of days."
"Oh? Who?"
"Lex Luthor." Clark felt a stab of distress as he said Lex's name.
Gina made a displeased face.
"What?" Clark asked, wanting immediately to defend Lex.
"It's just a rumor."
"Then it probably isn't true."
"Well, the only reason it's just a rumor, they say, is because Lionel Luthor can't buy campus gossip like he can the police and the media."
The mention of Lionel put Clark on edge. "What about Lionel Luthor?"
"It's really about Lex Luthor. You know he went to Met U, right?"
Clark nodded. "But he didn't finish there. He got his degree from Princeton."
"Yeah. Well, rumor has it that the reason he left Met U was because he killed someone while he was a student there."
Clark flinched, almost as if she'd slapped him.
Gina, who'd been congratulating herself on driving the wedge a little farther between Lex and Clark, suddenly felt awful. She offered him a conciliatory smile and changed the subject. "So, are we going down to dinner or what?"
~~~
Victoria came downstairs a few minutes later, her eyes red and puffy.
Lex, genuinely concerned, walked over to her and put a hand gently on her arm. "What is it?"
"My . . . my father. He died today." She started crying.
Lex pulled her to himself, rubbing her back consolingly while she cried.
Once she was cried out, he maneuvered her gently down onto the sofa. "Would you like a drink?"
"Yes, please."
Once he returned to the sofa with the drink, Victoria took it from him and sipped at it. "Thank you." She sighed, relaxing against the back of the sofa and they sat there, sipping their drinks and watching the fire spark and crackle.
After a few minutes, Lex broke the silence. "So, what comes next?"
Victoria sniffled. "My father's funeral is Tuesday."
Lex stood and walked to the phone. "Then we probably should start packing now. We're going to be spending more than nine hours in the air tomorrow."
"We?"
"Of course. You don't think I'd send you off to your father's funeral alone, would I?"
"There was a time when you would have."
"Well, I guess I've grown up a little since then."
She looked up at him, staring deeply into his blue eyes. "Yes. I guess you have."
~~~
Early Monday morning, Lex called his assistant at home to let her know that he'd be taking a couple of days off for Sir Harry's funeral.
Meanwhile, Victoria called Gina. "Hi. It's me."
"Hi!" Gina said brightly. "I didn't expect to hear from you again so soon."
"I just wanted you to know that I'm going to be out of town for a couple of days."
"All right. What's up?"
"I . . ." Victoria mentally flipped a coin and decided to tell the truth. "Lex and I are going to London for my father's funeral tomorrow."
"Oh, Victoria. Are you all right? Do you want me to come to the funeral?"
"No. I mean, yes. I'm fine. And no, I don't want you to come. Lex will be there and . . ."
"And you don't want him to see us together."
"Yes. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I knew when we started this that we wouldn't be able to be together in public like we want, but that'll come in time."
Victoria smiled. "Yes. It will. Once we've gotten you what you deserve."
"Yeah." Gina's voice sounded wistful. "Well, I'll be thinking of you while you're in England."
"Me, too."
Victoria hung up the phone and returned to her packing.
~~~
Clark was waiting at the stop when Pete and Chloe got there.
"Wow! You made the bus this morning." Chloe said, surprised.
"No. The bus came early. We all missed it." Clark deadpanned.
It wasn't early enough in the morning for Chloe to be fooled by that, so after the initial adrenaline rush, she realized he was kidding and narrowed her eyes at him. "You . . ." She snarled in mock outrage.
"So, to what do we owe this honor?" Pete asked.
Clark shrugged. "I just . . ." couldn't sleep after my fight with Lex yesterday "thought I'd get a slightly earlier start than usual."
"So, what were you up to all weekend?" Chloe pried. "Pete and I called a couple of times, but you were always busy."
"Not much." Clark lied. "Just this and that." He could feel himself starting to blush.
Chloe got that look on her face. The one that said she knew there was more to the story than Clark was telling.
Pete then proceeded to tell Clark all about their weekend while they waited for the bus.
They got off of the bus, and as they walked into the high school, a guy Clark didn't know at all clapped him on the shoulder. "Good going, Kent. Your new girlfriend's really hot. I hear she's in college, too."
"Thanks." Clark said numbly as the other guy headed off into the crowd.
"New girlfriend?" Chloe asked, her interest piqued.
"Yes. I have a girlfriend."
"Ooh! Details?"
"What's to tell? Her name's Gina, she's a sophomore at Met U," he shrugged. "We met on Saturday."
"You're a fast worker, Clark." Pete said admiringly.
"Were you planning on introducing us to her?"
"Sure. I should be seeing her after school. Would you like to go somewhere, sort of a . . ."
"Double-date?" Chloe asked with a laugh, enjoying the look of discomfort on Pete's face. "I'd love to. Pete?"
Pete shrugged. "Sure."
~~~
After school, Clark met up with Gina at the Beanery. "I've got a couple of friends who'd like to meet you." He said, blushing. "If that's all right."
She smiled broadly. "Sure it's all right. I'd love to meet your friends."
"Good. Because, um, here they come now."
Pete and Chloe joined them at the table. After the customary greetings, the four sat down together.
"So, Clark tells me you're a student at Met U?" Chloe asked.
Gina nodded. "Poli sci, pre-law. I want to go into politics eventually, though."
Pete leaned forward avidly. "Political science? I thought you needed a degree in, like, English to get into law school."
"Well, my father's a lawyer and he suggested poli sci, because most of his classmates were poli sci majors. But in their firm, they've got a lot of former English majors, plus," she thought for a moment, "an elementary education major, a theater major, and . . . one man who was a surgeon for a few years before he went to law school."
"Really?"
Gina nodded. "Of course, experience helps, so if you can get, like, a part-time job at a law firm during college, do so. I actually have a job at my dad's firm, but I'm taking some time off from that, as well."
"I didn't know you want to be a lawyer, Pete." Clark said approvingly.
Pete shrugged. If his complexion had been lighter, he would have been blushing. "It's something I've thought of, but I'd never really planned to do it."
"You should." Chloe said. "At the rate things are going, we'll be glad to have a lawyer for a friend."
~~~
Victoria walked across the graveyard following Sir Harry's burial, Lex following in her wake. "Arthur! Arthur Ferguson!" She said as she reached a fair young man in a dark suit and trenchcoat.
Arthur turned. "Miss Hardwick!" He exclaimed, taking her hands in his and meeting her in the middle to kiss her cheek. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
She smiled a little, sadly. "Thank you. But I'm bearing up under it as well as I can." She looked to her right, and seeing that Lex had joined them, said, "Arthur, this is Lex Luthor."
"Oh, right. I believe I spoke with you on the telephone on Sunday?"
"Yes. Pleased to meet you." Lex shook Arthur's hand firmly.
Arthur turned back to Victoria. "We'll need you to stay in London for a few days. Is that all right with you?"
"Why do I need to stay?"
"Why, to fill out all of the paperwork to take over Hardwick Enterprises, of course."
Victoria looked surprised. "Oh. I hadn't even thought of that."
"Well, there's not much of it, fortunately. We need to cancel your father's shares of stock and issue you new shares in your own name, of course. And the shareholders will have to elect you to the board of directors. And the board of directors will have to elect you President and Chief Executive Officer. And after that, you can go back to . . . Kansas, is it?"
Victoria smiled wryly. "Yes. Kansas. It's not much." She gave Lex a calf-eyed look. "But it's home."
Lex stiffened at his girlfriend's insult, but he didn't rise to the bait. Instead, he said, stiffly, "Will you be needing me to stay?"
Victoria smiled at him. "Why not? You can do your work remotely, right? It'll be like a sort of honeymoon for us."
Lex smiled wanly. "Yes. I guess it will be."
~~~
When they returned to their suite, at 8:00 p.m., Victoria hurried into the guest bathroom, her cell phone in tow.
Knowing she couldn't afford to put her lover's number in speed dial, she had to dial it from memory. A few rings later, Gina answered.
"Hello?"
"It's me."
"Victoria! How are things going?"
"It's going to be a while before I can come back. They want me to take the reins of Hardwick Enterprises right away. I have to visit the transfer agent tomorrow to get my shares of Hardwick Enterprises. Then on Friday, we're having a meeting of the board of directors so that I can be elected President and Chief Executive Officer."
"What about Lex?"
"He'll stay here with me. It will be a good chance for you to bond with Clark."
"Victoria?!?" She heard Lex calling her name.
"Well, that's him calling now." Victoria said.
"You'll call?"
"Of course."
"I love you."
"Me, too." Victoria hung up, then tucked the phone into her pocket and left the bathroom to join Lex.
~~~
Thursday after school, Clark began to worry. He hadn't seen Lex since their argument on Saturday. If Clark was completely honest with himself, he would have to admit that he missed Lex.
He ditched Pete and Chloe and walked to Castle Luthor. He tried the doorknob but found it locked. He knocked.
A few minutes later, Lex's butler, Javier, answered the door. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kent," he said suavely.
Through long practice, Clark ignored Javier referring to him as 'Mr. Kent.' "Hey, Javier. Is Lex here?"
"No. I thought Mr. Luthor would have contacted you. He had to travel to London for Miss Hardwick's father's funeral. He is due back on Saturday, I believe."
"Oh. I'm very sorry for Victoria. Is there anything I can do? You know, send flowers or something?"
Javier smiled warmly. "I'm afraid not. Sir Harry's funeral was yesterday."
"Oh. Well, can you have Lex give me a call when he returns."
"I'm certain he will." Javier responded with an odd smile.
Hardly daring to wonder what Javier meant by his last comment, Clark headed for home.
~~~
On Saturday afternoon, once they'd returned from London, they lay in Lex's bed together.
Victoria rolled over and rested her head on Lex's chest. "Good morning," she singsonged as she idly drew circles around one of his nipples.
"You're cheerful." Lex smiled down at her. "Evidently, being CEO of Hardwick Enterprises agrees with you."
"Well, it's what my," her voice hitched, "my father raised me to do. Like your father raised you to run LuthorCorp one day."
He nodded, admitting the truth of her statement.
She chuckled throatily. "Kind of amusing, eh? That your father went to all that trouble to . . . seduce Dominic away from Daddy, only to have it come to nothing."
"Well, my father never intended to stay yoked to your brother forever, you know."
"I know. But once Daddy found out that Dominic had been plotting with your father, he disowned him. I was his only chance."
Lex snorted. "Fortunately, I'm an only child, so when my father finds out about us . . ."
"He won't have any choice but to accept it."
~~~
Unfortunately, they didn't have long to wait before Lionel found out about them. He called later that day. "I hear that you've been . . . seen with Victoria Hardwick."
"Oh? Where did you hear that?"
"Well, you haven't been exactly hiding it, Lex. Going to Sir Harry's funeral with her?"
"Her *father* had *died*, Dad."
"And that means . . .?"
Lex sighed heavily. "Common human decency. You may have heard of it? It's all the rage in some circles."
"Very funny. Now, I've considered this carefully and I've decided that you need to marry her."
"What?!?!"
"Don't tell me that you've never thought of it. I happen to know for a fact that you once planned to marry her as soon as you turned eighteen."
"Yes, but," that was just to spite you "I never expected you to endorse the idea."
"There was never any benefit to it before. Sir Harry and Dominic could always reconcile, and then you'd be stuck with *her* and nothing to show for it.
"Though," he added as an afterthought, "the two of you would be a better match than your mother and I were. You are certainly cut out of the same cloth." He snorted indelicately.
Lex ignored the insult in this last statement. "So, is it an order that I marry Victoria?"
"No. Of course not. It's just . . . a suggestion."
Which means it's an order. "Well, I'll certainly consider your . . . suggestion."
"I'm sure you will."
After father and son hung up, Lex walked downstairs. Do I dare defy my father on this? Should I? Do I even *want* to? Whatever insult he meant by it, he's right. Victoria and I are a much better match than Dad and Mother. Or Clark and me. He snorted. Right. Clark and me. Like that would ever happen.
His steps took him into the den, where Victoria was watching the fire crackling on the hearth, and suddenly he knew that he'd made his decision. Now it just remained to talk to Victoria about it.
He moved to stand in front of her. Then he walked away, towards the window, staring out at the snow beyond the glass. Then he walked back to stand by Victoria's side. Running a hand over his mouth, he walked to the bar and poured himself a scotch and finally broke the silence. "Would you like a drink?"
"No, thank you."
Lex threw the scotch back in one gulp, then poured himself another. "You sure?"
"Yes, thank you."
He gunned this scotch as well, and then, feeling better than he had in days, he walked back to Victoria. He sat down on the sofa next to her, then slid down onto the floor, kneeling at her feet.
"Lex . . .?"
"What do you say we go to Las Vegas and get married?"
Victoria worked her mouth soundlessly for a moment. If Lex could have heard her thoughts, he would have heard, Well, don't say you never thought about it, Victoria. How much easier everything would be if you could get him to marry you. But I never honestly expected him to go for it. So, then, what's your problem? I still want to know . . . "What brought this on?"
Lex shrugged. "I just thought, you know, that we'd be a good fit together. And we've been down this road before, after all."
"What about your father?" Well, I wanted Lionel to disown him . . .
"Dad . . . will not be a problem. So? Yes or no?"
Victoria fought down a bright grin. "Yes. Yes, I will marry you."
"Great. I'll call ahead and make all of the arrangements. You might want to pack something white for the actual wedding. You know, for tradition's sake."
"Call ahead? Pack?"
"Of course. Las Vegas. I thought we'd better not waste any time. Don't want irate parents, shareholders, former significant others, etcetera getting in our way, do we?"
"Of course not. Las Vegas. Wow. I never thought . . ."
"It won't be at an Elvis chapel or anything. My Dad knows a justice of the peace in Las Vegas, and he has a suite reserved at the Regent, so Judge Franks could just marry us in the sitting area."
"Oh. All right." Not the wedding I would have dreamed of, but it won't change the fact that I'm going to be married to Lex, so it'll all work out.
They headed upstairs to pack for a second time.
Lex walked into his bedroom and looked out the window in the direction of the Kent farm. Well, if I ever would have had a chance with you, Clark, it'll all be over by midnight. You might have consented to making our friendship more once, but having an affair with a married man? It would never happen.
Momentarily drained, Lex rested his head against the cool glass of the window.
Victoria threw open the door of her closet and began selecting clothes, throwing them on the bed as she dialed Gina's number. The answering machine picked up.
"Hi. It's me. Well, our plans have taken a sort of left turn, but it'll all work out even better this way. Lex has proposed to me and we're off to Las Vegas tonight. He knows a justice of the peace who'll marry us. I know, but it really will work out. Lex won't be in the picture forever, you know, like my father, and I think the two of us can handle LuthorCorp together, right? Oh, hell." Victoria realized that she might have said too much. "Well, anyway. I love you and I'll call you when I come back."
She hung up.
Lex finally got himself together enough to start making plans. I've got to call Paul first. He picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hi, Paul? It's Lex Luthor."
"Yeah. It has been a while. Look, I need something in kind of a hurry."
"More of a hurry than that. Can you whip up a quick prenup?"
"Nothing special. Just the usual. In the event of divorce, yadda yadda."
"Right."
"After it's done, fax it to Arthur Ferguson. He's in London. Damn. What's the firm name? Peabody, Evans and Winters. That's it."
"Oh, the bride's name? Victoria Hardwick."
"Thanks. We'll be staying at my dad's suite at the Regent in Las Vegas. You can fax it there after you and Arthur finish your negotiations."
He hung up, then called the justice of the peace.
~~~
Still smiling, Gina returned to her apartment. She'd spent the day with Clark, and while he could never replace Victoria in her heart, she certainly saw what attracted Lex to him.
She walked into the kitchen, where she saw the message light on her answering machine blinking and she hit the play button. What she heard made her blood run cold.
~~~
Lex and Victoria walked through the lobby of the Regent Hotel, hand-in-hand. Lex pulled her to him for a brief kiss.
"What brought that on?"
Lex shrugged. "I figured that if we're going to be married, we might as well start acting the part."
"So when does the petty squabbling start?"
"Not until after the honeymoon's over." He grinned at her as he walked to the reception desk to pick up the key for the suite.
After he had the key in hand, he smiled at her. "Now, we go upstairs, call Judge Franks, change clothes and sign the prenup that should be waiting for us in the fax machine. Then we're all set."
~~~
Gina hurriedly dialed the phone. "Clark. You've *got* to get over here immediately."
"What's wrong?"
"I can't . . . I need to tell you in person. Please. Hurry."
"All right. I can be there in five minutes."
~~~
Lex hung up the phone. "Judge Franks is on his way. He'll be here any minute."
"Well, can you keep him busy for a while? I've *got* to do something about my hair."
Lex sighed heavily. "All right. But don't take a shower or anything. We don't have that kind of time."
"I won't be more than ten minutes. I promise."
~~~
Clark, out of breath from emotional stress, rather than physical exertion, ran up to Gina's apartment. "What is it?"
"Come here."
She walked him into the kitchen and played Victoria's voice mail for him.
"That's it? You wanted to tell me that Lex is marrying Victoria? Why should I care?"
"I know you care, Clark, but that's *not* why I brought you here. What part of 'Lex won't be in the picture forever, like my father' don't you get, Clark? You know what happened to her father."
"He died. But I thought it was a heart attack."
"I'm not so sure about that. I can promise you that once Lex and Victoria are married, Lex's days will be numbered."
Clark felt his stomach drop clear through his abdominal cavity at her words. "You don't think that . . ."
"Yes. I do. I think that Victoria will hire someone to kill Lex. I'm sure of it."
"How can you be so sure?"
"There's no time. We've got to stop Lex from marrying her. *You* have to stop him."
"Why me?"
"Because, Clark. He would listen to you."
"May I borrow your phone?"
"Sure."
Clark picked it up and dialed Lex's cell phone number.
~~~
"Good evening, Judge Franks." Lex said expansively as he opened the door of the suite to admit the older gentleman.
"It's good to see you again, Lex." Judge Franks said with a smile. "Haven't seen you in a while. You didn't make the LuthorCorp Christmas party this year."
"Well, you know how it is. I was too busy actually running Fertilizer Plant Number 3 to get away for the party." Lex grinned. "Can I get you a drink?"
"No, thank you. Now, where's the bride?"
Lex rolled his eyes. "She's still getting ready. You know how women are."
From somewhere they heard a distant ringing. "Is that your phone, Lex?" The judge asked.
"Yeah. It's my cell phone. But whoever it is can leave a message. Or call back later."
~~~
Clark paced the floor of Gina's kitchen. "He's not picking up. Dammit! You don't suppose he's already . . ."
"No. He can't be." Gina shook her head. "I suppose we can get through by calling the switchboard?"
"You try that. I'm going to try something else." Clark headed for the door.
"Clark!"
"What?"
"If you can get through to them, Victoria will try to bluff. You can disarm her, though, by mentioning my real name."
"Your *real* name?"
Gina nodded. "It's Lena. Good luck."
"You, too." Clark ran back down to the street level, then kept to a normal human pace until he'd left Smallville city limits. Then he switched to superspeed and headed off, hoping he knew exactly where to find Las Vegas.
~~~
Dressed in an eggshell-white suit, Victoria emerged from the master suite into the sitting area.
Lex smiled proudly as he said, "Victoria. This is Judge Franks. Judge Franks, this is my fiancee, soon to be my wife, Victoria."
"I'm very pleased to meet you." Judge Franks shook Victoria's proffered hand. "So, shall we get started, then?"
~~~
How the hell am I supposed to find Lex in this? Clark wondered as he walked the Strip, dodging tourists and gamblers of every stripe.
He stopped and centered himself for a moment. My eyesight's always been better than average, and I also have that X-ray thing. My hearing's always been good, too. I wonder if I have a sort of X-ray gift for my ears, too? Could I possibly sort Lex's voice out of all of this madness?
He focused. And heard Lex's voice saying, "I do."
Hell! He quickly pinpointed the direction he'd heard Lex's voice coming from and took off running.
A stranger's voice, then, "Victoria Hardwick, do you take Lex Luthor to be your Husband?"
"I do"
"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?"
"I do"
"Do you have wedding rings?"
"We ordered them from the plane, and I picked them up on the way in. They're . . . in my briefcase."
Clark was standing outside a large white stucco building. A sign above the carport said Regent Las Vegas.
Well, here goes nothing.
Keeping his ears tuned to the sound of Lex's voice, Clark headed into the building.
He had no time to be impressed by the surreal lobby with its ambient lighting and thick oriental rug. All he could hear was Lex's voice saying, "Ah! Here they are."
"Repeat after me. I, Lex Luthor,"
"I, Lex Luthor,"
"Take thee, Victoria Hardwick,"
"Take thee, Victoria Hardwick,"
"To be my Wife . . ."
Clark stood outside the door. Hoping he was in the right place, he knocked.
"To be my Wife . . ."
Yes. That was Lex's voice. I'm in the right place. "Lex!" He yelled, knocking louder.
"What the hell? Clark?!?"
"Yes. Please let me in!" He pounded on the door as hard as he dared.
"Come on, your honor, let's get this finished." Victoria said.
Something about Victoria urging the judge on made Clark's adrenaline surge. In desperation, Clark pushed against the door - hard. It gave in a cloud of splinters.
"Clark!" Lex's voice was torn between surprise and anger as he walked across the sitting area to Clark's side..
"Sorry about the door," He said as a reflex, before saying, "You can't marry her."
"Are you all right? Why can't I marry her?"
"Because. She's going to have you killed."
"What?"
Victoria left her spot and walked towards them. "Lex, you can't believe him!"
Lex shot her a venomous look before asking Clark, "Why do you think that?"
Clark looked directly into Victoria's eyes. "I heard the message you left on Lena's answering machine."
Victoria's eyes flew wide at the mention of Lena's name. "No. You couldn't have. I never admitted anything on that message!" She exclaimed.
Lex's head snapped around in her direction. "What?" He looked back at Clark. "Can you keep an eye on her?"
Clark nodded. "It'll be my pleasure." He went to stand next to Victoria.
Lex picked up the phone and dialed the hotel switchboard. "Yes. Could you please connect me to the police department?"
The judge tapped Lex on the shoulder. "Will you be needing me any longer?"
"I don't think so." Lex shook his head.
"Well, then I'll be going."
As the judge left the trio alone in the room, Lex said into the phone. "Yes, this is Lex Luthor. I *think* we have a murderer in our custody."
"No, I didn't actually hear her confess myself. A friend of mine did."
"Well, she's not here."
"In Kansas."
"I can reach her by phone and have her come out to Las Vegas. I have access to a private jet and . . ."
"Her answering machine."
"I think she'd be able to bring it with her."
"Yes. Thank you. We'll see you in a few minutes."
Lex hung up the phone. "The police are on their way."
"They'll never convict me." Victoria snarled. "There's no evidence."
"They've made remarkable progress in forensic science in recent years, Victoria. And you might want to watch the confessions." Lex smiled coldly.
~~~
The next morning, Clark and Lex were walking around the gardens that surrounded the hotel when they were joined by Lena.
"Hi." She smiled at them hesitantly. "I just came by to say my farewells. They exhumed Sir Harry's body and have found hypodermic needle marks on his arms. They're pretty sure he wasn't an I.V. drug user, so they're now looking to see if someone gave him something to make him have that heart attack."
She sighed. "Anyway, they want me to make a statement at Scotland Yard. Well, I thought that traveling would be a good thing this semester. I just didn't expect to be going to London."
"You're leaving?" Clark asked flatly. "Without an explanation?"
"Actually, there were a few more things I needed to say."
"Like why you told me your name was Gina, when it's really Lena?"
"Yeah. Like that. You see, I . . . we . . . *I* . . . didn't want Lex to know."
"Didn't want me to know what?" Lex asked.
"Who I am."
"And who *are* you?"
She looked genuinely surprised. "You mean you don't know?"
"Know what?"
She sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. Lex sat next to her, and Clark sat next to Lex. "What do you know about your mother's illness?"
Lex wrinkled his forehead. "She was sick for as long as I can remember. My whole life, I guess."
"Longer, actually." She paused, shrugging. "My mom told me the whole story, so I'd understand, you know."
"Understand . . ."
"Your mom. She was born with a heart defect. They thought they'd fixed it when she was a child, but . . . . Lionel has never explained this to you?"
Lex shook his head. "And Mom always had such trouble with her health, that I never questioned her about when it all started or anything."
"Well, after she gave birth to you, the defect got worse. They told her that she couldn't afford to have any more babies. Lionel . . . took a mistress at that point. My mom."
"Are you trying to tell me that . . ." Lex couldn't bring himself to say the words.
"Um, yeah. I'm your sister. Half-sister, actually. I haven't had any kind of DNA test or anything, but I do know that Lionel paid my mom off after she was already pregnant with me. She kept a photocopy of the check.
"That's actually sort of why Victoria asked me to come to Smallville."
Her cell phone rang. "Hello? Yes, I see. I'll be there in a minute."
She turned back to face them.
"You can't leave it just like that," Lex pleaded with her. "Why did Victoria have you come to Smallville?"
"We are . . . we *were* lovers. She came up with this scheme to get you disinherited for getting involved with her, only Clark got in the way. The two of you were so . . . close," she said in an insinuating tone, "that she needed a distraction for Clark so she could get you all to herself. So, figuring that the same thing that worked for her, transferring her interest in one of Lionel's children to the other, might work to keep the two of you apart, she asked me to come to Smallville."
The cell phone rang again. "Crap. I've . . .I've got to go. It's my ride to the airport." She stood, and backed slowly away. "I don't know when I'll be able to talk to you . . ."
"Just go." Lex told her. "But give me a call once you're back in the States. I think we have things to talk about . . . little sister." He added bemusedly.
After Lena left, Lex turned to Clark.
"I believe her." Clark babbled. "Because I can see it, you know, the whole Lionel's offspring thing, and well, when she said that we're close, I . . ."
"Clark. Shut up." And to make sure that Clark followed his instructions, Lex lifted his head a fraction of an inch, stopping the flow of words with his mouth.
And then nothing more was said for a long time.