Lex sat in the second floor library as the early morning sun filled the area just outside the door with the brightest light of the day. The library was dark, save for a few decorative lights set among the bookshelves. One such light illuminated a painting set within a recess in one wall - a painting of Alexander the Great - and the eyes of the king seemed to stare at him with nothing but accusation within them.
When the Furies come to mete out their punishment upon you, what then will you do?
You escaped them. You were tried, found innocent, and I will be no different.
I will survive this.
Lex desperately craved a drink, and he resisted the temptation to indulge himself. He'd been popping amphetamines in an effort to stay awake and alert and the last thing he wanted to do at this moment in time was to kill himself. That, right now, was not an option. Instead he sat staring at the painting, sipping at yet another cup of coffee, and waiting.
Waiting.
It was the calm before the storm.
He checked his watch and noted the hour. It was almost eight a.m., a little more than twelve hours since he'd initiated his plans with his first phone call and much too late to call them all off. Lionel's plane would just be entering Metropolis airspace. He would probably pause for a quick breakfast before returning to the LuthorCorp hangar and engaging the services of the helicopter to fly him to Smallville.
The helicopter.
Lex despised the thing. Lionel only used it to make sure he made an over-the-top dramatic entrance. It also assured him of having to spend as little time possible dealing with his son and the Smallville fertilizer plant. In and out, hello good-bye - that was Lionel's preferred method. When Lionel was not around Lex had full use of the 'copter, and he had never once used it, preferring instead to either drive himself or have himself driven. Lex enjoyed the long drive to Metropolis. It allowed him to think and to prepare for whatever meeting he would be attending. He also liked the feeling of being served as the chauffeur held the door for him and how heads turned when he eased out of the back. He could take his time, and stand up tall. Ducking and running under the whirling blades of the helicopter were not his style.
He compared his method of operation - his style - to Lionel's as he compared their sex methods. Lionel was the proverbial "wham, bam, thank you ma'am".
Lex preferred a long, slow, and sensual fuck.
And he hated the damn helicopter.
He put the now empty coffee mug down on the table beside him, and picked up his cell phone. With a flick of his thumb he pressed the button to allow him to review his messages. He'd been carefully screening them ever since he'd arrived back from Metropolis over an hour earlier. This time he saw, with a sad sigh, a familiar number appear. He recognized it immediately as belonging to a cell phone he himself owned but was not in possession of at the moment.
Clark was up.
Lex did not listen to the message, and later, when everything was over, he wished to God he had listened.
It was too early in the game for Lex to make assumptions regarding his success at thwarting Martha Kent's initiative. Whereas he was relatively certain of the outcome, there were still many things that could go horribly wrong, and if that were the case....
He could not bear to get his hopes up.
He knew Clark was still ignorant of what his mother had done, else there would have not been a message at all. Clark would have appeared in person. Lex knew what the message must say:
"Call me. I know something was wrong last night. I want to talk."
I want to be there for you.
If all of Lex's carefully constructed plans fell apart at the last minute, he did not want the last words he heard from Clark to come from a voice mail message. He wanted to remember Clark's voice as he spoke softly from the other side of the bedroom where they'd shared their most intimate moments.
"Thanks." he'd said.
"For what?"
"For putting up with me."
Lex had met his gaze steadily. "I do love you Clark. You know that don't you?"
"I know."
"I always will."
"I know."
"I love you." There had been a hint of desperation in his voice, but Clark had not heard it.
Clark had only given him the wry smile, and the quiet good night.
He'd not returned those three small words. He couldn't, and Lex knew why.
If he'd spoken them aloud, given them freely, he would not then be able to take them back without destroying the one for whom they were intended. He knew one day he would have to move away down the path destiny laid before him and he refused, therefore, to give away that little bit of himself encapsulated in the words: "I love you." His ties to Lex would remain incomplete, and much easier for him to escape when the time came to do so. All the strength in the world could not break the ties of the heart and the binding of the soul forged with the giving of those words. Clark knew it.
Lex knew it very well. He'd made the sacrifice; and he wondered, if everything came crashing down around him now, if he would pay for it with his life.
He put down the phone and rubbed his face, yawning. He'd not pulled an all nighter in a long time and even the drugs he'd taken and the caffeine he'd consumed, were starting to lose their effect. He was not hungry, but after some thought he decided he should eat. He would not have time later, and perhaps a dose of carbohydrates would be in order to keep him going instead of popping another pill. Hannah should have started her work in the kitchen by now. Lex rose, stretching, and stifling another yawn he paused to let his eyes adjust to the brighter light by the door before proceeding through it. The sun was exceedingly bright this morning.
He was quite surprised to hear Hannah's voice echoing up the stairs as he stepped out of the library and into the hallway. She was obviously upset, and obviously trying to stop someone else from entering the house. The other voices he could not discern, but Hannah's rose with outrage as whomever she tried to thwart got past her.
"You can't go up there...."
"Watch me."
Lana.
Damnit! What the hell was this all about? Why was she here? The girl had the absolute worst timing and dealing with her was the very last thing Lex wanted to do. He had too much on his plate and was entirely too tired to listen to her drone on about sentimental bullshit and bat her eyes at him as she made her whiney platitudes regarding the theater renovation....
The theater renovation Lex had supposedly canceled in his angry, smart assed comment to Nell the day before.
Shit!
"Lana wait!"
Lex stopped in his tracks, and his shoulders slumped. He closed his eyes and fought off the wave of dizziness only partially the result of lack of sleep. The voice he'd been replaying in his mind all through the night and into this morning, drifted up the stairs, wrapped around his heart - and squeezed.
Clark.
Of course she'd brought Clark. When she was upset, she never ran to her idiot jock boyfriend. She ran to Clark - because he was so sickeningly infatuated with her she knew he could be counted on not only listen to her problems, but to help her with them. The Talon project had been Clark's idea. Lex had leafed through Lana's proposal and recognized Clark's influence all over it and in fact that was the only reason he'd accepted it. If Clark wanted the world handed to him on a silver tray Lex would have given it to him, but all he wanted was for Lana to be happy, and that was quite easy to provide. When Nell relayed Lex's "message" about canceling the project, the first person Lana called was Lex, who had not been home. The second call had been to Clark, who knew nothing about it, and thus she had finally decided to pay Lex a personal visit.
Lex had not checked the messages on the main phone line, and he had not listened to Clark's early morning call. If he had, he would have known she was on her way to see him and would not be having to deal with this now.
He cursed himself for a fool as she stormed up the stairs and met him in the hallway.
"You blew me off yesterday..."
"Something came up." Lex said quietly.
With his senses heightened by the drugs he'd taken, Lex quite easily picked up the scent of soap and shampoo as Clark came up the stairs and joined them. He stood a bit away from Lana, closer to Lex, and Lex had to stifle a slight moan. This early in the morning Clark had just finished getting ready for school, and the freshly showered smell of him reminded Lex strongly of the first night they'd slept together. He had to seriously clamp down on his self control.
Lana was livid. Her delicate skin was flushed and her eyes were narrowed. "You blew me off and then you told Nell you were going to reneg on our deal."
"Lana..." Clark's expression was one of perplexity, which Lex caught only in the briefest of glances. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation...."
"This is not a good time Lana." Lex's voice was carefully restrained. "I promise, I'll call you and we'll schedule a time to discuss this properly. Right now you need to get to school and I have other business." He brushed past, and both Clark and Lana fell in behind him, but Lana did not stay there for long and Clark was unusually hesitant.
She hurried past him and intercepted him at the top of the stairs. She stood there, blocking his progress, her expression twisted with anger and grief; and for once Lana Lang was not at all pretty.
"Why are you doing this? You promised me."
He gave her a cool look. Damn her.
"I had another offer, a much better offer, and I took it." He shrugged slightly, and tried to ignore the fact he knew Clark was staring at his back in shock. "We had nothing in writing Lana."
She stood there, dumbfounded.
"I didn't have a chance to call the demolition team. You'll have a few more days to clear out your things." He took a step forward, but she did not move, and he refused to meet her gaze. After a moment she spoke.
"I thought you were different Lex." she said quietly. "Everybody warned me - Nell, Whitney, even Chloe - stay away from him because he'll turn on you. The Luthors are all the same. They don't care about anything but money, or anyone but themselves. I thought you were different."
Lex set his jaw.
"Lana come on...."
Her eyes flickered over Lex's shoulder at Clark, and there were tears in her eyes. "He's got you so fooled Clark. Don't believe him when he calls you friend. His heart is black and his mouth spouts nothing but lies."
Lex's voice was chill. "Let me by Lana. You're upset but..."
"But what?" she raged. "I know what you think of me Lex Luthor. Its always been so obvious. You think I'm just a stupid little girl don't you? You think I don't know about what has gone on between your father and my aunt all these years? You think I don't see what's happening here?" She laughed, bitterly. "Its the next generations turn for the nasty little Kent-Potter-Luthor triangle. You're following right in your father's footsteps Lex. You're playing Clark along, pretending he's your best friend, just waiting for the opportunity to stab him in the back just like your father did to his father. Nell could have been Jonathan's wife, did you know that?"
"Lana you're wrong. Its not like...."
"It is Clark! It is! Can't you see?" She was openly crying now, "That theater meant so much to me! Its all I have left of who I am." But the anger was still there. "Oh but that's the plan isn't it? I'm to be Nell's replacement aren't I? Your father ruined her Lex. He took her identity. He shattered her relationship with Jonathan and he made her his whore. Now its our turn."
Lex did not have time for this idiocy. She was reacting badly to something he had never planned on following through with anyway. He would never scrub the Talon project, not only because Clark wanted it, but because it actually was an excellent plan. Bringing up Lionel, and that instigating bitch Nell, were the wrong thing to do on this particular morning and Lex suddenly found himself growing extremely irritated.
"Move aside Lana. Go home, calm down, and come back later." He took another step towards her until they stood nearly nose to nose.
"You have no heart Lex." she whispered. "All you know how to do is take. All you care about is making a profit. You use people up and you throw them away. You don't know what it means to feel love, or devotion and you never will. You're just like your father."
Time, for a heartbeat, stopped. No one moved, and no one said a word.
Lex would swear, until the day he died, he never pushed her. He would never admit he laid a hand on her. His intent, he would say, had been to simply go around her and down the stairs. In honesty he would never be able to recall if he did or not, and in the interest of saving face, he always erred on the side of caution. He did not push her.
But he did.
The next thing he knew she was falling backwards away from him with her eyes widening in shock and surprise and her arms pin-wheeling in an effort to regain balance. One hand made a frantic grab at Lex, and missed. The other slipped off the railing just millimeters from being able to close around it and at least two of her fingernails were snapped off in that last desperate attempt to get hold of something - anything - to stop her fall. She started to scream...
Her voice broke Lex's paralysis and he lunged for her. His hand made contact with the collar of her blouse, but when he closed his fist it was too late, and he only tore the cloth. He watched in horror as she fell backwards against the steps and her head hit the edge of one riser with a sickening crack; cutting off her scream in an abrupt and eerie silence. Her limp body continued to roll down the stairs into a heap on the rug below. It came to rest at Clark's feet.
Lex had neither seen nor heard him go past, but it was much too late for him to save her regardless. Lex had looked into her eyes as her head struck the step and he had seen the light go out as if unplugged. He knew what the eyes of death looked like. He had gazed into them along the side of a country road five years earlier.
He realized he was not breathing, and sucked in a shaking breath.
"Oh God."
Clark knelt at the foot of the steps, and pulled Lana into his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder and Lex had to clutch at the baluster to steady himself as he saw the scarlet smear upon Clark's sleeve. He watched as Hannah came running, and he saw her expression as she realized what had happened. Clark looked up at her, said nothing, but Hannah bolted as if he had spoken. She headed for Lex's den, and the phone there.
At the foot of the stairs, Clark smoothed the dark hair away from Lana's face, which was expressionless and serene as if she were merely sleeping. His fingers brushed her eyelids, her cheek, her lips, and he bent his head to gently kiss her forehead. He was moments from breaking down completely. Lex knew him well enough to see the signs, and he prevented it by speaking his name.
"Clark."
Clark's head came up as if he'd been shot, and tear filled grey eyes turned to the top of the stairs where Lex still stood.
Everything shattered in that moment. Had someone put a bullet into his heart Lex still could not have been as devastated as he was upon looking into Clark's eyes. Anger, accusation, hurt and betrayal - the words were insubstantial compared to the actual emotions Lex could so clearly see. They were things Lex had seen before in the eyes of other people as they looked at him and saw only his name and his father's reputation. He'd seen them in Chloe's eyes as she warned him to stay away from Clark. He'd seen them in Martha's eyes as she confronted him on the street. He'd seen them in Nell's eyes as she slapped him.
He'd seen them in Lana's eyes as she fell.
But this....
No. Don't do this to me. Not now.
Clark looked down at the girl in his arms, and shifted his body to lay her upon the rug. It was the last thing Lex saw before he found himself backing up into the hallway in fear for his life. One moment Clark was there, kneeling at the foot of the stairs, and the next he was at the top, inches from grabbing Lex by the throat.
Lex stumbled backwards out of reach as Clark suddenly stopped and grabbed the baluster Lex had hastily abandoned in his retreat. He did not attempt to approach any further, but instead glared at Lex with an expression of pain and fury just outside of arms reach. Lex had no doubt, if Clark had managed to get the hold he'd sought with that first mad lunge, Lex would be a dead man.
He glanced down at his hand, and realized he was still clenching his fist from his attempt to grab Lana. Dangling from his fingers, entangled in the torn piece of her collar, was the antiqued gold chain and the luminescent green stone of Lana's meteorite necklace. She'd been wearing it the whole time, which explained Clark's careful positioning around her and the fact he had not been able to catch her. It also explained why Lex was still alive, and when he looked back up into Clark's face, he realized again just how close he'd come to being killed.
Oh please. Oh God. This can - not - be - happening!
"You pushed her."
"What?" Lex whispered. "I didn't, Clark! God, I swear!"
Clark eased himself away from the stairs, but he did not come any closer. Instead he paced, half circling Lex, out of the range of the necklace by about five feet. It was reminiscent of a tiger pacing before the bars of its cage, waiting for the door to open so it could escape and devour the puny humans who put it there. This was not an angry teenaged kid who stalked him. This was something cold, inhuman, and extremely dangerous. Lex saw, in the fluidity of Clark's movements and the lightness of his step, the strength he had always felt being withheld when they were in each others embrace.
He was terrified by it.
"You - pushed - her."
Lex closed his eyes. "I never..."
"Everyone was right about you and I have been such an idiot. You've played me from day one. The first day we met - I should have known. I should have listened."
I'm dreaming. This is a nightmare.
Lex clenched his fist, felt the chain dig into his flesh, and did not wake.
"You knew every twist and every turn. You schemed and manipulated until you had me so tightly wound around your fingers...."
"No."
"Oh Lana was right, only she had it backwards. You weren't out to ruin her - own her - like your father owns Nell. You were after me. I was going to be your little country whore, not Lana. There was more to gain with me. I had a secret. I had something you could use in addition to getting laid on a regular basis. Lana was in the way because I had feelings for her. Were you using the Talon to keep her away from me? Or was it bait to get her close enough to you so you could eliminate her? That plan certainly worked."
It was wrong. It was all wrong! Clark...
"Clark I spouted off at Nell. I was pissed and I said something I shouldn't have yesterday. I would have never broken my promise to Lana. I just - right now is not a good time...."
Pathetic, and lame, but the truth. It was the honest truth.
"So you killed her because she was inconveniencing you?" Clark shook his head. "Oh I see. What would you do with me, when I became inconvenient, have me sent off to be studied? Sell me to the highest bidder?"
Lex let his breath out in a frustrated burst. "It was an accident - a stupid, tragic, horrible accident! I did not premeditate all this! This wasn't murder Clark!"
The words were very soft, and very cold.
"I saw you push her."
Lex's reply was just as soft.
"How can you do this to me? How can you be so cold knowing what I feel for you?"
"How do I know what you feel? Lana didn't trust you, and she was right. So was my mother. No one trusts you Lex, why should I? Why should I believe anything you've ever said to me when I've seen how you can be with my own eyes!"
"I'm telling you the truth damnit! Fuck, Clark, your mother called my father about us. She dragged Nell into the mess. I've been up all night trying to keep everything from going to Hell. Lana bursts in here and goes off on me...." He pressed his hand to his forehead, shaking, trying desperately not to completely break down. "How can I make you understand! I didn't push her. If I did, it was an accident Clark because I'm going completely insane! I'm about to lose you!"
"You have lost me."
Lex froze, meeting the grey eyes once again. His chest hurt. He could not draw a breath.
"How much more blood stains your hands Lex?"
More than you know Clark. Oh so much more than you know.
Desperately: "Clark. I am not lying to you. I love you. I would not lie to you."
Even though I have. Even though I am.
Clark stopped his shark-like pacing. He stood, very still, in the bright morning sun streaming in through the windows. The anger gradually faded from his face, replaced by a combination of fear and a profound grief reaching deep into the depths of his eyes. Gone was any trace of the alien justiciary who had moments ago been reaching for Lex's throat. Instead there stood before him the Clark Lex knew and understood - and he gave Lex a second chance.
"If you love me so much, put down the necklace." Clark whispered. "Isn't love about trust? Is your conscience clean enough to trust me Lex? Put it down and show me the truth. Then maybe I can trust you again."
For Lex it was the ultimate sacrifice. He was willing to give up everything from his wealth to his very life for Clark. He had killed for him and sold his very soul. He'd even proven he could take Clark's life if he had to do so. Giving up the necklace clutched so firmly in his hand would mean Lex would have to give up control of the situation at hand. He would have to hand his life over to another's safekeeping and trust him with it. Control over his own destiny meant a great deal to Lex Luthor. He had revealed this before to Clark. Clark understood his own terms, and this was the price he demanded in exchange for his forgiveness.
It was the sniveling, whining, brat cowering under his father's iron hand who came to the forefront. He recalled the blazing fury in Clark's eyes, and the predatory set to his features. It was he who remembered Clark's wistful longing for the girl who now lay dead at the foot of the stairs and the agony in his moan as he held her limply in his arms. He also knew the strength of Clark's hands and the feel of power hiding deep below the surface of his body as they made love in the night.
That part of Lex was afraid, and he closed his hand tightly around the green crystal necklace - and he did not let it go.
Clark stared at him for some time, and Lex could almost feel the pain in him. He knew it was not his own, for his was so much greater it overshadowed everything else. Lex had failed the test, and he saw clearly what he would have won had he made his sacrifice. Despite all the denials, and his constant battle to keep from relinquishing his heart, Clark had come to love Lex completely. He had been willing to put aside his anger and his guilt and all his suspicions to give Lex a second chance; and Lex had lost it. With a small instance of paranoid selfishness Lex had slapped Clark in the face, and thrown away whatever future they could have had together.
Wordlessly, Clark turned his back, and walked away.
Oh no. No. No.....
"Clark," Lex's voice was a rasping croak, tight with suppressed tears, and filled with agonized pain as if he were being ripped from limb to limb.
He stopped, but did not turn around.
"What if I go public with what I know?"
Clark turned his head and looked over his shoulder. His eyes and his expression were once again cold and alien. "Then I tell them you pushed Lana. I tell them I suspect it was you behind the accident that killed Harrigan and Lewis...."
Lex winced. He'd known then.
"And then I cry rape." Clark concluded softly.
It was a long moment before Lex found his voice again. He responded in barely a whisper.
"You would do that to me?"
The cold, dead look of Clark's storm colored eyes was all the answer Lex needed.
They began to hear the sounds of sirens approaching the mansion.
"Clark, please...."
Clark turned away and went down the stairs to be with Lana. Lex wondered, as the sound of sobbing was heard a few moments later, if Clark's tears were for her or himself.
Lex's own grief went far beyond tears.
**********************
There was a blood stain on the rug.
The police had been there for hours. They asked questions. They took pictures. They asked more questions. Both Clark and Lex had the same story: Lana had been upset about the Talon deal falling through. She'd been distraught, not paying attention, and she had twisted her ankle upon the stairs; resulting in the loss of balance leading to her fall. Lex had tried to catch her and ripped her blouse. Hannah could confirm Lana's state of mind and the fact Clark had arrived with her. Hannah's testimony was vital upon Nell's appearance and her wild accusations of sexual impropriety. She told of the affair, and no one believed her.
"I have a girlfriend." Clark would say quietly. "You can ask her."
Lex knew Chloe would lie for him.
One of the police officers received a call, and as he drew Lex aside his face had been somber.
"I'm sorry Mr. Luthor. This has been a tragic day already but...."
Lex had almost laughed in his face.
The pilot of the LuthorCorp helicopter had radioed in not long after taking off from the Metropolis airport, citing some sort of mechanical problem. Seconds later the craft went down, killing both the pilot and Lionel Luthor. "I'm sorry." the police sergeant had said.
I'm not.
It had been for nothing. The hundreds of thousands of dollars he'd carefully nickle and dimed from his father's accounts to fund his own projects, the hours negotiating with various contacts, and the carefully constructed twisting and turning cover-up to make sure nothing was traced back to its source - all of it had been for nothing.
Lex still lost.
It had not been difficult for him to appear upset and the waver in his voice as he asked the sergeant if things could be wrapped up quickly due to the news - that was real. The officer agreed, and began to move the investigation along towards its conclusion, but he told Lex additional investigative work might be needed at a later time. Lex said he understood, but it might have to wait until after he'd taken care of his father. He'd been reassured the report would most likely indicate an accident anyway. Later a little bit of Lex's inheritance would make sure it did.
It was Martha, not Clark, who came to him. She'd heard the news and arrived shortly after the body had been taken by the EMT's and the police had escorted Nell to the hospital. She gathered Clark into her embrace and the two of them had spoken quietly together before he nodded and walked out the door. The last few policemen followed.
Lex watched him go, and he prayed for at least one last look, but Clark had walked out the front door without turning; and Lex knew he would never come back. He'd felt as if a fist had closed around his heart and ripped it from his chest.
Clark....
"He told me its over." Martha had said icily, from where she stood next to him. "But he won't tell me what really happened here."
He turned to look at her. "Isn't that enough for you?"
"A girl is dead Lex."
"I'm aware of that Martha. What do you want me to say? He doesn't believe me, so why would you? It was nothing more than a tragic accident."
"Was your father an accident?"
Lex had stared at her with an expression void of any emotion. He had nothing left. "I'm not the one who got him involved. His death is as much on your head as anyones."
She refused to acknowledge any guilt. "There is a special place in Hell reserved for those who commit the crime of patricide Lex Luthor."
He looked away from her and he'd been infuriated with himself when his voice broke. "I know. I'm already there."
The Furies had exacted their punishment. They had taken Clark. The thing he'd sought to prevent had occurred regardless of his best laid plans.
"Go home Martha. Its over, and he's going to need you," he'd said quietly when he once again had control of his voice. "He truly did love Lana."
Martha had paused, poised on the verge of speaking, but apparently changed her mind. She dismissed herself and began heading towards the door.
"Martha."
She turned back to face him.
"I never wanted to see him get hurt." Lex's voice had been hesitant. "I know you don't believe that but - will you tell him...."
Martha waited patiently and her face had gradually softened as his pain finally surfaced. His heart was bitter when he'd seen it. Now she understood, and it was much much too late.
"Tell him I'll miss him." he'd whispered - and that was the end of it.
Now Lex sat on the bottom step, alone, staring at the blood stain upon the rug. His elbows rested upon his knees, and dangling from his fingers was Lana's necklace. His hands were as stained as the rug.
His father was dead. No one would ever trace the assassins back to Lex. He'd laid such a twisted trail no one would ever know. He had finally escaped Lionel's hold over him. He was free to do as he wished and love who he wanted to love. He had it all and he had nothing. Clark had abandoned him.
Lex also had no choice. He had made all his bargains and signed all his contracts. It was time to pay the price, despite the fact he'd still lost everything in the end.
He quietly handed over his soul, and succumbed to the shadows.
******Author's note: EPILOGUE to follow ******
When the Furies come to mete out their punishment upon you, what then will you do?
You escaped them. You were tried, found innocent, and I will be no different.
I will survive this.
Lex desperately craved a drink, and he resisted the temptation to indulge himself. He'd been popping amphetamines in an effort to stay awake and alert and the last thing he wanted to do at this moment in time was to kill himself. That, right now, was not an option. Instead he sat staring at the painting, sipping at yet another cup of coffee, and waiting.
Waiting.
It was the calm before the storm.
He checked his watch and noted the hour. It was almost eight a.m., a little more than twelve hours since he'd initiated his plans with his first phone call and much too late to call them all off. Lionel's plane would just be entering Metropolis airspace. He would probably pause for a quick breakfast before returning to the LuthorCorp hangar and engaging the services of the helicopter to fly him to Smallville.
The helicopter.
Lex despised the thing. Lionel only used it to make sure he made an over-the-top dramatic entrance. It also assured him of having to spend as little time possible dealing with his son and the Smallville fertilizer plant. In and out, hello good-bye - that was Lionel's preferred method. When Lionel was not around Lex had full use of the 'copter, and he had never once used it, preferring instead to either drive himself or have himself driven. Lex enjoyed the long drive to Metropolis. It allowed him to think and to prepare for whatever meeting he would be attending. He also liked the feeling of being served as the chauffeur held the door for him and how heads turned when he eased out of the back. He could take his time, and stand up tall. Ducking and running under the whirling blades of the helicopter were not his style.
He compared his method of operation - his style - to Lionel's as he compared their sex methods. Lionel was the proverbial "wham, bam, thank you ma'am".
Lex preferred a long, slow, and sensual fuck.
And he hated the damn helicopter.
He put the now empty coffee mug down on the table beside him, and picked up his cell phone. With a flick of his thumb he pressed the button to allow him to review his messages. He'd been carefully screening them ever since he'd arrived back from Metropolis over an hour earlier. This time he saw, with a sad sigh, a familiar number appear. He recognized it immediately as belonging to a cell phone he himself owned but was not in possession of at the moment.
Clark was up.
Lex did not listen to the message, and later, when everything was over, he wished to God he had listened.
It was too early in the game for Lex to make assumptions regarding his success at thwarting Martha Kent's initiative. Whereas he was relatively certain of the outcome, there were still many things that could go horribly wrong, and if that were the case....
He could not bear to get his hopes up.
He knew Clark was still ignorant of what his mother had done, else there would have not been a message at all. Clark would have appeared in person. Lex knew what the message must say:
"Call me. I know something was wrong last night. I want to talk."
I want to be there for you.
If all of Lex's carefully constructed plans fell apart at the last minute, he did not want the last words he heard from Clark to come from a voice mail message. He wanted to remember Clark's voice as he spoke softly from the other side of the bedroom where they'd shared their most intimate moments.
"Thanks." he'd said.
"For what?"
"For putting up with me."
Lex had met his gaze steadily. "I do love you Clark. You know that don't you?"
"I know."
"I always will."
"I know."
"I love you." There had been a hint of desperation in his voice, but Clark had not heard it.
Clark had only given him the wry smile, and the quiet good night.
He'd not returned those three small words. He couldn't, and Lex knew why.
If he'd spoken them aloud, given them freely, he would not then be able to take them back without destroying the one for whom they were intended. He knew one day he would have to move away down the path destiny laid before him and he refused, therefore, to give away that little bit of himself encapsulated in the words: "I love you." His ties to Lex would remain incomplete, and much easier for him to escape when the time came to do so. All the strength in the world could not break the ties of the heart and the binding of the soul forged with the giving of those words. Clark knew it.
Lex knew it very well. He'd made the sacrifice; and he wondered, if everything came crashing down around him now, if he would pay for it with his life.
He put down the phone and rubbed his face, yawning. He'd not pulled an all nighter in a long time and even the drugs he'd taken and the caffeine he'd consumed, were starting to lose their effect. He was not hungry, but after some thought he decided he should eat. He would not have time later, and perhaps a dose of carbohydrates would be in order to keep him going instead of popping another pill. Hannah should have started her work in the kitchen by now. Lex rose, stretching, and stifling another yawn he paused to let his eyes adjust to the brighter light by the door before proceeding through it. The sun was exceedingly bright this morning.
He was quite surprised to hear Hannah's voice echoing up the stairs as he stepped out of the library and into the hallway. She was obviously upset, and obviously trying to stop someone else from entering the house. The other voices he could not discern, but Hannah's rose with outrage as whomever she tried to thwart got past her.
"You can't go up there...."
"Watch me."
Lana.
Damnit! What the hell was this all about? Why was she here? The girl had the absolute worst timing and dealing with her was the very last thing Lex wanted to do. He had too much on his plate and was entirely too tired to listen to her drone on about sentimental bullshit and bat her eyes at him as she made her whiney platitudes regarding the theater renovation....
The theater renovation Lex had supposedly canceled in his angry, smart assed comment to Nell the day before.
Shit!
"Lana wait!"
Lex stopped in his tracks, and his shoulders slumped. He closed his eyes and fought off the wave of dizziness only partially the result of lack of sleep. The voice he'd been replaying in his mind all through the night and into this morning, drifted up the stairs, wrapped around his heart - and squeezed.
Clark.
Of course she'd brought Clark. When she was upset, she never ran to her idiot jock boyfriend. She ran to Clark - because he was so sickeningly infatuated with her she knew he could be counted on not only listen to her problems, but to help her with them. The Talon project had been Clark's idea. Lex had leafed through Lana's proposal and recognized Clark's influence all over it and in fact that was the only reason he'd accepted it. If Clark wanted the world handed to him on a silver tray Lex would have given it to him, but all he wanted was for Lana to be happy, and that was quite easy to provide. When Nell relayed Lex's "message" about canceling the project, the first person Lana called was Lex, who had not been home. The second call had been to Clark, who knew nothing about it, and thus she had finally decided to pay Lex a personal visit.
Lex had not checked the messages on the main phone line, and he had not listened to Clark's early morning call. If he had, he would have known she was on her way to see him and would not be having to deal with this now.
He cursed himself for a fool as she stormed up the stairs and met him in the hallway.
"You blew me off yesterday..."
"Something came up." Lex said quietly.
With his senses heightened by the drugs he'd taken, Lex quite easily picked up the scent of soap and shampoo as Clark came up the stairs and joined them. He stood a bit away from Lana, closer to Lex, and Lex had to stifle a slight moan. This early in the morning Clark had just finished getting ready for school, and the freshly showered smell of him reminded Lex strongly of the first night they'd slept together. He had to seriously clamp down on his self control.
Lana was livid. Her delicate skin was flushed and her eyes were narrowed. "You blew me off and then you told Nell you were going to reneg on our deal."
"Lana..." Clark's expression was one of perplexity, which Lex caught only in the briefest of glances. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation...."
"This is not a good time Lana." Lex's voice was carefully restrained. "I promise, I'll call you and we'll schedule a time to discuss this properly. Right now you need to get to school and I have other business." He brushed past, and both Clark and Lana fell in behind him, but Lana did not stay there for long and Clark was unusually hesitant.
She hurried past him and intercepted him at the top of the stairs. She stood there, blocking his progress, her expression twisted with anger and grief; and for once Lana Lang was not at all pretty.
"Why are you doing this? You promised me."
He gave her a cool look. Damn her.
"I had another offer, a much better offer, and I took it." He shrugged slightly, and tried to ignore the fact he knew Clark was staring at his back in shock. "We had nothing in writing Lana."
She stood there, dumbfounded.
"I didn't have a chance to call the demolition team. You'll have a few more days to clear out your things." He took a step forward, but she did not move, and he refused to meet her gaze. After a moment she spoke.
"I thought you were different Lex." she said quietly. "Everybody warned me - Nell, Whitney, even Chloe - stay away from him because he'll turn on you. The Luthors are all the same. They don't care about anything but money, or anyone but themselves. I thought you were different."
Lex set his jaw.
"Lana come on...."
Her eyes flickered over Lex's shoulder at Clark, and there were tears in her eyes. "He's got you so fooled Clark. Don't believe him when he calls you friend. His heart is black and his mouth spouts nothing but lies."
Lex's voice was chill. "Let me by Lana. You're upset but..."
"But what?" she raged. "I know what you think of me Lex Luthor. Its always been so obvious. You think I'm just a stupid little girl don't you? You think I don't know about what has gone on between your father and my aunt all these years? You think I don't see what's happening here?" She laughed, bitterly. "Its the next generations turn for the nasty little Kent-Potter-Luthor triangle. You're following right in your father's footsteps Lex. You're playing Clark along, pretending he's your best friend, just waiting for the opportunity to stab him in the back just like your father did to his father. Nell could have been Jonathan's wife, did you know that?"
"Lana you're wrong. Its not like...."
"It is Clark! It is! Can't you see?" She was openly crying now, "That theater meant so much to me! Its all I have left of who I am." But the anger was still there. "Oh but that's the plan isn't it? I'm to be Nell's replacement aren't I? Your father ruined her Lex. He took her identity. He shattered her relationship with Jonathan and he made her his whore. Now its our turn."
Lex did not have time for this idiocy. She was reacting badly to something he had never planned on following through with anyway. He would never scrub the Talon project, not only because Clark wanted it, but because it actually was an excellent plan. Bringing up Lionel, and that instigating bitch Nell, were the wrong thing to do on this particular morning and Lex suddenly found himself growing extremely irritated.
"Move aside Lana. Go home, calm down, and come back later." He took another step towards her until they stood nearly nose to nose.
"You have no heart Lex." she whispered. "All you know how to do is take. All you care about is making a profit. You use people up and you throw them away. You don't know what it means to feel love, or devotion and you never will. You're just like your father."
Time, for a heartbeat, stopped. No one moved, and no one said a word.
Lex would swear, until the day he died, he never pushed her. He would never admit he laid a hand on her. His intent, he would say, had been to simply go around her and down the stairs. In honesty he would never be able to recall if he did or not, and in the interest of saving face, he always erred on the side of caution. He did not push her.
But he did.
The next thing he knew she was falling backwards away from him with her eyes widening in shock and surprise and her arms pin-wheeling in an effort to regain balance. One hand made a frantic grab at Lex, and missed. The other slipped off the railing just millimeters from being able to close around it and at least two of her fingernails were snapped off in that last desperate attempt to get hold of something - anything - to stop her fall. She started to scream...
Her voice broke Lex's paralysis and he lunged for her. His hand made contact with the collar of her blouse, but when he closed his fist it was too late, and he only tore the cloth. He watched in horror as she fell backwards against the steps and her head hit the edge of one riser with a sickening crack; cutting off her scream in an abrupt and eerie silence. Her limp body continued to roll down the stairs into a heap on the rug below. It came to rest at Clark's feet.
Lex had neither seen nor heard him go past, but it was much too late for him to save her regardless. Lex had looked into her eyes as her head struck the step and he had seen the light go out as if unplugged. He knew what the eyes of death looked like. He had gazed into them along the side of a country road five years earlier.
He realized he was not breathing, and sucked in a shaking breath.
"Oh God."
Clark knelt at the foot of the steps, and pulled Lana into his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder and Lex had to clutch at the baluster to steady himself as he saw the scarlet smear upon Clark's sleeve. He watched as Hannah came running, and he saw her expression as she realized what had happened. Clark looked up at her, said nothing, but Hannah bolted as if he had spoken. She headed for Lex's den, and the phone there.
At the foot of the stairs, Clark smoothed the dark hair away from Lana's face, which was expressionless and serene as if she were merely sleeping. His fingers brushed her eyelids, her cheek, her lips, and he bent his head to gently kiss her forehead. He was moments from breaking down completely. Lex knew him well enough to see the signs, and he prevented it by speaking his name.
"Clark."
Clark's head came up as if he'd been shot, and tear filled grey eyes turned to the top of the stairs where Lex still stood.
Everything shattered in that moment. Had someone put a bullet into his heart Lex still could not have been as devastated as he was upon looking into Clark's eyes. Anger, accusation, hurt and betrayal - the words were insubstantial compared to the actual emotions Lex could so clearly see. They were things Lex had seen before in the eyes of other people as they looked at him and saw only his name and his father's reputation. He'd seen them in Chloe's eyes as she warned him to stay away from Clark. He'd seen them in Martha's eyes as she confronted him on the street. He'd seen them in Nell's eyes as she slapped him.
He'd seen them in Lana's eyes as she fell.
But this....
No. Don't do this to me. Not now.
Clark looked down at the girl in his arms, and shifted his body to lay her upon the rug. It was the last thing Lex saw before he found himself backing up into the hallway in fear for his life. One moment Clark was there, kneeling at the foot of the stairs, and the next he was at the top, inches from grabbing Lex by the throat.
Lex stumbled backwards out of reach as Clark suddenly stopped and grabbed the baluster Lex had hastily abandoned in his retreat. He did not attempt to approach any further, but instead glared at Lex with an expression of pain and fury just outside of arms reach. Lex had no doubt, if Clark had managed to get the hold he'd sought with that first mad lunge, Lex would be a dead man.
He glanced down at his hand, and realized he was still clenching his fist from his attempt to grab Lana. Dangling from his fingers, entangled in the torn piece of her collar, was the antiqued gold chain and the luminescent green stone of Lana's meteorite necklace. She'd been wearing it the whole time, which explained Clark's careful positioning around her and the fact he had not been able to catch her. It also explained why Lex was still alive, and when he looked back up into Clark's face, he realized again just how close he'd come to being killed.
Oh please. Oh God. This can - not - be - happening!
"You pushed her."
"What?" Lex whispered. "I didn't, Clark! God, I swear!"
Clark eased himself away from the stairs, but he did not come any closer. Instead he paced, half circling Lex, out of the range of the necklace by about five feet. It was reminiscent of a tiger pacing before the bars of its cage, waiting for the door to open so it could escape and devour the puny humans who put it there. This was not an angry teenaged kid who stalked him. This was something cold, inhuman, and extremely dangerous. Lex saw, in the fluidity of Clark's movements and the lightness of his step, the strength he had always felt being withheld when they were in each others embrace.
He was terrified by it.
"You - pushed - her."
Lex closed his eyes. "I never..."
"Everyone was right about you and I have been such an idiot. You've played me from day one. The first day we met - I should have known. I should have listened."
I'm dreaming. This is a nightmare.
Lex clenched his fist, felt the chain dig into his flesh, and did not wake.
"You knew every twist and every turn. You schemed and manipulated until you had me so tightly wound around your fingers...."
"No."
"Oh Lana was right, only she had it backwards. You weren't out to ruin her - own her - like your father owns Nell. You were after me. I was going to be your little country whore, not Lana. There was more to gain with me. I had a secret. I had something you could use in addition to getting laid on a regular basis. Lana was in the way because I had feelings for her. Were you using the Talon to keep her away from me? Or was it bait to get her close enough to you so you could eliminate her? That plan certainly worked."
It was wrong. It was all wrong! Clark...
"Clark I spouted off at Nell. I was pissed and I said something I shouldn't have yesterday. I would have never broken my promise to Lana. I just - right now is not a good time...."
Pathetic, and lame, but the truth. It was the honest truth.
"So you killed her because she was inconveniencing you?" Clark shook his head. "Oh I see. What would you do with me, when I became inconvenient, have me sent off to be studied? Sell me to the highest bidder?"
Lex let his breath out in a frustrated burst. "It was an accident - a stupid, tragic, horrible accident! I did not premeditate all this! This wasn't murder Clark!"
The words were very soft, and very cold.
"I saw you push her."
Lex's reply was just as soft.
"How can you do this to me? How can you be so cold knowing what I feel for you?"
"How do I know what you feel? Lana didn't trust you, and she was right. So was my mother. No one trusts you Lex, why should I? Why should I believe anything you've ever said to me when I've seen how you can be with my own eyes!"
"I'm telling you the truth damnit! Fuck, Clark, your mother called my father about us. She dragged Nell into the mess. I've been up all night trying to keep everything from going to Hell. Lana bursts in here and goes off on me...." He pressed his hand to his forehead, shaking, trying desperately not to completely break down. "How can I make you understand! I didn't push her. If I did, it was an accident Clark because I'm going completely insane! I'm about to lose you!"
"You have lost me."
Lex froze, meeting the grey eyes once again. His chest hurt. He could not draw a breath.
"How much more blood stains your hands Lex?"
More than you know Clark. Oh so much more than you know.
Desperately: "Clark. I am not lying to you. I love you. I would not lie to you."
Even though I have. Even though I am.
Clark stopped his shark-like pacing. He stood, very still, in the bright morning sun streaming in through the windows. The anger gradually faded from his face, replaced by a combination of fear and a profound grief reaching deep into the depths of his eyes. Gone was any trace of the alien justiciary who had moments ago been reaching for Lex's throat. Instead there stood before him the Clark Lex knew and understood - and he gave Lex a second chance.
"If you love me so much, put down the necklace." Clark whispered. "Isn't love about trust? Is your conscience clean enough to trust me Lex? Put it down and show me the truth. Then maybe I can trust you again."
For Lex it was the ultimate sacrifice. He was willing to give up everything from his wealth to his very life for Clark. He had killed for him and sold his very soul. He'd even proven he could take Clark's life if he had to do so. Giving up the necklace clutched so firmly in his hand would mean Lex would have to give up control of the situation at hand. He would have to hand his life over to another's safekeeping and trust him with it. Control over his own destiny meant a great deal to Lex Luthor. He had revealed this before to Clark. Clark understood his own terms, and this was the price he demanded in exchange for his forgiveness.
It was the sniveling, whining, brat cowering under his father's iron hand who came to the forefront. He recalled the blazing fury in Clark's eyes, and the predatory set to his features. It was he who remembered Clark's wistful longing for the girl who now lay dead at the foot of the stairs and the agony in his moan as he held her limply in his arms. He also knew the strength of Clark's hands and the feel of power hiding deep below the surface of his body as they made love in the night.
That part of Lex was afraid, and he closed his hand tightly around the green crystal necklace - and he did not let it go.
Clark stared at him for some time, and Lex could almost feel the pain in him. He knew it was not his own, for his was so much greater it overshadowed everything else. Lex had failed the test, and he saw clearly what he would have won had he made his sacrifice. Despite all the denials, and his constant battle to keep from relinquishing his heart, Clark had come to love Lex completely. He had been willing to put aside his anger and his guilt and all his suspicions to give Lex a second chance; and Lex had lost it. With a small instance of paranoid selfishness Lex had slapped Clark in the face, and thrown away whatever future they could have had together.
Wordlessly, Clark turned his back, and walked away.
Oh no. No. No.....
"Clark," Lex's voice was a rasping croak, tight with suppressed tears, and filled with agonized pain as if he were being ripped from limb to limb.
He stopped, but did not turn around.
"What if I go public with what I know?"
Clark turned his head and looked over his shoulder. His eyes and his expression were once again cold and alien. "Then I tell them you pushed Lana. I tell them I suspect it was you behind the accident that killed Harrigan and Lewis...."
Lex winced. He'd known then.
"And then I cry rape." Clark concluded softly.
It was a long moment before Lex found his voice again. He responded in barely a whisper.
"You would do that to me?"
The cold, dead look of Clark's storm colored eyes was all the answer Lex needed.
They began to hear the sounds of sirens approaching the mansion.
"Clark, please...."
Clark turned away and went down the stairs to be with Lana. Lex wondered, as the sound of sobbing was heard a few moments later, if Clark's tears were for her or himself.
Lex's own grief went far beyond tears.
**********************
There was a blood stain on the rug.
The police had been there for hours. They asked questions. They took pictures. They asked more questions. Both Clark and Lex had the same story: Lana had been upset about the Talon deal falling through. She'd been distraught, not paying attention, and she had twisted her ankle upon the stairs; resulting in the loss of balance leading to her fall. Lex had tried to catch her and ripped her blouse. Hannah could confirm Lana's state of mind and the fact Clark had arrived with her. Hannah's testimony was vital upon Nell's appearance and her wild accusations of sexual impropriety. She told of the affair, and no one believed her.
"I have a girlfriend." Clark would say quietly. "You can ask her."
Lex knew Chloe would lie for him.
One of the police officers received a call, and as he drew Lex aside his face had been somber.
"I'm sorry Mr. Luthor. This has been a tragic day already but...."
Lex had almost laughed in his face.
The pilot of the LuthorCorp helicopter had radioed in not long after taking off from the Metropolis airport, citing some sort of mechanical problem. Seconds later the craft went down, killing both the pilot and Lionel Luthor. "I'm sorry." the police sergeant had said.
I'm not.
It had been for nothing. The hundreds of thousands of dollars he'd carefully nickle and dimed from his father's accounts to fund his own projects, the hours negotiating with various contacts, and the carefully constructed twisting and turning cover-up to make sure nothing was traced back to its source - all of it had been for nothing.
Lex still lost.
It had not been difficult for him to appear upset and the waver in his voice as he asked the sergeant if things could be wrapped up quickly due to the news - that was real. The officer agreed, and began to move the investigation along towards its conclusion, but he told Lex additional investigative work might be needed at a later time. Lex said he understood, but it might have to wait until after he'd taken care of his father. He'd been reassured the report would most likely indicate an accident anyway. Later a little bit of Lex's inheritance would make sure it did.
It was Martha, not Clark, who came to him. She'd heard the news and arrived shortly after the body had been taken by the EMT's and the police had escorted Nell to the hospital. She gathered Clark into her embrace and the two of them had spoken quietly together before he nodded and walked out the door. The last few policemen followed.
Lex watched him go, and he prayed for at least one last look, but Clark had walked out the front door without turning; and Lex knew he would never come back. He'd felt as if a fist had closed around his heart and ripped it from his chest.
Clark....
"He told me its over." Martha had said icily, from where she stood next to him. "But he won't tell me what really happened here."
He turned to look at her. "Isn't that enough for you?"
"A girl is dead Lex."
"I'm aware of that Martha. What do you want me to say? He doesn't believe me, so why would you? It was nothing more than a tragic accident."
"Was your father an accident?"
Lex had stared at her with an expression void of any emotion. He had nothing left. "I'm not the one who got him involved. His death is as much on your head as anyones."
She refused to acknowledge any guilt. "There is a special place in Hell reserved for those who commit the crime of patricide Lex Luthor."
He looked away from her and he'd been infuriated with himself when his voice broke. "I know. I'm already there."
The Furies had exacted their punishment. They had taken Clark. The thing he'd sought to prevent had occurred regardless of his best laid plans.
"Go home Martha. Its over, and he's going to need you," he'd said quietly when he once again had control of his voice. "He truly did love Lana."
Martha had paused, poised on the verge of speaking, but apparently changed her mind. She dismissed herself and began heading towards the door.
"Martha."
She turned back to face him.
"I never wanted to see him get hurt." Lex's voice had been hesitant. "I know you don't believe that but - will you tell him...."
Martha waited patiently and her face had gradually softened as his pain finally surfaced. His heart was bitter when he'd seen it. Now she understood, and it was much much too late.
"Tell him I'll miss him." he'd whispered - and that was the end of it.
Now Lex sat on the bottom step, alone, staring at the blood stain upon the rug. His elbows rested upon his knees, and dangling from his fingers was Lana's necklace. His hands were as stained as the rug.
His father was dead. No one would ever trace the assassins back to Lex. He'd laid such a twisted trail no one would ever know. He had finally escaped Lionel's hold over him. He was free to do as he wished and love who he wanted to love. He had it all and he had nothing. Clark had abandoned him.
Lex also had no choice. He had made all his bargains and signed all his contracts. It was time to pay the price, despite the fact he'd still lost everything in the end.
He quietly handed over his soul, and succumbed to the shadows.
******Author's note: EPILOGUE to follow ******