~ Okay (*paranoid, shifty glance from side to side*) the characters aren't mine - just because the show started to use my situations and dialogue (seriously!) CAUSING EXTENSIVE DELAY AND REWRITES doesn't mean I get a penny...but I looove feedback :) ~
5. Storm Warning / Don't Get Caught in the Open.
LEX
Clark is so angry, I think he's going to knock me into Montana.
"It could have been my parents in that truck! It could have been Chloe!"
"I know!"
Perhaps if he hit me, it would all stop. I'm so tired. Can't remember the last time I slept. Draw a ragged breath. Focus.
"I've been trying to reign him in."
"Dammit, Lex, if you hadn't started this..."
And he's right. But I -needed- answers that no-one was willing to give me. Now it's my fault that some fucking alien is hiding out in the Midwest? The pieces are slipping away from me.
He stands there, in his fucking tuxedo, and I want to strangle him with his bowtie. I was trying to apologise, and that is something I -never- do. Never explain, never apologise, right?
"Keep an eye out for him, Clark. Stop him if you have to."
CLARK
I -knew- he was lying in the Talon. I don't know how, but something gave it away. He knew Nixon. Now he tells me that his tame newshound has slipped the leash. Tried to barbecue me to prove some theory that Lex put in his head. I can feel all sorts of things now. Rage and fear.
"Does Chloe know about him?"
And he goes grey. Every muscle in his jaw taut.
"He's the one that must have been in the Torch office." Drop the words like stones, and he didn't know about that either. His face closes up, eyes cold gunmetal. This isn't my friend - this is the man who could destroy this town. Has.
"Are you going to tell her? Or are you going to pretend you don't know him next time he turns up in her office?"
Suddenly he's in my face.
"Don't you dare get fucking self-righteous about lying, Clark. We're both protecting ourselves, okay?"
A horn toots outside. Chloe.
"You're going to have to protect her, Clark." That comes from between his teeth, and that must hurt his pride.
I can't deal with him now. I'm angry, and I'm guilty, and I'm afraid.
He never lies to Chloe. If she thinks he's going to start, her world will fall in.
"And what are you going to do? Go back and hide in your mansion?"
"I'm going..." The fight goes out of him. "Go. Have fun. I'll deal with it."
Another angry toot, and Chloe is not the most patient of people. If she comes up here...
I go.
LEX
Shit.
I don't need to be fighting with Clark on top of everything else. But Chloe will be safe with him. And I can go back to trying to get some of those board members to return my calls.
In a minute.
***
MARTHA
I went into the barn, to do a regular sweep for coffee mugs and other debris. Found Lex Luthor asleep on the couch. Eyes like bruises and he's lost weight he can ill afford. Maybe that's just the mother in me.
He's too young to be doing this. The thought strikes me like a blow. He's the same age as the Fletcher boy, who works at Fordman's. He's younger than Pete's brother Steve.
I don't think anybody ever sees him this vulnerable. Except maybe Chloe.
Eyes snap open, and the child disappears behind the man. Nobody that young should have eyes that disillusioned.
"Mrs. Kent...Martha. I'm sorry, I should go..."
The memory of his sleeping openness makes me put out my hand.
"Don't rush, Lex. You look like you could do with a break."
A tired smile that holds the weight of the last week in it.
"I don't really have the time." Pushes himself to his feet, puts on the mask of competence and control.
"Martha!"
Jonathan. He halts on the stairs, and they lock eyes. I'm very aware that my husband came close to discharging both barrels of a shotgun into Lex not long ago, and I know Lex hasn't forgotten either. The uneasy truce has been strained to its limits lately.
"We've got a weather warning."
Lex grew up in the city, but he knows the state. Is already moving.
We all see the car peel away from the fence boundary at the same time. Lex strangles out an obscenity. His tyres have been slashed.
LEX
It's twelve miles to the mansion by road. Five miles across country. I'm already running for the Potter place before I catch up to my sub-conscious.
I used to ride when I was small - one of the few sports that didn't set off my asthma. Later I played polo. Neither thing prepares me for riding an unfamiliar horse across unfamiliar terrain. Bareback. Add horse-theft to the list of Luthor crimes. Mom always said I had a natural seat on a horse. I hope that she was right.
5. Storm Warning / Don't Get Caught in the Open.
LEX
Clark is so angry, I think he's going to knock me into Montana.
"It could have been my parents in that truck! It could have been Chloe!"
"I know!"
Perhaps if he hit me, it would all stop. I'm so tired. Can't remember the last time I slept. Draw a ragged breath. Focus.
"I've been trying to reign him in."
"Dammit, Lex, if you hadn't started this..."
And he's right. But I -needed- answers that no-one was willing to give me. Now it's my fault that some fucking alien is hiding out in the Midwest? The pieces are slipping away from me.
He stands there, in his fucking tuxedo, and I want to strangle him with his bowtie. I was trying to apologise, and that is something I -never- do. Never explain, never apologise, right?
"Keep an eye out for him, Clark. Stop him if you have to."
CLARK
I -knew- he was lying in the Talon. I don't know how, but something gave it away. He knew Nixon. Now he tells me that his tame newshound has slipped the leash. Tried to barbecue me to prove some theory that Lex put in his head. I can feel all sorts of things now. Rage and fear.
"Does Chloe know about him?"
And he goes grey. Every muscle in his jaw taut.
"He's the one that must have been in the Torch office." Drop the words like stones, and he didn't know about that either. His face closes up, eyes cold gunmetal. This isn't my friend - this is the man who could destroy this town. Has.
"Are you going to tell her? Or are you going to pretend you don't know him next time he turns up in her office?"
Suddenly he's in my face.
"Don't you dare get fucking self-righteous about lying, Clark. We're both protecting ourselves, okay?"
A horn toots outside. Chloe.
"You're going to have to protect her, Clark." That comes from between his teeth, and that must hurt his pride.
I can't deal with him now. I'm angry, and I'm guilty, and I'm afraid.
He never lies to Chloe. If she thinks he's going to start, her world will fall in.
"And what are you going to do? Go back and hide in your mansion?"
"I'm going..." The fight goes out of him. "Go. Have fun. I'll deal with it."
Another angry toot, and Chloe is not the most patient of people. If she comes up here...
I go.
LEX
Shit.
I don't need to be fighting with Clark on top of everything else. But Chloe will be safe with him. And I can go back to trying to get some of those board members to return my calls.
In a minute.
***
MARTHA
I went into the barn, to do a regular sweep for coffee mugs and other debris. Found Lex Luthor asleep on the couch. Eyes like bruises and he's lost weight he can ill afford. Maybe that's just the mother in me.
He's too young to be doing this. The thought strikes me like a blow. He's the same age as the Fletcher boy, who works at Fordman's. He's younger than Pete's brother Steve.
I don't think anybody ever sees him this vulnerable. Except maybe Chloe.
Eyes snap open, and the child disappears behind the man. Nobody that young should have eyes that disillusioned.
"Mrs. Kent...Martha. I'm sorry, I should go..."
The memory of his sleeping openness makes me put out my hand.
"Don't rush, Lex. You look like you could do with a break."
A tired smile that holds the weight of the last week in it.
"I don't really have the time." Pushes himself to his feet, puts on the mask of competence and control.
"Martha!"
Jonathan. He halts on the stairs, and they lock eyes. I'm very aware that my husband came close to discharging both barrels of a shotgun into Lex not long ago, and I know Lex hasn't forgotten either. The uneasy truce has been strained to its limits lately.
"We've got a weather warning."
Lex grew up in the city, but he knows the state. Is already moving.
We all see the car peel away from the fence boundary at the same time. Lex strangles out an obscenity. His tyres have been slashed.
LEX
It's twelve miles to the mansion by road. Five miles across country. I'm already running for the Potter place before I catch up to my sub-conscious.
I used to ride when I was small - one of the few sports that didn't set off my asthma. Later I played polo. Neither thing prepares me for riding an unfamiliar horse across unfamiliar terrain. Bareback. Add horse-theft to the list of Luthor crimes. Mom always said I had a natural seat on a horse. I hope that she was right.