"Come hither,

and I shall light a candle of understanding in thine heart,

 which shall not be put out."

-2 Esdras, 14:25

"Tell me everything." Lex said a little while later. "Tell me everything you know about where you're from, what you can do, how you managed to hide it from everyone…"

 He frowned as Clark quickly looked away.

"What is it?" he asked concerned.

But he soon saw what Clark was hiding was a tearful smile and a look of relief.

 "It's just…you have no idea how much I've wanted to hear that-to have someone offer to listen…"

 Lex watched him for a long pause, comparing the face of happiness before him to the one he'd seen many times before – secretive, hesitant, regretful …the way his eyes had so often shifted as if he was under a great weight that no-one could no about. .

 "No" Lex said quietly, " I think I've got an idea…"

~ ~ ~

"You're over-reacting." Martha Kent was calling behind her to her husband. "He's just being a typical teenager."

 She shut the oven door and set the timer before turning around to see Jonathon with a face of thunder.

 "He's not a typical teenager Martha and you know it." he said a little too loudly.

 She threw up her hands in protest.

"Hey, don't take your bad mood out on me."

She went and joined him at the table, sitting down and giving him a sympathetic look.

 "It should probably be you telling me this y'know." She said lightly.

 "Telling you what?"

 "That he's not a child anymore."

Jonathon gave her a less than convincing glare.

 "I know that."

"No, I don't think you do." His wife said, watching lovingly as she saw the truth plain on his face. "You want him to depend on us, and be as open and honest with us as he always has been…because we have been so  lucky to have a son like that – one who's full of decency, and truth and respect. Whether that's because he's so special…being our miracle child…" she couldn't resist a sad smile of remembrance of those dark years of doctors and tests and hopelessness before being told she could never be a mother. "…or being what he is…I don't know. But honey, I know this; he may have super powers, he may be totally unique on this earth in that respect….but we raised him to be just like all the other kids around him. And if that means as a teenager he starts to have a life we don't know about…then its something we're just going to have to live with."

  Even she couldn't keep the sadness out of her voice.

 Jonathon reached out across the table and placed his hand over his.

 "You're a wonderful mother Martha. That's just one of the things I love you for. But Clark's at risk of being found out any time he uses his powers; as a family we rely on each other to protect his secret….and I can't help worrying when he's being so distant as he is."

 "I know…but ask yourself this; is this all honestly about keeping Clark's secret…or is it about you being hurt that he doesn't spend so much time with you any more?"

 Seeing Jonathon's eyes slowly fall, she squeezed his hand reassuringly before leaving him to think.

 She hadn't gone more than a few seconds before his voice stopped her.

" I still don't think you should have let him stay away tonight. He's always out lately. And besides, it's a school night."

 Martha sighed, recalling Clark's phone call half an hour ago that had sparked this whole conversation.

 "He's just at Chloe's. He's safe, he's a phone call away…Besides-" she said, only half-believing,  but wishing to tease, " its about time those two started to spend time together."

 She laughed at the look of shock on Jonathon's face.

~ ~ ~

 And so, with both his parents and  -via Lana- Chloe, given vague explanations for his absence, Clark spend his first full night at Lex's. It was, however, a totally innocent one.

 They stayed up all night sunk into the cushions on top of Lex's bed with a pizza between them, and talked. Clark told Lex about how he'd been different all his life, stronger and faster than others – and how he too, had once suspected it was some sort of transformation form the meteor shower, from the way that he always felt dizzy and weak whenever he was around them. He told him about the day when his parents had explained carefully that he'd been adopted, and the day that his father had told him where he was from, and shown him the ship. He told him about recently he'd had another power develop, and displayed his x-ray vision to Lex's absolute amazement as he'd described the contents of half a dozen closets and drawers in the room.

 Lex had eventually stopped laughing long enough to explain his amusement,

 "I always wondered what you were doing when he seemed to narrow your eyes at things like that – X-ray vision crossed my mind once or twice being the comic-lover I am, but I just figured you had the whole deep and pensive look going for you. That or a real need for an optometrist."

 Clark had laughed and thrown a pillow at him.

 Then they'd had the long and laborious process of  going over everything that had happened to them since that first fateful day at the bridge. It was not merely Clark filling in the blanks in Lex's suspicions, explaining where he'd gone whenever he'd rushed off, what he'd known about strange events but hadn't confessed, and all the actions he'd taken to resolve the mysteries that had plagued Smallville recently ; Lex too, had confessions of his own. He tried to honestly track both the growth and waning of his suspicions to Clark….but there were some things he couldn't manage to say for a long time. It wasn't until the early hours of morning, when Clark had just finished wondering out loud whether he could manage to keep the secret of his powers from Chloe and Pete for much longer, when he'd quietly and with lowered eyes said;

 "I lied about the Nicodemus. You were right to suspect me…I never meant for any of it to happen, but it was my fault. It was part of research that I was funding.  I…I know you're dad nearly died…and I don't know how I could dare tom but I'm going to ask you to forgive me."

 After a pause the reply had come, heavy and tired.

" I can forgive you for doing that research behind my back Lex…I kept secrets from you, and I can't blame you for your curiosity. And…I have to forgive you for lying to me, because of all the times I've lied to you, and because I don't believe you did anything to prevent my dad from getting worse. Far from it, in fact.."

 Lex had looked up with relief.

 "…But the way you.." Clark had looked away uncomfortably. "The way you lied to me Lex…it was.."

"- disturbingly convincing?" Lex had finished with reluctance, taking pity on Clark's inability to say such things. He'd swallowed hard, and looked down at his hands. "I can't help it Clark…I wish I could , but the fact is somewhere along the twisted way that is my life, I became far too good at deceiving and manipulating people. Most of the time I don't even think of it as a bad thing to do…and I'll admit that scares me a little…" his voice trailed off, before he forced himself to look up.

 "But I did feel bad that day for doing that to you Clark- so naturally, and without hesitation save to think up the most convincing response.  And I…I really hope I never do that again."

 Clark caught the fleeting fear is Lex's eyes, and saw once more the insecurity there.

 "Lex,", he said quietly, "Why do you always think you're going to turn into your father?"

 Very few people other than trained professionals ever get to make a sudden observation about someone's character that results in the same unprepared shock and vulnerability as appeared on Lex's face at that moment.  After a long pause he'd eventually looked away with a brief humourless laugh.

 "Because every now and then, he actually acts like he's proud of me…"

Clark had frowned, watching as Lex's expression darkened and his thoughts drifted elsewhere..

TBC

R/R