Lex tried to look as though he were pondering many and equally attractive options. He suspected that this man held the answers to at least some of his questions about Cl'Maynard, but it would be much more difficult to trick him. The comparison wasn't saying much, though--the youngster seemed gullible beyond Lex's own comprehension. But that comparison wasn't saying much, either.
Roberts returned, by which time Lex had had a chance to strategize. After Roberts shook his head, indicating that they'd found nobody else, he had at least a semi-plan. "Keep an eye on him," he said, lightly, as if tossing off a conversational sally. "I've got a bit of a surprise planned."
"So what's the surprise?" Lana asked, once they were outside, an eyebrow raised.
"I don't know yet." He dialed Philip's number. "Philip? Lex."
"Here's what I need. Any *un*official disappearances or deaths of a white male child, around the time of the meteor shower, most likely near the shower."
"Of course I can narrow it down. The name probably begins with 'Cl.'"
"But it should be some help."
"An hour?"
"I owe you."
Turning to Lana, he smirked. "He said an hour, so he'll probably call in fifteen minutes. Showmanship."
Her eyes gleamed as she looked up at him. "My turn," she said, grabbing the phone.
"Chloe? Lana."
"Got a really weird but important question for you."
"Did anybody in Smallville have a child whose name began with 'Cl' or something like that? A boy, who's been missing now for a long time, or maybe dead."
A long pause. "Chloe, what don't you have cross-referenced in that computer of yours?"
"Ohhhh. That's the only one?"
"Right after the meteor shower?"
"Poor thing. How'd they take it?"
"Yeah...I'd heard, but don't think I ever knew what his name was. They...never talked about him."
"Listen, I promise, if I can, I'll tell you later, but for now, just keep it quiet, okay? This could be serious."
"Sure, of course you'll get the exclusive."
"Thanks again. Bye."
Lana preened as she hung up. "The Kents adopted a son just after the shower, but he got sick and died in a Metropolis hospital two weeks later." She paused for dramatic effect. "His name was Clark. And if he'd lived, he'd have been my next-door neighbor."
Lex's jaw rarely dropped--Luthors never show astonishment--but somehow, it didn't seem that important.
"I don't know, Lex, I hate digging it all up again for them if he's not Clark." The first sentence came out slowly, but the second rushed out. "Or even worse, what if he is?" She stared at the table, not looking at him. "Lex, I know the Kents, they're good people. They keep to themselves, but they adore kids, and they were so good to me after...it must have been just after he died..."
"Or were told he died. Or were paid to say he died." Lex wasn't even sure he'd said the words out loud, but Lana had heard him quite clearly.
"They're not that kind of people! If they said that he's dead, then that's what they believed!" She dialed again, and glared as Lex put a hand on the receiver.
"I'm not saying 'don't trust them.' I'm saying, 'Be careful.'" He lifted his hand as she gave him a quick smile and redialed.
"Nell? Yeah, I'm at Lex's."
"Sorry, don't mean to interrupt, but this is kind of urgent. Do you remember anything about the boy the Kents adopted?"
"What about what he looked like? What color hair did he have?"
"You're sure?"
"Thanks. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but don't wait dinner, I'll grab something here."
"Bye."
She turned to Lex, eyes sober. "Clark had dark hair. She remembers it because it made it so clear that he was adopted. Mr Kent's blond and she's got light red hair."
"That doesn't mean, necessarily, that he's the one." He spoke slowly, clearly wanting to leap to the conclusion. "But let's ask...Clark."
The phone rang and Lex reached for it.
"Yes, hello, Philip."
"One child, hmmm? Named Clark Kent, by any chance?"
"Never underestimate small-town grapevines." Lex wasn't even trying to keep the smugness out of his voice.
"Anything else?"
"Okay, if there aren't any formal records anywhere, how did you find out?"
"No, I'm not asking to make you feel better."
"Oh."
"Thanks. Take Sarah to dinner on me, okay? Anywhere."
"Yes, anywhere in Europe, too."
"Thanks."
He was frowning, which Lana didn't quite understand until he said, softly, "They ordered a mail-order teddy bear with a t-shirt saying 'Clark' and a few days later, a 'Kent' Sharks shirt. Children's large. That makes it look as though they were planning to keep him."
Lana swallowed hard. "Lex, they wouldn't have given him up if they'd known that he'd be turned into a killing machine, they just wouldn't have."
"People can do odd things when faced with exceptional circumstances, Lana. Or exceptional inducements."
"*Don't* retreat behind that worldly-wise, seen-it-all pose, Lex, it's nowhere near as sexy and sophisticated as you think!" She blinked in bewilderment at her own outburst.
Lex crooked an eyebrow and picked up the phone again. "Enrique? Check to see if there are any photographs in back issues of the local newspaper, of a couple named Kent."
"Way ahead of you, Lex. I might have something in my backpack." She laughed, "No, not that I expected that this morning, but we had a class project. Interview a local business owner. I couldn't do myself, and since the Kents were next door, I asked them. I took a couple of pictures with Chloe's digital camera, mostly of the farm, but there's one that shows them."
***
He was still sitting, leaning against the wall, head back and eyes closed. Lana wondered if he were asleep, or if he even slept.
She'd have thought it would have been impossible to stop thinking of him as a killer and start seeing him as a victim. She wondered if the same thoughts were going through Lex's mind.
"Clark?" She spoke much more gently than she had planned, but at his jerk of alarm, she was glad of it. He stared at her with wide eyes. "That is your name, isn't it?"
The already-familiar stubborn expression seemed, while still genuine, to sit just on the surface, as though there were still more thoughts and emotions, not all of them compatible, roiling underneath.
"Do you remember Jonathan and Martha Kent?"
"Who are they? Did I...was I assigned to eliminate them?"
"No. Is the name familiar?"
He shook his head.
"How about this?" She crouched to pass a printed copy of the photograph through the bars. He looked at it, at first suspiciously, and then urgently.
"Who are they?" he demanded. "Who are they?" he repeated, this time, almost a note of fear in his voice.
"You know them?" Lex's voice was level. "Answer me, Clark."
Lana shook her head at Lex. She couldn't stop imagining Clark as a little boy in a Sharks shirt too big for him, playing on the Kent's porch, chasing the kittens in the barn, the way she had played there. It bothered her--to the point of being unbearable--that he was still handcuffed. She went to the table where Lex had put the key and opened the drawer.
"Here, hold out your wrists, I want to take those off you." There was a flicker of annoyance in Lex's eyes, but she met his glance until a reluctant smile lifted the corner of his mouth and he nodded. Clark stayed where he was, after one tentative movement in her direction. Maybe he needed more step-by-step directions. "Come closer, Clark."
"I can't. The rocks..." She'd almost forgotten the rocks firmly affixed to the bars. No wonder he was huddling back in the corner.
She took a deep breath. "Unlock it, would you, Lex?"
AN: For the sake of plot, I blithely decided that it would have taken the Kents more than two weeks to get adoption papers!
Roberts returned, by which time Lex had had a chance to strategize. After Roberts shook his head, indicating that they'd found nobody else, he had at least a semi-plan. "Keep an eye on him," he said, lightly, as if tossing off a conversational sally. "I've got a bit of a surprise planned."
"So what's the surprise?" Lana asked, once they were outside, an eyebrow raised.
"I don't know yet." He dialed Philip's number. "Philip? Lex."
"Here's what I need. Any *un*official disappearances or deaths of a white male child, around the time of the meteor shower, most likely near the shower."
"Of course I can narrow it down. The name probably begins with 'Cl.'"
"But it should be some help."
"An hour?"
"I owe you."
Turning to Lana, he smirked. "He said an hour, so he'll probably call in fifteen minutes. Showmanship."
Her eyes gleamed as she looked up at him. "My turn," she said, grabbing the phone.
"Chloe? Lana."
"Got a really weird but important question for you."
"Did anybody in Smallville have a child whose name began with 'Cl' or something like that? A boy, who's been missing now for a long time, or maybe dead."
A long pause. "Chloe, what don't you have cross-referenced in that computer of yours?"
"Ohhhh. That's the only one?"
"Right after the meteor shower?"
"Poor thing. How'd they take it?"
"Yeah...I'd heard, but don't think I ever knew what his name was. They...never talked about him."
"Listen, I promise, if I can, I'll tell you later, but for now, just keep it quiet, okay? This could be serious."
"Sure, of course you'll get the exclusive."
"Thanks again. Bye."
Lana preened as she hung up. "The Kents adopted a son just after the shower, but he got sick and died in a Metropolis hospital two weeks later." She paused for dramatic effect. "His name was Clark. And if he'd lived, he'd have been my next-door neighbor."
Lex's jaw rarely dropped--Luthors never show astonishment--but somehow, it didn't seem that important.
"I don't know, Lex, I hate digging it all up again for them if he's not Clark." The first sentence came out slowly, but the second rushed out. "Or even worse, what if he is?" She stared at the table, not looking at him. "Lex, I know the Kents, they're good people. They keep to themselves, but they adore kids, and they were so good to me after...it must have been just after he died..."
"Or were told he died. Or were paid to say he died." Lex wasn't even sure he'd said the words out loud, but Lana had heard him quite clearly.
"They're not that kind of people! If they said that he's dead, then that's what they believed!" She dialed again, and glared as Lex put a hand on the receiver.
"I'm not saying 'don't trust them.' I'm saying, 'Be careful.'" He lifted his hand as she gave him a quick smile and redialed.
"Nell? Yeah, I'm at Lex's."
"Sorry, don't mean to interrupt, but this is kind of urgent. Do you remember anything about the boy the Kents adopted?"
"What about what he looked like? What color hair did he have?"
"You're sure?"
"Thanks. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but don't wait dinner, I'll grab something here."
"Bye."
She turned to Lex, eyes sober. "Clark had dark hair. She remembers it because it made it so clear that he was adopted. Mr Kent's blond and she's got light red hair."
"That doesn't mean, necessarily, that he's the one." He spoke slowly, clearly wanting to leap to the conclusion. "But let's ask...Clark."
The phone rang and Lex reached for it.
"Yes, hello, Philip."
"One child, hmmm? Named Clark Kent, by any chance?"
"Never underestimate small-town grapevines." Lex wasn't even trying to keep the smugness out of his voice.
"Anything else?"
"Okay, if there aren't any formal records anywhere, how did you find out?"
"No, I'm not asking to make you feel better."
"Oh."
"Thanks. Take Sarah to dinner on me, okay? Anywhere."
"Yes, anywhere in Europe, too."
"Thanks."
He was frowning, which Lana didn't quite understand until he said, softly, "They ordered a mail-order teddy bear with a t-shirt saying 'Clark' and a few days later, a 'Kent' Sharks shirt. Children's large. That makes it look as though they were planning to keep him."
Lana swallowed hard. "Lex, they wouldn't have given him up if they'd known that he'd be turned into a killing machine, they just wouldn't have."
"People can do odd things when faced with exceptional circumstances, Lana. Or exceptional inducements."
"*Don't* retreat behind that worldly-wise, seen-it-all pose, Lex, it's nowhere near as sexy and sophisticated as you think!" She blinked in bewilderment at her own outburst.
Lex crooked an eyebrow and picked up the phone again. "Enrique? Check to see if there are any photographs in back issues of the local newspaper, of a couple named Kent."
"Way ahead of you, Lex. I might have something in my backpack." She laughed, "No, not that I expected that this morning, but we had a class project. Interview a local business owner. I couldn't do myself, and since the Kents were next door, I asked them. I took a couple of pictures with Chloe's digital camera, mostly of the farm, but there's one that shows them."
***
He was still sitting, leaning against the wall, head back and eyes closed. Lana wondered if he were asleep, or if he even slept.
She'd have thought it would have been impossible to stop thinking of him as a killer and start seeing him as a victim. She wondered if the same thoughts were going through Lex's mind.
"Clark?" She spoke much more gently than she had planned, but at his jerk of alarm, she was glad of it. He stared at her with wide eyes. "That is your name, isn't it?"
The already-familiar stubborn expression seemed, while still genuine, to sit just on the surface, as though there were still more thoughts and emotions, not all of them compatible, roiling underneath.
"Do you remember Jonathan and Martha Kent?"
"Who are they? Did I...was I assigned to eliminate them?"
"No. Is the name familiar?"
He shook his head.
"How about this?" She crouched to pass a printed copy of the photograph through the bars. He looked at it, at first suspiciously, and then urgently.
"Who are they?" he demanded. "Who are they?" he repeated, this time, almost a note of fear in his voice.
"You know them?" Lex's voice was level. "Answer me, Clark."
Lana shook her head at Lex. She couldn't stop imagining Clark as a little boy in a Sharks shirt too big for him, playing on the Kent's porch, chasing the kittens in the barn, the way she had played there. It bothered her--to the point of being unbearable--that he was still handcuffed. She went to the table where Lex had put the key and opened the drawer.
"Here, hold out your wrists, I want to take those off you." There was a flicker of annoyance in Lex's eyes, but she met his glance until a reluctant smile lifted the corner of his mouth and he nodded. Clark stayed where he was, after one tentative movement in her direction. Maybe he needed more step-by-step directions. "Come closer, Clark."
"I can't. The rocks..." She'd almost forgotten the rocks firmly affixed to the bars. No wonder he was huddling back in the corner.
She took a deep breath. "Unlock it, would you, Lex?"
AN: For the sake of plot, I blithely decided that it would have taken the Kents more than two weeks to get adoption papers!
