Experiment 001

Chapter 20: The Reasons Why

Lex sat in his office, as he had for the past week. He just sat there. His mind refused to think about anything except that horrible scene at the old complex.

Murder.

Frampson had murdered Alley, the only soul who ever actually cared for Lex after his mother had died, and no matter what the outcome of the trail, Frampson would live. The bastard had killed an innocent girl. If any crime deserved the death penalty, it was this. She hadn't done anything. Damn Kansas law! Frampson didn't deserve to go on living, even if it was to be spent behind bars for the rest of his live. At least Frampson could not plead insanity, no matter how true that was. Kansas got at least one part correct. He would stand trail for murder, be convicted, and live the rest of his life in a comfortable little cell. Without the possibility of parole.

Lex was powerful and rich, he'd get the quack locked away forever. Especially with Chloe, Clark, Pete and himself as eye witnesses.

He couldn't lose.

So why did he feel so defeated?

Again and again it replayed in his mind. There had to have been something he missed, something he hadn't seen! Something, anything, that he could have done to prevent it. Yet, as it had done in the car on the way to the help Alley, his intellect failed him. He knew that there was something, he just couldn't find it.

He refused to give into his grief. He was a Luthor, above all else. He let his face fall into his hands, Alley had been the only person who loved him, wanted to actually be around him, and not thought about what they could gain because of it. Lex was able to be himself around her. He didn't have to worry about the guise of being so sure of himself and always being correct. Alley didn't mind if he made a mistake. Hadn't minded. Past tense. Stupid tenses…

"Mr. Luthor?"

Lex jumped slightly as his secretary, Sophie, stood in the doorway. "I told you I don't want to be disturbed—"

"I know, Mr. Luthor, but there are three people out here saying that they will not leave until you see them."

Lex sighed; hewas not in the mood todeal with this! "Fine!"

Sophie stepped back and Chloe, Clark, and Pete stepped timidly into the office.

Lex sighed, another addition to his guilt. "Clark, Chloe, Pete, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" he didn't finish. He really didn't know what he didn't mean.

The three seemed to understand, or at the very least disregarded Lex's rudeness. Chloe was the first to say something, "Lex, I…we…Alley gave me something before…just in case something happened…sh-she wanted me to give it to you if something happened."

Lex's mood instantly sobered, "What?"

"She gave us a video tape," Pete continued, "and told us that it was for you, just in case."

Chloe pulled a tape out of her bag, and held it out for Lex, "We didn't know how to really give it to you, so…"

Lex took the tape and the three turned to leave. Lex stared at the tape for a moment, dumbstruck. "Wait," he said as soon as he snapped out of it. "Please, stay." Lex was already berating himself for the weakness and intense emotion that was clearly in his voice. "You were the only other people who knew about her."

The three followed Lex into another room inside the mansion that had a television and VCR. Lex took a deep breath to steady himself, put the tape in, and pressed play. He felt his chest tighten painfully as a picture of Alley sitting on the chair in her room that he had sat in, after the incident at the Talon.

Alley seemed nervous and shaky. She sighed and ran her right hand through her hair. "Well," she laughed humorlessly and sighed again. "As much as I'd like to hope that we're watching this because it's all over and we needed a laugh, I'm pretty sure that it isn't the case. Um…Alex…please, don't be too sad. And no matter what, it wasn't your fault. Please, just remember that. Uh…will you tell Chloe, if she isn't watching with you, that I couldn't have ever hoped to have a better friend, even one who wants to print all the strange things in the newspaper. She'll make a great reporter one day. Umm…tell Pete that he was the greatest boyfriend a girl could hope for, even if it was only for a short while. Tell Clark, that it doesn't matter who his birth family is, the people who are in his life are his real family; that its good to know where you came from, but that we are our own people." Tears started to gather in her eyes, she hurriedly wiped them away. "And Alex…ji-say-toy…Alex…" The tear started to fall, and she just let them, "I-uh…I don't really know what to say. Is that bad? I had a speech already in my head, but now…I can't remember any of the words in English, and you wouldn't understand it in Kryptonian." She turned away for a moment and took a deep breath, when she turned back, her voice still broke, but it was slightly calmer. "So, I guess I'll say this: I hope I got to see you before. I wanted to tell you…'Joo-yah, mrea lo zhi.' It doesn't make sense in English, so I'll just tell you the story. It's an old Kryptonian legend, I know, a race of scientists shouldn't have legends, but it's one of them. A brother went to save his sister from a village that wanted to…to…" she closed her eyes in concentration, "I can't remember the word…but they were going to kill her as a present to the god of the sky."

Lex blinked back tears, "Sacrifice," he whispered, correcting her as he had a million times before.

"So," the video continued, "when he got there, he was found that he was too late. They had already started. So, he rushed up and held her, told her not to be afraid, that everything would be alright, he'd find a doctor, that they could go away and he wouldn't let anyone hurt her, he would protect her like he had always tried. And she said no. She knew it was too late. So she told him what I told you, "'joo-yah, mrea lo zhi'…it doesn't make sense translated, but it means, 'I'm not afraid, because now it's my turn to watch over you.'" Alley wiped the tears from her eyes, only to have them be replaced by more. "You always helped me, Alex, always watched out for me. Now, it's my turn. No matter where you are, or what's happening, just know, I-I'm doing my best to make sure you're okay. I told you before, in reality, the good-guys don't always win. Good doesn't always…triumph over evil. The good guys just have to be strong enough to keep going. You are the nicest Earthling I've ever known, Alex. Please, keep going." She reached to turn off the camera, "Oh, don't let anyone make Krypton into a joke. We made mistakes, but we were proud scientists." She paused, "Bye, Alex, I love you."

The screen filled with snow.

Lex didn't look at the three people staring at him. A few tears escaped his control, but only a few. "Thanks, Chloe," he said, not looking at her, and left the room. He didn't want them looking at him with pity. They knew the way out.

When he was back safely in his office, he took the bottle of scotch from its place, not bothering to grab a glass, and took a long swig. He went behind his desk collapsed into the chair, allowing a few sobs to break through his control. He didn't believe in ghosts or angles or spirits. Alley was dead. Gone forever. He'd never see her again. And she was not watching him.

Maybe he had been seeing things wrong the whole time. Maybe he had just been on the wrong side all along.

…"The good guys don't always win"…that was reality?

The good guys might not always win…

…but the bad guys always seemed too…

A/N: Okay, the final chapter. Hope y'all liked it. I did some research on the whole death penalty/insanity plea thing, so, yeah, Kansas doesn't have either. Made me sigh slightly, cause this chapter could have been slightly longer if they had the insanity plea and death penalty, but…so it goes.

I hope you liked it. I have always liked Lex Luthor. He's so devious and evil. Plus, I hate Superman, so…yeah. I'm much more of a Batman girl myself. Batman's evil and really dark. Superman is too goody-goody for me. So, here's how I think the producer's of Smallville should make Lex finally turn bad.

I hope the whole story/legend thing wasn't too sappy...after writing it, I was thinking that it sounded pretty sappy...hope it wasn't that terribly bad.

Do you people think I should write another?

For all of the people who have stuck with me the whole time, thank you so much, you have no idea how much you brighten my day. A lot has happened since I started this fic, and you don't know how much your support has meant to me. It helps to make me feel like I can be a writer for a living. All I need is a little more practice.

Thanks again.

And, as always…

Please review.