Title: Infinite Consequences
Author: Drake of Dross
Spoilers: Seasons 1 & 2, especially "Insurgence"
Goes AU after
Insurgence, but does parallel the show. "Suspect" never happens because
Lionel opts not take over LexCorp, but most of the other episodes
follow a logical progression of slightly more and more AU aspects due
to the events occuring in this story.
Warning: incest, slash, mpreg
Pairing: Lex/Lionel
Summary: While negotiating with his father in the LuthorCorp vault to
save his company from reprisal, Lex discovers he may have made a
mistake.
Clark's assurances aside, Lex decided he really wasn't cut out for parenting. For one thing, it wasn't until Clark had asked for names that he had even realized that this wasn't a medical condition but a precursor to a child, which definitely suggested a self-centeredness that did not speak well of his ability to parent anyone, especially not alone. And beyond that, what was the statistic about abused children becoming abusers? He couldn't risk it. If the best thing he could do for his child was give them to someone who knew what they were doing, then he'd do that. And there was one couple that fit the bill of 'perfect parents' better than anyone.
"Come in, Mrs. Kent. I'm glad you could make it."
She took in his seated position behind his desk and apparently reached the conclusion that this was business. That his message had mentioned a 'proposition' probably helped cement that impression. She opened her mouth and hesitated only a moment before apparently deciding to stick with her normal form of address for him, "Lex . . ."
At least, he assumed that was what the hesitation was about. He didn't let her finish the rest of her thought before he slid into her brief pause. "I'm aware that you'll need to speak with your husband before you make any final decisions, and I encourage you to do so, but I wanted to run the possibility by you first to see if there was a chance it might happen. Frankly, Mrs. Kent, I'd prefer not to involve Mr. Kent if you don't think he'll agree."
She looked a little suspicious, but that was to be expected. She'd spent a long time working with his father. "I wouldn't ask you to do anything immoral, Mrs. Kent. This is just, it's personal, that's all." He cursed himself for that remark, and tried to recover from it quickly, "Mrs. Kent, I don't want you to feel any obligation to do this, but I want to make the offer in case you are willing."
She smiled slightly, almost with fondness. "Spit it out already, Lex. What's your proposal?"
He debated a few ways to ease into the subject, then decided to just say it. He glanced briefly at her own rounded midsection, estimating her to be about a month ahead of him. "I know you're expecting a new addition to your family already, but I would like for you to consider adopting my son or daughter, too."
She looked, for lack of a better term, shocked. Lowering herself onto one of the chairs that she had, until now, disregarded, she tried several times to speak before she managed it. "I'm honored, Lex, really, but I'm sure your father -"
"My father doesn't know about the baby. I'd like to keep it that way."
No, she was merely surprised before. Now, she was shocked. "Lex, he's you're father. This is -"
"Mrs. Kent," he interrupted her again, before closing his eyes, counting to three, then looking at her again. "I can't raise a child by myself. I wouldn't know where to begin. I'm single, twenty-two years old, and I'm having enough trouble running my own company. If my father knew I was facing impending parenthood, he'd either tell me to hire a nanny and have her deal with it, or try to raise the kid himself. And if there's anyone less qualified to be a parent than me, it's him. If I do nothing good in my life but keep this child away from my father, I will have earned a place in heaven."
She appeared a bit disturbed by the vehemance of his response, but he wasn't going to take any of it back. "I want my child to be happy and loved, Mrs. Kent. The best way to ensure that is to give him or her a chance to not be a Luthor. To give them a chance at being a Kent. Your husband will never accept me, but do you think he could take in an infant with Luthor genes?"
Martha thought about it, then drew in a deep breath and released it. "It's possible. I don't know how likely, but it's possible. I'll talk to him about it tonight."
Lex felt the release of tension he hadn't been aware of and smiled with genuine gratitude. "Thank you."
She stood up to leave, then hesitated. "What about Helen? She won't raise the baby?"
Lex shook his head, feeling vaguely guilty for letting Martha make assumptions about the 'mother's identity. "The other parent will not be involved at all."
She did turn to leave then, but he raised a hand and called out, "Mrs. Kent." She turned back and tilted her head in silent question. "Do know anything about being a midwife?"
A frown of mild confusion began to appear on her features as she said, "I've calved cows. Why?"
He ignored the question. "Do you have any plans four months from now?"
"Just the usual farm work and taking care of this one," she ran a hand over her own stomach. "Lex?" Her eyes narrowed, but she was still more confused than anything else.
"Try to keep your schedule flexible around that time." Though it was phrased as an order, he knew she would understand it to be request. To be perfectly frank, his tone made it dangerously close to pleading.
"Lex?" Her voice was definitely moving away from confused and approaching concern and alarm.
"I implied to Clark that I'd have a midwife on hand," he shrugged, faking indifference, "but I don't know any personally, and this isn't something I want to trust to a stranger."
"Lex?" She was passed concern and alarm, and was swiftly approaching the parental 'you're being intentionally evasive, son, and I don't like it.' He wasn't entirely sure why that made him feel pleased. He hated it when his father did that.
The urge to lift his eyebrows and give her an innocent look was irresistable so he didn't even try. He blamed it on the hormones. "Yes, Mrs. Kent?" She was now directly across the desk from him with her hand on her hips. The scowl on her face was one he was sure Clark must have seen hundreds of times. Well, he would have if he was as much a liar to his parents as he was to Lex.
"What aren't you telling me?" He wondered how much effort she had exerted to keep from calling him a 'young man'.
It occurred to him that he was enjoying taunting her way too much. He tensed to stand, but then froze, suddenly self-conscious as he had not been when showing Clark his problem. He swallowed, and met her frown with an odd nervousness he hadn't felt since his own mother was still alive. Like he was afraid of disappointing her.
She apparently sensed the change, because her expression softened, going so far as to return back to concern. "what is it, Lex?"
"I," he started, then got stuck. He backed up and restarted, "The meteor rocks," he stalled again. Her expression was slipping from mild concern to genuine fear. She was as well acquainted with Chloe's theories as Lex was. He stood. His appearance would explain his predicament far better than words at this point, particularly since his normally glib tongue appeared to have failed him. "It's not Helen that's pregnant, Mrs. Kent." Ah, there, it just needed a kick start.
A hand covered her mouth, and she gasped.
He sat back down, watching her. She recovered quickly, but he couldn't read whether his condition had lost him ground in her opinion or not. "You see why I can't trust just anyone to midwife."
"Yes," she agreed in hushed tones. Perhaps her recovery wasn't as complete as he'd given her credit for. She still sounded a little shocked.
"Only you and Clark know," he told her. Which was another way of saying, 'this is priviledged information, don't tell anyone.' She would understand that. He probably didn't even need to mention it, but it never hurt to clarify.
She nodded, effectively signing the confidentiality agreement. "Lex, when, how . . ?" She apparently lost her ability to speak, too. He was glad it wasn't just him.
"Five months ago, I made the mistake of doing intimate things in the presence of the meteorites. There was a flash of green light, and I knew I'd been affected again. I couldn't confirm how with any certainty until four days later. Given that my partner didn't ask what just happened, I assume he didn't see the flash." That, and he was blind, assuming he had still been blind at that point, but Lex wasn't going to mention that identifying feature. "I have no intention of telling him he's a father." Nor a grandfather, but it was better not to think about that too hard. And he wasn't going to go anywhere near the fact that Lucas wasn't going to be his only half-brother in a few months. God, he needed a brain scrub.
"Lex -"
"No." He couldn't remember the last time he'd cut Martha off so many times over the course of a single afternoon. "I don't care if he contributed fifty percent of the genes. It was, for all intents and purposes, a one night stand. I was using him, he was using me. There's no trust or love in that relationship. If I told him I was even capable of being knocked up, he'd use it against me somehow."
Not wanting to see disappointment or censure in her eyes at his choice of partners, he looked away. "I'm sorry that the gene pool belonging to the child I'm trying to get you to adopt is so murky." And shallow. But he wasn't going to mention that either. Even Martha would be leary about adopting someone who was 75 Lionel Luthor.
"Lex," she began, probably intending to say a trite platitude like 'Nurture over Nature' or something, but then she sighed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow after discussing this with Jonathan."
He forced a smile for her and nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Kent."
