Chapter 4 - Projects

Clark asked his dad for permission before going back to the mansion with Lex to look over Lionel's old projects. He told his dad that Lex might take a sample of his blood for testing, but other than that, they were just going to talk about any projects they decided to take on. His dad was a little hesitant at first, but Clark gave a passionate speech about wanting to help people, and how Lex had proven himself trustworthy, and his dad relented. Clark was pretty sure his dad had just been worried about whether Clark was in a good enough place mentally to be making those kinds of decisions, and the speech had been enough to convince him.

Clark was used to running over to the mansion; Lex drove him this time. They made idle chatter in the car, Clark talking about things he was learning in school, and they made their way up to the study when they arrived.

Lex had a bunch of files laid out on his desk. One was set aside from the others; it was the first one Clark picked up. "What's this one?" The folder was full of graphs and scientific diagrams Clark didn't understand.

"Oh, that's actually mine. It's the project your mom has been helping me with."

Clark wanted to correct him, say that his mom was Lex's mom, too, but it felt like beating a dead horse at this point. Clark just had to accept that healing was a really difficult, slow process for Lex. He focused on the topic at hand. "What project is that?"

"Figuring out how Kryptonite affects people."

"Oh. Right." His mom had talked to him about that, a little bit. "How is that going?"

"I hit a bit of a wall."

Clark gave him a sympathetic look. "Anything I can do to help?"

"No, not with this. My team has some ideas for how to break past it, but I'm not so sure I want to go the direction they're suggesting."

"What direction is that?"

"They want me to see if I can get a deal going with Belle Reve. To get access to some of their patients."

"To experiment on them?"

"I'm afraid that's the direction it would go."

Clark's stomach squirmed. "Maybe you should get a new team. That sounds really bad, Lex."

"Oh, they're not suggesting experimenting on people, not in the way you're thinking. All they want to do is get some blood samples, and maybe talk to some people about their experiences. And maybe helping anyone who happens to want help, either finding a way to get them back to normal, or helping with some of the side effects."

That actually sounded like it might be really helpful. A lot of kryptonite mutants had ended up killing people, but Clark doubted it had been their fault; it seemed to be more something the mutation did to them. "Then why don't you do that?"

"I don't trust myself, Clark. I'm afraid I would take advantage of the power I have over them."

"I don't think you would."

Lex sighed. "I'll think about it."

Clark didn't know what else to say about that, so he chose a different file. "What's this one?" It was a bunch of articles on linguistics, along with pictures of the cave walls.

"Also one of mine, though I've joined the information I had with what Lionel had."

Clark hadn't been down in the caves in a little while. "I can translate them for you."

Lex raised his eyebrows. "That would be great, Clark."

"I'll be honest, though, there's not a lot of interesting stuff down there." Clark wandered over to another file. "This one?" He picked it up and started flipping through. Most of the folder was full of photos of what appeared to be ancient artifacts from different civilizations. It wouldn't have meant much to him at all.

Except that the artifacts were covered in Kryptonian symbols.

"Whoa." Clark lowered the folder. "Lex—"

"I know. These artifacts have something to do with you. With your home planet."

Clark just kept staring. The symbols seemed to be pretty random, and he would have to take some time to interpret all of them, but a few words stood out to him. Healing. Evil. Balance. Hope. Knowledge. Power.

A photo of an aged page of text had been bookmarked. "What's this?"

"It's the last surviving page from a 14th century manuscript. It depicts the Grand Prince Danskoy's victory over his mortal enemy Mamaya, at the Battle of Kulacova. Legend has it that this was the only object adorning the walls of Rasputin's chamber while he studied at the Verkhoture Monastery. He believed this page would reveal a path to unimaginable power. Rasputin would stare at it for days at a time, attempting to penetrate its secrets."

Clark blinked a couple of times. "Do you think it's true?"

Lex's eyes were fixed on the page. "I wish I had the original."

"Sounds like you're really interested in this one."

Lex broke his gaze, looking back up at Clark. "Ah. No, I'm sure it's not true."

"But if it is—"

"Power corrupts, Clark. Best not chase after something like that."

"There are symbols on those artifacts. For knowledge, and healing, and some other things. They sound like good things."

Lex swallowed. "Maybe. But I wouldn't know where to start with this one."

"That's why I'm here. Do you think you could get the manuscript page?"

"It would take some work. Might have to do some traveling. Your parents might not be okay with it."

"Our parents would be proud of you if they knew you were doing something you loved to help people."

Lex nodded slowly. "The owner is in St. Petersburg."

"Florida?"

"Russia."

Clark was sure Lex could afford the plane tickets. "So?"

Lex sighed. "I'll see what I can do. You might be right, Clark, but I'm still not convinced the legends are real. And if they are, I'm not sure I'm the person to chase after that power."

"You know, you're always talking about how you don't trust yourself. But do you trust us? Because we're not going to let you go down a road that's not right for you."

Lex took the file. "Thanks, Clark."

Clark smiled. Finally, he picked up the biggest file on the desk. "What's this one?"

"That's the research on your blood."

"I think that's the one you should work on the most," Clark said.

"Yeah?" Lex took a step closer. "Why's that?"

"Because we don't really know anything about that . . . treasure map, and we don't know how to help the kryptonite mutants, but we know my blood has healing capabilities."

Lex sighed. "It's not that easy, Clark."

"You've got a huge head start. And you've got me. I can give you a donation."

"One donation will barely give me a start."

"But Lionel—"

"Lionel's team was keeping the sample under very specific conditions to keep the cells alive and reproducing, Clark. If you haven't noticed, I'm a little short on home laboratories."

"Well, you can have someone build you one, right? And in the meantime, I can keep coming back and giving you more samples."

Lex stared at him for a moment. "Clark, you know this is going to hurt, right?"

"Lots of people give blood. I'll be fine."

Lex sighed. "Have a seat on the couch," he said, and he headed out of the study.

Clark sat. He knew he should be more nervous, but he couldn't bring himself to be. It was Lex. His brother. He'd never hurt Clark, not really.

Lex returned with a small medical kit, including a needle and syringe. Clark saw the color before he felt the effects.

"For the record," Lex said. "I think you're very brave to be doing this. But if at any point it becomes too much for you—"

"I'll tell you. Can we just . . . get this over with?" His stomach was starting to ache with nausea.

Lex nodded and went right to work. He rolled up Clark's sleeve and wiped down his skin with an antiseptic. Clark looked away before he could pick up the needle.

And then his arm was on fire, excruciating white-hot pain radiating from a single point and spreading through his veins.

He gasped, tensing up, but Lex put a hand on his wrist. "It's okay, Clark, it's almost over, just a few more seconds . . ."

But Clark was already regretting agreeing to this. He'd thought a little pain would be worth it to help people, but this wasn't a little pain. This was agony.

No. It was worth it. His blood had healing powers. Clark took deep breaths. He could do this.

For a moment, he felt like he could hear his mom's voice: Hang in there, baby, hang in there. I know it hurts, but we'll get through this. It took him a moment to remember where he'd heard it before.

And then he was back there. Surrounded by kryptonite, tied down, his mother bound, across the room from him. And he didn't know if his father was alive, or when his captor would be coming back to torture him, and the pain wouldn't stop . . .

"Clark . . . Clark!"

A light tap to his cheek snapped him out of it, and then the pain in his arm died away, and the nausea stopped. Clark blinked and rubbed at his eyes; his cheeks were wet with tears. "Lex?"

"There you are. You were pretty out of it for a second there." He'd put the needle away, at least far enough that Clark wasn't feeling the effects. He sat down beside Clark on the couch and put a hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"

"Ah. Nothing. I'm fine."

Lex raised his eyebrows. "So, you want me to talk to your mom about this?"

"No, no, I—"

"Then don't lie to me. I can always tell when you're lying."

Clark took a deep breath. "I was remembering the last time I felt the effects of kryptonite. You know . . . with Lionel."

Lex's eyebrows knitted. "Clark, I really don't think this is worth it."

"I'm fine, Lex."

"No, you're not, and I'm not going to let you hurt yourself just so that—"

"So that you can do medical research that could help thousands of people?"

"Your parents wouldn't be okay with this."

"Then don't tell them about the flashbacks. I'm fine, Lex, see?"

"I won't choose a bunch of strangers over my own brother's wellbeing."

"Well, lucky for you, it's not your choice." Clark rubbed his arm, though the pain was gone, and stood up. "This time tomorrow?"

Lex stared him in the eyes for a long moment. Then he sighed. "If I had any other option—"

"Thank you!" Clark grinned, even though his stomach felt a little queasy.

Lex smiled, but for some reason, it came off as closer to a smirk.