Chapter 22 - Double
There were two of him.
It was as though the bolt of electricity had created clones. The hospital bed itself was empty, the IV tubes dangling free, but there was one Lex Luthor on either side of the bed, wearing identical hospital gowns, fully unconscious.
Clark's first instinct was to call Chloe right away and demand some answers. But thinking back to the conversation he'd had with her, she hadn't claimed to know very much. She had only relayed rumors, and he had run with them.
He was going to be in so much trouble.
A couple of years ago, he would have kept this a secret from his parents for that fact alone. To try to avoid being punished. He had come along way since then, and he wasn't naïve enough to think that he would be escaping any consequences after this, but he really had no idea what to tell his parents. He didn't even know what the other copy of Lex was. Were they really clones? Were they identical in every way—the same thoughts, memories, intentions…
Or was it possible that he had somehow separated Lex from his dark side? That one of these men was his brother, and the other one was trying to destroy their entire family?
As crazy as it sounded, it also seemed like exactly the kind of thing kryptonite would do.
He was getting ahead of himself. First, he had to make sure both men were still alive. Clark crouched down to feel for the pulse of one, then the other. Both hearts were beating. If anything, that heartbeat felt stronger than before.
Now he had to choose which one to try to wake. Of course, if they were both still in comas, he wouldn't be able to get either of them to wake up. Then, he would have to try to explain what had happened to the doctors, and to his parents…
Clark resigned himself to the fact that sooner or later, he was going to have to tell his parents what had happened. For right now, though, he had to figure out what he had even done.
If he had split the darkness from the light, there was a 50/50 chance he'd find the right one on the first try. Clark knelt down beside one version of his brother. "Lex?" he said softly, shaking his shoulder.
Lex's eyes opened, and he jolted up. "You," he said, grabbing Clark's arms. "What the hell did you do to me? Did you tell anybody about me? I swear—"
Clark didn't think. He just swung.
The palm of his hand connected with the side of Lex's head, and to Clark, it felt like such a light touch. But the smack resounded in the room, and Lex fell back, hitting his head hard on the tile, out cold instantly.
Clark almost ran over to the other Lex. But he didn't know how to explain the clone to him, either. For all he knew, they could both be evil, but if that were the case, there was no additional harm in hiding the evidence of what he had done for just long enough for him to figure out what to do about it…
Clark picked up the body of the man he had just knocked out, and he ran, fast enough that nobody would be able to see him.
He ran to the mansion. It was the only place he could think to go. It was easy to break in and slip past security—it always has been. From there, he wasn't exactly sure what to do. He wanted to hide the body, and this seemed like the best place to do that, but he also didn't want his brother to find out until Clark could give a better explanation.
There was that one room that had been the Room of Obsession. Clark noticed that Lex never went down there anymore; it was like a place of shame for him, something he didn't want to think about, and Clark also knew that no one else had a key to that room…
Clark ran around the mansion in search of duck tape or zip ties; he ended up finding some rope in a supply closet. He carefully tied up the arms and legs of his enemy's sleeping form, laid him down gently in the empty Room of Obsession, then slipped out of the room himself. He had apparently broken the lock on his way in, so he just bent the metal of the door knob in such a way that the darkness wouldn't be able to get out.
He would have to come back here. He had no intention of starving him to death. This situation just kept getting worse and worse. But right now, his brother—his real brother—needed him more.
Clark raced back to the hospital. When he reached his brother's hospital room, Lex was already beginning to stir.
Clark rushed over to kneel beside Lex as he tried to sit up. "Whoa, whoa, take it easy." He held out his hand and let him sit up slowly. "Uh, you must've fallen off the bed."
Lex blinked a few times, looking around himself. For a moment, Clark was worried he would call him out for lying, since he always seem to know, but Lex didn't say anything about that. "Clark?"
"Oh, thank God you're awake."
Lex let out his breath. "Clark, you should have given up on me when you had the chance. Pulled the plug if you had to."
Clark swallowed hard, guilt overcoming him at the fact that he had considered doing just that. "I could never give up on you."
"I asked you to. Remember, before I went off to fight Lionel?"
"And I never agreed to it."
"Clark…" Lex hung his head a little. "I can't win this fight. I don't know how. I don't even know how I'm the one talking to you right now."
"Maybe you've already won."
Lex suddenly sat up straighter. "I hurt you. With kryptonite."
"I forgive you. I know it wasn't you."
"It doesn't matter if it was me or not. I did it. And I'll do it again. Clark, I'm not worth all this. Sooner or later, I'm going to end up hurting your family."
Clark sighed. Lex was never going to accept this gift at face value. He would always be waiting and worrying about his darker side. If nothing else, Clark needed to assure him that he didn't need to worry about that, not within his own mind. "Lex… Promise me you won't freak out."
Lex's eyes narrowed. The look on his face did not fill Clark with any confidence.
And then suddenly, he couldn't do it. This was his first time talking to his real brother in far, far too long. He couldn't back down now from telling Lex something, but he couldn't tell him the full truth, either. "OK, you can freak out all you want, but don't tell Mom and Dad."
"I won't lie for you."
"I'm not asking you to lie. I'm just asking you to… keep a secret."
"I don't like this, Clark."
"Then… just keep it secret for a few days? Let me be the one to tell them."
Lex frowned, but he nodded. "OK."
Clark settled back on his heels, shifting his weight a little from his knees. "I wanted to help you fight the darkness. So… I found a new type of kryptonite. You know how green kryptonite sometimes makes people into killers? This type does the opposite. I've heard rumors that it could make people… better."
Lex still look suspicious.
"I didn't believe it either. But I think it worked. I think… it killed the darkness."
Lex shook his head. "You're not telling me the whole story."
"That's all I know, Lex. I don't know how it works." Clark could've kicked himself. He hardly even believed himself; he really should've been a better liar by now, but he really hated lying, especially to his family.
"Clark, if that's all there was, you wouldn't have asked me to keep the secret from your parents."
"I…" Clark scrambled for a believable cover. Lex had a good point, but he didn't want any more people looking into the truth behind black kryptonite. Clark was sure Lex was going to do some research, but if Clark could beat him to the punch—which might be possible, with Clark speed and the fact that Lex was still going to have to sleep a lot to recover from his injuries—he might be able to clear all of this up before anyone got hurt. "I had to steal the kryptonite. And… I used an electrical generator on you. It was a risk."
"Wow."
"I know. But I wanted to save you. My dad is going to kill me when he finds out, and I just… I want it to come from me, but I need a little time to figure out what to say."
Lex stared at him for a long moment. Then he let his breath out. "Fine," he said. "On a few conditions."
"Of course." Clark tried to keep his voice steady, despite the fact that he felt like his heart was going to hammer its way out of his chest.
"48 hours. That's all I'm giving this."
Clark swallowed. "That's fair."
"If your parents ask any direct questions, I'm going to answer honestly."
"OK." Clark doubted his parents would ask any questions about this. "They didn't even know your dark side took over."
Lex gaped. "You didn't tell them? While I was in a coma?"
"Have you even been hearing what your darkness has been saying to me? He threatened us!"
"Clark, he wasn't any threat to you while I was unconscious. What, you didn't talk to your parents at all? You just let them keep believing everything was fine?"
A very different type of heat burned in Clarks veins. He felt his voice beginning to rise. "I thought you were going to die! I wasn't about to tell them you had given yourself over to the darkness!"
"Clark, they have a right to know."
"They don't need to anymore. Don't you understand? You're healed now."
"Yeah. It's a miracle. You know the one thing I've always learned about miracles is, Clark?"
"To be thankful?"
"To be suspicious. They never come without a price. And I still don't think you're telling me everything."
"Lex, you have no idea how much pressure I've been under. I had to think about you, about my parents, about my secret, even about my friends, because I don't know if your darkness would've threatened them too."
"So you chose to handle it on your own? You didn't even ask your parents for advice?"
"Are you telling me your darkness wouldn't have killed them without a second thought?"
Lex was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. "I honestly don't know," he said. "But Clark… I don't like keeping secrets from Mom and Dad, even when it's for their own protection. Please, whatever you did with that other kind of kryptonite, please tell them before it gets us all in any more trouble."
Clark felt like his stomach was turning somersaults. "OK," he said quietly.
Lex nodded slowly, and he carefully pulled himself up to stand, before wincing, clutching at his chest, and lowering himself down onto the bed. "How long have I been out?"
"A few weeks."
"Oh." Lex let his breath out slowly. "I'm still upset, but... I guess I should thank you. Even if you are keeping secrets from me, you did save my life. Again."
In the face of all of the fear and anxiety of the past few weeks, and especially the past hour, Clark hadn't been able to feel any relief that his brother was back and, apparently, healed. All of a sudden, it hit him all at once. Lex wasn't going to die in a coma, and he wasn't going to lose the fight to his dark side. He was going to live. They were going to be a family again. It was enough to bring tears to Clarks eyes.
He lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed beside Lex, and he threw his arms around his older brother. "It's good to have you back, man."
Lex squeezed back harder. "Yeah," he said, but there is still a hesitance in his voice, like he didn't want to look this gift horse in the mouth.
Clark couldn't blame him, but he also couldn't stop himself from grinning.
A/N: Spring break next week, so I won't be updating. See you in two weeks! I always love hearing your thoughts :)
Update: as of April 9, 2022, I'm going to put all of my ongoing long projects on hiatus until the repetitive stress injuries in my wrists have been fully healed. I've been writing chapters using dictation, but looking back, I'm not pleased with the quality this yields, and I would rather wait a few months to post again than to continue posting substandard work.
I am going to take some time to practice my dictation skills using some lower stakes projects, specifically writing one shots. If you know my history on this site, you know that I will come back and finish these longer projects. I just need to take care of my health first.
In the meantime, if you have been enjoying this series, by all means, drop me a note. I miss you all!
