A/N: It may seem at this point that I am trying to work my way up to a finale/endgame, but I am actually working up to more of a midpoint of this book. There's quite a bit of story left to go :)
Chapter 27 - On the Run
Lex tried to run through the halls of the mansion, but the gunshot wound had taken more of a toll on him than he wanted to admit. The darkness had been tied up— probably terrified, but more or less resting—for the past twenty four hours or more. Lex himself hadn't been. He was already exhausted.
"Did you find him?" His mother's voice echoed through the halls.
"No. We're going to have to run after him in your car."
"Well, do you have any idea which way he went?"
"He might have gone towards Metropolis. Or maybe to the lab." Lex swore under his breath. Realistically, he probably would've gone somewhere more unpredictable.
"Well, let's go to the car, we can find him before he gets too far."
His mother took his hand, and they both headed toward the exit, but Lex couldn't stop himself from feeling a sinking in his stomach. They weren't going to make it. They weren't going to find him.
They made their way out of the mansion, hurrying over to the truck, and Martha climbed into the driver seat, but Lex stopped. He knelt down beside the front tires; they were completely flat.
"Mom."
"Get in, I'll take you wherever —"
"Look."
She found and got out of the car. Then she looked down at the tires. "OK, let's go back into the mansion. We can call your father—"
"There's no time. I have lots of cars, we can take one of those."
"You're not driving."
"I'll be fine."
"You're still on drugs from the hospital, and you're in no shape to be driving. I'm only letting you stay awake at all because it's an emergency."
Lex grimaced. "Mom—"
"Did you think you were going to run off and chase him without me?"
"Yes. I promise I'll ask the question you wanted me to ask before I kill him, but—"
"No."
Lex's breath caught. "It's not your choice to make."
"Get in the car. You need to sit. I'm going into the house to get a phone to call your father. If you're not still sitting there when I get back, so help me—"
"I get it." Lex pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Here. Save you a trip."
She got into the drivers seat, took the cell phone, and made the call. The first rays of sunlight were just starting to appear over the horizon; the sky was slowly turning from black to a deep blue. His mom explained the situation to his dad—just barely, leaving out most of the details—asking if he could get Clark to bring over some spare tires, and halfway through the conversation, she took Lex's hand, gently stroking the back of it with her thumb.
When she finished the call, she gave back the cell phone and relaxed back in her seat. "Just rest, sweetheart."
"How can I? That monster is loose. I—"
"You know him better than anyone. Do you think he would hurt our family?"
Lex considered it. He didn't doubt that his darkness would hurt anyone who got in the way of what he wanted—although his mom made a good point, that they weren't sure what exactly it was that he did want—but he didn't know if the darkness would come back to hurt them just for the sake of hurting them. "I don't think so," he said, "but that's not enough. Is it OK if I go inside to talk to some of my security people?"
She smiled a little, and he immediately realized why. It wasn't his style to ask for permission to manage his own staff. "Do what you need to do," she said, and she leaned over to kiss the side of his head, in the same place she had struck it earlier.
Lex took a deep breath, straightened out his clothing, and headed back toward the entrance.
He wasn't going to be able to find his darkness unless it wanted to be found. But if it did anything that would place it in the public eye, Lex would know about it. And if it came within a 10 mile radius of the Kent farm—well, he wasn't going to let that happen. He would figure out code phrases and make his family drill him. To ensure that every night, when he went to sleep in the Kent house, his family would never have to question whether it was really him.
Clark heard about everything that had happened with Lex and his darkness the next morning. His mom told him when she arrived at home, after Lex went up to his room and before his dad came in from the early morning chores. She also mentioned that they'd both want to talk to him after breakfast.
Clark knew he was absolutely in for it. Every member of his family was going to want to kill him.
What's more, there was still a chance that his brother would never forgive him for what he had done. His parents would—he knew after the scolding, and probably a lot of crying on his part, they'd hug him and tell him how much they loved him. Clark just didn't know whether Lex would do the same.
He peeked into Lex's room after his conversation with his mom, and he found Lex dead asleep.
Clark wanted nothing more than to get out for a little while, to take a walk around town and maybe pick up a coffee to get his mind off things for a few minutes, but he had to go back to his room. His mom had told him he could apologize to Lex, but other than that, he was confined his room until Dad came in to hear the whole story.
Clark ended up pacing the floor again for a half an hour, his stomach turning and his mind wracked with guilt, before there was a soft knock on his door.
Lex came into the room. He looked exhausted, maybe defeated. Clark didn't like where this was going at all. "Lex," Clark said carefully, "how are you feeling?"
"I've survived worse."
"Really?"
Lex hesitated. "Well, maybe not worse than getting shot. Look… about everything that happened between us…"
"I know. There are some things that are hard to forgive."
"Direct physical harm. Using kryptonite."
"Believe me, Lex, it's been bothering me. It's been… haunting me."
"I'm sure it has."
It was quiet for a moment.
Lex sucked in a breath. "My darkness—"
"I know. This whole situation was just really messed up."
"Yeah."
"I don't know… If things can ever be the same between you and me…"
Lex hung his head. "Maybe not."
Clark felt like he had been stabbed through the heart. "I'm so sorry."
"It is what it is."
Clark shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Well… I guess that's that, then."
"Yeah." Lex rubbed the back of his neck. "But Clark… if you can ever find it in your heart to forgive me…"
Clark blinked a couple of times. "Forgive you?"
"I know, I hurt you, I took your blood, I've manipulated you—"
"That was your darkness."
"It was still me." Lex shook his head. "Wait, what were you talking about?"
"Electrocuting you with kryptonite. Knocking out your other half, lying to you?"
"Right." Lex took a step closer. "You already talked to your parents about that one?"
"Not yet. I'm probably grounded for the rest of the summer."
"I can talk to them. You were doing the best you could do."
"It's okay, Lex." I have it coming were the words on his mind, but he couldn't get them out.
"Either way, we could use some time to catch up. The last time we really got to talk as ourselves, I was saying goodbye to you and taking off for Metropolis."
Clark straightened up. "Is this you saying you'll forgive me?"
"Will you forgive me?"
Clark threw his arms around his older brother. He almost forgot to be careful with his strength; he knew how tightly he could squeeze a person without hurting them, but the rules were different for someone who had recently been shot.
Lex was smiling when they let go. "We're OK, then."
Clark grinned. "Yeah."
A soft throat clearing sounded behind them, and Clark's stomach sank when he saw his dad standing there.
"Lex," Dad said, "can you give me a few minutes with your brother?"
Lex gave Clark a couple of pats on the shoulder. "Good luck," he said.
Clark just winced.
