Summary: Being forced to revisit his life before Smallville is nothing new to Lex, but this time an unwitting victim is brought along for the ride.

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, these guys still ain't mine!

I also do not own/have not written any of the lyrics or quotes which may appear as credited within this story; intended usage is merely to complement narrative and thematic elements of my original work.

A/N: This takes place shortly after Season 1's finale (which would probably alter something somewhere in the episodes that aired, but it's all good).


V: Conviction


Redgrave never was the sharpest knife in the drawer, Lex reflected as more minutes passed in the house unsupervised. It then occurred to him that perhaps Calvin had been wise enough to invest in some kind of surveillance, so it was probably equally shrewd to watch what was said aloud. No matter what, a game plan was definitely in order.

Feeling beads of sweat beginning to course down his head, Lex brushed up against the inside of his arm. He still felt rather disoriented and nauseous from the drugs, but hopefully that would pass soon. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lana similarly attempting to wipe her cheek on her shoulder.

"I really don't want you to worry," Lex ventured softly at last. "I know it seems pretty bleak right about now, but you can't overestimate the situation at hand."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Lana—Calvin obviously didn't plan this one out very well. I mean it's only him, and the chances of getting sloppy or making a mistake are infinitely higher without any outside help. We have the odds-on advantage here."

"Yeah, and we can really do a lot in our current state," Lana replied.

"We'll figure something out, OK? Just trust me."

Lana's face abruptly became a profile. "Yeah, a lot of good that's done."

Lex gave a short exhalation as though amused and looked away himself. "Well, maybe if you had run like I told you to..." he murmured.

Unable to tell whether he was being facetious or not, Lana turned the conversation elsewhere. "So what does Calvin want from you, exactly?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, but I guess you could say his main objective is to settle an old score."

"Why, what did you do to him?"

"I don't think that's really any of your business right now, Lana, all right?"

"Well, considering I might end up dying because of it, I'd say it is."

Lex shot her a look. "Maybe you could bring your wonderfully melodramatic leanings down a notch," he suggested. "I mean I know this isn't exactly the most ideal set of circumstances, but if one of us is going to get out of here alive, it's you."

Rendered powerless under his cold stare, Lana turned her attention to the ground. "Wow, Lex, thanks for that rosy forecast."

"A little perspective," Lex said, closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall. "That's all I'm asking."

Lana fell silent, still annoyed at the rebuke and yet haunted by its inescapably grim implications. Getting out of here at the cost of Lex's life was not a burden she was quite willing to bear. How had this day, which had started out like any other, spiraled so completely out of control?

The sudden sound of footsteps on the stairs allowed little time for contemplation. Looking up, Lana saw Calvin approaching with a big roll of industrial tape in hand, and she glanced over at Lex apprehensively.

"No time to get you your own shiny pair of handcuffs," Calvin informed her, "so we'll just have to tie your little bitty ankles together. That should do quite nicely."

Lex watched as he began wrapping the tape around and frowned like a jaded parent observing a wayward child. "Calvin, in all seriousness—what are we doing here? I'll help you out, OK, whatever you need. I think we both know this isn't exactly the best way of going about solving your life's problems."

Calvin ran a hand through his chestnut hair as he rose from his handiwork and spoke as though he hadn't heard Lex at all. "There was this great book that came out right around the time we were a part of the whole Metropolis scene," he recalled. "It might have been a year or so earlier actually, but I know it was around then... Trainspotting, ever hear of it?"

Lex grudgingly yielded the change in topic. "Yes, I have. Never read it, though."

"Yeah, well that doesn't surprise me; it's not exactly on any of the boarding school reading lists. Offensive subject matter, even more offensive sentence structure, know what I mean?" He sniffed derisively while Lex couldn't have looked more bored.

"Anyway, looking back it's just amazing," Calvin went on. "There are some parts of that book that could describe our own situation to a T."

"Oh yeah, and how's that."

"Well there's several themes really, but I guess the one about your so-called best mates leaving you high and dry in the end is the one that stands out in my mind."

Lex pursed his lips and nodded in consideration. "Funny," he said, raising his eyes back to Calvin, "I seem to remember a kid named Redgrave demonstrating that very maxim himself. Convenient how we remember the past to suit our own needs, isn't it?"

Lana looked at Calvin, whose eyes unmistakably narrowed. "And how would I be doing that, Lex?" he asked.

Raising his eyebrows, Lex gave a slight shrug. "The whole self-righteous act is just very ironic, coming from you of all people. I mean you're the one who turned your back on me, in case the years have altered your memory."

"Oh, is that right?"

"Yeah. And you know once somebody betrays me, I don't tend to look back."

Calvin did not respond at first, but something in his expression wavered momentarily. "God help us all, then, I guess," he said at last.

»»««

Apart from the steady ticking of a nearby clock, the farmhouse was silent—dark, too, save for the kitchen, where Clark had taken a seat at the table. He'd spoken to the police about Lex and Lana's disappearance hours ago, but now it was the middle of the night and there was nothing much else to do. The cops had begun dusting the place for fingerprints by the time he left, at which point he was told to go home. Having alerted Pete to the situation as well, Clark had suggested they meet up in the morning to put their minds together. If only Chloe weren't in Metropolis at the moment...

As Clark's eyes moved restlessly about the room, a greenish spark suddenly caught his eye from the windowpane in the door. Walking over to it, he saw that the source was a lightning bug making its way across the glass, emitting forth his tiny glow with every stop. Clark looked past the firefly into the night and found some solace that at least somebody was still awake with him.

»»««

Before leaving the room to make some more "arrangements," Calvin had confirmed Lex's suspicions: two cameras were apparently monitoring the room, so any crazy escape attempt probably wasn't the brightest idea for the time being. Whatever Calvin was planning, though, he certainly didn't have all the time in the world to execute it.

I wonder if Calvin really is planning on killing me, Lex found himself pondering. He wouldn't exactly be surprised, given their history. Still, it was quite a concept to absorb, considering they used to be friends. Even if their bond was largely superficial, they'd still been close—and now this.

Lex's thoughts turned to the girl at his left again and the obvious lack of faith she had expressed in him. He quickly resolved to get them both out of there, even if only to prove to her that he could. The ridiculousness of such a motive occurred to him in the same instant, and he nearly smiled at what their captor had already accomplished, albeit unwittingly: in the span of just a few hours, Calvin had, by sheer virtue of his presence, reawakened the vengeful sort of spite Lex had thought he'd long exorcised.

"How are you holding up?" he finally asked Lana, looking over at her.

She shook her head. "I was just thinking how it's twice now that complete strangers from your past have warned me about the tendency of bad things to happen around you."

Lex's jaw clenched, all traces of his recent pledge to think nothing but pleasant thoughts about his co-hostage suddenly MIA.

"You also have to consider the source, Lana," he managed to counter. "You're acting like these people are completely rational."

"Well, that's easy for you to say. I mean you have to admit, your reputation isn't exactly perfect."

"This may come as a surprise to you, Lana?" Lex droned irritably. "But guess what, the world's not perfect." He did feel marginally guilty at his callousness just because he knew how frightened she probably was, but for the most part Lex found he really couldn't care less at the moment.

Lana's eyes flashed with sudden anger. "Of all people, don't lecture me on how imperfect the world is," she seethed. "I'm the one who watched my parents die right in front of me—who gets to relive the whole experience whenever somebody mentions the meteor shower. I'm the one whose face was plastered over every magazine across the country just so people could shake their heads and feel emotionally connected to some cow town's tragedy. But I mean please, Lex, do—enlighten me with just how imperfect this world really is."

While a bit taken aback by her vehemence, Lex was hardly motivated to retract his statement, let alone smile ruefully and assume the role of on-hand comforter.

"Well, I'd rather have grown up with no parents at all as opposed to getting saddled with one who hates me," he answered frostily. "You know between the two of us you're really quite lucky, when all is said and done."

Lana stared at him in angry disbelief. "That's a real shitty thing to say, Lex," she said quietly.

Lex's expression was dispassionate. "Yeah and guess what, I have the shitty experience to back it up, too."

Lana had no reply for this dully petulant assertion. She looked away reproachfully, thinking of home—and, of all people, Clark.

»»««

The fog had settled around all of them now, obscuring even the closest of corners. Breathing in the stench of burning rubber that permeated the damp night air, Calvin chewed at the joint of his index finger as he stared at the draped figure surrounded by red and blue flashing puddles. The officer in front of him, meanwhile, was plying him with an endless barrage of questions.

"You said the victim appeared to be incapacitated at the time of impact?"

Glancing in the man's general direction, Calvin gave an absent nod.

"And the driver in fact tried to slam on his brakes upon seeing the victim but it was too late to avoid contact—that's right as well?"

Having resumed his gaze over the policeman's shoulder, Calvin didn't appear to hear the question at all.

"Look, you're in some serious trouble here, son," the officer said, pointing back at Merrill's body behind him. "Now I'm going to have to take all of you in for further questioning."

Calvin glanced over at Lex, who was speaking with another cop a few feet away, and he turned back to the officer with sudden conviction.

"I wasn't involved in any of this," he protested in a voice that came out much too rushed for his own liking. "I swear, it was all Lex's idea. I didn't know it would go this far."

Lex's head turned as though he had just heard something of considerable interest, and Calvin noticed the gravel fragments embedded in his cheek. There was a faint look of hurt that crept into his eyes, but it was extinguished so quickly and replaced with something so different and altogether detached that most would have never caught it at all.

"I'm sorry," Lex began in a slow and even voice, apparently addressing the authorities while keeping his eyes leveled on Calvin, "but I've never seen this young man before tonight in my life."


END 5/?


I swear this is the first time I ever lied to you
And it's funny and it's sick
How this house was falling down
I swear my mind was transported to the other side

And nothing's what it seems anymore
Nothing's what it seems anymore

I come running
Through the worlds that you have built
It's clear my fear is tormented by your lying eyes
And it's lovely
I live out every pretence
I swear my heart is broken by your words again

And nothing's what it seems anymore
My life ain't what it seems
Living out tired dreams
Where nothing's what it seems anymore

~ kenna