Chapter 27 - Darkness

Less than a week later, the Nicodemus toxin was cleared up, with no major harm done. It was a near miss, though—Clark's dad had brought his gun to a bank, but he'd promptly passed out upon reaching the front door, before he had a chance to do something rash. Jeff Beels, the first person who had been infected, was inches from death when they found the cure. Lana and Pete contracted the illness, too, but they didn't get a chance to do much; Clark gave Pete the antidote at the first sign that he was acting strangely, and Lex did the same for Lana.

Solving that problem quickly meant more time to work on meteor rock projects after it was over, which was incredibly fun. Clark thought it was almost as fun as doing experiments on himself. One afternoon, they did both—Lex let Clark look at some of his own blood under a microscope connected to a computer across the room, and then Lex held a meteor rock near the blood sample while Clark looked at the computer screen. The way the cells bubbled and trembled was a vivid image of exactly how Clark felt whenever meteor rocks were nearby.

Most of the time, though, neither Clark nor Lex really worked with the materials directly, but they talked about choosing new ideas and directions for the research to take, and they looked at the data and images Dr. Hamilton sent to Lex. So far, Dr. Hamilton really hadn't uncovered much. But it was still cool to see the effects the meteor rocks had on human cells, even if they were terribly inconsistent, ranging anywhere from killing or diseasing the cells, to causing them to rapidly multiply, to making them change shape and develop weird properties, to having no effects they could see at all.

For now, though, the only real "data" they had about what the meteor rocks could do to a whole person was their experiences with mutants—and usually, the mutants became thieves or murderers.

But a couple of weeks after he and Lex found the cure for the toxins from the Nicodemus flower, Clark met another meteor mutant, and this one wasn't a murderer. He was the youngest mutant Clark had ever met—Ryan James. Ryan was only eleven, and he could read minds. His step parents had used him for his abilities, forcing him to find out the passwords to people's safes so they could steal from them.

A part of Clark wanted to offer to let Ryan experiment with his abilities at Lex's mansion, but there were a host of reasons that wouldn't work. For one thing, Ryan didn't seem to be particularly interested in his abilities themselves. He was much more focused on keeping himself safe, which made sense, given his circumstances. For another, Ryan was staying with Clark's family, and it was difficult to get him away for long enough to visit Lex, especially since Clark was still grounded and wasn't supposed to be away from the house except for school and his internship—and why would he be bringing Ryan to his internship?

Ryan did meet Lex once when Clark's dad took him to get a hot chocolate. Ryan confronted Clark about it later when they were shooting hoops in the front yard. "I met Lex Luthor at the Talon," he said.

"Yeah?" Clark tried to appear disinterested, dribbling absently, but he could feel his adrenaline spiking.

"He thinks about you a lot."

Clark dropped the basketball, letting it bounce away. He glanced around himself to make sure his parents weren't around, then lowered his voice. "You didn't mention that to my dad, did you?"

"I haven't even told your dad I can read minds."

Clark let his breath out. "I haven't told my dad I'm friends with Lex. My dad thinks I should avoid him."

Ryan frowned, looking over at the basketball, which was rolling away.

"Um . . ." Clark shifted his weight. He didn't want to violate Lex's privacy, but his life depended on Lex being trustworthy. "Did you hear anything . . . I mean . . . should I avoid him?"

"You should be careful."

"Careful . . . how?"

"There's a lot of darkness he hides." Ryan shoved his hands into his pockets. "But he really admires you. Take good care of him."

Clark nodded—none of that was really new information, but it was good to have it confirmed. "I will."

Ryan gave a little half smile and went over to get the basketball.

Lex was still fuming from a conversation he'd had with his father—his dad wanted him to move back to Metropolis to work under him, of all things—when Clark arrived for his internship. Lex hoped to be able to vent a little about his father; Clark was a good listener even when there was no way for him to understand what Lex was talking about or the struggles he was going through. But Clark wore a familiar expression when he entered the study. He had something on his mind, too.

Lex sighed and set aside his concerns about Metropolis. Clark was younger and less able to ignore his own worries; Lex had to defer to him. "What's on your mind, Clark?"

Clark smiled wryly as he took a seat. "Is it that obvious?"

It was Lex's turn to smile. He stood and walked over to the couches, nodding to the space across from him.

Clark sighed and sat down. "I've just been thinking . . . about Ryan."

"The kid I met at the Talon?" Lex frowned. "He's a bit unusual, isn't he?"

Clark took a deep breath. "He's a mind reader."

Lex blinked. That was the last thing he'd been expecting to hear. "Wow."

"He . . . said something about you."

Lex's mind raced, trying to remember what he'd been thinking about when he was at the Talon. Probably a lot of dirty thoughts about exactly what his father could do with his job offer, possibly accompanied by some flattering thoughts about Clark and all the reasons why Lex wanted to stay in Smallville. "What's that?"

"He said there's a lot of darkness you hide."

"Ah." Lex could feel his muscles tensing against his will. "You knew that, Clark."

"I know, but . . ." Clark winced. "I wonder what he would have said about me if he could hear my thoughts."

"I take it you're immune to his telepathy."

Clark nodded.

"You think the darkness you hide is any worse than mine?" Lex couldn't imagine it beginning to compare. Having Clark around helped—Lex felt like he'd been able to do some good things, and he had done quite a lot over the past few months to improve the working conditions at the plant—but sometimes it felt like a bandage over a bullet wound.

"Lex, I have a lot of dark thoughts, too. I still think about that guy I killed, and about how much I hurt you, and . . ."

Lex leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Clark, I forgave you. You've gotta stop beating yourself up."

"It's not about forgiving myself. It's just . . . I've hurt a lot more people over the past year than ever before in my life."

"You've saved a lot more people, too."

Clark scoffed. "That's easy. I'm bulletproof."

Lex forced himself to hide his grimace. "Are you worried my darkness is going to rub off on you?"

"No. I'm afraid mine is going to rub off on you. I don't know who I'm going to become."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Clark. Me, I've got my father's blood running through my veins."

"I don't even know who my father was, Lex." Clark looked away. "At least you have some idea of what to avoid."

Lex swallowed hard. He could have kicked himself for failing to consider that part of it. For Clark, learning about his abilities wasn't just about the abilities themselves—it was about learning about himself on a much more personal level. Lex, at least, knew where he came from. He knew he would tend to make the same mistakes as his father, and he tried to hold close to the lessons his mother had taught him—though come to think of it, she had often been distant as well; he'd learned more from his nanny than from his mom.

Clark could do the same thing—he could tend toward the lessons he'd learned from the Kents, rather than his natural inclinations. But Lex wasn't sure whether all of the Kents' lessons were helpful to Clark. Aside from that, Clark wouldn't know what tendencies to avoid without knowing anything about his birth parents. And even if he did know what to avoid, it wouldn't tame the ever-burning fear that he might become something he didn't want to be, that he didn't have a choice in the matter . . . Lex knew all too well. "What do you need from me, Clark?"

"I don't know." Clark stood and paced. "I need some time to think about this."

Lex breathed in to press him for more information, but at the last moment, he decided granting Clark's request would be better for both of them. "Need a cover story for why you're off early?"

"No, I . . . can I go take a walk? I can't go see anyone, I'm still grounded because of the Club Zero thing."

Lex made a mental note to offer Clark more internship sessions if he wanted them. Now wasn't a good time to bring it up, though. "I'm here when you want to talk."

Clark nodded. "Thanks, Lex."

With that, he left the study. Lex let his breath out and headed for his decanter.

Ryan's aunt came to pick him up a couple of days later. Clark knew that telling Lex about Ryan had been a risk—Ryan probably wouldn't have been very happy about it—but Clark was really worried about Ryan's safety. People had already tried to take advantage of Ryan's abilities once; who was to say they wouldn't try to do it again?

On their next visit, Clark expressed his concerns to Lex, who told Clark he'd keep an eye on the situation. Lex made an arrangement with some of his connections who lived near Ryan's aunt—if Ryan ever went off the grid, Lex would be the first to know about it, and a team of private investigators would be alerted to go and find him. That made Clark feel a little better. The last thing Clark wanted was for Ryan to have to fear ending up being a lab rat in an institution. Clark had lived with that fear for most of his life—knowing he had Lex's protection gave him a layer of security he'd never had before.

But the conversation Lex and Clark had about their respective inner darknesses weighed heavily on Clark's mind, enough that he barely slept. He was on his second day of sleeplessness when an idea hit him.

It took him a few days to make a plan and carry it out. But by the time he next went to his "internship," he was ready.

He met Lex in the experiment room, carrying a small cardboard box. Lex had just been replacing the speed bag. He looked up from his work and smiled when Clark came in. "Hey. Be honest if you're not up for it, but today I was thinking—"

"Lex, we need to talk."

The color drained from Lex's face. "Of course." He took a step closer, and his eyes fell on the box. "What's this?"

"Something I made for you in shop class."

"A gift?"

"If I was giving you a gift, I wouldn't be asking for something in return."

Lex's eyebrows knitted, but he held out a hand for the box. He opened it and lifted the pendant by its chain—a lead sphere. "What is it?"

"It's something you can use to stop me if . . . if you ever need to."

"What are you talking about, Clark?"

The sharpness in Lex's voice made Clark wince. "I wanted to ask you to carry some meteor rock on you at all times. Just in case. That sphere is lead, so you can carry it without hurting me—unless you need to. There's little magnets inside—if you press the side, or if the chain is broken, it opens."

Lex's jaw pulsed. "And you want me to wear this all the time? Carry around a little piece of the one thing that can kill you?"

"You're afraid of your inner demons taking you over, aren't you?"

"Yes, but—"

"I'll make you a promise. I won't let it happen. If I think you're going . . . on a bad path, I will stop you. And I'll bring you back, if I can." Clark looked down at the pendant. "I want you to promise the same to me."

For a long time, Lex just stared at him. Clark could tell he wanted to argue, but he didn't. He just put down the box and put the pendant around his neck. "Go take five. I'm gonna put the meteor rock inside."

Clark smiled. He was about to leave the experiment room, but instead, he closed the distance between himself and Lex and pulled him into a tight hug. "Thanks," he said.

Lex relaxed into the embrace for a moment, then he patted him on the back a couple of times and let go. "See you in a few."

"See you," Clark said, and he left the experiment room.