Clark followed Lex out into the hallway, Lex's grin telling him something was up, even if he didn't know what it was. But with Lex it was bound to be interesting.
In the hallway he marveled again at how luxurious Lex's home was. It was so strange to think that he'd been living in squalor of years, and Lex had been living better than he had before, if that were possible. He supposed that they'd both made their choices, and Clark didn't regret the ones he had made.
Lex led him down the hall to another room. He opened the door for Clark, ushering him inside. Clark wasn't really surprised to see that it looked something like an office...only more.
Maps and diagrams were everywhere. A large set of filling shelves held newspapers that, according to the labels, were from the time everything had started to the present. The earliest year date was 2005. Lex strode over to it and opened the cabinet. For a moment he fished around before pulling out a newspaper from 2008.
Lex held it up for him and Clark grinned when he saw the caption. "Chicago in Shambles!" it read. Clark laughed softly. "Guess we did a better job than anyone really wanted to admit."
"Oh, I never denied just how much of a blow you dealt to the government that day. I applaud you, especially knowing that you were one of the ones who orchestrated it," Lex said seriously, his face completely truthful.
Clark laughed slightly and took the newspaper from Lex. He felt so old-too old. He was twenty-one for goodness sakes. He should still be in college, talking with friends, going out to party. A laugh bubbled up in his throat and threatened to escape when he thought of how he was standing with Lex, talking about his accomplishments in insurgency rather than living the life he'd imagined when he was younger. This was never what he'd thought would happen.
"It didn't work though."
It took Clark a moment to remember Lex was talking about Chicago. Trust Lex to bring him back to reality.
"You still met the same end. And you know what? I knew that. The night after Chicago I went to my study, got a glass of scotch, and sat on the couch contemplating how long it would take for you to fall. Even then I knew you would."
"You happy about it?" Clark asked, his voice regaining an edge. The point that Lex seemed to be trying to make changed like the Kansas weather. A moment ago he'd been telling Clark that he'd done well, but now he seemed to be trying to impress upon him how he'd ultimately failed.
"Happy?" Lex asked, his mouth twisting into a smile as if Clark were a toddler that had just said or done something particularly funny. "Happy? No, I'm not happy, I'm just practical."
"You didn't fight, because you knew you were going to fail," Clark noted. Lex had never been one for lost causes.
"I prefer to take the way that will allow me to eventually win. You never could see the forest for the trees, Clark," he said seriously. The smile hadn't yet faded from his face, and it was irrationally irritating Clark.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The smile grew again, and Clark got the distinct impression that Lex was playing with him. "Exactly what I said, Clark. You can't see the forest for the trees. You can't see the big picture. I don't care how you put it, but you know what I mean."
"No, I don't think I do," he replied coolly, although if he was honest with himself he did.
Lex moved behind his desk and sat down in his chair, bringing one leg slightly over the other in a pose that would seem almost...feminine for anyone but Lex. But Lex had such a way of taking things that weren't normal, per say, and making them seem so very natural that you didn't even realize he was doing them. "Please, Clark, you're smarter than this."
Clark came over to the desk and placed his hands on it, bending over slightly. "You're playing with me."
Lex shook his head, but his eyes glimmered with mischief. "I'm not; I'm simply challenging you."
Clark snorted softly and leaned back off Lex's desk, crossing his arms instead. "I can see the big picture just fine, Lex."
"Can you?" he asked, his playful mood disappearing completely and a persona of seriousness overtaking it. "Can you really? You were so intent on refusing to submit that you concentrated on only making sure you gave nothing. If you'd only opened your eyes a little-the gains you could have made, they'd have been amazing."
Lex stood up from his chair again and went over to a file cabinet behind his desk. "You see, Clark, I saw the big picture, and because of it I've still got a fighting chance at winning. You, while you did some good things and did some serious damage, have landed yourself in a position where you're out of luck as well as freedom." Lex reached into the file cabinet and pulled out yet another folder.
"What's that?" Clark asked suspiciously.
"It's a complete account of the area and people I currently hold command over."
Clark scanned the numbers quickly. He hated it when Lex made his points.
"Notice how many are alien."
So Lex had done what he'd always done-manipulated people into being under his control rather than physically forcing them. But hadn't that always been how it was? Lex used mind games, Clark used brute force. That wasn't to say that they didn't possess the other quality. No, Clark had seen Lex take out a good number of men, and Clark was still a brilliant strategist. Hadn't he had to be to have planned Chicago? But of the two, Lex had always been the calculating one. It had paid off now.
"They're all under your thumb?" Clark asked slowly, wetting his desperately dry lips with his tongue.
"Yes." Clark didn't even have to look to see Lex's smirk. "I can order them killed with only an order and have few paid off 'witnesses' testify to whatever crime I tell them to testify to."
"Is this your way of telling me that you're slowly accomplishing what I set out to accomplish, only by more underhanded and," he glanced around, "obviously comfortable means?"
Lex laughed. "You're a brilliant leader, Clark, but you can't always use brawn to conquer. Notice that empires that have used the minds of their citizens to conquer usually win? Take the Holy Roman Empire for instance. The people believed that the empire was ordained by God, and so for a long time they never rebelled. It didn't matter how often it changed rulers, because they believed they were answering to God. Other empires that were founded by brute force--Napoleon's, Alexander's, Hitler's, Gengus Khan's--they all crumbled eventually. Granted, they left a great impact, but, before the aliens took over, you still heard about the Roman Catholic faith and its many followers, didn't you? It may not be the same as the Holy Roman Empire, but it sprung from it. How many people are still followers of Alexander's, or Napoleon's, of any of the men I mentioned?"
"So what I gain through strength, you gain through manipulation. I can't say your morals are quite right, but it's very Machiavellian," Clark noted, knitting his eyebrows together and giving Lex a very exaggerated nod.
"You know, Clark, I used to think a lot about why you always used your strength to stop people--you'd always try to reason with them first, but you were never a manipulator. I never could figure out why, because I know you're smart. I think at one point I might have known you better than anyone other than your parents. So, I know that you have a good mind. But then I realized that it was because you had powers, that you never put that mind to use in tough situations. You'd never been forced to do anything else. You were physically supreme over every being on this earth."
He came around to the front of the desk and sat on it casually. "But you're not anymore. You're going to have to learn to function like the rest of us."
Anger flooded Clark and he could have sworn he saw red. "Don't you dare-don't you ever-don't you dare insinuate that I don't think like a human, that I'm-I'm-,"
"Alien?" Lex supplied, tossing his hands up in the air for emphasis. "Because you were, Clark. I'm not sure if you still are, but you were."
"Damn it, Lex, I think just like you, I feel just like you, my emotions are, and always have been, completely human."
"And I'd never deny it," Lex said calmly, leaving Clark looking very foolish with his unrestrained anger. "You're one of the best men I've ever met, but even you can't deny that you always had an edge because you knew that even if your very best attempts to reason with someone failed, you'd be physically above them. You were never in any physical danger." Lex's voice turned very gentle, as if trying to pacify a small child. "You don't have that anymore. You're going to have to accept help now."
"Was that your long-winded way of offering it to me?" Clark asked sarcastically.
Lex simply smiled and answered, "Yes."
---------------------------------
Lex had taken him back to his bedroom and told him to rest while he did what he could to find Chloe. It wasn't a command Clark had a hard time heeding, because a bed was so ridiculously luxurious after years of sleeping on dirt and blankets and, if he'd been really lucky, a cot.
After a few hours of napping he woke up, and, as usual, his mind went into overdrive. He and Lex's conversation didn't settle well in his mind. Lex was right, he realized. He wasn't physically dominant anymore. He could be hurt-he could bleed. Trust Lex to strip him down to his barest form.
He missed being, oh, say, sixteen. His junior year. He missed that year. If he'd known that the pain he'd felt with his parents loosing the baby would have been multiplied ten-fold like it was now, well, he was just glad he'd learned to deal with it, to tuck it away in the back of his mind.
There was one thing that was driving him crazy and was nagging at the back of his mind. Lana had betrayed them. She'd sold them out. After all the years of hiding together and taking care of each other, after all the times that he'd saved her, Lana had sold him and his friends out.
Clark gave up on falling back asleep and decided to go take a shower. As he climbed out of bed he had a slight bout of coughing. How strange it was not to heal completely, although whatever Lex had done to cure him had to have been good because he'd been pretty near death.
The bathroom was big and beautiful, covered with extravagant things, just like the rest of Lex's house. Clark didn't really care, though. It had a shower, and soap, and shampoo, and so many other things that he hadn't had in so long.
He turned the water on until steam pour out and then stepped him. He yelped when he realized he couldn't have the water scalding hot anymore. After turning it down, he resumed his activities of washing and indulging himself in frivolous amounts of shampoo and conditioner. Boy, did it feel good.
It was almost a sin to turn off the shower, or so it seemed, after having gone without for so long. But he did, and stepped from it. He went to the cupboards and rummaged around, being quite pleased to find a toothbrush, a hairbrush, and some toothpaste.
He just couldn't get over how good it all felt. But in a way he felt almost bad to be enjoying it. He had fellow rebels out there who were still going without, and here he was indulging himself.
He brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and dressed in the pair of black pants and a red sweater. Once again, he thought longingly of jeans, but he wasn't even sure that they were made anymore.
Brushing nostalgic memories aside, Clark went back out into the bedroom. He wasn't surprised to find Lex waiting for him, after all, Lex didn't respect boundaries like most people. If he wanted to come in Clark's room, he wasn't going to ask. "You look like you've just been landed in heaven. Is shampoo really that nice?"
Apparently he'd never learned to hide his emotions well-at least not from Lex. "You've got no idea."
He shrugged. "You're completely right, since I've got no hair. I came to ask, though, would you like to talk to Lana?"
Clark suddenly viewed the conversation with some serious interest. "What?"
"There's a banquet tonight. I'm hosting it, and since she's gained a whole lot of money through turning in three of the most wanted rebels, well, she's got the social status to attend."
Clark looked at him in disbelief. "So all the crimes she committed with us-they've just forgotten that she did them?"
Lex laughed bitterly. "You should feel flattered that your capture came at such a high status to them."
"So she's off free?" he asked, running his hand through his hair. How did these crazy invaders view justice anyway?
"That's the general idea," Lex confirmed. His tone may have been light, but Clark could see his displeasure. "So, do you want to see her?"
"Damn right," he exclaimed.
"I thought so," Lex replied with a knowing smirk.
A thought flashed through Clark's mind suddenly. "It won't get you in trouble? I mean, won't she report that you're harboring a fugitive?"
Lex grinned full-out. "Oh, Clark, she's got nothing to report. I'm not harboring you illegally. I technically bought you at that market. Of course, it may not be exactly legal that you're not living like slave but like a noble," he said, his voice full of laughter at the stunt he'd pulled.
Clark laughed a little and shook his head. "I always bailed you out with miraculous ability-enhanced rescues, and you always bailed me out with money and power. Thank you."
"It's a rather strange thanks, but I'll take it," Lex replied with a grin. Clark couldn't help but grin back. Sometimes Lex just worked things so well that it was funny. "Anyone who checks is going to see that you're allowed to be here."
"And if she reports that I'm not exactly in chains?" he asked, gesturing to his wardrobe.
"Then I just pretend I'm taking you to bed. That would explain your state of dress."
Clark laughed. "Never thought I'd hear that one."
"She couldn't prove it wrong," he said with a laugh. "She'll have no case."
Clark shook his head. Lex was unbelievable sometimes. But Clark had to admit, he had planned this particular maneuver remarkably well, given the circumstance. When he looked up he noticed Lex was grinning at him. He almost felt like he was back in Smallville. And, he found, he didn't have a problem feeling that way.
