Part 16
New equations
She entered the bedroom chuckling as he closed the doors behind them. They were all covered in glitter and the sounds of the reception could still be heard from downstairs. She threw off the uncomfortable high heeled sandals she had on and leaned down on the bed still laughing. He looked at her with a smile.
"I can't believe we actually pulled it off!" she said chuckling.
"There wasn't a doubt in my mind that we could, Mrs. Luthor," he said as he walked over to the champagne bottle and the two glasses that had been brought there earlier by the staff. As he busied himself with pouring the champagne in the glasses, he told her: "Out of the three weddings I've had so far, I have to admit this is already turning into my favorite." He rose the two glasses gently off the table and turned toward her. He almost dropped them the next second.
"What's wrong? Don't you like what you see?" she asked with a teasing smile as she stood in nothing but her lingerie in front of him. She had easily disregarded her wedding dress and left it lying on the floor carelessly.
"There's nothing I'd like to see more," he said catching his breath.
"Good," she said satisfied with his answer and walking over to him gently took the glasses from his hands and put them aside. "Because…," she kissed him lightly on the lips. "Since you insisted we postpone this till the wedding night, I'm more than a little anxious to start," she deepened the kiss and then pulling away, started unbuttoning his shirt. When she was done, she removed his tie with one languorous move and walked slowly back to the bed as she said: "And please, do aim to impress."
"I always do," he assured her with a smile, following her to the bed.
"Any particular position you want me in?" she asked striking a pose.
"Shh," he put his finger on her lips and said: "Can't you pretend for one night that you really are her?"
"Fine," she said with a smirk and for a moment that whole playful façade she had put on fell. "But just because on some level, I pity you."
He said nothing, only kissed her again. The rest of the night, she acted like Lana Lang. As shy and curious as a virgin, as naïve and innocent and for that night alone, he really did feel as if it was Lana and not her he was holding. And maybe that night was worth all the other nights that followed. He told her he loved her a million times over and she said it back and the world seemed perfect. In the barely illuminated bedroom, between the slippery silky sheets with the noise of the wedding reception reaching out to them through the floor and their entwined bodies moving sensuously, everything was perfect.
Lana startled awake to find Lex sitting next to her bed in a chair with the collar of his shirt unbuttoned and his tie unknotted. He seemed exhausted as he looked up at her and said:
"Hey."
"Lex, what are you doing here?" she asked wrapping the covers closer to her body as if she was naked beneath them. Her dream was still vivid in her mind and, combined with the memory of the last time she had seen Lex in Metropolis, it made her feel uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry if I startled you," he said first of all. "I just…really needed to get away."
"From Metropolis?" she asked half-standing up. "Did something happen?"
"No, no, everything's fine," he assured her. He didn't want to burden her any further with the consequences of Isobel's actions. Metropolis had by now fallen into chaos and it would take a few days before things started cooling down.
"Then what's wrong?" she asked not really believing him.
"I'm sorry if I came into your room uninvited. When I came to check in the receptionist told me you were here. I wanted to see you… they gave me a key…," he explained.
"You shouldn't have taken it," she said although it hadn't really disturbed her as it had in the past when she had found him in her apartment uninvited. "Why aren't you staying at the castle?"
"Oh, you haven't heard yet? The castle doesn't belong to me anymore. Hasn't been mine for over a year now," he said.
"Well, the people here aren't exactly friendly to me," she said with a sad smile.
"I'm sorry," he felt the need to say.
"Did she…did Isobel do something to them?" she asked hesitantly.
"She said some rather unflattering things about Smallville in a few interviews. Hellhole and pigs stall were mentioned on several occasions," he told her.
"Oh, god," she covered her face with her hands.
"She also requested I shut down the Luthorcorp factory," he added.
"But you didn't…," she assumed.
"Actually, I did. She had a way of persuading me to do what she wanted," he admitted. "Needless to say the quarter of the population of Smallville that remained without jobs was not pleased."
"No wonder they hate me. I'd hate me too," she said frustrated. "Then again I already hate myself enough." There was a moment of silence before he asked:
"How are you enjoying your visit so far?"
"Besides the fact I'm choking on my food because of all the hateful glares I'm getting and the constant reminder of the fact the last two years of my life have been filled with nothing but evil?" she asked raising her eyebrows. "The town looks nice though. The reconstruction's done wonders with it."
"I like to think so too," he said. He had secretly funded half the reconstruction. Isobel had eventually found out about it and had been very pissed off because of it, but she couldn't take away the satisfaction of helping Smallville out in its time of need.
"You look tired," she noted.
"I've had a long night," he said with a tired smile.
"Come sleep then," she said pulling away the covers. He looked at her confused. "You can take the bed. I have…I have some things I need to do anyway," she explained quickly.
"Of course," he said and she felt like there was disappointment in his voice. She stood up from the bed and gestured for him to get in. He was putting on a brave face although he felt like he would collapse at any moment from the exhaustion. He didn't want her to see he could be that badly affected by something like sleep depravation and general stress. "Maybe when you get back we can have breakfast and choke on it together," he said with a half-smile as she headed for the bathroom. Once she was inside, he took off his shoes, crawled over to the bed and lied down in it. He fell asleep almost instantly. Maybe it was from the tiredness, but maybe it was because he was surrounded by her scent.
"Did you say…," she started saying as she came back in from the bathroom. She thought she had heard him speaking. She sighed when she saw he was already asleep and nearing the bed, carefully pulled the covers over him.
At the Kent farm, Clark was having breakfast with his parents. He had made it home late the previous night, needlessly worrying Mr. and Mrs. Kent. He had been afraid to return too early and still find Lana crying in the barn so he had spent the better part of the day before walking aimlessly around the region, trying to get accustomed to it again. All that had done for him had been to provoke nostalgia. Suddenly recalling his encounter with Lois at the windmill, he said:
"Did you know Lois has a son?"
"Yeah, she moved out here right after he was born," Jonathon nodded. "Cute little tike."
"Any idea who the father is?" he asked raising his eyebrows.
"Not a clue," Martha shrugged. "People have been speculating, but the truth is…"
"The poor bastard would've been dead by now if his name had gotten out. General Lane was more than a little upset when he heard of the pregnancy," his father explained. "Or well, heard his daughter had a son, because he only found out afterwards."
"So Lois never mentioned it?" he asked finding that curious. Somehow big mouthed Lois keeping a secret didn't seem like her at all. Martha shook her head. They continued eating in silence for a while before his mother said:
"You know, she was the only person Lana was ever nice to after she married Lex."
"What do you mean?" Clark asked with a frown.
"Well, she asked Lex to give her the castle. She's the one that lives there now," Martha told him.
"She didn't have anywhere to go. The general threw her out and refused to talk to her again. We were ready to take her in ourselves…," Jonathon said as he finished eating and leaned in his chair.
"But by the time she got here, the castle was already hers," she finished his sentence.
"I'll never forget the day she got here, all bruised and stitched up, holding her baby with one arm and carrying two bags over her shoulder," Jonathon recalled.
"Someone hurt her?" Clark asked outraged. "Who?" he stood up as if he was ready to go out and find whoever had dared harm her and make him pay for it. The problem was he was over a year too late.
"Calm down, son," Jonathon told him gesturing for him to sit back down.
"She never talks about it," Martha told him. "But it was most likely her father…I don't know who else would've had a reason to…Although the general never seemed to be the violent type. Sure, he was tough, but I don't see him capable of hurting his daughters."
Clark sat back down and started playing with his food.
"Why would Lana help her?" he asked after a while.
"She probably took pity on her," Martha suggested. "Lois is a very strong willed young woman and seeing her broken like that…it's enough to impress even the coldest of hearts."
Clark didn't say anything, but knew deep inside that there was no chance Lana – Isobel – had helped Lois without an ulterior motive.
Across Smallville, Lana was just walking out of the cemetery where she had gone to visit her parents' grave when she stumbled across a little boy, looking very lost and on the brink of tears. She smiled at him without a second thought and crouched down in front of him.
"Hey, there," she told him. "Are you lost?"
"Mama!" the boy said stepping away from her looking quite frightened. She took a step toward him, but he started running as soon as she did.
"Wait!" she yelled after him. "I didn't mean to scare you!"
Still very young and unsure on his legs, the boy fell to the ground, bruising his fragile knees. Lana ran up to him and looked at him distressed as he started crying loudly.
"Don't cry, I'll make it all better," she said in a hurry helping him to his feet and then started looking around for a pharmacy where she could purchase some band aid.
"Get away from him!" a voice suddenly said from behind her and the sound of shopping bags falling to the ground was preceded by the appearance of Lois Lane, moving past her and collecting the little boy off the ground and hugging him to her chest protectively. "What's wrong with you?" she looked accusingly over at Lana who didn't know what to say.
For some reason the image of Lois with a child in her arms didn't seem odd which probably meant she had known about it from before. She also got a bad feeling in her stomach. Like there was a little bit more to it than met the eye and she knew every sordid detail that – for some reason – she didn't appear to be willing to remember.
"What the hell are you doing here anyway?" Lois asked frowning. "I thought we had a deal. I stay here, you stay there, no one gets hurt again."
"What are you talking about?" Lana asked confused.
"Miss Lane, should I bring the car around?" a man in a dark suit came to ask and Lois nodded. Lana recognized him as being one of the bodyguards Lex used to have at the castle.
"You're the one living at the castle now?" she asked incredulously.
"You gave it to me, remember?" she reminded her. "Did a brick fall on your head or have you really lost all your marbles like everyone's been saying in the papers?"
"Didn't Chloe tell you?" she asked still trying to figure out why exactly Isobel would have given Lois Lane of all people ownership of Lex's castle.
"She and I don't speak too often. She's a busy girl, we don't always have time to chat. Besides the fact she doesn't approve of the way I handled the 'accident' didn't really do much good for our relationship either," she pointed out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a car waiting for me," she turned on her heels and as she watched her walk away, something suddenly dawned on Lana:
"He's Lex's son, isn't he?" Lois didn't bother to answer.
By the time Lana made it back to the inn, Lex was already having lunch. He had waited around for her for a while, but then, remembering he hadn't eaten anything close to actual food in days, he had decided to eat then and maybe later keep her company when she would be eating.
"Well, I had a very strange encounter," she said as she sat down at the table on the chair opposite him.
"Really?" he asked arching his eyebrows.
"Yes, with Lois. You remember her, don't you? Chloe's cousin," she said crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's been only two years, Lana. I'm not that forgetful," he said with a half-smile. "How is Lois?"
"Apparently she's doing fine," she said. "It seems I gave her your castle sometime during the last two years."
"Ah, yes," he said smiling. "It was a surprising show of generosity on Isobel's part. I didn't really believe she had a heart up until that day."
"Don't give me that smirk. I know what that means," she said on a warning tone.
"What does it mean?" he asked amused leaning back in his chair.
"That you're twisting words around. That what you're saying is true, but it's taken out of context so it appears harmless when it actually isn't," she said slightly annoyed.
"By all means, tell me what context I'm leaving out then," he said still smiling.
"Her son…is he yours?" she asked straight out.
"Now what on earth put that idea into your mind?" he asked laughing.
"So he's not yours?" she asked relieved.
"You should order something. I feel bad that I'm the only one eating," he said and gestured for a waiter to approach. Lana knew his words meant the conversation was over, but she wondered whether he didn't feel the need to repeat himself or he didn't want to deny it directly in case she got some of Isobel's memories back. She decided not to push the discussion further and instead ordered something to eat. When the waiter was gone, Lex smiled: "You know, you were right, I can barely get a bite down in this place. It's like every person is contemplating choking me to death."
At the formerly Luthor, presently Lane mansion, Lois had just arrived home with her son. Lunch was waiting for her and she thanked god every day for the mansion's staff that had been paid to stay by the Luthors even after they no longer owned the mansion.
"Miss Lane, there's someone here to see you," one of the maids told her.
"Who?" she asked frowning. She wasn't expecting anyone and unless it was her troublemaking sister, Lucy, she had no idea who would visit her uninvited at noon.
"He says his name is Gerard Bouvier," the maid said.
"Gerard who?" she asked confused.
"Gerard Bouvier, Miss Lane," the man himself appeared behind the maid holding his hat in his hands. "Mrs. Luthor sent me."
End Part 16
