Author's note: Everyone, this is the last part, followed by a short epilogue. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's read this story and especially those that have reviewed it. You've really made writing this story worth my while. With that said, I'm looking forward to reading your last comments and thoughts on the story on the review column. Also, if you have any questions, just leave them there along with an e-mail address and I promise to answer them.
Part 19
All that ends well
Two weeks had passed since what the worldwide media had referred to as 'the Metropolis incident'. The most plausible story was the one referring to the destruction of the Lang Pharmaceuticals factories - undoubtedly through industrial terrorism – having caused fumes from the underground laboratories to flood the city and provoke hallucination and paranoia to a major part of the population. That's what the Enquirer believed and what its number one reporter Peggy Shaw was claiming in court where she was trialed for mass murdering twenty or so fellow journalists. Although violent outbursts had been unusually numerous at that time all across the United States, people weren't quick to tie the events to those in Metropolis.
Only one person had found out the complete truth and that person was Chloe Sullivan. She had contemplated revealing it to the world, but then assumed people would have a hard time believing a story about witch spirits, supernatural powers and mass addiction. So, since she had more material on the Metropolis incident than anyone on the planet – who was sane anyway – she had done the next best thing to telling the truth: she had told the story of surviving through the few days of chaos that had gripped Metropolis. It had made the first page of the Daily Planet. Now her phone was ringing off the hook with invitations to talk shows and interviews.
"Well, I think I can safely say, I knew I was screwed the moment Eddie, our copy boy, started chewing through the stall's door. I knew I had to get out and fast. But here I was stuck between four walls. So what I did was…," Chloe explained to the host of a popular TV show as Lana walked into the Talon. A small TV that hadn't been there when she had managed the place was perched up above the counter.
"Mrs. Luthor," a waitress saluted her coolly as she came to the bar to take her order.
"Uhm, just coffee for me, Melissa, thanks," she said with a smile. She had been trying to get under the waitress' skin for weeks now. But despite her many attempts at being nice, supportive, friendly, the girl had remained just as cold and professional toward her as humanly possible. She didn't understand why. She had no idea Melissa's father had been one of the many people that became unemployed after the Luthorcorp factory had been closed down. Or the fact Melissa's mother who had grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle had left them only two months afterwards and that Melissa now supported her depressed father and little brother by working two jobs, barely managing to go to school because of it.
For the last few weeks, while taking up a permanent residence at the Smallville Inn, Lana had devised a plan to make up for all the rotten things Isobel had done while possessing her body. She decided Smallville was at the top of her list. She started asking right and left about what people in her hometown lacked those days. Some of the replies she had gotten had been harsh.
"A job. Care to give it back to me, you witch?" was the answer of a burly 40-something year old.
"Why? So you'd know which weak spots you can aim at in your next interview?" an outraged woman asked her once.
Soon however she saw some things on her own, without anyone's help. Like the fact the highschool's football field had deteriorated greatly over the last two years. Or that the swimming pool had yet to be rebuilt after the meteor shower. The Beanery was going broke because it was knee deep in debts after its reconstruction. A farm out in the northern part of Smallville was barely standing. She decided that if she was to redeem her name she had to show people she meant well. She had discussed it with Lex.
"If that's what you want," he had shrugged without asking many questions. She had an air of hope about her. Like she was finally getting past what had happened. He really wanted her to become the old Lana again, although he knew that in becoming her, she would most likely learn to despise him and the life he offered her as well. He had long decided however that he no longer cared about his own outcome from that whole mess. All he wanted was to see her happy again. And if charity was the answer then she could have all his billions for it.
Lex had returned to Metropolis a few days after the end of the 'Metropolis incident', ready to give a statement in which he blamed the destruction of the Lang Pharmaceuticals factories on industrial terrorism and declared that he would not rest until he found those responsible for it. How many people bought his much rehearsed speech he didn't care. The important thing was that it would never occur to them that he himself had been responsible for the bombings.
He had been nervous for a few days thinking about all the private information he had disclosed to Chloe during the crisis and wondered if it hadn't been a bad idea and whether he shouldn't make sure she never lived to print the story…Chloe however proved to be the cautious journalist this time around and simply played the war reporter telling incredible stories on TV.
Although Lex stayed in Metropolis all day running Luthorcorp, he always found his way back to Smallville in the afternoons or at night. The weekends he spent there altogether when he wasn't forced to travel overseas for business related meetings. He stayed in a room at the Smallville Inn across from Lana's. They usually had dinner together and they were always relaxing carefree affairs. They never discussed any of the taboo subjects: Isobel, Clark Kent, their own marriage or Isobel's actions while inside her body. They just talked about their day, their plans for the future – that however never went beyond the next week. It was like they were two old friends catching up. They never talked about doing things together although Lex would've wanted to take her on business trips with him to exotic locations around the world. He never brought it up at dinner although sometimes he spent all day contemplating just how he would invite her along. He could never bring himself to ruin the 'sanctity' – for that was what he felt it was – of their light conversations.
When he had been gone to Singapore for two days, Lana had felt his absence. She didn't enjoy having dinner alone and images of Lex in bed with beautiful Asian women flashing before her eyes made her stab her stake and frown. Why should she care though if he was with other women? It wasn't like their marriage was really going anywhere. Yet she had yet to bring up the word 'divorce'. Sure, she had thought about it several times, but each time something else occupied her mind. Like the bills for the restoration of the football field or the report on the Beanery's financial situation or Lois Lane and Clark Kent walking down the street with groceries in their arms, laughing. She had met Clark's gaze for a moment, while Lois had totally ignored her.
"Hey, Lana," Clark had saluted her awkwardly – like he had years ago when they had barely known each other – and then passed her by so fast she didn't even have time to return the salute. The way he had looked at her had suggested regret however. Could he have been ready to forgive her? To believe her? That thought had kept her spirits up all day. At dinner, she didn't mention anything to Lex about it.
Lois had noticed the gaze too and decided to put an end to Clark's resurfacing feelings for Lana for good by telling him the truth about how she had gotten the Luthor castle.
"Lois, is that really true?" he had asked her stupefied after she had told him the story while little Alex was playing in what had once been Lex Luthor's office.
"Would I lie to you?" she had replied softly and then added: "I can show you the settlement papers if you want. Or the pictures the doctors took of me as evidence…" She had walked over to the desk and pulled out a file she had prepared when she had decided to tell him the truth. Clark had needed to see the pictures for the reality of her story to sink in. He had flipped through them and then put them back down on the desk before taking a seat baffled. Lois had neared him and smiled sympathetically. "I know it's horrible, but I don't want to see you getting hurt. Not by that monster."
A week after the Metropolis incident, the press, now eager for a lighter subject, had turned its eyes back toward their number one tabloid seller: the Luthors. Armies of photographers and reporters had flooded Smallville and intruded upon Lana's blossoming charitable actions. Only two days later, all of her actions were so publicized that rumors started spreading across Smallville – started by the cynical Metropolis journalists and their indebt analysis of her work – that she was doing it all just to boost her public image a few notches. People started doubting the sincerity of her actions soon afterwards, but she didn't want to give up.
"Principal Carlton!" Lana ran up the familiar hallways of Smallville High to catch up with its newest principal. The man seemed determined not to stop or to simply ignore her, but she wasn't going to have it. "I wanted to discuss the new swimming pool with you. I thought maybe we could make it bigger than the old one. I found this great company in Metropolis that charges only…"
"Mrs. Luthor, I'm afraid I can no longer accept your generous donations," the man told her finally stopping when he realized he wouldn't get rid of her so easily.
"What? But last week you were so excited about the project!" she reminded him.
"I'm afraid the Board of Education has contacted me and requested that I no longer allow the affiliation of your name to this school," he explained.
"Why? I haven't done anything but help you," she pointed out.
"I know, Mrs. Luthor, but the press has been widely speculating on your reasons for it. Some have even suggested that you're trying to seduce some young student that attends the school or buy the favors of the school board for your own purposes," he explained. "I really am sorry, but I don't have a choice," and with that he started to walk away leaving behind a shocked Lana.
"But none of that's true! You know it better than anyone!" she yelled after him as the school bell rang and teenagers filled the corridors. They were all staring at her and whispering and some of the cockier jocks were even giving her suggestive looks. She left, feeling dirty and ashamed.
Outside the school, she saw a grinning photographer taking a picture of her and she suddenly felt so angry she wanted to punch him. She walked over to him and grabbed his camera.
"Just who the hell do you think you are? Making up stories and selling them as the truth!" she yelled at him as he pulled his camera out of her hands.
"Who do you think you are? Acting like you own the world?" the man replied disgusted and then took another picture of her. "You just best get used to it, princess, cause if you're rich and famous, people'll start poking through your garbage just to get some filth on you."
She looked at him frustrated and deciding she had probably already given him a story – Lana Luthor shows her claws! – she walked away.
At dinner, she barely touched her food. She was more playing with it than eating it. She was also unusually quiet. Lex had noticed it, but pretended not to and proceeded to tell her of his horrible business trip to Central City, leaving out the fact that while there he had also attended the funeral of Quentin Terrane whose body had been discovered a few days earlier in a sewer in Metropolis, said to have been another victim of paranoid Metropolis citizens. When he finished his account he was silent for a few moments.
"Okay, what's wrong?" he asked sighing after a while.
"How did you do it?" she suddenly asked and Lex started panicking inwardly. What had she found out about? There were so many dark shady things he had done, but then she went on and he was relieved: "When you were young in Metropolis and they were constantly chasing you…How did you deal with them?" she made a wide gesture that he instantly understood referred to the media that had been keeping a too close a watch on her. Lana, unlike Isobel, didn't care much for the media. Isobel had reveled in it. She used to call them mindless puppets there for her entertainment. She liked to manipulate them, to feed them stories, to make them get so close to the truth and then simply take it away. Of course, she had also been responsible for the death of a number of reporters. She had even attempted to kill Chloe Sullivan on a few occasions, but he had never allowed her plans to succeed.
"One step at a time," he answered her with a soft smile. There was another long moment of silence before he went on: "Hard, isn't it?"
"I believe that's the understatement of the century," she said chuckling nervously. "You know the Kansas State Board of Education ordered Carlton to no longer accept my help? Because I apparently have very unhealthy ulterior motives some of which include underage boys."
He choked on his food and then started laughing: "Promise me that if you're planning on leaving me for a 16 year old, you'll tell me before the story hits the tabloids."
"It's not funny," she said sighing. "I mean, I've been trying so hard…but no one seems to want to believe I can be better."
"Once people have preconceived ideas about someone, it's hard to make them change them," he pointed out. He was reminded of his own situation when he first arrived in Smallville as the exiled troublemaking son of a billionaire. "It takes…great effort and great people to stand by you. Even if…in the end…some find that they're just fighting a losing battle."
"Was that what you decided happened?" she asked looking up at him. "That since people were always going to believe you were the wolf in sheep's clothing, you'd become one and prove them right?"
He smiled. "No. I was always a wolf, I was just reckless enough to let people see it when I was young. I came to Smallville and met some extraordinary people that made me want to change, but deep down I was still the same old wolf, only in better sheep clothing. And for all it's worth it, when I had you – well, Isobel – I realized there was nothing else I wanted to pretend to be a saint for. I just wanted you to love me and I knew you couldn't love a man like me. That might disgust you now, but it's the truth and that much you'll always have from me."
"So what am I?" she asked after a beat. "A sheep in wolf's clothing?"
"To them you'll always be a wolf. They'll always expect you to turn against them again. That's the problem with wronging people so much. You can never really earn their trust back completely," he answered.
"All this is useless then…," she said leaning in her chair and closing her eyes for a moment.
"Not necessarily," he said. "You see, by dealing directly with them, it's like you're asking them to give you their trust right then, at that moment. You're making yourself known as responsible for their wellbeing and although they are grateful for your help they can't help but despise you for being so rich that you're able to help them by simply snapping your fingers. A more distant approach is more suitable. You find out their problems, you help them without them knowing how much time or energy you spend on resolving their issues and say nothing about it. Eventually they do realize it was you but they feel grateful without despising you because you're not damaging their self-esteem by gloating."
"I never gloated," she replied although his words made sense.
"I know you didn't," he smiled again. "But that's not how they see it. They see the rich, cocky, Mrs. Luthor waving money at them they couldn't make in a lifetime as though it was something she found under the couch."
"I never really thought of it that way," she admitted.
"That's because you never think of the two missing years," he said. "If it was you, Lana Lang, fresh graduate of Smallville High doing all those things people would welcome you with their arms wide open. But now all they see is Lana Luthor."
"I think you're right. I do think of myself as who I was before Isobel took me over. Mostly because, that's all I remember. There are flashes, here and there, of the last two years, but to me, the second meteor shower feels like yesterday," she explained. "And I wish I could pick up my life right where I left it off."
"I see," was all he could say. So it had finally happened. She had made up her mind.
"But I realized today that's never going to happen," she said and he looked at her surprised. "The last two years have changed me and the way the world sees me. I wish I could make it all turn back to the way it used to be, but no matter how hard I'll try it'll never be as it was. There will always be doubt. Do you know Clark crosses the street whenever he sees me now? And Lois won't even say hello to me and I have no idea why," she smiled weakly. "The truth is…no matter how much I'd like it to be otherwise, I've changed too. Isobel's changed me. I like wearing high heel shoes and driving a car at a 100 miles/hour…I like thinking about flying all over the world with you…And I can't even think more than five seconds about the word divorce without thinking it's a bad joke! She's tied me to you and I'm not sure I mind."
"Lana, what are you saying?" he asked staring at her.
"I'm tired, Lex. Take me home," she said with a smile, her eyes shinning in a way Lex had never seen them before. He smiled back and standing up extended his hand toward her. She took it without a second thought.
End Part 19
