A/N: This chapter takes place after 1x13, Kinetic, in which a group of thugs (who can walk through walls because they have Kryptonite tattoos) injure Chloe, rob and blackmail Lex, and try to kill Whitney.

Chapter 8 - Cowardice

It had been a long week. Lex's house had been broken into and robbed; he'd been punched, strangled, blackmailed, and threatened with death. He'd watched a friend (or at least, the friend of a friend) get injured because of his own carelessness in his security, and then he'd watched Clark almost get killed by the same group of thugs that had hurt Chloe.

He was getting really, really tired of weeks like this.

Thieves that could walk through walls. That was a new one, and yet nothing out of the ordinary, considering all of the other strange abilities he'd seen in Smallville.

He pushed the thought away—he was done investigating these things. Done sneaking behind Clark's back to try to see if Clark was hiding anything extraordinary. Just the week before, Clark had proven he was normal.

Then again, Lex also had no idea how Clark had stopped the thugs tonight and managed to emerge without a scratch.

Lex walked over to Clark after making one last threat to the criminals in the police car. They both watched the cops drive away. "You're sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Clark straightened up suddenly and looked up at Lex. "Oh! I just remembered something."

"What's that?"

"This is going to sound really weird, but my mom made me promise something."

"What's that?"

"That if you ever saved my life, or if I ever had to save yours, I'd take you home for dinner with our family."

Lex blinked. "That's . . . really specific, Clark."

"That's what I thought. I figured, what are the chances that's going to happen again? But then it did, and now I'm inviting you over."

Lex raised his eyebrows. "And what if I told you I'm busy?"

"Are you busy?"

The thoughts that ran through Lex's head had nothing to do with his schedule for the evening, and everything to do with whether he could see himself deserving a place at the Kents's table.

He'd claimed to Clark that he cared more about Chloe than about getting his belongings back from the thieves, which was a complete misdirect. It wasn't exactly false, though the flowers he'd sent her might have been more out of guilt than anything. But his reasons for taking the loss rather than contacting the police had nothing to do with prioritizing Chloe's recovery.

Lex was surprised Clark hadn't mentioned that when he found out Lex was being blackmailed, but then, Clark wasn't always the most perceptive. Mrs. Kent would have noticed, and she would have looked at him with those disappointed eyes that pierced straight through his soul. He wasn't sure he wanted her hearing too many details about what had happened.

There was no reason she had to know. But if he didn't tell her, he'd have to listen to her go on about how great of a friend he was, all the while knowing the truth. Maybe he could still visit with them, once Chloe had fully recovered and all of this had died down, but he shouldn't today.

"I should probably get home," Lex said. "I've got an early morning meeting with Lana. She wants to talk about the Talon again, says she has a new proposal." He gave Clark a pointed look. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, Clark?"

Clark lowered his head just a little, his smile barely suppressed. "You'll make it to your meeting in the morning. We won't keep you up late. We're farmers, Lex, we get up early."

Lex knew then that he'd blown his chances of getting out of dinner. He'd made an excuse that Clark had easily dismantled, and now any other excuse he made would be an obvious lie.

"Okay," he said finally. "I'll go. Can I give you a ride?"

Martha was just wrapping up cooking dinner while Jonathan set the table when Clark came in through the front door. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad! I've got company," he called out.

She looked over her shoulder to find Lex following Clark into the house, then set down her spatula to go over and give each of them a hug. Clark hugged her back, and Lex did as well, albeit after a half second of hesitation.

She glanced over at Jonathan, who kept his eyes on the dishes he was putting out. Three place settings. Martha put a hand on his arm, and he sighed and trudged over to the cabinet with the plates.

Martha gave Lex an extra bright smile. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Clark invited me, and I figured it had been awhile . . ."

Clark clapped Lex on the shoulder, but his eyes were on Jonathan. "Mom said I was supposed to invite my friends over if they . . . get me out of a rough place."

Jonathan looked up from his work at that. His eyes darted from Clark, to Lex, then back to the table.

"Let's have a seat, and you can tell us all about it." Martha resisted the urge to glare at her husband. She understood his frustration with Lionel, but he was being completely unreasonable with Lex, week after week. She'd never seen him act this way with anyone else.

Lex hung back a moment while the other three took their seats, and only joined them when Martha beckoned him over.

It was quiet for a moment as Martha served up the food. Finally, she broke the thick, awkward silence. "So what happened today?"

Clark cleared his throat. "Well it started a few days ago, when those guys broke into Lex's house and stole a bunch of stuff and threw Chloe out of the window."

"How is she doing, by the way?" Martha asked.

Clark smiled. "A lot better!"

"She's a fighter," Lex said.

"Yeah." Clark gave him a look. "But those doctors you sent in really helped."

"Doctors?" Jonathan asked.

Clark nodded. "Lex sent in specialists from Metropolis to help with Chloe's recovery."

"Well, that was . . . kind of you." Jonathan seemed to choke over the words.

"It really was." Martha spoke in a much more sincere tone.

Lex swallowed. "It was the least I could do. I felt responsible."

"Why would you feel responsible? It wasn't your fault if someone broke into your house." Martha frowned.

He looked away for a moment before speaking. "It happened on my property. She was under my care."

She bit back a sigh. That was his lying tone. He was holding something back, she was certain of it.

She'd thought they had made some progress the last time they talked, when he confessed to having investigated Clark. She'd had to walk a fine line in her speech, not wanting to tell him his actions weren't wrong (which would be counterproductive and not believable to him), but also not wanting to make him feel any more guilty than he already did. But in the end, she was pretty sure she'd managed to convince him he was forgiven.

But here they were again. Clark had felt guilty about Chloe's injury, too, but he'd been willing to talk about the reasons why he felt bad, which had made it easier to convince him he wasn't at fault. Lex might still be feeling guilty for some nonsensical reason, but whatever that reason was, he was keeping it to himself, which meant Martha couldn't address it.

She glanced over at Jonathan, who was avoiding her gaze, then back to Lex. "What happened tonight?"

"The thieves had found some sensitive LuthorCorp information. They were blackmailing me, and Clark went to try to confront them. He got himself in over his head—"

"And that's when Lex came up behind the guy with a stun gun! It was awesome, Mom."

Martha raised her eyebrows. "Lex, you saved Clark's life again?"

"Yeah, Lex." Clark grinned. "Where does that put us, three to three?"

"Don't worry, Clark," Lex said. "I'll be sure to have another near death experience soon so that you can pull ahead."

"Don't even think about it, young man." Martha reached over and squeezed his shoulder.

"I don't seem to be able to help it lately." Lex half smiled.

Jonathan looked up. "Yeah. It does seem to be happening quite a lot. I've never seen Clark in danger more often than he has been since he's met you, and half the time, it's because he's putting his neck out to save your sorry hide."

Martha's heart pounded. She wanted so badly to help Lex, but Jonathan just kept shoving him down every time she took a tiny step forward.

Clark's breath caught in his throat. "Lex saved me today, Dad."

"And you wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't been getting yourself mixed up in his dealings."

"He was robbed!"

Jonathan's eyes shifted from Clark to Lex. "Is that all there is to the story, Lex? Because it seems like with you Luthors, there's always more."

Lex held eye contact with Jonathan for all of one second before he broke. He shot up from the table, pushed his chair in, and stormed out of the room.

"Coward," Jonathan muttered.

Martha glared at Jonathan and ran after Lex.

He was already halfway to his car when she caught up with him. He turned to face her, but took a couple more steps back. "Look, Mrs. Kent, I really appreciate everything you've done for me—"

"I understand, Lex. I just didn't get to say thank you. You've been a good friend to Clark, and—"

"My life is a mess, Mrs. Kent. Your husband is right—Clark jumped off a bridge to save me the day we first met, and he's had his life threatened over and over again because of me. If I were a good friend, I'd stay away from him."

Now more than ever, she wished he could know Clark's secret. Not knowing was destroying him. "You've been kind to him, and you've looked after his friends. I don't think you'd abandon him, Lex."

"That's because I'm a coward." He shrugged and slid into his car, closing the door behind himself.

That wasn't his lying voice, and he didn't appear to be evading. He really believed that.

She'd seen him do amazing things since she'd known him. The obvious ones—facing down a gunman in a building filled with gas, sneaking up behind a mutant thug armed with only a stun gun. But there was so much more. The way he'd walked, unflinchingly, into his home to face his abusive father who he'd displeased by promising to help someone. The confessions he'd made to her so far, even to Jonathan, despite believing Jonathan hated him. The simple fact that Lex lived in a town full of people who despised him.

She hurried forward and tapped on the window, which he rolled down without looking up at her.

"Lex," she said. "You are the bravest person I know."

He looked up at her then, no relief or trust or flattery in his stony gray eyes. "Thanks, Mrs. Kent," he said mechanically, and drove away.

Martha stared after him long after he was gone. He'd spouted a lot of nonsense, but he was right about one thing—his life was a mess. It wasn't her business or her job to fix it.

But she seemed to be the only one who had noticed what he was suffering through, which meant it wasn't anyone else's job. Besides, since when did Martha Kent care about whether helping someone was her business or not? Twelve years ago, it hadn't been her responsibility to look after that toddler they'd found in the field the day of the meteor shower. And that was the best thing she'd ever done.

No, it didn't matter that this wasn't her job. She was going to find a way to help him. She'd thought she could comfort Lex by welcoming him into her home. Thanks to Jonathan's stubbornness, she had been wrong.

She would have to try a different tactic.