A/N: This chapter begins in the middle of 2x2, Heat, in which Clark first discovers his heat vision, and also a new teacher at Smallville High, Desiree Atkins, uses kryptonite-enhanced pheromones to make Lex marry her and cut ties with most of his friends. It does include a few direct quotes from the episode. I obviously don't own anything.

Chapter 16 - Heat

Everything had changed so suddenly.

One minute, the Kents were like family, and Clark was like his brother. Clark was even the best man at his wedding. Since then, Clark had tried to seduce Lex's wife, set fire to her car, and gotten himself arrested.

Lex paced in the empty coffee shop. He knew he should feel betrayed, enraged, anguished. Instead, he just felt . . . lethargic. Peaceful. And incredibly, overwhelmingly attracted to Desiree. As long as he had her, everything would be alright.

Lex was finishing up a phone call about selling the Talon when Mrs. Kent entered the building.

"Mrs. Kent."

Her eyes narrowed. "I was looking for Nell."

"Ah, she just left. I believe she's arranging for the movers."

Mrs. Kent stalked toward him. "What's gotten into you, Lex?"

He stepped back, thinking for a second that she was going to slap him. "What do you mean?"

She stopped a couple of feet short of him. "You know Clark had nothing to do with that car fire."

He swallowed. There was some little part of his mind, buried deep in the back, that was screaming at him that she was right, that Clark would never do that. Was that his darkness? No, it wasn't . . . what was it? He was having such a hard time thinking straight. He had been for awhile. When had that started?

"Clark is in jail. Your wife put him there."

Lex's breath caught in his throat.

"You know Clark. He's not a criminal. He's stood by you no matter what. Ask yourself, is he really capable of this?"

"I wouldn't have thought so. But I know Desiree."

"Lex! You met and married her in a week! How well could you know her?"

His jaw clenched. What she was saying made so much sense, and yet . . . she had to be wrong . . .

"Lex, come over for dinner. We haven't seen you since your trip. We miss you. Just for an evening, come home."

Home. That same little part of the back of his mind nudged him, crying out in longing. He felt a sudden, aching desire to embrace Mrs. Kent, or rather, to be embraced by her. It bore no resemblance to his need for Desiree's touch, but for just a moment, it was stronger.

But the feeling passed. He had Desiree. That was all he needed. Besides, he was mad at Clark, wasn't he? Clark had tried to come on to Desiree. And he lied to Lex. Hadn't Lex always known that? Clark lied all the time.

Mrs. Kent stepped closer to him, now less than a foot away. "I'm not giving up on you, Lex. I made you a promise, and I'll keep it." She reached out gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. "I have to go find Nell. But this isn't over."

She turned and fled the Talon, leaving Lex's mind spinning.

Maybe he should talk to Desiree. Just in case.

Martha headed over to the mansion as soon as she heard what had happened.

She knew there was something different about Desiree from the beginning, but she didn't realize how powerful her persuasive powers were until Lex had destroyed nearly all of his relationships. And Desiree had gotten Jonathan to kiss her, and then to try to kill Lex—Clark had only just managed to save his life by melting the bullet mid-air with her heat vision. If Desiree had had so much power as to be able to sway Jonathan, that pretty much cleared Lex of any guilt, in Martha's mind.

She was thankful she hadn't really let him have it the other day—she was sure he was still embarrassed about the scolding she'd delivered, but he would recover easily enough. She'd scolded Clark harder for lesser offenses, and he'd been fine within a day.

She found him in his study, staring at his laptop at his desk. "Hi Lex."

"Mrs. Kent." His eyes widened, and he closed his laptop. "I'm so sorry about the past week, I don't know what came over me."

"It's alright, Lex. I heard about Desiree. I know it wasn't your fault."

He nodded, standing from his desk. "How is everyone?"

"A bit shaken, but we're alright. Clark's out of jail, thanks to you. And Jonathan is recovering. He's taking me out to dinner tonight."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"I told him I wanted to check on you, so he's wrapping up some chores with Clark first." She took a step closer to him. "Are you doing okay, Lex?"

He sighed. "I will be. I don't really want to talk about it. I'd really just rather forget this whole thing happened."

Martha smiled gently. Jonathan had turned beet red when she'd asked about the kiss—Lex had actually gone and married the girl against his own will. "Would you like to be alone?"

Lex looked away for a moment, then back to her. "Yeah, I'm okay. I hope you and Mr. Kent enjoy your evening."

She searched his eyes for a moment. She couldn't tell if he was lying. If he had liked Desiree before she had cast her influence over him, he was probably in a lot more pain than he was letting on. Even if the marriage had been a sham, he was still going through a divorce, and he was only twenty-two. But she couldn't push him to talk about it before he was ready. "Alright, Lex. If you do want to talk about anything—"

"I'll give you a call."

She shook her head. "Just drop by the house."

"Thanks, Mrs. Kent." He smiled.

Martha reached out to embrace him, and he opened his arms. She rubbed his back, and he stiffened. The embarrassment over the situation must have been affecting him more than she thought. Her meddling wouldn't help with that—it would wait until things settled down. She patted his back before releasing him, and he gasped.

She jumped back. His wince faded, but not soon enough to keep her from seeing it. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Some minor burns."

She should have known. "Clark mentioned you got burned, but he made it sound like he put out the fire almost as soon as it was set."

He looked away.

"Have you had anyone take a look at it?"

"No. But I'm sure it's fine."

That was a clear lie. Now that she was looking for it, she could see the pain in his face. "Lex."

His eyes met hers. "It was an alcohol fire. Alcohol burns cool."

"I'm sure, but fabric doesn't. Are you going to see a doctor?"

"It's not that bad." Lex shrugged.

Martha raised her eyebrows. "Can I take a look?"

His cheeks turned slightly pink. "Ah, I'm not sure you want to see it."

"You just said it wasn't that bad."

Lex turned a little redder.

She knew it couldn't be easy for him to be vulnerable with her in that way, despite the relationship they'd built, but she really needed to know the injury wasn't too serious. No one else would. "I just want to see."

He sighed and unbuttoned his shirt, turning to face away from her.

She bit back a gasp. His back was deep pink all over. The redness lightened around the edges, but still extended up to his shoulders and the backs of his arms. A few blisters split his skin, but there was no black or white charred flesh, and no gaping wounds. It looked like it was probably about as painful as it could possibly be without requiring serious medical attention, though those open blisters could still get infected if he did nothing.

"Okay," she said softly. "You're right, it's probably not bad enough to need a doctor, but it's still pretty bad. What have you done for it?"

"You're not supposed to ice burns." He reached for his shirt, which he'd left draped over his desk.

She picked up the shirt before he could. "So, nothing."

"I guess not."

She looked a little closer at the split skin. "Some of this should really be bandaged."

"I'm okay."

He wasn't going to be able to bandage himself—even if he could have reached on a normal day, which she doubted, it would be excruciating to stretch the burned skin. "Can you get one of your servants to help you with that?"

"I'll be fine, Mrs. Kent."

Martha sighed. She wasn't going to let his wounds get infected just because he couldn't bother to take care of himself. "You keep medical supplies in the bathroom down the hall?"

"I—I think so, but—"

"Lie down, I'll be right back."

"Isn't Mr. Kent waiting for you?"

"I told you, he had chores to finish, we're not leaving for a couple of hours. Lie down."

She set down his shirt on the table and hurried into the bathroom and rummaged under the sink for a first aid kit, as well as a couple of wash cloths. She tucked the first aid kit under her arm, ran the cloths under cold water and wrung them out, and returned to the study.

Lex still stood by his desk, holding onto his shirt and staring at her.

Martha set the supplies down on the end table and gestured to the couch. "Lie down, Lex."

"I . . . no, you—"

"Okay. Your choice." She crossed her arms. "You're going to let me help you, or I'll call Clark to help you. Either way, this is happening."

He stepped back.

"Or I could always call your doctor. One of your servants has to have the number—"

He groaned and lay down on the couch on his stomach, face buried in the cushion.

"Was that so hard?" She picked up the wash cloths and knelt next to the couch. "How's the pain?"

"It's like a sunburn."

She held back a snort. She was sure the type of pain was the same as a sunburn, but the intensity must have been unbearable. "We'll start with this, then." She laid out the cool, damp cloths to cover the skin. It was what Jonathan did when he was sunburned, and it was what she did for Clark when he was little, before his invulnerability protected him from UV rays.

Lex's breathing slowed, and he shifted his face toward the back of the couch.

She cupped the back of his head, stroking gently. "Any better?"

"Yeah."

Martha stood and returned to the first aid kit, taking out a roll of gauze. Bandaging the wounds would hurt some, which was why she wanted to give him some relief first. It wouldn't be as bad as removing and replacing them, but that was tomorrow's problem.

After a minute, she took the cooling cloths away and began to bandage the open wounds.

"Ah!" He gasped and buried his face back into the cushion, his muscles tensing as the gauze made contact with the tortured flesh. She winced—it had to be burning.

"I know, I know," she whispered, and squeezed his hand when she could spare hers. "Almost done."

He breathed hard, but kept still as she finished the bandaging.

She finished the last of the taping, and stood. "Okay. You can get up."

He did, and she tossed him his shirt, which he gingerly pulled on. "Thanks, Mrs. Kent."

"Don't thank me. I'm coming back to change the bandages tomorrow."

He frowned. "You should get home. Mr. Kent will be waiting."

"I'm going now. When you get a chance, come visit Clark. I'm sure he's worried about you."

"I was planning on coming by tonight."

"Good." She started to reach towards him, but pulled her hands back. "I'll, uh, plan on giving you an extra hug when you're healed."

He smiled. "I look forward to it."