A/N: This chapter contains direct quotes from 2x12, Insurgence. I do not own.

Side note for those of you reading consistently: first, thank you! Also, if you've been reviewing, you have no idea how happy your reviews make me. I especially appreciate you taking the effort to give feedback during these crazy times.

Second, I just wanted to let you know that this chapter marks the approximate halfway point for this story. Most of the rest is written; I'll be posting as I edit (about twice per week, as usual). However, I'm having lots of fun playing with these characters in this storyline, and people still seem to be reading, so you can definitely expect a sequel—planning is already underway. I recognize I've opened quite a can of worms with the conflicts I'm trying to tackle, and I hope to eventually finish out the plot at least through the time of mid-season 5, possibly further. That's not a promise, but this is: if I end up having to cut my plans short, I'll at least finish the story threads I've started, not abandon a story in the middle.

Chapter 22 - Anniversary gift

"Thanks again for this, Lex."

"Any time, Mr. Kent." Lex settled into his seat in the helicopter as they took off to pick up Mrs. Kent for their dinner reservation.

Lex hadn't been sure if they would accept his anniversary gift, and he was thankful that Mr. Kent had taken the time over the summer to explain his feelings about large gifts. It meant Lex was able to put forward the offer in a way that would respect Mr. Kent's views, giving him plenty of space to decline.

Good communication paid off, and in the end, Mr. Kent had accepted the offer. It was the only way he'd get to see his wife on their anniversary, since Lex's father had made her come to work.

Lex hadn't expected his father to go into LuthorCorp on a Sunday. He'd even sent in a team to bug the office building today, which he'd had to call off once he found out his father and Mrs. Kent were in the building. He tried not to think about it while sitting next to Mr. Kent. He knew that kind of deceptive, underhanded espionage was the kind of thing that would disgust the Kents—it might have even been enough to make Mr. Kent give up on him, if not Mrs. Kent. His inner darkness, of course, had loved it.

At the time he'd called for the surveillance, he hadn't felt like he had much of a choice. He'd just lost a 150 million dollar contract. Despite feeling even dirtier than his usual moves in their never-ending game, it was really the only way to gain back the advantage his father had over him. Lex had both selfish and unselfish reasons to want to protect his plant. Mrs. Kent had even told him that that it was alright to have both, that the right thing to do was still right. And keeping control of the plant in his hands, rather than his father's, was definitely the right thing to do. 2500 employees depended on that.

The Kents hadn't talked to Lex as much as he would have liked on the right and wrong way to do things, though.

It didn't matter anymore, anyway. He'd called off the surveillance project, at least for today—the team would have cleared out of the building long before his father and Mrs. Kent arrived, and now Lex was getting to bring together the couple he cared about most on their anniversary.

Mr. Kent cleared his throat. "How are things going with Helen?"

"Great, actually. Thanks for the advice last week." He and Helen gone through a bit of an argument the week before, since Lex had discovered she'd met with his father and lied about it, but things were much better since Lex had apologized for invading her privacy and not giving her a chance to explain herself. Bringing her favorite flowers, chocolate, and a hand-written apology letter had helped. It had gone against his instincts to keep the gifts simple and sentimental rather than lavish and expensive, but Mr. Kent insisted the latter would come off as bribery.

Mr. Kent raised his eyebrows. "You really like her?"

"Yeah, I do." More than he'd ever liked a girl, though he wasn't ready to admit that out loud yet. Most of his others had been one-night stands and prostitutes, though he hadn't hired a prostitute since meeting the Kents. Then there had been Victoria, but that had been for business. He pushed Victoria out of his mind as well—he didn't think Mr. Kent would approve of any of that. He didn't seem like the type to understand corporate games.

"We'd love to meet her sometime."

"You've met her."

"Yes, as our doctor. We'd love to get to know her as your girlfriend."

Lex glanced up at him. He didn't have a family to introduce Helen to—his father didn't count—but he'd love for the Kents to play a similar role, if he dared to hope that that was what Mr. Kent was suggesting. "Sure. Things are a little busy at the plant right now, though."

"Yeah? How's work going?"

"It's not bad. We secured the contracts for the Kawache caves."

Mr. Kent stiffened, his expression clouding.

Lex swallowed—it was the face Clark always wore when Lex talked about any of Smallville's mysteries. He scrambled to change the subject. "Um, other than that, it's mostly the usual. Last night I discovered my father's been spying on me, that was new."

"Oh yeah, Clark told me about that contract you lost. Sorry to hear about that."

Lex searched his eyes for some hint of accusation, mockery, or sarcasm. He couldn't find anything. "We'll bounce back, but it's quite a hit."

"What are you going to do about it?"

He wasn't about to tell Mr. Kent about his own espionage. "Ah, I don't know yet."

Mr. Kent let his breath out, settling back into his seat. "I don't envy you, Lex."

They made small talk on and off for the rest of the ride, about the plant, the farm, and Clark. Mr. Kent's face lit up when he talked about his son in a way that was so opposite to the way Lex's father looked when he talked about Lex, it made Lex's chest hurt.

By the time they arrived, police were crowding the LuthorCorp building.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. Lex's father had been taken hostage, along with Mrs. Kent, by a team of people trying to break into the vaults. Fear and guilt gripped Lex, and he stepped away.

He called the team he'd had bugging the offices, demanding to know what they were doing. He couldn't reason with them, couldn't negotiate. He found himself trying to bribe them for the contents of the vault as well as for his father and Mrs. Kent to be released.

The darkness in him demanded to know why he'd switched to bribing rather than threats and blackmail. Meanwhile, he felt sick at the fact that he was bothering to try to negotiate for the contents of the vault when Mrs. Kent's life was at stake.

His last desperate words to the team were, "Just don't hurt them," but the man only hung up. The edges of Lex's vision started to go fuzzy as he silently hyperventilated.

"Don't hurt who, Lex?"

His heart sank even further as he turned. Mr. Kent would kill him if he knew what was really going on, and Lex couldn't exactly blame him for that. But right now, he needed to live for long enough to make sure his father and Mrs. Kent survived this. "Mr. Kent, whatever I'm doing is in the best interest of your wife and my father, believe me."

Mr. Kent grabbed his arm hard enough that it would have hurt if his adrenaline weren't running so high. "What do you know?"

"I—I don't—"

"Answer me." His hold on Lex's arm tightened, enough that it did hurt.

It was over. The home-cooked dinners, the mom hugs, the comfort and advice, Clark's friendship, the feeling like he had a family—gone with one bad move. Mrs. Kent had said she wouldn't abandon him because he made a mistake, but even if she lived through this, he couldn't imagine her forgiving him this time.

"I'll leave your family alone," Lex said. "And Mrs. Kent should quit her job with my father, I warned her—"

"I'm not going to ask again."

Lex swallowed hard and spoke in a low voice. "I sent in a team to bug the LuthorCorp building. If my father was going to be listening in on me, but I couldn't spy on him, the war against him would already be lost."

"Clark said you lost one contract."

"It was a 150 million dollar deal."

Mr. Kent didn't react to the number at all. He also didn't let go of Lex's arm. "Go on."

"I called off the surveillance team as soon as I found out your wife and my father were going to be in the building. But they had other ideas." He could feel his head and face starting to sweat. "You have to believe that I never meant for any of this to happen."

"Just another casualty in your fight."

Normally, words like that would have stirred Lex's anger, spurring him to defend himself, to insist on his innocence. Today, he felt more like crying. Usually, the casualties only happened when Lex lost a battle with his father, but today was different. This was his fault and his alone. Somehow, sorry didn't feel like enough. "I'm doing everything I can to secure their release."

"Oh, I'm sure you've done plenty." The vice-grip tightened yet again.

"You think I want this?" Lex wrenched his arm away. "You think I wouldn't make peace with my father if I could?"

Mr. Kent's glare was venomous.

"I know people get hurt in our crossfire. If I could stop fighting, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But he's bound and determined to ruin my life by threatening everything and everyone I care about, and I'll never . . . I'll never let him . . ."

Mr. Kent just kept shaking his head.

Lex's head lowered. Today's incident was his fault, not his father's. "Like I said, I'll stay away from your family. You don't have to worry about that anymore."

With one last glare, Mr. Kent stormed away.

Lex watched him go, letting his breath out. His arm throbbed, but he didn't let himself rub the pain away. He deserved so much worse.

TBC...