Chapter 33
Pathogen
Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville
Danny sighed, squeezing his eyes shut tight against the morning light piercing through his curtains. Both he and Clark had been pulling late nights for the past week looking for a sign of Lex's lab, but they hadn't been able to find it. Part of the problem in that regard was that apparently the GIW had been much more commercial of late. Danny had been honestly surprised to find evidence of anti-ghost technology at LuthorCorp Plaza, but had accepted it nonetheless. But apparently 'LuthorCorp' wasn't the only company to invest in that kind of protection. It added time they didn't have to the search, which got larger every day as they found more and more labs owned by the LuthorCorp conglomeration.
He ruffled his hair, pressing a tired hand to his lips as he covered up a yawn. Sleepily he pulled himself out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom. Generally he was unaffected by late nights and early mornings; he'd had to do that for two years straight back in Amity Park. But he'd gotten out of the habit here, and was paying for it now that he was trying to do it again. Even he couldn't survive on two hours sleep a night for long, and he'd been pushing himself to keep searching when his Kryptonian cousin had been forced to throw in the towel himself.
But it was easier than his nightmare filled sleeping. Of late he'd been dreaming about Brainiac, and every horrendous act the man could commit. And the truth was he was terrified. Brainiac had been able to entrap him, and while Danny had eventually been able to escape, the ease with which the man had been able to trap him was deeply concerning. And the trouble with that sort of confinement was that he had no sense of time. If Brainiac caught him again, months or even years could pass by before he'd be able to escape. And in that time anything could happen. And with what the man had inferred...
Sometimes Danny really hated his ghostly nature. Vlad had exploited his obsession against him, and now Brainiac wanted to too. The difference between them, however, was tremendous. While Danny knew that Vlad had only ever acted on selfish motivations, the man at least cared for him as a person on some level. Brainiac didn't. Brainiac was a form of highly sophisticated artificial intelligence, ruled by logic and loyal only to Zod. And in brutal honesty, Danny knew his obsession could be exploited only too easily. It was part of the reason that he tried to avoid listening to the news, why he always tried to carefully analyse what people were saying.
He'd learned the hard way how significantly newscasts could pull on his core, almost forcing him to go and help even when he couldn't. After a while even some of Sam's rebellious and revolutionary speeches had started affecting him in that way; and at first that had been debilitating. It had been physically painful in a way he hadn't understood until Clockwork had taken the time to explain why. But back then he was protecting people from the malevolent ghosts enough to compensate the difference, his core soothed by the lives he saved where he actually could make a difference. And yet, for all that his obsession could pull him into greater strengths; it could just as easily be used to turn him into a weapon. And it sounded like that was exactly what Brainiac planned; to turn him into Zod's weapon.
Danny made his way down the stairs and flicked the kettle on. His aunt would be coming downstairs soon, but Danny didn't feel up to preparing a full breakfast today. He still felt a little floaty; in fact that was probably another reason for his current weariness. He'd been really struggling to keep his new mist power – or was it a form? – under control, but the sensation of being in that state of in between was a lot more seductive than he cared to admit aloud. Over the weekend he'd spent close to six hours stuck like that, unable and unwilling to find his way back to reality right up until he'd literally exhausted his core and fallen back to his human form.
"Morning Danny." Aunt Martha called as she walked down the stairs. Danny blinked, still trying to clear his foggy thoughts before he was able to reply with his own greeting.
"You look... tired." His aunt commented as she put two slices of bread in the toaster. "What is it that's keeping you and Clark up all hours of the night?" His aunt pressed wearily, pouring herself a cup of coffee and taking a seat at the island bench.
"A project of Lex's." Danny answered, too tired to filter his own responses. "Lionel told Clark and me about it a week ago, and even the best thing that could come of it is enough to have me worried."
"Have you talked to Lex about it?" His aunt asked, taking a sip of her coffee as Danny poured himself an orange juice.
"Haven't had the chance." Danny admitted. "I'm still trying to acclimatise to a new power, and I wasn't able to see him on the weekend." Danny sighed as he took the seat opposite her. "And lately I feel like he's blocking me out, not that it's not unexpected but it makes it hard."
His aunt smiled sadly at him. "I know it's hard, but I think you help him more than you give yourself credit for."
"But not enough to make him stop making stupid choices." Danny sighed, looking at the orange liquid in his glass. "All this year I've been trying to show Lex caution. I mean, some of the things he wants to do are really good, end world famine type good. But somehow..." Danny trailed, rubbing his knuckles into his scalp. "Somehow he always seems to lose sight of the good and twist it to something dark. I don't want him to end up like Vlad did, but I don't know to help him."
His aunt sighed. "Clark said something similar a few years ago." She admitted, shaking her head. "From what I understand, Lex hasn't had the easiest of lives and to a large degree I thing Clark was his first friend. He's probably wary of trusting anyone again, let alone someone related to Clark."
She frowned tiredly, suddenly looking much older than she was. "I loved Jonathan with my whole heart, but his view of the world was very black and white. Clark sees that way too, and while I'm glad it helps him find his path, it does leave little room for the shades of grey. I grew up in the city, and as you know, your grandfather wanted all us girls to follow him into law. I know there's not much out there that falls into black or white, even if it's easier to think that way."
His aunt met his eyes sadly, deep understanding passing through them. "What Lex did, in Clark's eyes was unforgivable, and Clark kept finding more until he felt he needed to give up. I'm glad, in a way that you've tried to help Lex despite that. We all need friends, even if people like Lex try to deny it." She paused, her eyes sad as they stared into his. "But at the same time I do worry. I know what he's capable of, what lengths he goes to in finding the truth. While I sometimes think Clark may have given up on him too quickly, it was for good reason. And in this case it's possible that even the hand of friendship isn't enough."
"I know." Danny admitted wearily. "But at the same time I don't want to give up on him. Our lives are governed by the choices we make, and I'm not gonna take one away from Lex until he's made his decision."
"So talk to him." His aunt encouraged. "He may not tell you everything, but you might at least find out why he's doing what he is."
"Today?" Danny asked, marginally surprised by his aunt's council.
"Why not?" His aunt suggested "You and Clark are both running yourselves into the ground; maybe actually talking to Lex will help instead of sneaking around him."
Danny bit back the urge to say they weren't sneaking, knowing that it would be a lie. Instead he simply nodded, acknowledging the wisdom in his aunt's advice. They knew something about the project, Lionel had told them that Lex was gathering some of the world's most potent viruses together and had expounded that he was likely trying to produce some form of super-virus. So Danny phoned the young billionaire up, managing to arrange a meeting for later in the day.
Danny sighed as he went back to his musings. From the way Lionel had explained it, as well as what Danny himself had decrypted from the files they'd copied off of Lionel's computers, Danny could understand the military applications. Instead of obliterating an enemy with fire-power and causing ridiculous amounts of collateral damage, you use careful applications of a virus to wipe out key leaders of the oppositions force. With them gone there's nothing to lead the enemy and the conflict is resolved without mass endangerment of life. And that was just the first use he'd thought of.
But at the same time, the concept was mind-bogglingly horrendous, and with Brainiac being the main instigator for the project Danny feared that nothing good could come of it. Something like that could eliminate mankind; maybe even kill Clark if 'Milton Fine' had provided the right toxins to Lex. In fact, probably the only thing that Danny had going for him in this situation was the fact that Fine couldn't understand what he was.
It was clear, from what limited discussion they'd had that Brainiac now believed him to be a full ghost. One of the side benefits of being a scientific impossibility Danny supposed. The existence of a halfa wasn't logical, couldn't fit within the confines of reason, and so Danny had that level of protection; Brainiac literally couldn't comprehend what he was by virtue of being artificial intelligence and thus bound by reason. No doubt he was super-intelligent, and had processing power far superior to anything mankind had ever developed. But Danny's existence was like adding two and two together to make five.
Not that that was a big help; it could only assist in as much as Brainiac would continue to underestimate him. But Danny knew that with the oncoming threat of Zod they'd all have to be on their toes. Danny just couldn't figure out the man's plans. Creating a virus, a super-virus like that was a good military tactic, but it didn't make sense. General Zod was a military man, and would need to have soldiers to serve him. A virus that would wipe out all humanity would leave the General the leader of an empty army.
No, there had to be a bigger game that Brainiac was playing, a different end goal than the pieces Lionel had given them depicted. Danny got the distinct impression that he was trying to play chess on a Chinese go board. The moves being played around him were so complex, changing too quickly to follow, and he worried that he was letting pieces slip through the cracks. Danny shook his head, deciding that maybe what he needed most at the moment was an hour or so just to fly and clear his head.
Line Break
Lex sighed as his father strode arrogantly into his office. Judging by the imperious scowl on the grey haired man's face, he'd one more been judged and been found lacking by his paternal figure. Lex, however, no longer really cared for the judgements of his father; the skills that the man had forced upon him had taught him only to pursue greatness. While on one level he acknowledged his father's influence in laying the foundations for his current life, the opinions and whims of his father no longer had any sway over him.
"I have pressing matters to attend to, Dad." Lex wearied. After all, young Danny Fenton had asked to come over, and after such a prolonged silence from the boy he was keen to find out what was going on. Plus there was the fact that it was always entertaining to converse with the younger boy, much more so than the authoritative figure before him. "What's so important?"
"Obviously something you've got cooking in Honduras." His father replied directly, rather bluntly so far as he went. Usually his father would circle around the issue for much longer before actually stating what he wanted. "Although I doubt it's the banana daiquiris. You've been racking up quite a lot of frequent flier miles, son."
"Challenging upper management often leads to a bout of unemployment." Lex dismissed. He was hopeful that he could manoeuvre his father into letting the subject drop, but it seemed an unlikely pursuit.
His father scowled, pressing his lips together tightly. "The welfare of your workers is the least of my concerns. You're involved with Milton Fine." Lex raised a sceptical eyebrow, but his father proceeded unhindered. "I know that he's been smuggling some of the deadliest viruses in the world into this country with your help."
"Well, don't worry, Dad." Lex smiled, hearing the derisive condescension in his own voice. It was no less than the man deserved, and he himself had heard it from his father far too often. But in this case his father was pushing into his private dealings, something that they had come to a mutual agreement not to do. "We're not gonna put them in any Halloween candy."
"You're extremely nonchalant for a man whose collection of microorganisms could wipe out more than half of this country." His father replied, riposting the condescension back at him.
Lex waved a hand dismissively. "It's under control." He commented.
"Your business partner's a man who seems able to appear at opposite ends of the Earth simultaneously." His father retorted scathingly, almost mocking. "How much control do you have over him?"
"Your intel is impressive, but incomplete." Lex replied, his eyes icy as he surveyed his father. It wasn't unexpected, per se, for his father to have found out that little nugget, but his persistence in digging into the project was not wanted in the slightest.
"Shut the operation down, Lex." His father demanded. "Shut it down now. Wherever you're incubating these viruses, you need to destroy them. Milton Fine embodies a threat greater than you appear to realize."
Lex shook his head, a smile flitting onto his face as he raised his eyebrows towards his father. "You taught me. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
"This is one enemy you don't know." His father bit back. "Not knowing who you're in bed with can make for a very uncomfortable awakening."
"Well, I'll present that nugget to my appointment when they ask why I'm late." Lex replied coldly as he walked out of his office. He made his way through the labyrinthine hallways that led to his main library, calculating that his father would take his cold shoulder for the dismissal that it was. It was something his father had never seemed to understand; all those years ago he'd sent Lex away to this small town to grow up. Now he had, and yet the man still thought he had any sway in how he led his life. Now he was the one utilising the dramatic exit to signify a close to the discussion.
Sure enough five minutes later he got a call from the head of security saying that his father had left and that Mr Fenton was waiting at the front gate.
"Would you like him escorted to your office Mr Luthor?" The feminine voice asked over the intercom.
"No thank you." Lex replied, pulling a book off the shelf. "Today I'd like to meet him in the main library."
"Of course, Mr Luthor, he shall be there momentarily." The demure voice responded over the speaker. And four minutes later a dark head of hair peeked through the stained-glass doors of the library.
"Danny." Lex smiled in greeting, setting his book down on the rosewood that sat in the centre of the room.
"Hi Lex." The boy replied almost sheepishly. "How've you been?"
"Busy," Lex replied, studying the boy. "Although not as busy as you I'd hazard since you seem to have dropped off the map these last few weeks."
Danny bit his lip, taking the proffered sofa seat as Lex gestured towards the two Victorian seats that encircled the singular coffee table at the side of the room. "You could say that." The boy replied tiredly. Lex raised an eyebrow, challenging the boy slightly. "Tests." He continued. "Exams and tests, and then more tests, and then different tests, and then an old acquaintance decided to stop by and give me another test."
"Sounds... testing." Lex replied, and Danny just smiled exhaustedly. He was curious about the nature of some of those tests, and the old acquaintance. After all, Danny was being very vague about his statements, not once did he say what the tests were for.
"I'm really glad I'm graduating this year, I don't think I could handle any more state mandated testing." He commented, leaning back into the chair as one of the staff brought in a couple of coffees.
"You do realise that college relies on exams as well, especially in the junior years." Lex replied, taking a sip of his coffee.
Danny sighed ruefully. "I haven't applied for any. By the time all the paperwork went through for my being skipped ahead it was already too late. And besides, I'm not sure what I'd actually do in college."
"You could go into law." Lex suggested, noting the boy's way with words and persuasive character. "Or politics."
Danny scoffed. "Yeah, I'd really rather not. Laws are rarely fair other than to the people who make them, and I don't really want to have to deal with politics for the rest of my life."
"You do realise that everything is politics." Lex pointed out. Although, it was interesting to hear Danny actually present that particular perspective. He was after all nephew to the current state senator, and also to honest-to-goodness, law abiding Jonathan Kent.
"Eh," Danny shrugged. "Aristotle may have said that man is a political animal, that doesn't mean that I want to deal with it every minute."
"Fair point." Lex conceded. "Then where do you see yourself in five years?"
"I..." Danny paused, his eyebrows creased. "I think I'd like to have a bit of certainty about the present before I really start thinking about the future..." the boy trailed off distractedly. "Probably the only thing that I do know is I don't want to go into ghost hunting."
"Really?" Lex pressed curiously, stunned by the admission. It seemed that of late the ghost presence was on the rise, the least of which being the yellow alert issued earlier in the month when a ghost attacked the school. "I'll admit that still surprises me. After all, your parents were the leading edge of the field for a good many years, and the ghosts haven't exactly gone away."
"I know, but just because that's what they did with their lives, it doesn't mean I want to follow in those footsteps." Danny replied, but he paused briefly to look at Lex. "Usually this is the point in the discussion where you ask if I'll let you look at their patents."
"It is," Lex replied with a small knowing smile. "But after this long I know you well enough to realise that you're going to be stubborn about it."
"It's not stubborn..." Danny replied slightly defensively. "But I do know that the there's other people selling their own stuff, so I feel no need to saturate the market."
Lex set his coffee cup down. "You do realise that the only provider is the government mandated branch of the Guys in White, and they're only selling defensive equipment, nothing offensive."
"I figured as much." Danny retorted, but there was a dark look in his blue eyes. "The GIW would want to keep their main artillery out of civilian hands where a ghost could potentially get their hands on it. But even what they've sold to the public is blatantly obvious to anyone in the know."
Danny pressed his lips together, clearly considering something. "You know, you got ripped off on the shield at LuthorCorp Plaza."
"How did you know there was a shield on the building at all?" Lex asked.
Danny scoffed, "Please, Lex. I grew up in a household where ghost inventions were everywhere, I recognise all the tells; same thing for the hidden panel behind that bookcase. If you know what you're looking for, hidden compartments and components aren't so hidden." Lex frowned looking over at the bookcase in question. It was for the most part ordinary, but there was a false-book on one of the shelves that opened the panel to his Warrior Angel collection.
"Impressive." Lex commented. "So how exactly did I get ripped off?"
"They sold you the '04 model." Danny replied. "It's designed to detect ectoplasmic presences, but doesn't distinguish between power levels. I'd be willing to bet that since you installed it you've gotten a lot of false alerts 'cos of all the ambient non-corporeal ghosts that just exist normally."
"You're saying they have something better available." Lex pressed.
Danny shrugged. "It's nothing compared to what mom and dad had, theirs could physically stop ghosts from coming in. But from the GIW, the '05 model was a bit better. They fixed that glitch, but sort of narrowed the spectrum of what they could find top and tails. It'll detect most of them, but the higher level ghosts won't show up properly. Although I gotta ask... what's with shielding all the labs?"
Lex frowned suspiciously, but deliberately kept his tone level. "You noticed?"
"Dude, walking through Metropolis I can't help but notice which buildings have shielding around them, and when all of them turn out to be LuthorCorp subsidiaries, it sort of lights up a big pointing arrow."
"Pointing arrow to what?" Lex challenged, not precisely worried, but taking a cautious risk. He had admittedly thought of informing Danny about the project some time ago, considering that his insights tended to be astute if not accurate. The boy was well additionally attuned to extra-terrestrial threats, albeit inter-dimensional travellers rather than beings from the farthest reaches of space. Lex was, however, curious to see how far the boy's reasoning went, and what conclusions he came to on his own.
"Well, looking at what is there and what isn't..." Danny began, eyes thoughtful and calculating as the boy vocalised his thoughts. "You have shields on a number of labs in the city, but not on the fertiliser plant here nor on the offices for Pleasant Meadows or Rickman Industries in Smallville. More than that... you've shielded Star Labs and a branch of Cadmus Labs, but not Cyntechnics, and you've protected Metron Pharmaceuticals, but not Metro Tech."
Lex cocked his head slightly, seeing the gears moving inside the boy's head. This was part of the reason he enjoyed talking with the boy in the first place; Danny noticed things and fit puzzle pieces together in interesting ways. Plus there was the fact that he was not easy to manipulate, making him a unique variable in his current equation. "So what does it all point to?" Lex pressed curiously.
"Well, eliminating variables one by one..." Danny led, counting fingers off as he went. "You're not developing something specifically agricultural, otherwise you'd be utilising the resource available here in the fertiliser plant. And it's not strictly commercial or in housing, otherwise you'd probably be trying to protect Pleasant Meadows and Rickman's."
Danny paused, looking him curiously in the eyes. Lex was careful to keep his face neutral, despite the high levels of curiosity that the boy's logic inspired. "The fact that you've temporarily neglected Cyntechnics and Metro Tech tells me that your main point of interest isn't in technological developments at the moment. So I'm left with Cadmus, Star Labs and Metron. And given what I've gleaned from past projects with Cadmus and Star labs, coupled with the fact that you're working closely with a pharmaceutical company... I'm guessing that you're looking into something to do with pathogenics, probably some kind of biological weapon if I understand of your current business direction correctly."
Lex pressed his lips together, slowly clapping his hands together twice. "Well done, that's a surprisingly accurate deduction."
"So what do you actually plan to do with it?" Danny asked with thinly veiled curiosity
"Ah Danny," Lex replied. "Just because you figured that much out, doesn't mean I'm going to hand over the rest. You and I both know that's bad business. What I will tell you is that the main aim is defensive rather than offensive, and that the main target is extraneous to this world."
"Aww, and here I thought I'd earned a reward." Danny bemoaned sarcastically. "Am I allowed to ask why you started the project then? I mean, it's a pretty big jump to go from something like the Leviathan to this."
"And you did put forward a valid point about an enemy commandeering a weapon like that." Lex replied. He wasn't about to mention Fine's involvement, but there were certain facts that would probably placate the boy's curiosity, as well as another area of inquiry which had been troubling him for some time. "However after some consideration I got thinking. Like with the settlers bringing in new viruses to the Native Americans in the sixteenth century, it is possible that the invading forces we find ourselves encountering could be a threat on a simply biological level."
"So you're planning to what, kill them before they kill us?" Danny asked incredulously. "Lex, what sort of invading forces are you even talking about, ghosts? They're literally made of energy and anything that affects them is incompatible on a biological level with humans. And if you're talking about the meteor showers, then any adverse viruses or diseases would have been seen shortly after the first shower back in '89. All we've seen is mutations caused by the radiation from the meteor rocks."
Well, that had answered Lex's curiosity about ghosts. It was roughly the same as what the common para-physiological science proposed, but hearing it from Danny was a more reliable source since he had genuine experience in the field. However his concerns could not be so easily dismissed. "The rocks themselves were exposed to cleansing radiation on their inter-stellar journey here, not to mention the heat they endured on entry to Earth. But I'm sure you know that during the second shower, actual living beings were encountered. They are the main threat I'm concerned about."
The boy rubbed the back of his neck. "I dunno, Lex. I get where you're coming from, but I can still pick a couple of holes in your theory. I mean, whatever it is you throw at them, who's to say they're not immune?"
"I'm not counting on that." Lex replied carefully. "The project is aimed at protecting humanity against that sort of threat."
"So you're not creating a virus but a... vaccine?" Danny guessed, stumbling across Lex's the true aim of the project but not the magnitude of his redesign from Fine's original plans. He wasn't intending on showing Danny the lab, that privilege was reserved for someone else, but Lex was still curious to hear the younger boy's interpretation of this piece of information.
"Of sorts." Lex replied, swirling the last sip of coffee around in the bottom of his cup. "The theory is to gather the world's most deadly viruses together, and use them all to generate the ultimate vaccine."
Danny shook his head, blue eyes flashing in dismissal. "Still wouldn't work. If your main defence against an alien virus is a vaccine, then how do you know you can counter an alien virus? Even if you were able to account for every single virus on Earth, and could cure every single one, it's unlikely that you could cure an alien strain without experiencing an example of it yourself. And even if you did... viruses change too quickly for you to counter it. It's possible that in trying to create a vaccine like that you'd end up exposing the world to a bigger threat. I mean look at something like the SARS virus, it started off in animal carriers and mutated so quickly that it swept over half the world."
Lex hummed thoughtfully. These were repercussions he'd originally thought of and dismissed, but the way Danny voiced them, they suggested one or two revisions to the project. "You're worried about alien strains developing immunities to the vaccine?"
"I'm worried that if your theoretical invaders did bring an insidious disease with them, it would be safer to counter it once they're in contact with us than to force the viral strain to become immune to the vaccine before it can be studied. All it would take is for it to find an animal carrier and then we'd be stuck with it forever."
"That's very utilitarian of you." Lex commented drily, putting the empty coffee cup on the table between them.
"It's practical." Danny replied. "It's easier to isolate a disease once it's been encountered than to let it disperse and mutate. Start curing the weaker strains and then the mutations would be easier to counter."
Lex nodded, pressing his lips together thoughtfully. Danny left soon after that, claiming that he needed to head home. But Lex had a lot to think about; he headed back towards his office, pulling the files out of his desk. Danny had raised some interesting concerns about the project, and while a week ago he'd been informed of his completion, there were elements that could do with some reconsideration given the discussion he'd just had.
Lex settled back into his chair, studying over the project files. There was a lot he needed to think over, and one more person that he wanted to share his thoughts with.
Line Break
Lana rested her head against the helicopter window as she looked down on the Metropolis skyline. It was dark, the sun having gone while they were travelling, but when she'd arrived at Lex's he'd already had a helicopter waiting. She sent a fleeting glance to the billionaire in question, earmuffs firmly placed over his ears to drown out the noise of the helicopter. He hadn't precisely explained where they were going, but the bright lights of the city told her most of what she'd needed to know.
She'd arrived at the mansion late in the afternoon after speaking with Lois. With everything that had been going on lately, she'd proven to be a great friend, and a particularly unbiased ear. Lana was happy to be in a relationship with Lex; the man was supportive and trusted her with everything. There was no doubt between them like there had been with Clark. But at the same time, any relationship with Lex was never simple, and Lois had been particularly supportive in helping her sort out some of the issues in the wake of her still existent regrets about Clark. Lex was supportive, and he trusted her implicitly, and that was what Lana needed most right now.
'I've been working on something' he'd confessed, eyes sparkling in his curiously excited way when she'd taken her seat next to him in his office at the mansion. 'Something bigger than either of us.' And then he'd asked how deep she was willing to go, in pursuit of the truth and in trusting him. Of course there had been only one answer.
And so she'd found herself on a helicopter direct to Metropolis, the whirling blades carrying her away less like a fairytale princess and more like an illicit accomplice as they flew over the darkened streets of the city. The helicopter slowed down, carrying them to the roofs of a series of smaller buildings on the dockside of Suicide Slums. She felt the light thud as the helicopter landed, and felt Lex's warm hand guide hers out of the cabin and towards the door on the roof.
They walked down a flight of metallic steps, footsteps echoing loudly in the sterilised white hallways. On either side of the narrow corridor there were frosted doors, but Lex led them both open, through an archway and down to a subterranean basement.
"What is this place?" She gasped, taking in her first look at the room. Blue white lights hung down from a high ceiling, illuminating a laboratory like expanse. Scientists in white lab coats hunched over metallic lab tables and bubbling beakers, high voltage machines and cabinets marked 'Warning' or 'Danger' lined the walls. On one side there was an illuminated row of samples, all sorts of organic and nonorganic tissue on glass platelets. From the corner of her eye Lana caught sight of a radiation cabinet, and what looked like a cabinet filled with bottled samples and bright test-tubes.
"The future." Lex replied grandly, a hint of pride in his confident voice. "I'd like you to be by my side when it arrives."
Lana frowned before flicking through the Manilla file Lex had handed over her before they even left for Metropolis, studying the contents. "You've been collecting viruses?"
"The most deadly on the planet." Lex promptly replied.
Lana looked up at him, letting her concern come into her eyes. "What are you gonna do with them?"
"Change the world." He replied, turning around so that she could see the overwhelming certainty in his eyes. "Lana, we've been able to alter the viruses, transforming them into the ultimate vaccine." The man continued, walking over to a table and picking up a small vial of bluish liquid. One shot of this and theoretically you'd be protected from any disease that could be unleashed."
"Unleashed?" Lana pressed, closing the file as she continued staring at Lex. "By whom?"
"Well, according to Fine the CIA believes the black spacecraft might be the first of many." He admitted, an urgent note stealing into his eyes. "Listen, you need to keep this between the two of us. Even Fine doesn't know we're developing the vaccine here."
"I thought you two were working together." Lana replied, confused about Lex's change in attitude. "Why don't you trust him anymore?"
"Because I think he might be reporting back to something a little higher up." Lex replied, turning back to the table and picking up a piece of paper. He handed it to her, and Lana's eyes widened as she realised she was looking at a picture of the spaceship. Surrounded by leafy jungle, but Lana couldn't fail to recognise the rigid angles and steely menace of the ship that had landed nearly a year before in front of her.
"You found the ship?" She murmured, struggling to contain her shock.
"I was tracking Fine and he led me directly to it." Lex commented. "But that's not the intriguing part." He pulled a second photo out from behind the first, the only difference between the two being the presence of Milton Fine. The man was dressed in a strange skin-tight suit, but it was definitely the same man who Lex used to have such a good repour with. "These two photographs were taken a hundredth of a second apart. Where did he go?"
Lana blinked, her eyes flicking between the two time stamps. If what she was seeing was to be believed, then Fine had disappeared from the scene in less than the time it took to blink.
"Oh, my God. Do you think he came out of that ship like the others?"
"Well he's certainly not a ghost." Her bald-headed friend replied. "That's why I was going along with him. I thought I could buy some time to find his weakness. But I'm starting to think he doesn't have one."
Lana creased her brows together, recalling one specific event from that hellish day nearly a year ago. Lex's father had been nearly catatonic, but was spurting messages like a deluded prophet. However, one thing he'd said stood out before anything else. 'Their home is their poison'. Lana looked up, meeting Lex firmly in the eyes as she squared her shoulders. "He might." She replied, searching his eyes for any sign of doubt and finding them lacking. "After the meteor shower, when I found your dad in that strange trance he grabbed me and he told me how to stop them."
Lana watched as Lex's concerned face morphed into something distinctly self assured, and found herself smiling at the thought that for once she wasn't going to be stuck playing damsel in distress. No, this time she would be personally involved in saving the world from the alien threat.
Line Break
Lex groaned, rubbing his head tiredly as he stared at the project files. The whole thing was giving him a headache, and while he knew it was worthwhile in the long run, there was so much he now realised needed to be done. His discussion with Danny had highlighted a few flaws that he had initially dismissed, and now it seemed he needed to do his best to rectify it, although the comment about being unable to perform sufficient tests without a native sample haunted him.
However the main cause of his current headache was Milton Fine. Lex was desperately trying to track down the man, now knowing beyond a doubt that the man was of extra-terrestrial origins. The small level of insurance was carefully tucked into his office drawer, and it would stay close to his person until the threat that Milton Fine entailed was nullified. However the man in question was ever elusive, only appearing at his own desire.
"Good evening, Mr. Luthor." Lex managed not to start as he heard the presumptuous tone of the man in question. "May I?" Fine asked as he walked across to Lex's small office bar.
"Please, help yourself." Lex replied negligently, watching as Fine poured two out two glasses of amber liquid into the crystal glasses. "Everybody else does."
Fine smiled at him, handing the second cup over to Lex before turning a studying eye to the liquid in his own glass. "Some say the toast came about by a man who feared that his drink had been poisoned." The brown haired man commented almost idly, if not for the undertones of insinuation in his voice. "But he was a quick-witted man. He joyfully clanked his mug with the mugs of his mates sloshing his lethal beverage into everyone's drink with cheer." Fine held his glass out, gently tapping the rim against Lex's own. "A simple tap then must be a sign of trust."
Lex sucked his teeth and set his glass aside. "I'm not really thirsty." He commented, evaluating the man in front of him
"I thought we had an agreement. You would inform me of the virus's progress." Fine paused for a moment, raising an expectant eyebrow. "But I seem to be shockingly cut out of the loop."
"A fact you've probably known for weeks." Lex replied drily. "Come on. You must have assumed I wouldn't inherently believe your CIA bluff."
"And that's why I chose you." Fine replied, and an almost proud edge entered into the man's usually collected voice. "For your insatiable distrust and your propensity for covering all the bases."
"I'm sure you didn't waltz in here thinking I'd just roll over." Lex rebuffed.
Fine shook his head, a dark smile on his lips. "No, not you. Not without a bone."
Lex raised an eyebrow as he briefly cricked his neck. "I'll take the truth. I assure you the vaccine is processed and ready. But I'd be foolish to hand it over to someone whose agenda is still up for grabs."
"Lex, it's a vaccine." Fine scoffed. "What threat could it possibly pose?"
"Now, that's a question I've been asking myself for weeks." Lex replied calmly, his hand making its way to the drawer as he withdrew his insurance piece. The hunk of green meteor rock had been carefully stored in a lead lined box, but it sat comfortably in his hand as he pulled it out to rest in front of Milton Fine's pompous face. "I'm hoping this will help me get a few answers."
The rock glowed briefly, clearly reacting to something in the man's presence. But Fine's face was calm, all humour dropped to threatening seriousness. "Close." The man commented, forcing the meteor rock out of Lexes hand and rolling across his office floor. "But I'm not one of them. I was only made by them."
Suddenly Fine's fingers morphed, a metallic blade erupting from the flesh to press hard against Lex's neck. "Where's the vaccine?" The man demanded, and Lex gasped for breath.
"Kill me now, you'll never find out." Lex emitted, and took a deep breath as the blade withdrew.
"Which is why you are going to escort me to the lab and show me the product of our project." Fine demanded. "Isn't that right, Mr Luthor?"
Line Break
Danny sighed as he flopped heavily upside down on the loft sofa. His head hung limply over the seat and his legs were crossed against the seat back. His discussion with Lex hadn't gotten him any closer to finding the where the lab actually was than he had been. All that had really come of it was maybe giving the younger Luthor some doubts about what he was trying to do.
"Find anything?" Chloe's voice asked, and Danny cracked open a tired eye to look at her. From this angle she looked upside down, standing next to Clark at the top of the barn staircase.
"Nothing groundbreaking." Danny replied, flopping his head back against the seat cushion as both Chloe and Clark came to sit. "I only know that the project design is to make a vaccination, rather than a super-virus. But that doesn't tell us much more than we already knew."
"How'd you get him to tell you?" Clark asked from the desk chair opposite him, blue eyes stormy with something akin to contempt.
Danny shrugged; a gesture which he knew was drowned by the sofa cushions. "Made him think I was guessing, I mean, when you know what to look for there's a pattern in what he's doing. Lionel only told me that there was a pattern to look for."
"Clever." Chloe commented from beside him.
"Not enough." Danny sighed. "I mean, from the way he was speaking, the lab is in Metropolis so we can scratch Star City and Edge City off the list, but that still leaves about twenty potential places it could be."
"So why don't we just search them all?" Clark pressed, and although it wasn't in his face, Danny could feel the worry that was dripping off his cousin."
"Do you want to know the pattern I highlighted to Lex?" Danny asked irritably. "It was the ghost shields. In other words, I can't investigate without being observed, and his security system in all of those twenty labs would detect either of us if we used our powers pre-emptively. I don't want to take that risk."
Danny shook his head, swinging around so that he was sitting properly in the chair. "I think Lex was on to Brainiac, I mean he was talking about an imminent extra-terrestrial threat, and it's not like alien invaders from outer space arrive every day."
"That's a pretty big leap." Chloe replied. "Are you sure?"
"I can only go off what I can sense." Danny replied. "And what my gut tells me. I mean, talking to Lex is sometimes like talking to Vlad, but that's what it seems like."
"So Fine tricked Lex into making a virus/vaccine," Clark mused aloud. "And now Lex knows that Fine, Brainiac, is from Krypton. Then what?"
"Fine still needs Lex." Danny remarked. "For whatever reason, he chose Lex for this project. If he just needed the vaccine, he could have conned anyone, but he specifically targeted Lex."
"But now Lex knows about Fine, so doesn't everything go up in smoke?" Chloe interrupted.
Danny shook his head, remembering all his dealings with Vlad. Knowing what Brainiac was wouldn't make Lex any safer, in fact probably now he was in more danger, especially if Brainiac knew that Lex knew. In his head he was trying to run parallels with anything he'd experienced, anything Clockwork had taught him, but he kept coming up with half-baked ideas that didn't make any sense. "Brainiac would have accounted for the possibility that Lex would find out, probably even planned for it."
"So we're back at needing to find the lab and destroy it before Fine gets to it." Clark sighed.
"Seems like it." Danny commented.
"And neither of us knows where to look." Clark replied, his voice filled with discouraged exhaustion.
"I think we know someone who does." Chloe commented, looking between the two of them. "Lana."
Things sped up from there, Clark raced out of the barn, probably to storm the campus in Metropolis to find out what Lana knew. Danny, knowing that Clark's reconnaissance skills were exactly zero sped after him. Normally he would have teleported, but knowing how tenuous his control of his mist form was, and knowing how similar it felt to teleporting, he had to run the whole way. He didn't even switch to his ghost form as he ran, hating the fact that his super-speed was not as fast as Clark's was on the best of days.
Cursing his luck, he raced through the familiar path to Chloe and Lana's shared dormitory invisibly, but froze when he saw Lana and Lois standing frozen in the doorway. "Smooth one, Smallville." He heard Lois comment, and Danny took the opportunity to slip unnoticed into the room. Clark wouldn't see him unless he switched to x-ray vision, but with his focus stuck firmly on the girls it was unlikely Clark would even notice he was there.
"There's something I have to talk to you about." Clark defended, his voice sounding weak in his shock at getting caught. "Look."
"How did you get in here?" Lana accused.
Lois bit her lip anxiously, saying that she thought she heard a keg being tapped before slipping out of the room. Danny didn't blame her, he would have left himself given the painfully tense atmosphere, but they needed to find the lab, and that had to take priority.
"Lana, I realize I shouldn't be going through your stuff but I think you're involved in something extremely dangerous." Clark urged nervously. Danny bit back a sigh and invisibly rifled through the papers on the desk. Neither of them would notice, not when he'd left the top layer undisturbed so he could look through the bottom ones. And Danny quickly realised which lab Lex's project was in.
Turning back to the two, Danny noted that Lana's gaze had morphed into an icy glare. "Are you worried I'm involved in it or that I'm involved in it with Lex?"
"No." Clark defended. "Lana, this has nothing to do with my feelings. Lex doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. Neither do you."
"You break into my place and you expect me to believe anything that comes out of your mouth!" Lana accused, arms crossed tightly across her chest.
"Lex is in trouble." Clark pressed, not realising just how deep his ship had already sunk. "And if you care about him at all, you'll tell me where that lab is. Before it's too late."
"Get out." Lana hissed between slitted teeth. "I was willing to put up with the lies and the deceit once, but this time you've gone too far. Leave, Clark. Now."
And Clark left, Danny flitting behind him as his dark-haired cousin regretfully left the building. The elder man's shoulders were slumped, and weariness dripped off him like a cloak. Danny would have said something, but he got the distinct impression that Clark wouldn't want any emotional support just at the moment. Not from him.
"Now we know where the lab is." Danny commented, slipping into visibility once Clark had moved beyond the campus boundaries. He deliberately avoided the confrontation with Lana, knowing that Clark would want some time to deal with that on his own before he spoke to anyone about it.
Beside him Clark gritted his teeth and nodded, picking up the pace once more as both of them changed directions, heading towards the edges of Suicide Slums. Danny shook his head as they ran, knowing that this time he wouldn't be able to bring Clark out of his emotional tailspin. All he could do was wait and hope, he couldn't be the one to kick Clark out of his stupor again, but with a task to do and something to set his mind to, he had to trust that Clark's emotions wouldn't interfere with what they were trying to do.
All Danny could do was hope that when they got to the lab it wouldn't be too late.
Line Break
Lex squared his shoulders as he led Milton Fine into the lab. His one tactical advantage had been stripped from him, and he had yet to come up with his next move. The man in front of him was of extra-terrestrial origins, that much was clear. And he likely possessed the same powers demonstrated by his predecessors immediately following the second meteor shower. However, Lana had highlighted that those two were able to be stopped by fragments of meteor rock.
Fine did not display that weakness. And with the confession that he was made by 'them', had demonstrated that he would be a much harder opposition to overcome. He was clearly some advanced form of Artificial Intelligence, and Lex would have found that development quite remarkable, if it weren't for the fact that the man was all but holding him hostage.
"Impressive." Fine commented conversationally as they entered the room. It was empty now, the lab technicians having long since returned to their homes for the evening. "Looks like I underestimated your willingness to tackle a non-profit venture."
"Well, LuthorCorp doesn't take the threat of an alien Armageddon lightly." Lex replied, keeping his voice level as he watched Fine pick through the various experiments left overnight on the lab tables. "You were never gonna create a vaccine for humans, were you?"
"Is that what you think?" Fine replied, turning around to face Lex with an almost smug smile on his face.
"It was gonna be your way of protecting extraterrestrial guests when they arrive and unleash some horrible disease on us." Lex accused, still keeping his voice blank.
Fine's eyes were carefully neutral, sparkling faintly in the pale lab light. "So you went behind my back and mass-produced the vaccine for mankind."
"I wanted to give my people a fighting chance before you got your dirty hands on it." Lex commented acerbically.
"I applaud your noble efforts to protect your species." Fine replied, moving over towards the bench where the primary vaccine store was kept. Lex couldn't see clearly past his turned back, but he got the impression that Fine had taken out a syringe. The man moved slightly, and Lex saw the man inject something into one of the bluish vials.
"Unfortunately, it's all based on faulty assumptions." The man drawled, turning around to face Lex, the vial now filled with the almost black liquid of this new concoction. Fine picked up a jet injector, and loaded the dark canister into the empty slot.
Lex took a step back, but found his wrist locked in an iron grip as he tried to pull away. Panic seized him, in a way that he hadn't felt in many years. His own eyes widened as he met Fine's cold brown orbs, seeing the malicious edge they had taken on. "I never intended to mass-produce the vaccine. One dose is all I ever needed." And Lex bit back a scream as he felt the sharp prick of the needle, fire burning through his veins as the vaccine did its work.
"Let the rest of the world find its own cure." Fine's dark voice finished, and Lex's eyes rolled, falling limply to the floor as he danced on the edge of consciousness. He heard a sharp smash, and white lights danced on the edge of his vision as he heard electrical sparks dance through the air. He heard the sound of glass shattering, and felt soft pricks against his skin as the glass landed. But he couldn't see, and already the sound of the warning siren was fading as he struggled to stay conscious.
A chill washed over him, and it was as though he could feel the injection moving through his body. Beneath his skin his veins trembled, the foreign sensation of beetles crawling inside each and every blood vessel. He railed against the sensation as it drowned out the world around him, dimming the senses until all he could feel was the inescapable creeping as the injection made its way towards his heart. A soft gasp escaped him when it reached the muscle, drowning him in an uncomfortable heat, the crawling blood in his veins turning to fire as the injection raced through him, agonised him, changed him.
His eyes flickered briefly open, giving him just enough time to note a glowing figure, but between the electrical sparks and the pain tearing through him, he couldn't tell if he even recognised the man standing amongst the turmoil. The last thing he registered before he lost his battle with unconsciousness was a pair of bright green orbs hovering just above him, and then everything faded into darkness as the pain consumed him.
Line Break
Clark scowled as he forced his way into the lab. The whole room was a mess of sparking electricity and rippling flames, and it was clear that the whole building was quickly becoming unstable. Danny had shifted into his ghost form, and was walking through the bright sparks without concern. The boy paused as he reached the far side of the room, bending over to pick up a limp figure in a business suit. The man's head rolled to the side briefly, and Clark saw that it was none other than Lex Luthor.
Clark bit back a derisive snort. Once again Lex had been hurt by his own insatiable curiosity. It was times like this that Clark found it hardest to remember why he'd ever become friends with the man in the first place. Lex thought he held all the strings, but he'd been played even more thoroughly because of it. And now it was once more up to Clark and his cousin to pick up the pieces and make sure that Lex's foolishness didn't hurt anyone else.
"Looks like Brainiac got to Lex before we could." He heard Phantom call, his echoing voice bouncing impossibly through the electrical sparks and flaming explosions.
Clark grunted, watching as Phantom carried Lex safely out of the lab. It looked like he was left to finish the job they'd set out to do. He moved to the centre of the sparking lab, the bright flares not hurting him despite their violence. He took a deep breath and focused his eyes, sending forth a surging blaze of heat energy that turned the lab from a salvageable wreck to a flaming inferno. He raced out, meeting the glowing figure of his cousin.
"So what did Fine do to him?" Clark asked, gesturing towards the limp form of Lex in Phantom's arms. He was still mad at Lex, not only had he furthers the illicit machinations of Milton Fine, but he had endangered Lana in the process. And now, now Lana would have lost any trust she still had in him. Clark couldn't help the pooling resentment that swept through him, and in a way he couldn't help but feel that Lex's current predicament was down to his own blind foolishness.
Beside him Phantom sighed, pulling away from the ground as he started flying back towards Smallville. He was staying low to the ground, close enough that they could still talk if Clark ran beside him. "There's a reaction mark on his wrist." Phantom replied. "But whatever it did it's so low level that it's not detectably affecting his aura."
"Which means..." Clark prompted, briefly glancing at his cousin's face.
"I don't know." Phantom replied. "Given where they were, Brainiac could have just dosed him with the vaccine."
"But..." Clark pressed, hearing the doubt in his cousin's voice.
"But knowing who did it, Brainiac has something else up his sleeve." Phantom replied, a level of resentment in his voice that Clark didn't dare ask about.
They carried on in silence, Phantom's cloak billowing around him as they passed across the highway. Eventually they split off, Phantom carrying Lex off in the vague direction of the Luthor Mansion, and Clark heading back to the farm. It was late, the lights in the house were already off, but Clark's mind was still buzzing. Why, of all people, did Lex have to get Lana involved? Now she'd be just another target for Fine to pick off. Clark had tried to protect her from things like that, and he couldn't understand why Lex couldn't at least do the same for someone he claimed to care for.
The night passed slowly, but Clark didn't get much sleep, tossing uncomfortably as heated thoughts raced through his angered mind. And once both Danny and his mom had headed out for the day he made his way to the Luthor Mansion, hoping to knock some sense into Lex's thick head. He squared his shoulders as he made his way past security; for some reason they never seemed to stop him despite how antagonistic his relationship with Lex was.
As he made his way through the hallways he heard the tail end of a conversation coming from Lex's office. It sounded as though Lex had used the morning to get checked over by a doctor, and almost regretfully he heard the doctor say that whatever Lex had been injected with, it hadn't left any adverse effects. In fact, the doctor commented that Lex was in better health than ever. Clark pushed his way into the room, holding the door open for the doctor as the man made his way out.
Clark sighed, some of the anger from the previous night washing out as he saw the fine lines of worry in Lex's eyes. Whatever else, Lex had gone through an ordeal, and Clark owed him a bit of empathy for the fear that Milton Fine had inspired. "Are you okay?" He asked gently.
"Yeah." Lex replied, meeting Clark's eyes from his spot near his desk. "You're actually not the person that I expected to see."
"Danny's in school." Clark replied. "He told me you'd been hurt."
"And I'm guessing my father told you about everything that happened at the lab." Lex surmised.
"You know, Lex," Clark commented "if you had listened to your father's warnings none of this would have happened."
Lex scoffed. "None of what? All the viruses were destroyed. And now LuthorCorp has a technology to create an extraordinary vaccine. Your cousin himself proposed several significant insights that could ensure the permanent protection of the human race."
"Lex, you were double-crossed." Clark countered bluntly. "Where's Fine right now?"
"I don't know." Lex confessed, and that was the crux of it. For all that Lex thought he was in control, this time he'd been used. "My operatives are scouring the globe. Clark, I was the good guy here. LuthorCorp spent over 10 million dollars producing that vaccine."
Clark shook his head and turned to leave, seeing that Lex wasn't going to listen to him. "One more thing, Clark." Lex's voice called from over his shoulder, and somehow sent a guilty tremble down his spine. "Lana called me."
Clark paused, turning around to face the steely stare of the man who had once been his friend. "I don't wanna hear you were rifling through her stuff like a crazy roommate again. If you want something from me, don't go running to Lana to find it. You really crossed the line."
Clark saw red; all his anger and betrayal and pain surging to the tip of his tongue. "All those years we were friends. Were you just waiting for me to step aside so you could swoop in and make your move?" He accused.
"I don't know, Clark." Lex rebuked, his subtly threatening tone giving way to castigation. "All those years you told Lana you loved her, were you just waiting to walk away and break her heart?"
Then the man had the indecency to sigh, and Lex's voice became, not soft, but coldly sympathetic. "Look there's a natural tendency to blame the person who's replaced you. I get that. But I didn't take Lana from you. You lost her all by yourself."
Clark bit his teeth and looked at the ground, unable to meet Lex in the eyes. For all that he was mad at Lex, for all that the dissolute billionaire had done; there was an element of truth in that statement. So Clark turned and walked away, knowing that anything he said would be a mask for his own insufficiencies. And while he did know that Lex needed a good talking down, he wasn't in a good position to give it. Maybe Danny could, but the days of Clark serving as Lex's conscience were well and truly gone.
Clark sighed, realising that in his distraction he'd made his way to the barn loft. He sat heavily down, hearing the groan of tired support beans as the old sofa strained to take his weight. Lately he seemed to be digging himself into bigger and bigger holes with everyone around him, and he wasn't sure whose advice he was supposed to trust.
Lionel Luthor had come out of nowhere, somehow bearing a Kryptonian voice and alerting all of them to Milton Fine's plans. That action in itself had thrown him, a man who he treated with wary caution coming to the rescue at the eleventh hour. But there was also Lana, the girl who he still loved with all his heart, and now would probably never speak to him again.
People who he had trusted had become untrustworthy, and people who he'd thought he could never trust had become necessary. And it was all caught up in a tangled web that he couldn't see the ends of. It had started a week ago with a card and two baseball tickets, and since then everything had just spun further and further out of his control.
"I thought you'd be outside Lana's dorm with your binoculars by now." Clark jerked at the sudden interruption, recognising the voice as the slightly antagonistic sarcasm of Lois Lane.
"I appreciate the concern." He replied, mentally dismissing his most worrisome of thoughts for the time being. "But Lana and I are none of your business."
"Please, Smallville," Lois scoffed, taking a seat on the sofa beside him. "I've had three exes put under military surveillance. I'm hardly qualified to dish out post-relationship tact. But it's time for some tough love. Lana's going to move on."
"She already has." Clark dismissed, struggling to keep the angered pain out of his voice. "With Lex."
"And it sucks." Lois replied bluntly. "But you gotta trust your gut that you did this for a reason. Whatever reasons guys have for dumping hot, smart, fun girls these days." She shook her head beside him, and Clark couldn't help but wonder what was going through her head. "Look, give her some space, Clark. Your whole night-stalker routine that is gonna ruin any of the good feelings Lana has for you."
"If there are any." Clark muttered, unable to help himself. While he had known that Lana and Lex were together for some time now, it didn't change the hurt. And the betrayed and disgusted look that had been in her eyes the previous night, Clark couldn't help but wonder how things between the two of them had gotten as bad as this.
"Look sometimes you gotta tuck your feelings away until it's the right time." Lois commented, sounding strangely sage so far as the brunette went. "Like stuffing dollars into a piggy bank for a bike you can't quite afford."
"Except, I can't quite imagine there is anyone else out there." Clark admitted.
Lois shook her head beside him, taking a deep breath. "Well, you never know, Clark." The brunette replied. "Maybe when you finally crack open that piggy bank you'll find that all this time you haven't been saving for a bike, you've really been saving for a Harley."
Clark let out a sharp breath, halfway between a laugh and a sigh. A small smile crept onto his face as he looked at Lois in bemusement. "There are times when I think you don't know me at all." He observed, studying her hazel eyes curiously. "And others where I think you know me better than anyone."
Lois scoffed, a small smile creeping onto her own lips. "Well, that's what I'm here for, Smallville, one save at a time."
"And speaking of saving things..." Chloe's voice interjected as she ascended the loft staircase.
"My cake." Lois smiled, looking at the sunken blue icing of her rum cake. It had apparently kept well over the week, although there may be good reason for that.
"Hello." Chloe said, putting the cake down in the middle of them. Clark looked inquisitively up at her, noting what looked suspiciously like a patch of flour on her cheek. "Your mom thought we might wanna share some of the leftover birthday cake."
Clark looked at the cake, then across at Lois, and then back at the cake. "Well, I'm sure there's a goat on this farm that will appreciate my knack for batter." She replied mock-dejectedly.
"Which is why we made muffins." Danny's voice added as the boy's head poked above the top step. He had a full tray of muffins in his hands, some looking like chocolate and a couple of what looked like pumpkin and poppy seed. He too had a smattering of flour on his shirt, almost as though he'd gotten into a flour-fight. Well, that explained the flour on Chloe's cheek.
"Thanks, Casper." Lois said, picking up the rum cake. "I'll be back in a minute. You know, save the world one happy goat at a time."
Clark smiled fondly after her, watching as Lois walked down the staircase with the lopsided cake in hand. Whatever else, Lois Lane was a constant. She was prickly and bossy, but she got him in a way that few others did, and under all her pride and sarcasm she was a really kind and caring person underneath.
"You handled the whole party thing really well, by the way." Chloe commented softly, nudging his knee gently with hers.
"Thanks." Clark replied meeting her briefly in the eyes before sending a quick glance at Danny. His cousin matched Chloe's gentle understanding eyes, and Clark got the feeling that both of them would understand. "The baseball tickets they hit me harder than I thought."
"Yeah, but those tickets, they weren't your dad's only gift." Danny commented, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Chloe.
The blonde briefly nodded, continuing the thought. "It didn't come with a big, pretty red bow but your dad raised you to be your own man. That was his real gift. And he gave that to you every day."
"And here I thought you just came to get tipsy off of rum cake." Clark replied, acknowledging the thought in his own way. They were both right, the tickets were only a symbol, representing a loss that Clark hadn't thought he'd be able to live without. But here, in the comforting support of his oldest friend, and the cousin he'd come to see as a brother, he couldn't help but think that maybe some part of his father was still with him. And he'd never have to be without it.
"Just one thing." Danny said, his face deadly serious, yet lit with underlying mischief. "Please don't do a surprise party for my birthday." Clark smiled and lightly punched the boy's arm.
"You're a dork." Chloe commented, flicking a crumb of muffin at the boy, and Clark rolled his eyes at the mock-offended look that came onto the boy's face.
"So what actually happened last night?" He found himself asking.
Danny shrugged. "I went to the Mansion; security came out when Phantom tripped the sensors." Danny summarised. "I told them basically what had happened and took Lex to his bedroom. Okay, I only told them the abridged bystander's version, but they bought it. Then I eavesdropped on what they told Lionel, and here we are..." The boy paused, looking at Clark thoughtfully. "How was he?"
Clark sighed; somehow unsurprised that Danny knew he'd gone to visit. "He seemed fine. And the doctor said he was as good as ever."
"So we have no idea what Fine actually did to Lex?" Chloe asked with a tight frown.
"Looks like it." Clark replied tiredly, picking up a chocolate muffin from the plate. "All we can do is keep an eye on him and hope whatever it is that Fine did failed."
Line Break
Lex smiled as he walked into his office, seeing the lovely Lana Lang sitting comfortably in the sofa. The paper bag in his hand made his heart light at the thought of sharing chicken chow mien with her. Still smiling he walked over to the table, spreading the little take away boxes out between them.
"I'm sorry if things got awkward." Lana babbled, continuing the thoughts that had been rolling through Lex's mind all day. "I was really hoping Clark wouldn't end up in all this. I just don't wanna hurt him."
Lex turned to look at her, her brown eyes wide and beseeching as she sat cross-legged on the sofa beside him. "I don't either." Lex replied. "I care about him too. But then I have to remind myself that Clark's specialty is barging in where he's not invited and then somehow making you feel like you're the one who should apologize."
Lana frowned, her face openly displaying her discomfort. "Okay, I have a great idea. How about a moratorium on the Clark topic?"
"Twist my arm." Lex replied, a soft smile playing on her lips.
"Don't tempt me." Lana rejoined, her voice deep with a touch of flirtatious innuendo. Lex smiled, stepping up from the sofa and making his way over to the bar so he could get the two of them something to drink. "You know, I still can't make sense of all this." Lana continued, her voice now laced with curious confusion. "Why would you be asked to produce a super vaccine just to have it destroyed?"
"I don't know." Lex shrugged, turning briefly to look at her. His shirt sleeve pulled back slightly, revealing the still raised reaction mark from the injection. He may have been declared in perfect health, but he didn't like the idea that Fine had injected him with anything. Before the brunette could notice he tugged the sleeve back in place. "But then again, I think like a red-blooded human." He finished, sending her a soft smile.
"Well, he was obviously preparing for something. " Lana commented. Lex frowned as the bottle opener slipped, nicking into the flesh of his thumb. But even as he watched the skin glinted silver before sealing completely over. "What happened?" Lana asked, clearly having noticed his temporary pause. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Lex replied slowly, looking up into her eyes even as his mind whirled. Fine had injected him with something the night before, something that the doctors could neither detect nor find fault in. But he had 'never been healthier'. Originally he'd thought that meant that Fine's concoction had had no effect, but in this light...
He had been wounded, but had healed almost instantaneously. If that was going inside his body then it was possible that Fine's serum had helped him, given him a gift that would provide him with a true advantage. He doubted it had been Fine's intention, but this mistake was dramatically in Lex's favour. He now knew exactly what Fine's pathogen had done, it hadn't just given him an immunity to all known diseases, but it appeared it had given him a complete immunity to any bodily harm.
Les smiled smugly as he looked at Lana; assured in the knowledge that he could keep her safe thanks to Fine's own arrogance. "Never better."
AN; There's a brief mention of the game 'Go' in here, it's an ancient game played on a 19x19 square board where the aim is to surround the largest area of your opponent's stones. The rules are really simple, but it's ridiculously complicated because one move on one side of the board can cause a ripple effect across to the other.
Just so you know I had no idea where I was going with this chapter, I originally had another point of action on the Danny and Clark side, but I had to move that when I realised that it just wouldn't work with the timeline.
Fare thee well,
Bluerose