"Dr. Hamilton. I thought part of our arrangement was that you don't drop in on me." Lex spoke from behind his desk as he watched the good doctor rushed up towards him in a huff. Leaning back in his chair Lex smoothed the sleeves of his deep red button down as he prepared himself for the craziness that was his lead meteor rock scientist.
Dr. Hamilton huffed loudly and shoved his hands in his dirty coat pocket. "A situation came up in my lab."
Lex stood and made his way around his desk to stand in front of Dr. Hamilton. "Don't you mean your barn?"
"One of my experiments was stolen by one of your employees." Dr. Hamilton spoke the agitation in his voice easily readable.
"Why would anyone at LuthorCorp know about your work?" Questioned Lex as he made to move to the bar at the wall.
Dr. Hamilton followed him and stood close to Lex. "He was helping me install some new equipment and he stole a flower."
"You're kidding." Lex spoke simply as he began to pour himself a glass of brandy.
"It's call the Nicodemus. It's been extinct for a hundred years. I irradiated the dormant seeds with meteor fragments." Dr. Hamilton said as he moved to grab Lex's arm, stopping him from taking a sip of his drink.
"Fine, what's his name?" Lex questioned as he placed his glass back down.
"James Beales. Now I just found out that he was in a car accident. He almost didn't make it, but another driver pulled him out."
Lex felt himself smirk, it was becoming an involuntary response when it came to this topic. It had only been a few weeks since Lex had had Martha and Jonathan over to the mansion to try and offer them help with their debts. There had been an attack and Claire had mysteriously showed up just in time to save the day. "Don't tell me it was Claire Kent?"
Dr. Hamilton was slightly taken aback by Lex's guess. "Actually it was her father, Jonathan."
Claire rushed up the steps to the farmhouse "Mom? Dad? I just heard about the…" as she entered the kitchen she saw her mother pinned to the counter to by her father as he kissed her passionately. "I did not need to see that." Said Claire as she quickly covered her eyes with her hands.
"Hey kiddo. Just getting the old hero's welcome. You know what I mean?" Jonathan spoke before grabbing Martha's butt before he headed to the fridge to grab a beer.
Claire moved to stand next to her mother. "What's going on with dad?"
"I don't know. He's been acting strange ever since he got home." Martha whispered to her daughter.
"He Claire, wanna watch the game with me?" Jonathan questioned as he turned from the fridge to look at his daughter.
"Don't you have work to do?" Asked Claire as she thought about the tractor that was currently in pieces in the barn.
Jonathan moved to the window as he spoke. "Nah, chores can wait. Besides, I earned a rest. You can pick up the slack for me, can't ya?" Reaching forward Jonathan grabbed the curtain on the window and used the material to twist off the top of his beer.
"Jonathan!" Martha screeched at her husband's barbaric actions.
"It's good to see this whole hero thing didn't go to your head dad." Claire spoke as she crossed her arms on her chest. She was about to say something else when she heard a knock on the kitchen door and turned to see Lex standing there.
"Hope I'm not interrupting." Lex spoke as he looked through the screen at the three Kents.
Martha smiled and ushered him into the house. "Hi Lex. Come in." Claire moved slightly to great Lex as he entered the house.
"What's up Lex?" Questioned Claire as she looked at the man in front of her but kept her father within view.
Lex turned to look from Claire to Jonathan. "Actually I was looking for Mr. Kent."
Jonathan took a swig of beer as he looked over Lex with squinted eyes. "What do you want?"
"I heard you pulled one of my employees out of a car today. I wanted to see if you were all right." Lex said as he looked from Jonathan to the beer in his hand and back again.
"No you didn't." Jonathan slammed his beer down on the counter and moved to stand only a few inches away from Lex. "You wanted to see if I was going to sue you or not. Of course, that would put an end to all my financial difficult, wouldn't it?"
"Dad, that's enough!" Claire spoke moving forward to stand at Lex's side. She could not believe what her father had just said.
"No it's not enough Claire. You see I don't like Lex Luthor. I don't like Lionel Luthor." At this point Jonathan was right in Lex's face, and Lex could smell the beer on his breath. "And I don't like your friendship with my daughter. In fact, if all of you Luthors were to dry up and die, I wouldn't shed a tear."
"Jonathan!" Martha spoke sternly as she looked at her husband.
Moving backwards Jonathan reached for his beer and moved to walk past Martha but not before smacking her ass. "I think I'll take a nap." Jonathan spoke casually.
Lex could not believe how Jonathan had talked to him. He knew that the elder Kent held a great distaste for his family, but he was at least always polite about it.
"Lex…" Martha spoke but trailed off, not sure what she should say to explain her husband's outburst.
"It's okay Mrs. Kent." Lex began raising a hand in surrender. "My actions from the other night must have hit a nerve, and for that I am sorry. Have a good day." Lex turned to look at the youngest Kent. "Claire, it was nice seeing you." Then with that he left the house and walked briskly back to his car.
The next day at school Pete and Claire were walking into the Torch to meet Chloe. "Wow. Drinking beer, mouthing off, and counter-macking with your mom? Congratulations Claire. Your dad's regressed back to being a teenager."
Running a hand through her hair Claire sighed. "He's been under a lot of stress lately, but I'm seriously wondering if he's beginning to crack. I mean, who takes a three hour nap in the middle of the afternoon?"
"I don't know." Pete spoke as he moved to sit on town of one of the computer desks in the room. "But I still like the part where he dissed Lex."
"Why? What do you have against Lex?" Claire spoke just as Chloe entered the room.
"Hmm, let's see. He screwed my family out of the cream corn factory." Pete spoke gruffly. Claire sighed again and placed her hands on her hips. "Pete, that was twelve years ago, and besides it wasn't Lex it was his father."
Pete hopped down from the desk and stared hard at Claire. "Still, I've never been crazy about the guy."
"Why haven't you said something before?" Claire questioned, her voice holding a bite of anger at the fact that now after her father bashed Lex now one of her closest friends was too.
"I was hoping sooner or later you'd see he was bad news." Pete then stormed out of the torch without even a word to Chloe.
Claire plopped herself down in one of the chairs and stared out the door that Pete had just left through. Then she stared down at her shoes, finding the little bow on the top of her ballet flats suddenly very interesting. "Did you know that Pete doesn't like Lex?"
"Really Claire." Chloe spoke staring down at her friend with her mouth slightly agape.
This comment caused Claire to look up at her best friend. "He is totally into you, and extremely jealous of your friendship with Lex."
"Lex is just a friend, nothing more than that." Claire spoke.
"Sure, Claire." Said Chloe as she looked at her friend with disbelief. "Nobody notices how you two can't seem to keep your eyes off each other when you're in the same room."
Claire had made her way through town when she saw her father pull up in an alley and get out of the truck. He started loading a shotgun and making his way towards the bank. Rushing to her father, Claire made to stand in front of him blocking his way.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Claire questioned him, as she looked between him and the gun.
"I've done nothing but give back to this town, and they've done nothing but screw me over. Well, this time they've pushed me too far and I'm pushing back." Jonathan yelled as he pointed the shotgun at his daught. "Now, get out of my way Claire."
"Dad, you gotta slow down, you're not thinking straight." Said Claire as she moved forward towards her father with her hands in the air.
"I'm thinking just fine. Now get out of my way." Jonathan spoke as he pulled the trigger on the gun and pelted his daughter with a shotgun round. The pellets however did nothing to Claire and she quickly reached for her father as he began to waiver. She caught him just as he feel the the ground unconscious.
"Dad? Dad!" Claire screamed. Quickly she pulled him into her arms and rushed him to the hospital. Once there her father was admitted and Claire sat in the waiting room till her mother arrived.
Just as Martha arrived so did Lex. Both rushed towards Claire and as she saw them she jumped up from her chair and wrapped her arms around her mother. "How is he doing?" Martha asked as she pulled back from her daughter.
"Not good." Came a voice from behind them. Claire turned to see the Doctor standing there with a clipboard in his hand. "His symptoms indicate a severe anaphylactic shock. But we can't detect any known antigens."
"What is it then?" Martha questioned as she moved toward the Doctor.
"The truth is, if he'd come in just yesterday, I'd say I'd never seen anything like it. But we admitted a car crash victim this morning, a James Beales, showed identical symptoms."
This caused Claire to move toward the Doctor. "That's the guy dad saved. How's he doing?" She questioned.
The Doctor just looked at her sadly. "Not good. He fell into a coma an hour ago." Claire felt her mothers arms around her before she even saw her, and she could feel the tears soaking through her shirt. Once her mother had calmed down slightly she pulled away and Claire immediately turned to look for Lex but found him gone.
Lex stood in his office leaning on the desk as he watched Dr. Hamilton enter the room.
"I told you. It's under control." Dr. Hamilton spoke as he came to a stop in front of Lex.
"Two men with an unexplained illness, for which no one seems to know the cure, isn't my idea of under control." Lex pushed himself off his desk and moved to grab a book that sat on the desktop. "I did a little research of my own into your unauthorized botany experiment. Apparently, in eighteen seventy one, a strange contagion stuck the Morelly Settlement, and two hundred people died almost overnight." Lex threw the book down hard against the desk. "A priest, who witnessed the scene left a diary. His last entries described how the settlers began acting out of character. He claimed a local flower was to blame." Lex moved to stand just inches from Dr. Hamilton. "On God's green earth, this flower was the thief in the temple, the silent temptress that, with a single sneeze, brought out the basest instincts in men and drove them to violence."
"That's been relegated to folklore in scientific circles." Dr. Hamilton spoke simply with a shrug.
Lex stared hard at Dr. Hamilton, and he began to feel his blood boil. "If you don't believe in this, you won't mind if I lift the lid and smell the flower, Why'd you bring it back Dr. Hamilton?" Taking a step back Lex did not take his eyes of Dr. Hamilton.
"These flowers were believed to have toxins that, while deadly, might have other applications." Dr. Hamilton spoke with no remorse for what had happened to the two men currently in the hospital. "You wanted to know what the meteor rocks could do, and I was doing just that."
"Putting people in the hospital wasn't part of the plan." Said Lex.
"Every discovery has their consequences."
"If Jonathan Kent dies, you're gonna lose something a lot more valuable than your tenure. Pack up one of these flowers. I've got a team of specialists in Metropolis waiting to work on it." Lex spoke as he moved around his desk to stand next to his chair.
"It's my reasearch!" Dr. Hamilton spoke loudly.
"I don't give a damn about your research. I just want to find a cure." Lex then sat down at his desk. Once Dr. Hamilton had stormed out of the office Lex placed his elbows on the desk and ran his hands over his smooth head.
He then decided it would be best for him to get out of the mansion for a while and decided to make his way down to the under construction Talon. When he arrived he saw Lana in a very provocative outfit flirting with one of the construction workers. "Lana what are you doing here?" Lex questioned not understanding why the young woman was not in school.
"I didn't feel like going today, thought I would come here and get acquainted with the help." Lana spoke as she blew the worker she had been talk to a kiss.
"Lana you know you're not impressing anyone with the attitude. You're talking to someone who set the bar for adolescent rebellion." Lex spoke with a smirk.
"That's right." Lana smirked as she moved slowly around Lex, circling him like he was a steak and she hadn't eaten in days. "I hear you were quite the bad boy before you joined us here in Smallville."
Lex leaned slightly away from Lana as she ran her hand across his shoulder and down his arm. "It's nothing I'm proud of."
"Please. You don't really care about the Talon. You only invested because Claire went to you for help. Hmm, the Luthors are famous for their ulterior motives. So tell me, Lex. Was it really about profit or were you just trying to get into Claire's pants?" Lana spoke as she came to a stop in front of Lex. She folder her arms in front of her chest and looked at him quite seriously.
"I'm not sure what this is, but it isn't you Lana. Are you feeling okay?" Lex questioned as he attempted to look her over for anything that seemed out of the ordinary.
"Actually, I'm a little nervous. I might need some guidance." Lana whispered seductively as she moved towards Lex and placed her hands on his chest. Looking up at him she batted her eyes. "You know, from someone with a little more experience. What do you say, boss?"
Lex quickly took a step back and grabbed Lana by the shoulders. "Lana, where have you been in the last 24 hours?"
"It's none of your business. What's your problem anyways? I thought you had a thing for school girls Lex. Or are you upset because I'm not doing exactly as I'm told? Cause I'm not sitting in a corner, hiding in a book? For once I'm not scared of life, and no one can handle it because you all prefer the insecure little girl. Well, I'm sick of her and all her talk about her dead parents." Lana then roughly pushed away from Lex and rushed from the building, while secretly palming his car keys in her right hand.
"Lana!" Lex yelled after her, but she was gone in an instant.
Claire couldn't bring herself to go to classes that day and instead found herself hanging out in the loft of the barn. Suddenly she heard the sound of tires kicking up gravel and looked out the window to see Lex's car come barreling down the drive. Once it parked he saw Lana get out of the driver's seat and there was no sign of Lex being with her.
"What's going on? Did you steal Lex's car?" Claire shouted from the window.
"Maybe." Lana spoke with a giggle as she raced into the barn. Claire moved to meet Lana as she arrived up the stairs in the loft.
"Lana, I think something happened to you. Lex told me how you acted at the Talon. I think what ever happened to my dad is happening to you too." Claire said this as she slowly approached Lana.
Lana huffed. "What's the matter, Claire, don't like the new and improved Lana? It must be nice to have Lex wrapped around your finger. A hot billionaire is something anyone would need to get out of this town."
"Lana!" Said Claire.
"I bet you won't even miss me when you're gone. Bet you won't miss anyone! So why don't I just save you the trouble then." With that Lana moved to step off the edge of the loft and was soon tumbling down to the ground.
"Lana!" Claire shouted as she rushed to the ground level to catch her friend just as she passed out.
Once Claire arrived at the hospital with Lana she got her admitted and then went to check on her mother. She found her sitting by her father as he lay motionless in the bed, the beep of the monitors the only sound in the room.
"Lana, has the same symptoms now as Dad and Beales." Claire whispered as she moved to the other side of the bed to look at her mother. "How is he?"
"He slipped into a coma. The doctors don't know how long he'll last." Martha spoke with a crack in her voice. Claire could see the tear stains on her mother's face and felt her heart break in two.
Just then Lex entered the room and quickly moved to Claire's side. "I just heard about Lana, Claire." Lex then turned to look at Martha as she held her husband's hand. "Mrs. Kent, I've got doctors flying in from Metropolis. I'm going to do everything I can for Mr. Kent and Lana." Once he was finished addressing Martha he turned back to look at Claire. "Claire, I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault Lex." Claire said simply as she wrapped her arms around her chest, in an attempt to comfort herself. Lex just nodded slowly and then headed out of the room, pausing at the door to take one last look at Claire before leaving.
A few hours passed and Claire sat in one of the chairs in her dad's hospital room just watching her mother as she slept, her head resting on the bed Jonathan laid in, motionless. Hearing the door open Claire looked up to see Chloe, who motioned for her to come out of the room. "Claire, I'm sorry, but Pete and I were doing some investigating. We found Dr. Hamilton, he had the a Nicodemus flower in his barn. Pete...he was infected…"
Claire stood to attention at his friend's words. "Where did he go?"
"Claire, he had a gun and he said he was going after Lex." Claire immediately started to head towards the exit of the hospital. Once she was outside, she ran as fast as she could towards the mansion.
Lex stood in front of his desk as he listened Dr. Hamilton tell him about the instructions to an antidote he found in a journal. "Where'd you find it?"
"Collecting dust in some old museum. Now, it's one of a kind so they're gonna want it back." Dr. Hamilton spoke handing the book to Lex.
"I'll get it up to my team in Metropolis immediately." Lex spoke as he looked down at the book he held in his hands.
"Nobody's going anywhere." Came Pete's voice from the doorway. Lex turned to see the young man standing in the doorway with a gun pointed shakingly at himself and Dr. Hamilton.
"What are you doing Pete?" Lex questioned as he put his hands up slightly and took a small step towards him.
Pete waved the gun around and stomped forward a few steps. "I knew you were behind this. You pretended to be Claire's friend, but you're not! And now her dad's gonna die because of you!" Screamed Pete.
"What's this about?" Dr. Hamilton questioned as he moved to stand between the two men and off to the side.
Turning Pete waved the gun towards Dr. Hamilton. "Do not pretend you don't know! I went to your barn!"
"He's infected. Pete, we have the cure." Lex spoke holding up the book to show Pete. "We're going to make everyone better."
"You're nothing but a liar." Pete spoke as he rushed forward and ripped the journal from Lex's hand. "Claire can't see it, but I can, and now you're gonna pay." With steady steps Pete moved to the fireplace and tossed the old book into the flames.
"No!" Lex yelled moving forward towards to fire, but was immediately stopped by Pete and his gun. "If that book is destroyed, you and Lana will die. Mr. Kent will die, you would be killing Claire's father."
"You're lying!" Pete yelled as he backed up slightly from Lex and gripped his head in his free hand as if he were in pain.
"Pete, I want to help you." Lex spoke taking a hesitant step towards the fireplace.
Pete quickly shook his head and regained his senses as he pointed the gun steadily at Lex. "You don't want to help anybody but yourself! You come to town and suddenly you're Claire's new best friend. I used to think she was a good judge of character but, she's picked you over me! I was here first!"
"Lex the book." Dr. Hamilton spoke as he pointed to the flames.
Lex took one more small step to come to rest in front of the fireplace. "Pete, I'm going to reach in there and grab that book. If you want to shoot me, go ahead."
"No problem." Pete spoke as Lex quickly picked the book out of the fire and threw it towards Dr. Hamilton.
"Get out!" Lex yelled at the Doctor, and quickly he ran from the room out the side door. Just as Dr. Hamilton left Claire came rushing into the room.
"Pete! Don't do it!" Claire yelled out. Pete who had been just about to pull the trigger on Lex turned quickly to see his friend standing in the doorway.
Waving the gun towards Lex, Pete made the older man back up towards the desk. "We used to be best friends. His dad screwed over my dad, and now he's trying to screw up things between us. The world's a better place without him."
"Pete, put the gun down." Claire spoke as she slowly approached her friend of fourteen years.
Turning quickly Pete looked at Claire then back to Lex. "He's behind all this. I saw Hamilton here. They're working on this together."
Claire looked to Lex with a frown. "Is that true?" She questioned.
"Claire, he's delusional." Said Lex as he took a step back from Pete.
"You know, I don't think I believe you. You're right, Pete. He's been lying to everyone." Claire spoke as she moved to stand in front of Lex. "Yeah, I know who my true friends are."
Lex looked at Claire in disbelief. "Claire, what are you doing?" His face was questioning as he looked at the young woman.
"You can't talk your way out of this one Lex. I see how you really are. What ever this is," Claire spoke as she motioned between the two of them. "It's over." Claire then shoved Lex hard in the chest, sending him sailing backwards and into the bookcases behind him. Once he his his head he slumped down to the floor unconscious.
"Nice one. I'll finish it off." Pete spoke as he strode over to Lex and pointed the gun down at him. Claire turned to look at Pete and quickly took the gun from him, and swung it against his head to knock him out. Throwing the gun to the floor Claire quickly caught Pete and laid him down on the floor.
She then rushed to Lex and helped him up just as he was regaining consciousness. "Claire, what the hell?" Lex questioned as he placed his hand to the back of his head.
"I'm so sorry Lex." Claire spoke as she inspected him for damages.
"So that was an act?" Lex questioned as he looked at Claire to judge her response.
Claire bit on her bottom lip before replying. "I didn't know what else to do. He was gonna shoot you Lex." Claire whispered this as she stared into Lex's eyes.
"You really had me there for a moment." Lex spoke as he reached up to take her chin in his fingers. Then he brought his lips down to hers for a kiss, then he pulled away. "What do they feed you on that farm?"
"Lex, was Hamilton really here?" Asked Claire.
"What do you think Claire." Responded Lex.
After that Claire and Lex got Pete to the hospital, then Lex left leaving Claire with her mother to watch over Jonathan for the night. At some point during the night Claire remembered the Doctor's rushing into the room saying they had found a cure, and they had administered it to everyone that was effected. Then Claire and Martha fell asleep as they waited for Jonathan to wake up.
"Mornin, sleepy head." Jonathan whispered as he looked at his daughter who was asleep in the chair next to him.
Claire sat up quickly. "Dad. You're okay!" Said Claire happily as she reached for her father's hand.
"Yeah, Claire. Claire, what am I doing here?" Jonathan asked as he looked around the hospital room.
"Jonathan! You're awake!" Martha spoke as she came to from her sleep to see her husband with wide eyes. "The Doctor's in Metropolis found a cure last night."
Gripping her father's hand tighter Claire looked up at him. "Dad, do you remember anything?"
Just then Jonathan's Doctor walked into the room. "That would most likely be caused by the fever. Everyone else seems to be doing well but cannot remember what had happened after the time of infection."
Meanwhile back at the mansion Lex sat at his desk as Dr. Hamilton stormed into the room. "What did you do with my lab?" He questioned as he stomped up to Lex's desk.
"I destroyed it." Lex said simply as he folded his hands on the desk in front of him.
"How dare you!" Spat Dr. Hamilton. He pounded his fist against the desktop to emphasize his words.
Lex just smirked at the Doctor. "You're lucky you found a cure and nobody infected can remember anything. But people are talking. I'm sure Beales worked for my father, and then there's Chloe Sullivan."
"I'm sensing this relationship is over." Dr. Hamilton spoke as he took a step back from the desk.
"No Doctor. I think you're very talented. You just need closer supervision." Lex stood from his desk as he said this and placed his hands in the pockets of his pants. "I recently acquired a small research facility outside Metropolis. Catmus Labs. I'm going to hide you out there."
After Dr. Hamilton had left Lex decided to take a drive and soon found himself coming to a stop in front of a yellow farm house. Stepping out from his car he sighed lightly before looking up into the loft window and see Claire as she walked by.
Lex made his way through the barn and up the steps to the loft to find Claire laying on the floor just staring up at the ceiling. "You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders Claire."
Turning Claire watched as Lex approached. His nicely shined shoes clicking lightly on the wooden floor. She had to admit he always looked good, he always looked ready to take on the world. He looked like a man who knew what he wanted. "Chloe is doing a poll for the Torch." Claire stood from the floor and made her way to stand in front of Lex. "She asked me what my deepest desire was? If nothing was holding me back, what would I do?"
"So tell me Claire Kent, what is your deepest desire?" Lex spoke as he reached forward to brush a piece of hair off Claire's face and behind her ear.
"My deepest desire is to just be myself." Claire whispered. "I don't know what this is Lex, this thing between you and I. But I don't think I can keep doing this, I feel like I'm lying to everyone, all the time. I just want to be normal."
Lex reached down and grabbed Claire's hands in his and walked her towards the couch sitting them both down. "Claire." Whispered Lex as he continued to hold her hands in his. "You know you can tell me anything."
"It's not that simple Lex, I have so many secrets." Said Claire with a tear in her eye.
Lex moved to place his hand in Claire's hair and pulled her, so that her lips came into contact with hers. He kissed her hard and Claire found herself moving to sit with her legs on either side of his, as she continued to kiss him.