Chapter 26 - Learning

Lex healed fast for a human, at least based on Clark's limited experience. Clark's next "internship" visit was spent mostly sitting on the couch, talking and laughing— though Lex winced every time Clark made him laugh. But by the visit after that, he was back on his feet and ready to do experiments.

Lex bought a couple of new pieces of equipment to help Clark learn how to handle himself in a fight. One of them was a set of boxing mitts. The other was a speed bag—a tiny punching back that hung from a circular mount, free to swivel and swing in all directions. Lex said the point was to hit it in such a way that it bounced off the ceiling of the mount and returned.

"Let's start with this, see where you're at." Lex put on one of the mitts and held it up to Clark. "Hit me."

Clark swallowed hard. "Shouldn't I be wearing gloves or something?"

Lex shook his head. "Gloves would be to protect your hands. I don't think you'll be needing any protection." He shook the mitt. "Hit me."

"I'm not sure about this . . ."

"You have to practice sometime."

Clark winced and tapped the mitt with his fist.

Lex lowered his hand. "How old are you, six? Come on, hero."

Clark hit a little harder, but just barely—he was afraid to hurt his friend.

"Congratulations, you just turned seven."

"Lex!"

"We can end this now if you're not gonna take it seriously."

Clark wanted to leave, but he knew he needed to learn how to control himself. He hit the mitt a little harder—it made a loud clapping noise, and Lex let out a gasp. Clark darted forward. "I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?"

Lex shook out his hand, dropping the mitt as he did. "I'm fine."

"I don't know how to control how hard I hit." Clark was no longer surprised he'd accidentally killed a couple of people; he was surprised that he'd ever managed to knock anyone out without killing them.

"Ah . . . let's try the speed bag for a little while."

But the speed bag was even worse. It took Clark an embarrassingly long time to learn how to use it—it would spin instead of bouncing if he didn't hit it at the exact right angle at the exact right time—and he broke right through a dozen of the metal connectors that connected the bag to the mount before finally asking Lex what the point was.

"Control." Lex nodded toward the speed bag. Clark stepped out of the way and Lex stepped up himself, repeatedly punching with one hand about twice per second. "That's about right."

Clark's breath caught in his throat—he'd spent the last hour just learning how to hit the thing. "How do you do that?"

"Years of practice. The harder you hit, the faster it bounces back. We need you to be able to control how hard you hit, right?"

"Right . . ."

"So." Lex stepped aside again. "Try for the speed I was just doing."

Clark made it spin a few times, but he took a deep breath, concentrated on the motion of the bag, and managed to hit it so that it bounced about twice per second. He hit it twenty times before looking up at Lex. "Like that?"

"There you go." Lex stepped aside and picked up the mitts. "Now. Hit me that hard. Exactly that hard."

Clark still didn't want to, but at least this time he had an idea of what he was doing. The clap when he struck the mitt wasn't as loud as the time he'd hurt Lex, but it was still satisfying, echoing in the experiment room.

Lex grinned. "That's more like it. Let's keep practicing. When you're comfortable, I'll give you a set."

When Lex wasn't catching up on work for the plant and the Talon, or teaching Clark how to fight without killing anyone, he was working with Dr. Hamilton on the meteor rock experiments. Armed with the confidence of Clark's approval, he increased the funding and accelerated the timeline of the research.

The release of the toxins from the Nicodemus flower came as a shock, especially since Lex hadn't authorized the experiment with the flower. On the one hand, Lex understood the logic of what Dr. Hamilton had been intending. The experiments Lex had approved mainly involved irradiating various human tissue samples with meteor rocks, but it could be difficult to know how the radiation might affect the whole organism based on the behavior of individual cells.

But irradiating dormant seeds in order to revive an extinct plant—and one, at that, with a history of causing serious problems—was something Lex never would have approved. He had every intention of giving Dr. Hamilton a serious piece of his mind, as well as restricting his freedom in experimentation. But right now, they just needed to figure out how to stop the toxin, and how to help the people who were infected.

Lex was reading up on the history and lore of the Nicodemus flower when Clark came into his study for their Monday visit. Clark looked a lot more stressed than usual. Lex closed his laptop. "Everything okay, Clark?"

"It's my dad. He's been acting . . . weird."

"Weird how?" Lex tried to ignore the nagging sense of dread in the pit of his stomach.

"Well, it started after he got in a car accident and saved some guy from a car fire."

"I heard about that. Thought about coming by to make sure he was okay."

"I'm glad you didn't. He went on for awhile about how he had half a mind to sue you, since it was one of your employees and the guy almost ran him off the road. I don't think he would have taken it well if you'd come to check on him."

That didn't surprise Lex at all. It didn't even sting. "So, your dad hates me more than usual. And that's weird how?"

"That part wasn't weird. He's been blowing off chores and drinking a lot and . . ." Clark winced.

"What?"

"Ah, kissing my mom . . . in front of me . . . a lot." Clark shuddered. "At first I thought he was just letting it go to his head, but I dunno, Lex, it was really weird. I've never seen him like that before."

"Huh." Acting on impulses, increased anger and sex drive, lack of priorities and work ethic, all out of character—that was the Nicodemus toxin. If they couldn't figure out a way to stop it, Jonathan would be dead within a few days.

Clark shrugged. "It'll probably blow over in a few days. It's just a little uncomfortable."

Everything in Lex wanted to keep his involvement in the whole ordeal to himself. He could easily imagine Clark growing angry, blaming Lex, cutting off the friendship . . . But he could much more easily imagine Clark doing all of those things, and possibly worse, if Lex lied to him and Clark found out about it later. "I think I know what might be happening."

"But . . ." Clark frowned. "How can you know?"

Lex swallowed hard. This kind of open honesty did not come naturally to him. "Ever heard of the Nicodemus plant?"

Clark shook his head.

Lex picked up The Nicodemus Diary and read aloud. "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."

Clark blinked. "What?"

"Apparently, in 1871, a strange contagion struck the Morelly Settlement, and two hundred people died almost over night. 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. After wreaking havoc on their friends and family, the victims would fall into a coma and pass within days."

"It sounds like a legend."

Lex half smiled. "So do you."

"Fair point." Clark's brow furrowed. "But, 1871? You think the flower is still around?"

"It wasn't. Ah . . . Dr. Hamilton used the meteor rock to revive it."

The horror on Clark's face was everything Lex feared it would be. "What? Why?"

"He thought the toxin might have some other, more practical applications."

"You think it might have infected my dad? Your experiment?"

Lex forced his face to remain stoic. "I'm so sorry, Clark, I had no idea—"

"No idea what?" The venom in Clark's voice finally forced Lex to flinch. "No idea the risk you were taking? No idea it might get back to my family?"

"Yes. But it's more than that. I had no idea Dr. Hamilton was reviving the plant in the first place."

Clark's eyes widened. Lex froze in place for a moment, heart beating hard against his chest, but Clark's expression finally softened. "Okay. I believe you."

Lex let his breath out. He had thought he was getting used to his friendship with the most incredibly powerful being on the planet; he was startled by how afraid he apparently still was. He handed Clark the top two books from the stack he'd checked out at the library.

"What's this for?"

"Get reading. The outbreak in 1871 didn't last forever; they must have done something to stop it. If you can get Chloe to do some research, too, that might help." Lex was always leery of getting too many people involved in these types of things, but based on the stories Clark told, Chloe was a good friend to Clark—impressively intelligent and, even more importantly, resourceful and well-connected.

"Okay." Clark sat down across from Lex at the desk and accepted the books. He cracked open the first one, but he looked up at Lex rather than down at the book. "What are you going to do about Hamilton?"

Lex had been thinking about that. "Relocate him. I need to keep a closer eye on his work." He looked Clark in the eyes. "And I'd like you to keep a closer eye on me."

"How do you mean?"

"I want you to be more involved in the choices I make about what experiments to run with Dr. Hamilton."

"Lex, this wasn't your fault. You didn't choose this experiment."

"You're right. I wouldn't have taken the risk. But . . . I might take other risks in the future. My curiosity is my greatest fault. It's why I was so nervous about running experiments on you."

Clark shrugged. "You've been great. I don't know what you're worried about."

"Clark, please."

"But if you just want me to be more involved in the meteor rock experiments . . ."

"Yes. I do."

Clark smiled. "Okay. I'd be happy to," he said. Lex smiled back, and Clark's face became more serious. "My dad's infected. Let's research." Clark looked back down at his book, and Lex opened his laptop.

Lex tried to focus on his reading, but for the next hour, his throat was choked up with euphoria, and he found himself reading the same sentence over and over again. He was sure if he'd made the same mistake just a few weeks ago, Clark wouldn't have forgiven him so easily. They'd come a long way, individually and in terms of their friendship. Lex had no idea how he'd gotten so lucky.