Chapter 39 - Brothers

Two hours after the fight at the mansion, Lex received word from a security guard that Jonathan Kent had returned.

The throbbing in the back of his head from being slammed against the wall of the prison cell had died down, along with his anger over the situation. Right now, anger wouldn't do him any good. He needed to plan what to say and do. Clark's parents wouldn't hurt him, not really, but as Clark had said many times, losing Lex's friendship would hurt both of them. Lex had to protect it if he could.

Jonathan stepped into the study. He wasn't yelling, and his eyes weren't narrowed, but he walked stiffly and breathed heavily, as though he were holding the anger just below the surface. "Lex," he said.

"Mr. Kent."

"My wife sent me to hear your side of the story."

Lex nodded slowly. It wasn't much, but it was more than he'd been hoping for. "Then you should know that I would never hurt your son. I love him like I loved my brother before he died."

"So Clark is a stand-in for the brother you lost."

"No more than he's a stand-in for the children your wife couldn't conceive."

Lex really expected that last line to get him punched, but Jonathan just looked away.

Lex sighed. "Come with me?"

Jonathan frowned and followed Lex over to the pool table.

Lex reached into the pocket and took out a little notepad. "These are Clark's pool scores."

"His pool scores?"

"He likes pool." Lex let himself smile a little. "It's a challenge for him, because his powers aren't very helpful to him when he plays."

"Okay . . ."

"He's getting better. We play when he's stressed out. And when I am."

"I—I don't understand . . ."

He walked over to the wall, where he'd had a servant install a hook. "This is where he hangs up his backpack when he comes in. It wasn't part of the mansion design. It's just here for him."

"Your point?"

"There's more. Follow me." Lex led him this time to his library.

Jonathan stammered on the way over. "Lex . . . I don't see how this is . . . what has this got to do with—"

Lex opened the door to the library, admiring it for a moment with a slight smile. "The books here are incredibly organized. By genre, by topic, by author's name. And every single one of them is kept in pristine condition. Except these." He gestured to a single shelf by the door. "These are the ones Clark has read and liked, and the ones he's reading right now. He cracks the bindings, and he can't figure out the organization in here to save his life."

Jonathan read the titles. "To Kill a Mockingbird? No Man is an Island? The Art of War?"

"That last one was just to humor me. He couldn't finish it."

"What's the point of all this, Lex?"

"Come into the kitchen."

Jonathan's brow furrowed, but he followed close behind.

Lex opened the freezer. "Butter pecan ice cream."

"That's Clark's second favorite."

"No, it's his first favorite," Lex said.

"His first favorite is strawberry."

"Mrs. Kent's favorite is strawberry. Clark tells her it's his favorite to make her feel better."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He also stopped believing in Santa two years before he told you."

"That, I knew."

Lex smirked and knelt down to the cupboard beside the fridge and showed Clark's stash of snack foods.

"Twizzlers." Jonathan gave a slight smile.

"I hate them, but they're his favorite."

"So what, you feed him junk every day?"

"I did at first. These days, I save the candy for celebrations and the ice cream for when he's had a bad day."

"That's very . . . responsible. But I'm still waiting for you to make your point."

"My point is that Clark has changed my home, Mr. Kent, and he's changed me, too. Our friendship isn't all experiments and meteor rocks. He comes here to relax and wind down, to feel normal and safe, and I'm doing everything in my power to help him feel that way. He calls me his best friend. Friendship like that is not something I've ever had before, and it's not something I take lightly."

"Clark is too young to be your best friend."

Lex didn't know what to say to that. It seemed like a pointless argument—Clark was the one who used the phrase, not him. "Like I said. He's like a little brother to me."

Jonathan sighed and rubbed his face. "Lex, I appreciate everything you've done for Clark here, but . . . you don't run experiments on your family members."

"I'm sure Clark told you this, but the experiments were his idea, not mine."

"You say Clark has changed your home. The biggest change I've seen is that experiment room, where you run tests on my son like he's a lab rat in a maze."

Lex nodded slowly. "You should come down to the experiment room. Take a closer look."

Jonathan bristled a little at this, but he nodded and walked down to the experiment room with Lex once again.

Lex stopped at the lock. "I have the only key to this room, and the whole place is sound proof. It's completely safe for us to talk in here." He let him into the room, and walked from one piece of equipment to another, though adrenaline pumped through his veins. He was trusting Jonathan. He'd just more or less told him that if he beat up Lex in the experiment room, no one would know.

Lex pointed to the treadmill. "This one has an automatic shut off in case of danger." He pointed to a medical scanner. "This one, Clark asked me to buy." He pointed to the hydraulic press. "This one is now calibrated to never exceed the amount of force that could hurt Clark."

"Hurt Clark? You experiment with meteor rock."

"All of the meteor rock I store is encased in lead so it won't hurt Clark."

"And what if he does get hurt?"

Lex went over to the side of the room. "This is a cabinet of medical supplies. I've never had to use it, and I don't plan to, but I have it. Just in case."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Jonathan's words were harsh, but his voice had lost most of its edge.

"It should. You've been worried about people hurting Clark for his abilities all his life. I'm trying to show you that I would never hurt your son, and he knows it. The first time we ever ran experiments, he wanted to push himself past the point where he'd be in pain. I stopped him. Ask him."

"I—I'm not comfortable with—"

"If you forbid him from coming back here, he'll keep coming."

"I could press charges for kidnapping."

"He'll see that as you taking his best friend away from him. He'll never forgive you."

"Is that a threat?"

"No. It's a truth you already know."

Jonathan's face grew bright red, and Lex stiffened every muscle, all too aware that this could go one of two ways. He wandered around the experiment room, stopping at the door to the meteor rock cell. "I want you to destroy this room."

Lex frowned, though his insides overflowed with joy. The battle was won. If Jonathan was asking him to change the experiment room, it was because he was planning on letting Clark come back. He kept his composure, though. "It's saved Clark from some serious trouble twice now. Are you sure you want me to get rid of it?"

Jonathan grumbled, but finally said, "Fine. But you're still getting rid of that pendant."

"Clark asked me to wear it. He made it for me in shop class at school."

"I don't care. You're throwing it out."

"Why?"

"Because you're not carrying around a piece of the one thing that could kill my son."

"That's true." Lex took off the pendant and opened it.

It was empty. It had been since the day Lex had started wearing it.

Jonathan's jaw dropped. "I—but earlier—"

"It was the only thing that could get him to take off that red ring. The threat is enough, and he feels safer with me wearing it." He looked Jonathan right in the eyes. "But I would never, ever hurt your son. Because you're right. He's too young to be my best friend. He's my brother."

He took a deep breath. "Lex, I don't trust you. I don't know if I ever will. But today, you've made me realize we have something in common."

Lex swallowed, not daring to hope. "And what's that?"

"We both love Clark."

Lex let himself smile. Jonathan finally believed him. And for now, that was all he needed.

Lying on his stomach with his mom rubbing his back, Clark drifted off for a little while, but he woke with a start when his dad entered the room and sat down beside his mom.

Clark sat up and scooted to sit against the headboard, facing them both. "Dad, I'm sorry—"

"No, son. I'm sorry." He reached out for Clark's hand and looked it over. "Are you alright?"

"My hand is fine," Clark said.

"I should go to prison for what I did to you."

Clark swallowed. "It was an accident."

His father just kept staring at his hand.

Clark took a deep breath. "I don't care that you hit me. I care that you tried to hit my friend."

"Son, all those times I told you to stay away from the Luthors . . . You never told me you wanted to be friends with Lex. Not once. I made a fool out of myself, but for a year, you let me."

Clark sat up straighter. "What was I supposed to do?"

"You could have told me the truth."

"Really? Because you were pretty quick to tell me that this was the one thing you wouldn't back down on. The one thing you'd never change you mind about."

Anger flashed in his father's eyes, but his mom's hand came to rest on his father's shoulder, and he let his breath out. "You're right."

Clark blinked a couple of times. He hadn't expected that.

His father's eyes squeezed shut. "Son, I . . . I raised you to forgive. To look at the heart, not at a person's past. And I haven't been a model of that."

Clark shrugged, wiping at his eyes.

"I know I'm going to have some work to do to rebuild your trust, but . . . it's going to be a long time before I can trust you either, son."

"I know, Dad." That hurt far more than any punishment his dad could give him.

His father brought a hand up to his arm and squeezed gently. "I don't think you can imagine what it was like for me to see that room, Clark."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I've had nightmares about labs that looked just like that one, ever since the day I found out about your powers. Dreams about you lying on a table connected to—to machinery, or dissected. I can't help but see the Luthors as the kind of people who would do that to you, son, and to find out Lex has been experimenting on you behind my back—"

"It's not like that!"

"And you hid it from me."

"I didn't know what to do, Dad."

A long moment passed as his father's eyes searched his. "Let's make a deal. No more secrets, no more lies. To each other, anyway."

Clark sniffed. "No secrets, no lies."

"I made a mistake this time. But, son, I can't let the lying go."

"I know." Clark braced himself for the punishment.

"You're not grounded. But you are tethered."

"Tethered?"

"You will tell us your plans for the day every morning before you leave for school. You will call us when you arrive wherever you plan to be after school, and you will call if you walk or drive anywhere else. You will not miss dinner without permission, nor will you arrive home later than eleven, ever. If you break any of these rules, you will be grounded."

Clark winced—it was quite the list. "How long am I . . . tethered?"

"This isn't a punishment, son. These are the new house rules. If you prove we can trust you, we'll talk about loosening the rules in a few months."

Clark felt like he'd just been punched in the gut. He didn't want to ask, but he had to: "What about Lex?"

"You will not set foot inside that experiment room without your mother or my supervision."

A weight suddenly lifted from his chest. "But I can still go to the mansion?"

"I'm not going to forbid you from being friends with Lex."

"Really?"

"Really. But make no mistake—I don't want your visits with him to interfere with your school work or chores."

"Yes, sir. I mean, they won't, Dad."

"And I don't want you to fall behind in your internship, either."

"Oh! Uh . . ." Clark's cheeks felt warm.

His father's head dropped. "Of course."

"I'm so sorry, Dad."

"I should have guessed." His dad took a deep breath. "You will pay back all of the money—"

"Jonathan," his mom said softly.

His dad sighed. "You will not accept another cent from him. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"And," his mom said, looking back and forth between Clark and his dad, "we'd like to have Lex over for dinner sometime soon, so we can get to know your best friend better."

Clark's dad grimaced slightly at this, but Clark ignored him and grinned.

"I think Lex would like that," Clark said. "And so would I."