Chapter 60 - Half

"Stay down," Clark whispered, and he sped away from the desk.

He ran in the direction from which the bullets had been raining down, opposite the wall. He could see each bullet pass by him, so slow they might as well have been standing still, although he could see the little trail each one left behind in the air. One was heading at an angle a little too close to the desk for comfort; Clark knocked that one out of his way as he ran. At this speed, the shooter wouldn't be able to see Clark at all, which was exactly what he wanted.

There was a man standing on the upper level of the study, dressed in all black with a hood and mask that covered his head and face, aiming his gun down at the place where Lex had just been standing. Lex really needed to get better security, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Clark ran up the stairs and brought himself to a stop right behind the assassin, reached around and grabbed his gun from his hands, then ripped off the hood.

The guy whirled around. He kicked Clark in the kneecap—and actually connected, since Clark wasn't expecting it—and doubled over with pain, clutching his foot and shouting, "What the hell?"

Clark tossed the gun aside and grabbed the guy by the arm, careful to apply exactly the amount of strength he'd need to restrain him without hurting him. He led him down the stairs and to the desk, where Lex was just beginning to stand. The shooter was wiry, a good bit shorter than Clark, and his brown hair was thickly gelled and styled. He was young, too—probably no older than eighteen.

"Found him," Clark said.

Lex straightened his suit jacket—he'd never changed clothes after the incident at the LuthorCorp headquarters. His eyes pierced the shooter's. "Who are you?"

"What does it matter? You got me."

Lex frowned. "Who sent you?"

"You should know. Think who your enemies are."

"Was it my father?"

The guy grimaced. "How should I know?"

Lex shifted his eyes up to Clark. "Restrain him so we can talk, would you?"

Clark nodded and dragged the shooter out into the hallway, mindful of his strength at all times and careful not to hurt him—with a sudden burst of energy, the guy might be able to get away, and Clark had to be ready to grab him if he tried anything.

He shoved the guy into a room that he knew locked from the outside, closed the door and locked it, and waited for Lex to meet him. He knew better than to walk away—Lex had walked him through emergency scenarios about a million times.

Lex's face was still pale when he arrived, and Clark could tell by the slight shakiness in his step that he hadn't quite settled down from nearly being shot. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Lex said, and his voice betrayed none of his fear. Clark wondered if he would have noticed it at all if it weren't for the fact that he knew Lex pretty well. "You?"

"I'm not the one he was after."

"He's lying about not knowing who hired him."

"How do you know?"

"Not that hard to tell. Wish I could get the whole truth out of him, though."

Clark hesitated a moment, then said, "There might be a way."

The past few weeks had been pretty decent for Ryan.

Officially, he didn't really have a guardian. Legally, he was pretty sure it was still his aunt, or maybe the scientist from Somerholt. But he didn't mind it. He stayed in an extra room in Lex's mansion; a chauffeur took him to Smallville middle school every day, but dropped him off a few blocks away at his request, so the other students wouldn't stare at the quarter-million dollar sports car. There were also a couple of doctors that checked in with him each week to make sure his brain tumors didn't return. So far, they hadn't.

The mansion staff saw to his needs, but that didn't mean Lex was absent. He checked in with Ryan on most days, often invited him to share a meal, and made sure he had what he needed. Pamela stopped by just about every day to look after him, make sure he was eating enough and getting his homework done, and to talk with him when he'd had a rough day. And Clark came to visit at least a couple of times a week—that was probably what kept Ryan out of trouble more than anything else. The thought of disappointing Clark was unbearable.

It wasn't exactly a family, but it was the closest thing he'd ever had to one. And he was pretty happy with it.

One night, though, long after he'd fallen asleep, a knock at his door woke him up. He squinted into the bright light as Lex entered his room and softly said, "Hey, Ryan, you awake?" School night, emergency, let him skip school tomorrow.

"Yeah." Ryan sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Everything okay?"

"We have a bit of a situation." Situation, don't scare the kid.

Ryan flicked on the lamp beside his bed. That was how Lex usually thought of him—as the kid. He guessed it made sense, since he was probably the youngest person Lex talked to, but it did seem to make Lex worry a lot.

"There was an attack in my study tonight."

"An attack?"

"Surprised you didn't hear anything." Guess your room's a bit far from the study. And he used a silencer.

"Wait, slow down. Someone was shooting at you?"

Damn it, reads minds, already knows. "A masked man broke into the mansion tonight. He tried to shoot me. Lucky for me, Clark saved me just in time. He's guarding the assassin."

Ryan almost broke into a smile. He loved that Clark was always able to use his powers to help people; he hoped to someday be able to do the same. "Am I in danger?"

"No, no. I'm the one he wants." Hope to God I'm not lying. "But we could use your help. I got him to confess someone sent him. I suspect it was my father, but I don't know much else."

This time, Ryan did smile. "You need a mind reader."

Shouldn't be asking. Shouldn't be putting the kid in danger. "I do, but I'd rather he didn't see you. Do your powers work through walls?"

"Yeah! I can help!"

"You sure?" Trying to impress someone? Too quick to agree.

"I want to use my powers to help people. This will help you, right?"

Can't lie. Need him. Don't want to press. Danger. "It will."

"Then lead the way."

"Get dressed," Lex said. "Meet us by the study when you're ready." With that, Lex left the room.

Ryan got dressed as quickly as he could but ended up taking longer than on an average school day—he accidentally put his shirt on backwards the first time and had to flip it—but then he hurried out to the hallway outside the study, careful not to miss any turns. He'd gotten lost quite a bit in the mansion during his first week.

Lex and Clark had been quietly speaking with each other until Ryan arrived. Clark smiled at Ryan, while Lex's expression remained serious. Ryan could make out Lex's worried thoughts as well as some grumbling, bitter thoughts coming from inside the next room.

"Thanks for coming, Ryan," Lex said. "Now, what I need you to do is to stay out here in the hallway. Clark is going to stay out here to guard the door, and I'm going to go in to talk to the shooter."

"And I'll listen to his thoughts and tell you what he says. I got it."

Lex nodded. Kid could change the world, think of the profits . . . no, don't think that way, he deserves a childhood . . . but still . . .

Ryan put some effort into keeping himself from shuddering. There was a certain darkness that had overcome and clouded Lex's thoughts; it happened sometimes. That darkness had been especially powerful when the two of them first met. From what Ryan was gathering, it happened most often when Lex had been around his father, and sometimes after he spent time with Jonathan, and least often when he spent lots of time around Clark and Pamela, as well as on his therapy days. Nearly being murdered had probably taken its toll on him.

Lex straightened up a little and disappeared into the room, closing the door behind himself. Clark gave Ryan another smile, and Ryan stepped a little closer.

"I'm going to ask again," Lex's voice said. "What's your name?" Hope he'll actually think it.

Lucas— "What, do you think something's changed since last time?"

Ryan blinked. "Lucas," he whispered to Clark.

Lex's voice went on. "Who sent you here?"

Lucas didn't say anything at all. Should know already. Tried to kill the man. Guess it's a good thing he had another heir. Lex's mother must have been even more of a no one than mine.

Ryan gasped.

"What? What did you hear?" Clark asked.

"Um . . ." Ryan shook his head. "Lionel Luthor sent him."

"We kind of figured that part."

"And . . . Lucas is Lex's half brother."