A/N: I'm definitely slowing down a little on the updates for this one (work picked up) but it's got a ways to go. By my best estimates, we're a little past the halfway mark.

Chapter 61 - Protection

Lex took a seat in the spare office to which he'd moved Lucas. It was more comfortable, he hoped, than the storage room where he'd been tied down to begin with. And they didn't have Lucas tied up anymore—the kid had already managed to slip his bindings and run out of the room once, only to be captured by Clark and dragged back into the room. After that, Lucas had given up. Part of Lex was surprised that Clark was so willing to exert force to keep Lucas down, but then, Lucas had tried to kill Lex. It was comforting to know that Clark could and would respond appropriately to those kinds of threats.

Ryan's announcement out in the hallway had shocked Clark, but Lex wasn't nearly as surprised. It hadn't been long since Lex had met Rachel Dunleavy, found out about Lucas, and been advised by Pamela to keep away from this one. Lucas didn't deserve to be thrown into the Luthor family chaos, even if he bore the same genes. Now that Lex knew about the relationship they shared, he could deduce more of the history behind what had led to the encounter. He could more likely hold up a conversation with his half brother, and he didn't need a mind reader to do it. Besides, Ryan had done enough. He was a child, not even a teenager like Clark; the last thing Lex needed was to keep him up with nightmares, or to make him worry that someone might come after him.

Lucas sat in the same position and wore the same irritated expression he had since Clark had unceremoniously dumped him back in his seat. Judging by his reactions, he didn't suspect there was anything out of the ordinary about Clark, just that he was a lot stronger than Lucas and attempts to escape were futile.

Lex kept his voice gentle. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink?"

"Ah, the famous Luthor hospitality." Lucas's eyes glared at a point past Lex, never focusing on his face.

"An interesting choice of insult, coming from someone with the same last name."

That got Lucas to look directly at Lex. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know about Rachel Dunleavy. I know that you and I have a few chromosomes in common."

"You don't know anything."

"What'd Dad offer you, Lucas? Money?"

Lucas's jaw set, and his gaze trailed off into the distance again.

Lex stood up and paced around to sit on the edge of the table. "You can't trust him, you know."

"Like I can trust you?"

"Didn't say that. But you'll have to make a choice."

"You were never a good son. You tried to kill him."

"Is that what he told you?"

"His medical history checks out."

Lex's heart rate had started to speed up now. If it were just a matter of money, he could easily sort things out; real familial loyalty was a lot harder to fight. "He was injured in the tornado. Check your facts."

"Yeah, but I know what you did."

"And that's why he reached out to you? Told you that you're the son he wants?"

"Something like that."

"The inheritance is all yours, and all you have to do is reach out and take it? Come on, now, Lucas, did you really think that would work?"

Lucas leapt out of his seat and grabbed Lex around the neck, slamming him back against a wall. He was coiling back a fist when the pressure on Lex's neck suddenly died, and Clark was holding Lucas by the front of his shirt.

Lucas's nostrils flared, but Lex could see the telltale signs of fear in his eyes. Clark looked about ready to push him into the wall, the way Lucas had pushed Lex, but Lex put a hand on Clark's arm. "Don't hurt him," Lex said. "Let him go."

"Your brother's more merciful than I am," Clark growled. "You lay a hand on him—"

"He gets it," Lex said. "Right, Lucas?"

Lucas swallowed and nodded, and Clark let go and went back to the doorway. This time, he stopped just inside.

Lex let his breath out slowly, forcing himself to ignore the sore spots on his neck. "Lucas," he said, "you can't inherit anything from prison."

"Dad'll bail me out."

"You think he'd do that?"

"I'm his son."

"So am I, and he just manipulated you to try to kill me. He's using you. Nothing more."

"And why does he want you dead?"

Lex paced a couple of steps. It was still hard to hear those words. "He's not lying when he says I'm a bad son."

Lucas let out a short laugh. "I knew—"

"But he doesn't want you, either. Think about it, Lucas. He's known about you your whole life. He's never reached out to you before. But now that he needs someone to do his dirty work, that's when you get a call?" He shook his head. "You know something's not right here. You wanted it all to be real, you wanted it bad enough to kill, but you know there's no point. He'll never love you."

"You don't know what love is."

"Maybe not. I certainly didn't learn from him."

Lucas just glared for a long time. Lex could almost see the gears turning as he processed.

Lex came to sit down across from Lucas. "Look. He told you how to get past the guards, and the alarms."

"Of course."

"And how to find me."

"Yeah."

"Did he tell you how to disable the cameras?"

Lucas didn't say anything.

Lex sighed. Technically, it wouldn't have mattered, because he was going to delete that footage at the first chance he had, before any of his guards could review it. Clark had sped across the room to stop Lucas—too fast to be seen by human eyes, but a camera would be able to tell that he'd disappeared from one place and appeared in another. But Lucas didn't have to know all of that. He only needed to know that his father had set him up.

"Look," Lex said. "I'm not like my father. I want to help you."

"Yeah? That's why you tied me up and guarded the room?"

"You were trying to shoot at me, Lucas. What would you have recommended?"

Once again, the boy went silent.

"I'm going to get you set up, far away from here. Somewhere our father won't be able to bother you again. You want to go to college, I'll get you in and help with the tuition; you want a job, I'll help you make connections. I'm offering immunity for trying to kill me, but this isn't a permanent get-out-of-jail-free card. I can protect you from my father, and I won't let you starve, but other than that, you're on your own."

"In exchange for?"

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to kill me."

Lucas lowered his head a little, considered for a long moment, then he sighed. "Fine," he said.

First thing in the morning, Lex called in a helicopter to take him to LuthorCorp headquarters.

His father sat in his office, and for a moment, it was easy to forget about the accident, about the fact that the man couldn't have stood if he wanted to, and about the fact that his brain had ever been damaged. The gleam in his eye was as dangerous and venomous and almost teasing as ever.

"Ah, son." His father smiled as he looked up from the work on his desk. "To what do I owe—"

"Let me make something clear," Lex said, with far more confidence in his voice than he felt. "Your grievance is with me."

His father blinked a couple of times. "Lex, I can't imagine—"

"Lucas."

A flicker of a smile appeared in his father's eyes. "Ah, Lucas. The boy's a psychopath, I should have warned you."

"He's under my protection. If you so much as attempt to contact him ever again—"

"Fine." His father waved his hand as if it was of no consequence.

"As are my friends and my employees. You want to take out your anger on me, you take it out on me."

His father grinned widely.

Lex knew then that his threats were far too late. "What have you done?"

His father wheeled himself out from behind the desk. "For the record, son, I'm almost glad your brother didn't succeed in killing you."

Lex resisted the urge to pull at his collar; it felt like it was choking him. "Well, as touching as that is . . ."

"This is going to be so much more . . . interesting."

"What does that—" Lex's cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He gave his father one last glare before picking it up and slipping out of the room. "This is Lex Luthor," he said.

"Lex," the voice said, and he recognized it immediately. It was Gabe Sullivan. "You've got to get down here right away. There's been an accident."