Hey, guys!
So, I'm gonna be honest, I did NOT plan on posting today. In fact, I only started this chapter this morning. But then I looked at the calendar and realized that 20 years ago today the first episode of Smallville premiered in America. Well, since this show has basically made up my 2021, I figured that I had better post the chapter. (Luckily, it was a pretty easy one to write, lol.)
Anyways, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter Six.
Lex was so exhausted that he could hardly taste the warm coffee as it went down his throat.
He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep during the night. Every time his eyes closed and he began to drift into a peaceful slumber, the child would let out a tortured scream that Lex knew had to be from the nightmares. After the third nightmare, Lex gave up.
He had sat by the child throughout the rest of the night. So many times Lex had wanted to reach out and cuddle away the child's tears and awful memories, but he couldn't. It would only make everything worse. So instead, Lex decided to set out on finding how to make it right.
He scooted closer to his desk and began to type on his laptop. The lab was sure to have had security or at least a camera. If he had been in his father's position, he would have recorded a lot of the experiments as well for the sake of science. But at the same time, if he had been in his father's shoes, he would have never experimented on the child.
Lex took another sip of his coffee as he began to watch scroll through the camera feeds to find what he needed. Surely they would put a camera in the room with the child. What if one of the security officers or scientists hurt the child? They would want to know who it was.
He stopped at one of the feeds. He recognized this overly sterile room. This was it. Before he could stop himself, he was beginning to go through the camera's history. He needed to find what he was looking for. What had his father done to the child?
Lex hoped that the feed would go back far enough. It had been almost a month since his father had died, but he had no idea if they regularly wiped the feed to keep people from finding out about the child that they had been using as a test subject.
Lex looked up as the door opened with a loud creak. He smiled though when he didn't see someone from over his desk. The child was awake and had come looking for him.
"Hey, bud," Lex said as he stood up, then stopped short when he saw the child.
The child stood in the doorway, looking as innocent and cute as ever, but wrapped tightly around his shoulders was a light blue blanket. A baby blanket. Julian's blanket.
Lex couldn't speak, he could hardly breathe as he felt the familiar feeling of a lump of tears in his throat. Where had the child found that? Had it been in the box of clothes that he had brought down for him?
Lex tried to swallow the lump away, but it didn't budge. "You okay?" He finally croaked.
The child nodded, but shifted on his feet. Lex wondered if he was accidentally making the child uneasy.
"Where did you find that blanket?" The words came out before he could stop them.
The child's eyes widened and his little fists gripped the blanket tighter as he teared up.
Lex cursed himself. If his panic had made the child uneasy, then the question had made him downright terrified. He was so stupid… How could he do this to the kid?
Lex sat down on the floor, he doubted that towering over the child helped anything. "I'm not gonna take it away, bubba," Lex explained.
The child frowned, then tilted his head. After a second he unwrapped the blanket from around his shoulders and handed it to Lex.
Lex looked down at the blanket in his hands, then back up at the child. He had the biggest, bluest, and most innocent eyes ever. How was it possible to look so innocent after years of torture?
"C'mere," Lex said softly, and the child hesitantly stepped forward.
Lex smiled, then wrapped the blanket around the child. "There you go," he said. "We can't have you getting cold."
The child stood there for a second, then smiled as the words sank in. Lex wondered if this was the first time the child had actually been given something of his own.
"Are you hungry?" Lex asked as the child curled into the blanket.
The child nodded, and Lex chuckled as he picked him up. "Let's get you something to eat before Martha gets here to babysit you."
Holding the child felt different this time. At first, Lex thought that it was the soft blanket, but then he realized it was something else. The child hadn't just relaxed in Lex's hold, but for the first time, he was curled against him.
For the second time, Lex fought back tears. He just hoped that the child would continue to feel safe in his arms.
After the child finished eating, Lex walked to the bathroom and began to search through cabinets.
The child needed a bath, but Lex had the feeling that he wouldn't be very excited for that.
So he started to look for things that he knew he wouldn't have laying around the house. It had been a long time since he had taken a bubble bath, and even longer since there had been a baby in the house to have one.
He pulled out a bottle of shampoo and smelled it. It was strong, but it wasn't an overwhelming scent. It smelled nothing like toddler soap, though it would have to do until Lex could make it to a store.
Lex also pulled out a shower gel and a washcloth. None of these things were perfect for the child, but they would have to do. Lex really didn't have much of a choice.
He stood up, the hesitated before pulling out a pair of scissors. He didn't want to use them. He really didn't want to use them. But with all of the glue, he wasn't sure that he had a choice.
He decided to run the water and fill the tub before he brought the child in. He personally liked the water to be really hot, to be so hot that he would come out of the shower and his pale skin would be red.
He knew he couldn't do that to the child though, the poor thing didn't need to be scalded.
After the bath tub was full, Lex went to the living room.
"Hey, bud," Lex said as he leaned down to the child's level. "I'm gonna give you a bath, okay?"
The child hesitated for a second, then nodded. When he allowed Lex to pick him up, Lex assumed that it was just normal bathtime anxieties and hatred.
He helped the child undress, and gently placed him in the warm water. With slow and careful movements he began to scoop water into his hands and dump it on the child's head.
The child stayed quiet, but Lex noticed that he was relaxed. He wasn't scared and tense, he was just being quiet.
"Tilt your head back so it doesn't get into your eyes," Lex said as he added the shampoo.
They sat in silence for almost an hour as Lex scrubbed the glue out of the child's hair. More than once, Lex wanted to cave and take a pair of scissors to the matted clump of glued down hair. But it all came out. Both Lex and the child's hands were wrinkly from the water by that time though.
Lex pulled the drain on the bathtub and pulled the child out of the quickly cooling water.
He wrapped a towel around the child, then dried off his hair and body before picking him up.
"Help me pick out an outfit, kiddo," Lex said as he set the toweled child on the ground of the child's room.
He watched as the child went through the box of clothes, then pulled out a red shirt and began to pull it over his head.
"Let me help you," Lex said as he helped the child into the shirt and a pair of overalls.
After the child was properly dressed, Lex grabbed a brush and began to brush the child's damp hair. If he was being honest, he still missed his own hair. His hair had never been as soft as the child's, but he missed the feeling of it between his fingers or styling it before the day began. It did save some time though…
Lex smiled as he put the brush down. "There you go," he said. "No more glue or dirt."
Before Lex knew what was going on, the child turned around and wrapped his arms around Lex's stomach.
Lex's smile grew to a grin, then he picked the child up and wrapped his arms around him.
The child curled up to Lex, and Lex knew exactly what the child was feeling. He was clean, warm, and safe. And Lex knew that he would do anything to keep him that way.
There you go! A fluffy angst chapter! I hope y'all enjoyed! Please follow, fave, and review! I would love to know what you thought!
Thanks for reading! Love y'all!