Lex sat behinds the desk in his study as his grandfather and uncle appeared in a spiral of light. "I'll admit I was surprised by your message, I could have sworn you aligned yourself with the witches." The old man spoke as he stood over Lex, trying to appear intimidating.
"What if I have?" He asked, steepling his fingers infront of him.
"I'm here to tell you right now that it will never work. Your mother tried to side with good, and it tore her apart. We are not good, the Luthors are not good, there is no use fighting the darkness inside you, it will eventially win."
"My mother was surrounded by evil, it is not surprising she was torn apart. However, that is where her and I are different. I have good backing me, I have the support she never did." He then sat back and looked seriously at his grandfather. "I've been told to offer you this one time deal. Leave the Halliwells alone and they will leave you alone. They offer this out of respect for our ties as family. However, this offer is fleeting..."
"Screw their offer!" The old man banged his staff on the ground, but Lex didn't flinch.
He then turned to his uncle, "I suggest you take a moment to talk this offer over with the rest of the family. I have never been a fan of one man speaking for all." He saw the look of surprise flit across the man's face before it hardened again after what appeared to be a gust of wind had blown in from the open window, and knew the message had been delivered. "I believe three hours should suffice. We can meet back here then, or another location of your choice should you prefer a more neutral location."
"We will send word of a location." His uncle said before placing his hand on his grandfather's shoulder and disappearing in a spiral of light.
Once they were gone Clark walked around the corner back into the study. "Could you tell if he got it?" Clark asked, speaking of the note the younger man had slipped into Lex's uncle's pocket. They had opened the window in the study before the meeting as a means of explaining away the displacement of air created as Clark ran through the room at super speed to deliver a message to said uncle.
"I did," His uncle Leon spoke as he reappeared, "So would this be..." He trailed off, hoping for an introduction.
"None of your buisness until we've established whose side you're on." Lex spoke before Clark had a chance to.
"Very well, what is it you wished to discuss with me?" Leon asked, ready to cut to the chase.
"You know the family doesn't stand a chance against the Halliwells. If they follow Grandfather, it will be to their own deaths." Lex spoke seriously.
"You doubt the strenth of your own family?" His uncle asked, offened.
"I know the strenth of your enemy." Lex fired back, "And let's be honest, we may share blood, but we've never been family."
"So you side with the Witches?"
"I side with my family." Lex spoke with conviction. "You were my mother's twin, and for that reason I'm giving you a chance to decide to do the right thing. I've read histories of our family line. I know why the women in our family lack powers. I tell you right now, I will destroy each and everyone of you before you even have the chance to get your hands on my daughter." Here Clark stiffened next to him at the mention of their child.
"I have daughters of my own..." Leon spoke, and Lex nodded.
"Which is why I thought you would be the most likely to be receptive to what I had to say. After all, your eldest is almost eighteen. What do you think will happen to her if your father remains head of the family?" Lex posed the question, and saw his uncle actually seem to ponder it. "Who knows, maybe my mother would have been strong enough to survive my father had her father protected her."
"I will consider what all you have said." His uncle spoke as he swirled out.
"What were you talking about at the end there Lex?" Clark looked unsure of wether or not he actually wanted the answer.
"My ancestors have long believed that magic is meant for the men of the family. As such, on any female member's eighteenth birthday they have a ceremony to transfer her powers to a male in the family. If the female is unwilling to relinquish her magic it is taken forcefully, painfully." Lex spoke with disgust. "The only way a female gets to to keep her powers is if she marries into the family, as her relation. Any girl born into the family loses theirs.
"They would want to that to Charlie?" Clark asked in horror.
"Over my dead body." Lex spoke, before reaching a hand out to Clark. "Let's get back to the others." Clark took his hand and they disappeared in a spiral.
They reappeared in the conservatory of Halliwell Manor, and instantly Chris was at their sides, subtly checking them over for injuries. "We're fine." Lex whispered as Clark took their daughter from their partner and held her close.
"Were you able to strike a deal?" Leo asked.
"We passed along the offer, but I can't say for sure they will take us up on it." Lex answered.
"It may not be Lionel Lex gets his sense of Pride from after all." Clark said with a grin, and barely a wince as Lex elbowed him in the side.
"Watch it," Chris spoke, eyeing their daughter in the taller boy's arms.
"You know he can take it." Lex said with a quick, gentle kiss to calm his other partner.
"We think it best if you and Charlie are somewhere else when we meet them." Piper spoke, "One wrong throw and we accidentally vanquish you, and we don't know what it would do to a wizard hybrid."
"I hate her being called a hybrid. It sounds like you think she is less than human." Lex spoke up.
"You get used to being called it quicker than you think." Chris spoke, his siblings and cousins all nodding in agreement.
"Regardless, I want you as far from the line of fire as humanly possible." Piper reiterated, her sisters nodding in agreement.
"I can take her back to the manor." Lex agreed, seeing the sense in what the older woman was saying.
"You'll be safer at Magic School." Paige spoke up, "You can kill time in the Library." She added when she saw he was going to argue, playing on his weakness. He'd been so enthralled with the different books found in said library, and was known to stop by from time to time just to sit and read. It was there that he had found the history of his family.
"You've talked me into it." He grinned. He'd come to really like Chris's aunt after spending a little bit of time with her each time he had ended up at magic school. "I'll help you get everyone home, and then take the youngins with me to Magic School." He said, motioning in the direction of the younger cousins and Melinda who just gave him a fond eyeroll.
"You want to go home, I can bring you back for your car later." Lex asked a surprisingly calm Bruce. He thought the man would have been a bit more shocked after hearing about witches, wizards, and Demons.
"No need, I'll just head back to my hotel. However, I may have to take you up on the magical transport in the future. There's nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed." It almost seemed like there was more to Bruce's statement, but for the life of him he couldn't think of what it was. "Though, with your permission," this was aimed at Paige, "I would be interested in checking out this library."
"It actually may be best if you all went to Magic School until this was all settled." Leo spoke up, "They've seen you all here with us, I'd hate for them to try and use you against is."
It took some deliberation, but eventually everyone agreed Magic School would be the safest place for everyone.
He knew he shouldn't have been surprised when the wizards ambushed them two hours after his meeting with his grandfather, rather than waiting the three hours and sending word of a neutral location for them to meen at discuss a truce, and in all honesty, he wasn't surprised. He was however saddened to see he uncle as one of the group, and sicked when he saw the decided power boost. He knew in that moment his cousin had been forced to give up her powers early for the sake of the battle.
The others had alredy been sent to Magic School for their own safety, and he and Bruce were going to spiral thwre after the meeting to discuss the truce. However, the meeting never took place, and the two entered into then fight just long enough to give the Halliwells the upper hand before spiraling out.
"Who would have thought the Batman would be afraid of Bats." Lex said once they were safely in Magic school. He had seen the bat shaped blades thrown by his friend, and now so many things made more sense. He remembered running onto his friend late at night that first night Chris stayed at the manor during his recovery. The level of skill his friend had in hand to hand combat, as well as the hidden blades he'd pulled during the fight at Halliwell Manor also made sense.
"Figured the thing I feared most would be the perfect thing to strike fear into my enemies."
"Makes sense to me." Lex replied, "So, when do I get to take the Batmobile for a spin?" He was answered with a glare from his friend.
They had barely had any time in the library before the family orbed in to tell everyone the battle was over. He was surprised when Chris handed him a jar with glowing purple orbs, even more so when the younger man had explained that they had been able to extract his cousin's powers from his uncle, and had trapped them inside the jar, before vanquishing his uncle. He waited to feel something at the death of his family members, but all he felt was relief that his new family was safe from them.
He and Chris, along with Chris's mom and aunts, went to his uncle's house and found his three cousins there along with their mother who happened to be a mortal. The relief on his aunt's face when she was informed of her husband's death, made him wish his uncle could be vanquished a second time. When she brought out her seventeen year old daughter he hoped his uncle's death had been painful. The poor girl had dark circles around her eyes, and was being supported on either side of her by her two healthy looking sisters. It was clear what stripping her powers had done to her, and he had to force himself not to think of Charlie in that position, reminding himself she was at home safe with Clark. Feeling Chris's hand tighten around his own told him he wasn't the only one.
Piper explained that they had been able to retrieve his cousin's powers, and were there to return them to her if she wished. The look of hope that crossed her face made him want to hit something. He watched as the sister's spoke a spell and opened the jar, the orbs floating back into his cousin as she transformed back into a healthy seventeen year old. He then gave his aunt his phone number, and told her to call him if she needed anything at all.