In which Emma Swan is found and adopted by the Kents, leading to some major changes. Also, we see the softer side of Lex Luthor.


Lex had an oddly patient and one might dare say kind expression on his face, as he looked at the newly minted eighteen year old woman in his office. Had it been anyone else, he would have faked his sympathy before firmly showing them the door.

But this was Emma Kent. A girl who had become his younger sister in all but blood, and who had kept in contact with him even when his relationship with her older brother Clark had fractured. Every year without fail he would get birthday and Christmas cards from her.

She at least, still believed there was good in him.

"So what exactly do you need Emma?" he asked.

"I'm sure you already know about the conviction," she said bluntly.

There was another reason he liked Emma. She had a blunt personality that was tempered with empathy. She rarely minced words when talking to him, which was rather refreshing when dealing with the sorts his father usually introduced him to.

"I am aware. I was shocked when my people alerted me to it. How on earth did you end up arrested anyway?"

Because the thought of a girl raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent stealing such overpriced baubles was ridiculous. Emma had never shown an interest in things like that, never mind that she wasn't even in the area when it was stolen. While she did show actual appreciation to the gifts he had given her over the years, she wasn't a thief.

Emma's face briefly went into a pained scowl.

"I fell for the wrong guy. He asked me to pick something up for him, and to wait for him so we could travel once I graduated high school. Next thing I know, the bastard ghosted me and I was in court for having stolen goods."

Lex didn't bother to lecture her. He knew she was absolutely kicking herself for it, and that was before her parents and Clark got to her.

"So what do you need from me?" he asked.

"I was pregnant when I got arrested. I found out about a month into the sentence. The problem is that someone in the facility apparently marked him for a 'closed adoption' without my consent, and the agency that handled it won't tell me anything. I didn't sign any adoption papers, and I made it clear I wanted my parents to take in my son until I was able to care for him myself."

Lex openly winced.

"I can't really help with a closed adoption," he said.

"Here's the thing. I heard countless rumors that this isn't the first adoption handled by the facility I was in, and that there have been other women who've become pregnant during their stay there. Women who haven't had conjugal visits and the date of conception happened when they were nowhere near their partners," said Emma. "I think one of the guards is having his way with the inmates, and one of the doctors or nurses is helping to cover it up...and hiding the spate of pregnancies with closed adoptions."

Lex perked up at that.

"Now that I can help with. You think someone faked the documents to hide this?"

"I'm almost certain of it. I tried to keep to myself for the most part while I was in there, but you hear things from the older women."

"I'm not going to ask why you didn't bring this up with your parents," said Lex. "If something is being covered up, the Kents wouldn't have the influence or money to find anything before the evidence is destroyed or buried."

Emma nodded.

"That and if there really is something like that going on, I'd rather have the sharks on my side and not the guards," said Emma. "I figured you were my best bet to get any sort of justice, much less find my son."

Lex's smirk was downright wicked, but at least Emma had come to the right place.

"Clark's not going to be happy," he commented, though it was clear he would help.

"Clark is a damn boy scout," said Emma. "This is too serious for a small town farm kid to handle, and they would make our lives hell if I had tried to find justice alone. Besides, I want to go to college and do something more than just run the farm."

Once Lex was done with his phone calls to get the ball rolling, he looked to Emma.

"Are you up to lunch?"

"Absolutely," she said grinning. "I can catch you up on the latest train wrecks that is Clark's life."

Lex grinned, as that was always quality entertainment that he didn't get to enjoy first hand anymore.

"Excellent."


Two years. That was how long it took to get any justice for what happened to her. As it turned out, one of the nurses had forged the paperwork because the guard was her brother.

Emma wasn't the only one absolutely disgusted over the whole thing, as the man had taken advantage of at least twenty women, and had faked the adoption forms for five different children.

Clark had been very unhappy when he found out why Emma was talking to Lex so much, but upon finding out the full circumstances he had shut up and dealt with it. Whatever his feelings towards Lex (which Emma still wanted to know the story behind), they could put aside for Emma's sake. Lex had the clout and the right lawyers to find out where his still unnamed nephew had vanished and to get justice for people.

Emma would cherish the look of complete and utter shock on that nurse's face upon learning that the reason their entire scheme fell apart was due to picking the wrong person. It wasn't like Emma broadcasted she was close to one of the richest...and openly ruthless...people on the planet.

She didn't like using her friendship with Lex like that, as it would make their relationship feel fake. A fact Lex appreciated, because at least Emma was willing to let him spoil her a little as a sibling if nothing else. Clark was, in Emma's words, too damn uptight. He got it from their father, honestly.

It still didn't change the fact that her son was still missing. They had found three of the five children that belonged to the inmates. One of the mothers had died from suspicious circumstances shortly after giving birth, and the police were still investigating. However her son was completely missing after being adopted within a week or two of being born.

It was heartbreaking, and Emma hadn't felt this lost since Clark had finally come clean about his powers and what little they knew of his origins. She had known something weird was going on after the Scarecrow incident, but not that her brother was a literal alien.

Clark had been so worried she would reject him over it. Emma had hugged him instead, since it didn't really change anything. After all, Clark had no idea either until their dad told him.

Besides, Emma had zero room to talk. Martha and Jonathan had found her while taking Clark home from his mandatory vaccinations before he was to start preschool with the other children. It had only been a few months since the meteor shower that had changed everything, so the system was overwhelmed with new orphans...besides, they had already been cleared to adopt Clark a few months prior. They had a big enough house to add a second child, even if it was a newborn and not a toddler.

At least Lex had promised to keep his personal team of private investigators on the case if they caught even a hint of a boy born on or around the same day as Emma's son that was adopted out of the agency used. So far all the others had been tracked down and dismissed...there was one unaccounted for which had the highest chance of being the missing child.

The biggest hurdle was that there were absolutely no records of this...Regina Mills, or the town she claimed to be from.

Emma put it out of mind, as there was very little she could do. And as she was raised the sensible sort, she decided to focus on what she could do. Which was go to college, and make something of herself so that when she did find her son, she could at least give him a good life without completely relying on Lex.

A house filled with love wasn't enough if the bills were behind.


"A book series, really?" said Lex with open amusement. Emma had jokingly sent him the initial manuscript, and aside from a few publishing errors it was a solid, and somewhat fascinating read.

"You have to admit, it something different and at least I chose stories so old that I'm unlikely to be sued for the rights. And we had a lot of fun putting the main characters to trial under a mock court with modern days laws," said Emma with good cheer. She looked better, and far happier since going to college.

Lex looked down at the first edition of the "Fairy Tale Trials", which she had published under the name "E. Swan" to avoid anyone realizing she was the author.

The story was fairly interesting. A fairy tale character, which in the first book was the Evil Queen from Snow White, ended up in modern day America and after successfully poisoning her step daughter was arrested and put under trial.

Lex found it a fascinating character study, as instead of portraying the Evil Queen as well, a straight up villain like in most stories, they actually delve into her possible backstory based on the time period and area the story had been published.

He honestly never expected to find himself sympathizing with the Queen, especially with the in-depth analysis the protagonist lawyer did on the make-up and beauty treatments available during that time period.

While the crime the Queen committed against her fourteen year old step daughter was heinous, she ended up acquitted and sentenced to a mandatory sentence for a reasonable number of years due to mitigating circumstances. Namely the fact that most of the make-up she would have used during that time period had some nasty consequences...especially the ones laced with mercury.

Lex was openly intrigued as to how well the book would do, since it used real world laws and cases that Emma had researched extensively and only altered a few things at the request of those involved. She also made a point to cite her sources and credit her friends who helped her to write it.

"I'm curious, if this does well who do you plan to send to court next?" he asked.

"Prince Charming, mostly. In the original stories he was a thirty year old man who was lusting after a fourteen year old girl, and later had his servants carry around her corpse until one of them had enough. Worse, during their wedding they actually killed the Queen who had no idea that her stepdaughter had been freed from the poison."

"Have you ever considered becoming an actual lawyer?" asked Lex.

Emma made a face.

"Not really my cup of tea. I just had fun researching about the old stories."

"Nothing says you have to get into an actual court room, but it would open up access to resources most people don't have access to," Lex corrected. "At the very least no one would bat an eye at you hiring some interns that the law firm I employ specifically to research law cases so you can focus on your books, and it would be a nice fall back option."

Emma looked intrigued, and it wasn't like she was technically paying for her degree anyway. Lex was footing the bill on that one under the guise of a scholarship to keep the Kents from complaining.

Mostly Jonathan, but at least by this point the Kent patriarch knew without a shadow of a doubt that Lex wasn't trying to groom Emma for anything. He genuinely saw the girl as a younger sister of sorts, nothing else and had looked absolutely disgusted at the suggestion when it was brought up.

Jonathan was still firmly against accepting handouts, which was why Emma helped Lex come up with sneaky ways to get around that without upsetting the man. She loved her father dearly, but he had his pride that sometimes got in the way.

That, and Emma refused to have anything to do with Lionel. If it even looked like he had a hand in something she would nope out of there so fast it would have made their head spin. She only accepted help from Lex direct.

To their mild surprise (and Lex's amusement on the matter) Emma's book she wrote partly out of boredom and as a joke took off and became a world wide best seller. Apparently the idea of the Evil Queen being given a trial and being portrayed as someone human and not outright villainous caught everyone's attention.

Lex found it hilarious his own law team was openly reading the book and critiquing it from a lawyer's perspective...and could find no fault in the sentencing.

The lawyer he once hired to help Emma sue the jail she had been sent to for over a year had been very amused learning who had wrote the book.

Coincidentally Lex kept the photo Emma took of her brother Clark when he found out why she was pursuing a law degree and who had suggested it. The pained expression on his face was hilarious, especially since he wasn't as oblivious as to the actual source of the 'scholarship' paying her tuition fees.