First and foremost, I want to thank the LJers. I can't thank you all enough for your kind feedback. Your questions made this story so much richer than it original was. I also appreciate your honesty when you told me when things didn't work and that I needed to slow down a tad.

A very special thanks goes to TheHoyden (who may be bearing my children soon snerk), Kormanfan and Seattlevamplove for betaing this monster. You guys totally rock. I can't believe that anyone in their right mind would volunteer to beta over a hundred pages of story. You guys are crazy, but I like that about you. eg But honestly, you guys did a fantastic job. Thank you!

Any mistakes, however, are mine as after I incorporated the beta comments, I made one last pass at the story.

This story was written for love, not money. No copyright infringements were intended.

Let me know if you enjoyed this puppy, okay?

The black crow gazed passively at him from the fence post, seeming to grow larger and larger as each second passed. Mr. Thornton had taught that the Celts believed crows represented flesh torn by fighting. In India, the Mahabharata believed that the birds were messengers of death.

Standing on the edge of a cornfield with the sun beating down relentlessly on his prep school jacket, Lex discovered he wasn't very happy about his classical education. Sometimes he wished he didn't know all the things he knew, didn't understand their significance. He might only be nine years old, but he knew a bad omen when he saw one. He tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry to accomplish the task.

Taking great care not to make any big movements, he bent his knees and lowered himself enough to pick up a rock by his feet. The bird's gaze never wavered. Using all the strength he possessed, he flung his stone at the bird, not hitting it, but making it take flight.

"Lex! Son!" his father warned.

Lex frowned; bad enough he'd been lectured about his fear of flying on the way out to the wilds of Kansas, but now he knew he had just bought himself another lecture about proper behavior during business meetings for the trip back. Even though they were outside, his father was in the process of buying a creamed corn factory and wanted Lex to witness his first foray out of the fertilizer business.

Lex sighed, wanting to go inside where it was cool, wanting to hide, not only from the crow, who he knew was circling somewhere above him, but from the destiny his father wanted him to embrace.

He looked back over his shoulder and watched his father charm the two men before him. Lex felt sorry for them. He knew his father too well. When Lionel Luthor was trying to get something he wanted, he was all smiles and jovial tones, but once he had it, the smile became one of a hyena. He'd seen how his father treated the household staff...and his mother.

Without conscious thought, Lex started walking between the rows of corn. Since he was going to get lectured no matter what, he figured he might as well have some fun exploring while he was at it. Besides, the corn was so tall it provided some respite from the unrelenting sun.

Once, when he was six, his mother had taken him to Cozumel and they had explored the Mayan pyramids at Chichen Itza. The jungles had been fascinating, teaming with a myriad of animal and plant life. Although the cornfields of Kansas didn't hold quite the same level of enthrallment, there was a certain allure to them. He was fascinated by the precision of the rows and the segments of the stalks. While jungles were chaos, there was almost a mathematical beauty to cornfields.

"...me."

Lex stopped and blinked. Was someone out in the field with him?

"Help...me."

Lex gasped, his heart pounding hard against his chest, making his lungs constrict. He fumbled for his inhaler, remembering what happened during his last attack when he had been unable to get his medicine out of his pocket.

Once the device was in his hand, he cautiously proceeded forward, even as he wondered if he should go back and find his father. If someone was truly hurt, he doubted he'd be able to help much, but if it was some farm kid playing a prank on him, he didn't want to look like a weenie. His father had always told him that information was power. If someone was hurt, it was best to find out how badly. If it was a joke, he'd threaten the upstart with his father's wrath. Anyone who knew anything about Lionel Luthor knew how awful that could be.

A loud cry seemed to penetrate the air, and he looked up in time to see the crow's talons rake toward his face. Throwing up his arms, he tried to protect his head, but felt a sharp sting on his upper lip letting him know that the bird had gotten past his defenses. He turned and started to run, wheezing for air as the bird swooped down on him again.

Hearing the flapping of wings practically on top of him, Lex dove into the next row of corn, dropping his inhaler as he did. He crawled back toward the plastic cylinder, but gasped in fright as the crow jumped on top of the plastic tube and launched into the air with his precious medicine.

"Hey, kid," a voice from above whispered.

Lex crab-crawled backward, moaning in fear as he saw the bone-thin boy tied to the cross above him. They were sacrificing him. The farmers. The people from whom his father was buying the property. The cook had let him watch a late night movie with her a month ago that had been about a boy being sacrificed in a cornfield to help the crops grow. He knew that any moment now men with scythes were going to show up and hack him to bits.

"Help me."

Lex's breathing became even more erratic. "I don't want to die."

"Please."

Whimpering, Lex scrambled to his feet.

"Help, please," the boy begged.

Lex nodded and with trembling hands tried to untie the huge rope knots. He struggled for several minutes but made no progress in loosening the bindings. "I...I...can't. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The boy groaned. "Get help."

But even as he nodded his compliance, Lex heard a noise like a speeding locomotive rushing toward them. Turning, he saw a ball of fire slam into the ground. Lex fought to keep on his feet as the ground shook and rolled. His eyes got bigger as the shock wave screamed toward him.

Without thought, he turned and ran.

There was a moment when his feet actually left the ground that he wondered if he might be was flying; but before the thought was even complete, he slammed into the ground and everything shattered into darkness.

Lex was aware of someone moaning in pain and rose through the layers of consciousness to see who it was. It took him several moments after his eyes fluttered opened to realize it was him.

"Daddy?" he gasped out, surprised by how weak he sounded.

He lay in the dirt, feeling as if every bone in his body was broken. Where was his father? And their helicopter pilot? Where were the farmers and the living scarecrow?

He had been in a cornfield, but even from where he lay he couldn't see any corn around him.

After several minutes, he pushed himself off the ground and took in the devastation. All the corn around him was gone, except for an occasional stalk sticking out of the dirt at an odd angle. There was no farm, no helicopter, no people. Somehow the world had been destroyed, and he alone had survived.

He stumbled forward, or was it back? He shook his head, having no sense of direction. He saw some corn in the distance, and for lack of any better destination, lurched toward it. He had no idea how much time had passed since the attack. All he knew was that he wanted, needed to get to the corn.

He whimpered in relief when he finally stepped into the greenery. Not knowing what else to do, he pushed through the corn, against the neat rows, knowing he needed to keep moving, needed to find an adult to make things better.

The corn ended abruptly and he found himself standing at the top of a dirt mound and looking down into a wide, angry gash in the earth below. He blinked in shock when he saw a small metallic spaceship. Despite being scared, he couldn't help but be fascinated.

He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but the ship remained as solid as ever. It was while he was staring at the craft that he noticed the tiny hand reaching outward. He gasped and stumbled, falling into the crater itself.

As soon as he hit bottom, he tried to scramble back up, but his panic made it nearly impossible for him to control his limbs. After several moments of failure, he spun to see where the alien was. To his surprise, the face of a child looked back at him from a crack in the ship, face tilting to one side to get a better look at him, unafraid.

Lex frowned, then realized the child was trapped, unable to get out of the spaceship because of the dirt that had been thrown on top of it when it crashed. He inched closer and knelt by the ship.

"Hey," he rasped.

The dark haired child simply smiled at him.

Despite the pain he was in, Lex smiled back. The child needed help to get out, and since he was the only one apparently still left on the planet, it fell to him to rescue the boy.

"Stand back, okay?" he whispered, but the child gave no indication that he understood what Lex was saying. Lex climbed on top of the ship and put his fingers in the crack, then lifted with all his might. The metal lid creaked and groaned, but slowly he was able to lift it from the rest of the ship. When he thought he had lifted it high enough, he jumped down into the dirt, then reached in and pulled the toddler out of the cockpit.

To his surprise, the child was naked and barefooted. Lex looked into the ship and saw a red and blue blanket. Without thought, he grabbed it.

When he turned around to face the child, he was surprised to find the boy with his head leaning back on his shoulders and his arms flung outward, like he was trying to soak up the sun above them. Lex speculated that it had been cold inside the ship. Despite being naked, the child was probably a lot warmer outside than he'd been inside. Lex frowned as the lid of the ship closed with a snap. He berated himself, knowing he should have looked for some food or water inside, but now it was too late.

He turned and wrapped the blanket around the bottom half of the toddler, then shrugged out of his jacket and slid the small arms into the coat's sleeves.

"There you go," he croaked softly, his throat hurting too much to say anything too loudly.

The jacket looked like a dress on the kid. Bending over, Lex picked up the grinning child and walked toward the back of the ship, climbing the gentle slope upward, slightly embarrassed that in his earlier panic he hadn't noticed this escape route. At least his father hadn't been around to witness his humiliation.

"Mother says it's easier to be brave when somebody is depending on you."

The green-eyed child looked at him gravely, as if understanding that Lex was telling him something important.

"So, I'd really appreciate your depending on me so I can be brave, okay?"

Lex tripped a bit and the child instinctively put his arms around Lex's neck. Using one hand for support in the dirt, Lex used the other one to hold the kid tightly to his chest. He sighed in relief when they reached level ground again. The boy laughed and gently patted Lex's cheek. For some inexplicable reason, the warm touch made him feel braver.

"We need to find a road," Lex explained quietly. "Even if we're the last two people on the planet, a road should lead to a town and that means food and water."

The child nodded, copying Lex's gesture.

"I promise I'll protect you. I wasn't able to protect my little brother, but I won't fail with you. I swear it."

He had taken less than a dozen steps forward when the sound he had prayed never to hear again reverberated all around him. Instinctually, he and the child raised their gazes to the heavens and saw twin balls of fire racing toward the earth.

Lex dropped to his knees, placed the child on the ground before him, wrapped his body around the boy and tried to remember the prayer his mother had taught him.

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with..."

"What's happening, Jonathan?" Martha Kent clutched her husband's arm, trying not to interfere with his driving, but still needing physical contact with the man she loved. Two second later, the Smallville city sign exploded behind them.

Jonathan pushed the accelerator to the floor of the old truck. "It's another wave of meteors," Jonathan gritted out. "I'm sorry, Martha. I thought we could make it home."

"We will, sweetheart. I have faith. We'll make it."

Martha watched in horror as another meteor exploded across the road ahead of them. Jonathan slammed on the brakes, but the truck fishtailed and plunged them into the shower of dirt and rock.

Jonathan opened his eyes, astonished to discover that he hadn't flipped the truck. "Martha."

His wife's gaze sought his, barely restrained hysterical laughter bubbling out of her. Their hands entwined with each other's, reaffirming their connection.

Martha looked out the front of the truck and gasped. "Jonathan, look."

A toddler, no older than three, stood fifteen feet in front of the truck. A shredded jacket was wrapped around his shoulders and what looked like a blanket was tied around his waist. The boy grinned at them, then turned and walked back into the smoke.

"Where are his parents?" Martha gasped.

Jonathan shook his head. "I don't know, but we can't leave him here."

They scrambled out of the truck. Taking each other's hands, they followed the little boy's footsteps.

"Oh my God, Jonathan!" Martha ran forward, before the words were completely out of her mouth.

In front of them, the toddler was lowering himself to the ground and scooting back into the chest of another boy, who looked several years older. Martha dropped to her knees, her heart in her throat. Reaching out, she gently laid her hand on the older, trembling boy. His chest was bare, his skin torn and his pants practically nonexistent. Huge tufts of red hair lay on the ground around his nearly bald head.

"He's alive," she called out to her husband, who had walked several yards beyond them. "Where are your parents?" she asked the toddler quietly.

"Martha!" Jonathan shouted, turning back toward her.

"What?"

"I don't think we're going to find the boys' parents."

"Why not?"

"Come look."

"Jonathan--"

He wiggled his fingers at her from his outstretched hand. "Please."

Reluctant to leave the boys but drawn by her husband's voice, Martha pushed herself to her feet and moved toward Jonathan, although her gaze never left the boys.

"Look."

Martha gasped in shock as she stared down at the tiny ship.

"I don't think they're from around here," he said in amused awe.

"Do you think we're being invaded?"

"By children?"

"You know what I mean."

Jonathan shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't understand a lot about science or physics, but my guess is that the ship is what pulled the meteors into our atmosphere."

"What are we going to do?" she whispered.

He shook his head slowly. "I have no idea, but we need to get home before more meteors hit."

"Well, we can't leave them here."

"The government..."

"Jonathan, they're babies," she cried out in horror.

"Sweetheart, we can't keep them. What would we tell people? That we found them in a corn field?"

Martha smiled sweetly up at him. "We didn't find them. They found us."

Martha looked up from the soup she was stirring on the stove as her husband entered the kitchen. "Where did you put it?"

"In the storm cellar." His eyes moved toward the front room. "How are they?"

"The little one is playing with some toys, although he won't move too far away from the older one."

"And how's he--"

She shook her head. "I don't know. A part of me is screaming to take him to the hospital, but I called Emily and she said that Smallville, Grandville and all the area hospitals are being flooded with patients."

"But..." Jonathan prompted when she hesitated.

"Almost all of his scars and burns have healed."

"What?"

Martha nodded. "At this rate, there'll be no trace of trauma on his body, except perhaps for his lip, by morning."

"His lip."

Martha shrugged absently.

"What about his hair?"

"I don't know. Surely, it'll grow back. Right?"

"I have no idea." Jonathan walked to the archway and spent several minutes watching the two boys. "Has either of them said anything?"

"Not a peep." Martha moved to his side and smiled when he wrapped his arm around her. "Jonathan, what are we going--"

He squeezed her gently. "We're going to take one day at a time, dear. Just one day at a time."

"Clark Jerome Kent!" Martha stood at the bottom of the steps, her hands on her hips, trying very hard to muster a stern look.

"Uh-oh," a quiet voice echoed from upstairs.

Martha allowed herself a small smile before becoming all business again.

A head peeked around the corner. "Yes, Mama?"

"Have you picked up your room yet, young man?"

The pajama-clad boy shuffled into view so that he was standing on the stairwell landing above her. "No, Mama." He was trying really hard not to fidget.

"And just what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Sorry, Mama."

Martha sighed, affectionately. "I don't want you to be sorry, sweetheart. I just want you to clean your room."

**Let me, mom. Alex looked up from the kitchen table then laid a ruler in his chemistry book to mark his place.

"Alex," Martha warned.

**We'll go to the pond as his reward.

Martha hesitated for a moment. She could just hear Jonathan's sigh if he should come in and find the boy still in his pajamas at nine o'clock in the morning. Of course, he'd sigh if he knew she and Alex were encouraging Clark's abilities as well. Frankly, he was beginning to sound like a leaky tire lately. Besides, Alex could always do with more sun. "All right," she murmured quietly, "just don't tell your father."

She watched in amusement as Alex very deliberately took off his watch and set the timer. Clark's eyes widened, then nodded his head enthusiastically in response to some silent question from his older brother. As soon as Alex pressed the button, Clark was off like a flash.

Martha moved into the kitchen, pulled a baggie of chocolate chip cookies out of the freezer, and put them in the little backpack on the counter.

She turned just in time to see Clark jump from the third stair from the bottom and land two inches in front of Alex, his face turned up expectantly. Alex never flinched; he just pushed the button, then nodded and showed the time to his brother. Clark did a little victory dance, which made his older brother grin.

"Twenty-two seconds, Mama."

"Very good." She handed the backpack to Alex. "Don't forget to put on your sunscreen."

**Yes, ma'am.

"Alex, you don't have to spend--"

He stopped her with a kiss to her cheek. **I want to.

Martha knelt in front of Clark and checked the buttons on his bright blue shirt, then tweaked his nose. "You do everything your brother tells you to."

"I will, Mama."

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, then stood and kissed Alex's freckled forehead as well. "Will you be down at the tree house?"

Alex nodded.

"If he gets tired, make him take a nap, okay?"

Alex's amused gaze slid over to his brother. Martha knew Clark was whining, but, at least, he wasn't doing it out loud.

"And be home by three, okay? I'll need some help gathering the tomatoes."

**Yes, Mama.

"Now get out of here, you scamps, before I'm tempted to find some chores for you to do."

Clark ran to the door at normal speed, while Alex checked his backpack for his Warrior Angel comic books.

Martha watched them as they headed across the field toward the woods, reveling in how happy her boys made her. Clark skipped ahead but would turn back every couple of yards and skip back to his brother, before skipping forward again.

How many eleven-year-olds wanted to spend time with their five-year-old brothers? And yet, Martha knew that Clark meant everything to Alex. The older boy actually became fretful if separated from his brother for too long.

Martha eased into the chair by the back screen door and reflected on the past two years. Once the terror of the meteor showers had calmed, she and Jonathan had put several clues together about who and what the boys were.

It became obvious that Alex wasn't actually Clark's blood brother. The remnants of his clothes proved he was human. They speculated that somehow he had found Clark before the meteor strike that had taken his hair and voice.

There had been four rounds of meteors in less than twelve hours. Lowell County had been decimated. Friends had been killed, and almost everyone had suffered severe property damage and financial losses.

While there had been reports of missing children, none of them matched the description of the boys. The foster care system was overwhelmed as the county struggled to find homes for the orphans of the tragedy.

Sarah Dodd, the head of Child Services, hadn't even blinked when they told her they were willing to keep the boys and later, adopt them. She had confided to them that she was more than a little relieved to be able to consider the boys off her roster.

Who said good reputations didn't pay off?

Although he was human, Alex's abilities had actually shown up before Clark's. Something in the meteor rock not only allowed Alex to heal at a much faster rate, but also allowed him to communicate telepathically. He didn't appear to read minds; just able to place his thoughts into those around him so they could hear him. Martha was pretty confident, however, that his connection with Clark went deeper, but she wasn't sure why or how, and the boys were either unable or unwilling to explain. A part of her was still a disturbed by the fact that no one in the community realized her older son couldn't actually speak.

But then again, there were several children in the community who had unusual abilities, abilities that no one talked about or acknowledged. What was one more Smallville anomaly?

She found it ironic that her human son seemed more mutant than her alien son. While Lex had lost his hair, his voice, and his memory, Clark looked and acted like any normal five-year-old -- keeping in mind that he could bench press five hundred pounds and run faster than sound.

Martha chuckled to herself. No, her boys might not be normal by most standards, but she wouldn't trade them for anything in the universe.

**ALEX! ALEX, WHERE ARE YOU?

**Don't shout, Clark.

**Sorry. Where are you?

**In the loft. Where else would I be?

A second later Clark was at the top of the stairs, his hands in back pockets, fidgeting as if he weren't sure what his welcome would be.

"What are you doing?" Clark asked quietly.

Alex looked up from his desk and smiled at his brother, reaching a hand out toward him, invitingly. **Studying.

Clark never hesitated. He ran to his brother's side, then crawled into his lap.

**You won't be able to do this much longer. Alex leaned back to accommodate the wiggling boy.

"Why not?"

**Because you're getting too big. You're going to end up taller than I am when you're done sprouting.

"So?" Clark giggled. "Then you can just sit in my lap." Clark sobered unexpectedly and turned his head into his brother's chest over his heart.

**What's wrong, squirt?

Clark shook his head and remained quiet.

**Clark.

"I hate school. I hate Mrs. Jennings. I hate Pete. Why can't I be home schooled with you? You're smarter than stupid old Mrs. Jennings anyway."

Alex frowned, then shifted so he could see Clark's face. **One, you don't hate anyone.

"Do so."

Alex's frown deepened, which made Clark sigh.

"Okay, I really, really, really, really, really, really, really don't like school, Mrs. Jennings, or Pete."

Alex huffed in amusement. **What's going on?

The younger boy snuffled into Alex's shirt.

**Clark, what's wrong?

"Pete doesn't like me anymore."

**What do you mean, Pete doesn't like you anymore? Pete's your best friend.

"Not anymore?"

**And why's that?

"Because he likes Sally now."

*Ahhh*

"What do you mean ahhh?"

**I mean that it's natural for little boys to like little girls.

"It is?"

**Yes. It doesn't mean that Pete isn't still your best friend.

"He never wants to spend any time with me anymore. He just wants to stare all gaga at Sally," Clark said in disgust.

**Well, maybe we can entice him back to the light by playing pirates this weekend.

Clark pushed back so he could see Alex's face. "Really? You got the boats working again?"

Alex nodded and Clark squirmed with happiness. His brother had made little ships that attacked each other with even tinier cannons. All of Clark's friends were supremely jealous of him for having Alex as an older brother.

Clark sighed happily and laid his head back against Alex's chest.

**What else, squirt?

"You won't ever leave me, will you, Alex?"

**Of course not.

"Because we have a destiny?" Clark asked, looking for reassurance, repeating the words his brother had told him so often.

**Yes.

"Because you found me and vowed to protect me?"

**Yep.

"Even from nasty girls like Sally Henderson?"

Alex's mental laughter warmed Clark to his toes. **Especially from nasty girls like Sally Henderson.

"Cross your heart?"

Alex crossed his heart with his index finger.

"And hope to die?"

**And hope to die, Alex vowed solemnly.

Alex flexed his hands nervously as he walked up the concrete steps to the high school.

"How are you holding up, son?" Jonathan asked quietly from his side.

**Okay.

Jonathan caught his son's elbow and slowed them to a stop. "Alexander?"

**I'm terrified out of my mind, dad, Alex admitted sheepishly.

"Why?" Jonathan asked, startled.

Alex shook his head as people started to walk up the stairs past them. Jonathan firmly guided his son over to the railing.

**Dad. The test.

"The test doesn't start for another twenty minutes." Jonathan gently brought his hands up and cupped them behind his son's head so they were standing forehead to forehead. "Talk to me."

Alex swallowed several times, a reaction Jonathan always found curious considering his son didn't actually speak aloud. **I'm just afraid of...

"Failing? Son, you couldn't possibly fail these tests. My only concern is that you're going to ace them and blow everyone's minds."

Alex nervously fisted the front of his father's flannel shirt, but shook his head.

"Then what?" Jonathan asked, confused.

**What's going to happen when I go to college?

"Son, I know you're only fifteen, and normally I'd be the first one to say that you should stay home, but you're meant for greater things. Things I can't give you without assistance. Like college. Like graduate school. Like--"

**But Clark...

Understanding came to Jonathan in a flash. "Clark will be okay, son. I swear it."

**But dad--

"After all, we didn't do so bad with you, did we?"

Alex stilled and Jonathan chuckled softly.

"This is where you say, 'of course, father, you've done a wonderful job with me'."

Alex grinned. **Of course, father, you've done a wonderful job with me.

"Now that's more like it." Jonathan lowered his hands and covered Alex's, which were still clutched in his shirt. "I know I don't say it enough, Alex, but your mother and I are incredibly proud of you, proud to be your parents and proud of the man you're becoming."

**Dad. Alex thought quietly, his throat constricting with emotions.

"I love you, son."

**I love you, too.

"Now, let's get you in there and show these hicks what you can do." Jonathan wrapped his arm around his son's shoulder and guided him up the stairs to his future.

"NO!" Clark shouted, then turned and sped out of the kitchen in a blink of an eye.

"Clark!" Jonathan shouted angrily after him.

"Jonathan," Martha said softly, pleading for understanding.

**Mom. Dad. Let me. Please.

"That boy--"

**Dad.

Jonathan sputtered, lifting his arm and pointing out the screen door. "He should be happy for you, Alex."

Alex lifted an eyebrow, and Jonathan actually dropped his gaze.

"It's a full scholarship: board, tuition--"

**Dad, we've never been apart for more than a couple of days.

"I know, but--"

"Let me go talk to him."

"Jonathan," Martha pleaded, when it looked like her husband was going to remain stubborn.

Jonathan nodded, and Alex quickly made his escape out of the kitchen and into the barn.

"You promised!" Clark yelled as soon as Alex reached the top of the stairs.

**It's not the same, Clark.

"It is! You're leaving me!"

**No, I'm not. I'm just going to school in Metropolis. I'll be home every weekend.

"It's not the same."

**It is the same. It's not like we spend every minute of every day together now, squirt. You have school and your friends. Alex closed the distance between them. **Besides, you're always in here. He brought his fingers up to touch his own forehead. **And here. He laid his fingers over his heart.

"I don't want you to go," Clark said petulantly.

Alex shrugged. **Then I won't.

Clark frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're not going to get away with that reverse...pys...psych..."

**Psychology.

"Yeah, that. It's not going to work."

**I don't want anything 'to work.' I'll go tell mom and dad right now that I'm staying.

Alex turned and headed toward the stairs, but found his way blocked by his brother.

Clark sniffed. "You're going to forget me."

**I could never forget you, squirt.

"I hate you, you know?" Clark's voice trembled.

Alex wrapped his arms around the ten-year-old and held him tightly to his chest. **I know.

"Every weekend?"

**Cross my heart and hope to die.

**Whatcha doing?

Alex straightened in his library chair, a gentle smile gracing his face as he started to gather his papers. **Studying.

**You're always studying.

**Yes, but that's so I can spend my weekends with you and not have to worry about homework.

**I'm bored.

**Where's Pete?

**Alex, Clark whined. **It's nine o'clock. Pete's at home.

Alex blinked and looked down at his watch, startled to see that Clark was right about the time. **Shouldn't you be in bed?

Clark's reply was smug. **I am in bed.

**Okay, fair enough. Shouldn't you be asleep?

**I lifted the tractor out of the mud today. Clark told him proudly, ignoring Alex's last question. **How much do you think it weighs?

Alex stuffed his books into his backpack. **I don't know, probably a couple thousand pounds. You didn't hurt yourself, did you?

Clark scoffed at him, and Alex huffed with amusement as he headed back to his dorm room. He could hear Clark yawn in his head. **Good night, squirt.

**Night, Alex.

Alex tried to arch out of his chair, but hands pressed him back while warm lips nibbled at his collarbone. He surged upward, and she gasped above him. He rested his hands on her hips, urging her to quicken the pace. She teased him by grinding ever so slowly against him. His lips found a nipple and sucked on it, pulling gently with his teeth. She cried out loudly as she came, shuddering around him. He was close, so close, but not quite there.

**Alex!

Alex burned with shame as he exploded, gently biting her other breast. **Not right now, Clark.

Alex surged his hips upward again as she clawed his shoulders and leaned back as far as she could go as her next orgasm rippled through her.

**Do mom and dad know what you're doing?

Alex had never been so grateful not to have a voice, knowing she'd never understand his amusement if he should suddenly bark out in laughter.

**Clark!

**I'm just saying...

**Well, say it later!

She lowered herself back down and leaned forward, collapsing against him. "Wow," she whispered over his ear. "So, I was your first?"

Alex nodded, embarrassed but pleased with himself.

She leaned back and stood, letting him slide out of her as she smoothed down her tight black leather miniskirt. She bent and kissed him, rather chastely considering what they had just done.

"Thank you."

It was on his mind to thank her back, but there was a smugness about her tone that bothered him.

**What do you mean? he asked, as he tucked himself back into his pants.

"You put me over the top, baby."

Again, her tone bothered him. **I don't understand.

She chuckled as she rebuttoned her shirt. "Doing a freshman is only worth a hundred points, but doing an virginal underage freshman was worth a thousand. Letting me come first gave me another three thousand points, making me come twice raised you to five thousand, and you being bald topped me out at ten thousand points. Serena's going to have to sleep with everyone at Delta Phi in order to catch up with me now."

**I...I don't understand.

"Others will probably follow, but you just remind them that Desiree had you first."

**But...

"You can go now," she said dismissively.

Alex blinked and swallowed hard, humiliation coloring every pore of his being. He stumbled to the door and was horrified to find the hallway lined with smirking girls.

**Don't run! Clark's voice said fiercely in his brain.

Clutching at Clark like a lifeline, Alex followed the instructions and walked slowly down the hall, out of the sorority house and down the street, before he started running blindly through the campus streets.

He ran until he couldn't breathe any longer, ran until every muscle in his chest screamed for mercy. He collapsed in the middle of a playground, not sure where he was.

**Alex? Clark was scared, but Alex didn't know if he had the strength to deal with him at the moment.

**Not right now, Clark.

**Do you want me to get mom?

**NO! Alex thought in horror.

Clark remained silent, but Alex could still feel him inside, waiting patiently, being supportive. After several minutes, Alex regained his breath and pushed himself to his feet, taking in his surroundings.

**At least you didn't end up in Iowa like I did that one time, Clark offered quietly.

Alex huffed in amusement and headed back toward the campus.

**So...that was sex?

**Shut up, Clark.

Clark remained quiet for several blocks before he said, **I liked it.

Alex's shoulders shook in silent laughter and he brought both hands up to rub his face and scalp. What would mom and dad say if they knew he was corrupting a minor?

**I like your feeling that way.

Alex stumbled to a stop. **That's--

**I want to make you feel that way.

**That's enough! Alex shouted through their connection. **That's highly inappropriate!

**But--

**ENOUGH! he roared, slamming their connection closed. He clenched his fists and roared as loud as he could within his mind, wishing he could scream to the heavens as shame and guilt warred within him. God, could his life get any worse?

Alex looked up from his calculus textbook as an ethereal redheaded woman took a seat across the library table from him.

"Hello, Alexander," she said quietly.

Alex gave her a faltering smile, wondering how she knew his name. **I'm sorry, do I know you?

"Don't you?"

He searched her blue eyes, her expectant face, feeling as if she was willing him to recognize her. **No, I'm sorry. I don't believe I do.

"I'm Lillian Luthor." The woman reached across the table and gently took his hand in hers. "I'm your mother, Lex."

"Alex?" Martha Kent stood at the top of the barn's steps in shock as she recognized the figure huddled by the loft's opening. "Sweetheart, are you injured?" She ran forward and dropped to her knees beside him. "Do you want me to get your father?"

Alex shook his head, awkwardly wiping the tears from his eyes with the palm of his hands. Martha leaned forward and wrapped her eldest son in her arms, tears forming in her own eyes as he gasped brokenly for air, his silence making his grief even more heartbreaking.

**I love you, Mama. You know that, don't you?

"Alex?" she cried out, the pain in his thoughts overwhelming her.

**I shouldn't have come home. I shouldn't have...I'm sorry. I just wanted...needed... He tried to gain his feet, but Martha refused to let go of him.

"Baby, whatever it is, we'll get through it. I swear, we'll get through it."

**Can't. Hopeless.

"JONATHAN!" she screamed with all her might. "JONATHAN!"

**Mama, you have to let me go.

"Never," she gritted out, struggling to maintain her hold on him as he fought to break away.

"Martha?" a voice called from below.

"Jonathan, up here!"

Martha heard her husband clamber up the stairs.

"What...what's going on up here?"

**I'm sorry, dad. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

"So this Lillian Luthor claims to be your mother?" Jonathan asked, while he settled a quilt over his son's shoulders.

Alex nodded. **She had pictures and my birth certificate.

Martha put a cup of hot cocoa in front of him. "But why now...seven years after the fact?"

Alex shrugged. **She claims her husband...my...my...father was in Smallville, buying the Ross' factory, when the meteors hit. She said he took me out of school so I could spend some quality time with him. He was apparently trying to indoctrinate me into the business at an early age. He had flown to Smallville in a helicopter, which was destroyed during the first wave of meteors. She said everyone just assumed I was in it."

"But there was no mention of the Luthors losing a child back then. If there had been, we would have..." Martha stopped and looked desperately to her husband for help.

**She said her husband's been in a coma since the meteor storm and that she was too emotionally fragile to deal with my death. When her husband woke up a month ago, he remembered everything and told her that I wasn't in the helicopter, but out in the fields.

Martha closed her eyes as she contemplated the implications. "The adoption was above-board and legitimate. We'll fight this in court. I could call my father..."

**It won't do any good.

"What do you mean?"

**I talked to a friend of mine in pre-law. There isn't a judge in the country who would uphold the adoption given the circumstances.

Martha thought hard for a moment, then smiled. "Then we'll emancipate you."

**No. Alex reached out and covered her hand with his. **There's more.

"More?" Jonathan asked softly, putting his hand on top of his family's.

Alex nodded. **She knows about my mutation.

"What?"

"How?"

**She said she understands that you've been good to me, but if you don't want to lose Clark as well you'd better let me go.

"WHAT?" Jonathan roared, pushing himself away from the table.

**Apparently, she lost a child at birth who would be about Clark's age right now. She's claiming she'll...

Martha gasped. "Oh my God, Jonathan."

"We'll--"

**We can't let her look too closely at Clark. While his DNA won't be hers, it won't--

Martha covered her mouth with both hands. "What are we going to do?"

**You're going to let me go.

"Never!" Martha said, slapping her hands down on the kitchen table.

**It's the only way to keep Clark safe.

"Your mother's right, son. There has to be another alternative. We're not going to hand you over simply because some woman claims to be your mother."

**Dad, I can't risk Clark.

"I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself, Alexander!"

**Mom. Alex turned to face Martha.

"No, we'll figure out a way to face this situation. Together. Like we always have."

**We don't have the kind of money it would take to fight the Luthors in court. We'll lose everything: the house, the farm. I can't allow it.

"You don't have a choice, son," Jonathan said with all the authority he could muster.

"Alex! Alex, you're home!" Clark cried out happily as he zipped up the driveway and leapt into his brother's arms.

**Hey, squirt. Alex squeezed his brother tight, then pretended to drop Clark just to hear him squeal in laughter.

"What are you doing home?"

Alex walked toward the barn. **What? I need an excuse to come home and see you?

"No, never!" Clark lunged forward and threw his arms around Alex's neck. "I've missed you so much. I was afraid...afraid..."

**Afraid of what, munchkin?

"I was afraid you were mad at me," Clark mumbled into his neck.

**Never, Alex thought as he moved up the final flight of stairs to the loft.

"Even when I'm bad?"

Alex huffed in amusement. **Clark, I think it's a genetic impossibility for you to be bad.

"Even after--"

*Shhh* Alex hushed as he put Clark into the hammock. **Clark, I need to talk to you about something very important.

Clark nodded happily.

*Mutant to mutant* Alex said, invoking their childhood oath to keep the conversation between themselves.

His brother sobered. "You're scaring me, Alex."

**I'm sorry, squirt. I don't mean to. Alex sat in the hammock and maneuvered them so that Clark was lying on his chest. **Do you remember what I told you about soul mates?

Clark nodded, resting his chin on Alex's breastbone. "Yeah. Soul mates are two souls who are destined to be together throughout eternity. Two halves of one whole. Like us."

**Like us. Alex agreed. **And even if soul mates get separated for some reason, they aren't really, because they share a connection that others can't even begin to comprehend.

Clark nodded. "Like you being in college and me being able to talk to you?"

**Exactly.

"Because we have a destiny."

**Yes, because we have a destiny. Alex swallowed hard. **And because we're soul mates, we're destined to find each other, even if one of us is lost.

"Because I'm really good at finding things."

**Yes. Yes, you are.

"And if you're ever lost, I'll find you."

Alex pressed his face into Clark's hair. **Promise?

"Cross my heart."

Alex pushed the button for the LuthorCorp penthouse suite, then moved to the back of the elevator, crossing his arms over his chest and clenching his fists in his shoulders. He took several deep breaths, trying to gather the courage to do what he knew needed to be done. He had come up with and discarded over a hundred different ideas, played out dozens of different scenarios; but when push came to shove, he knew this was the only path he could walk.

**Mama, I love you. Please forgive me, he sent, then quickly severed his connection to his mother. Agony more intense than anything he had ever felt before exploded in his brain and raced down his spine. He fell to his knees, holding his head between his hands, and screamed silently.

When the pain eased, he looked at the floor indicator and knew he didn't have much time left.

**Dad, I know you don't understand, but this is the only way. Please know I was so proud to be your son.

Alex tried to steel himself against the coming anguish, but nearly fainted when he broke the connection with his father. He beat his hands against the floor trying to ride out the pain.

Nearly a full minute elapsed before he was able to push himself to his feet. He stumbled to the back of the elevator, then took several shaky breaths, before turning to face the door. Using his flattened palms, he pushed himself away from the glass and straightened, refusing to face his future like a sniveling child.

He harshly wiped the tears from his eyes with his plaid shirt sleeve just a hair's breadth before the elevator doors opened.

A very formal-looking butler stood waiting for him. "If you would be so kind as to follow me, Master Alexander. Your mother is waiting."

Alex nodded and obediently followed. The penthouse was the most elegant home Alex had ever seen. Everything screamed refinement, class and money. For one perverse moment, he wished he had walked through the cow pasture before coming. He was fairly certain the cleaning staff would have no idea how to get manure out of ivory carpets.

"That will be all, Sullivan."

Alex blinked when he realized they had reached their destination.

"Alexander, I'm surprised to see you."

**No, you're not.

Lillian Luthor laughed delicately, as if embarrassed to be caught in a social white lie. "No, of course. You are correct. I like your directness. It's refreshing."

Alex remained silent.

"I'm not the devil, Alexander." Lillian stood from her plush leather couch and walked to the bar. "Alexander," she said curiously, while she dropped three ice cubes into a glass. "How is it you remember nothing of your life before the unfortunate incident, and yet, you remembered your name?"

**I didn't.

"I beg your pardon?"

**My mother...Martha, he amended when he saw Lillian frown. **After she found me, Martha read me a book called 'Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good Very Bad Day.' She didn't have any children's books in the house except that one and only because dad...that is, Jonathan, had bought it for her as a joke when she was having a really bad week. She says I pointed to the little boy in the picture then pointed to myself because I was having a similar day.

"How ironic." Lillian tilted her head in amusement, then poured herself some scotch.

**I want your word.

"My word? My word on what?"

**I want your word that you'll leave them alone. That as of today, they don't exist.

"Really now, Alexander--"

**YOUR WORD!

She closed the distance between them, but Alex refused to flinch. He simply kept his gaze steady as she searched his face.

"And you'll stay willingly?"

He nodded.

"Your word?"

**My word. He took a deep breath. **I just have to do one thing first.

"What thing?"

**Could I have a moment to myself?

She shook her head. "I'd rather--"

**Fine, he cut her off. **I'll do it here. Just don't touch me until I'm done.

"What?"

**Just. Don't--

"All right. All right." She raised one hand in a calming gesture.

Alex moved away from her and faced the bank of glass windows overlooking Metropolis. Taking a deep shuddering breath, he opened his pathway to Clark as quietly as he could.

**Alex! Alex! What's wrong? Clark immediately sent. **Something's wrong. Mama and daddy are crying. Please, Alex, tell me what's wrong? I'm so scared. What's wrong?

**Don't be scared, squirt. This is for the best. Alex swallowed hard.

**NOOOOOOOO! Clark screamed. **You swore you'd never leave me. You crossed your heart, Alex! We're soul mates. We're destined to be together for always. You swore it!!

**I know. Tears rolled down Alex's face unchecked. **I love you, Clark.

**No, you don't. You lied to me. You lied. I hate you, Alexander. I hate you! Please don't leave me.

**Forgive me, my love.

Alex broke the connection, and as he did, his world shattered into darkness.

"Lex, can you open your eyes?"

Lex moaned, his throat felt raspy and dry. "Wha--?"

"Can you open your eyes for me, Alexander?"

Lex blinked his eyes open to find four people standing around his bed. He frowned, when he realized he was in a hospital.

"Mother?"

Two redheaded women stepped forward. Each stopped hesitantly and looked uncertainly at the other.

"What happened?"

"You were in an accident, Lex."

"An accident?" Lex looked over at his mother. The worry in her eyes hurt him deeply. "Was anyone else hurt?"

Lillian took his hand. "The Kents' little boy, Clark, was hurt, too."

Lex blinked at the couple standing at the foot of his bed. "Was it my fault?"

The couple looked stricken and clutched at each other's hands.

"No, son," the blond-haired man said. "It wasn't your fault."

"Will your boy be okay?"

"Yes," the woman whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "He'll live. We've just been so worried about you."

"I'm okay," he whispered. "But I'm so tired. I feel like I've been ripped in half."

"Doctor?" his mother asked, and Lex could tell by her voice that she was scared.

"He'll be okay," the doctor assured everyone in the room. "He's going to need a lot of rest, but he should recover fully. Both boys should."

Lex hummed as he drifted off to sleep, happy that the Kents' boy would be okay. They seemed like such a nice couple.

"White stick you in Science, Smallville?"

Clark looked up at his co-conspirator in crime and grinned in chagrin. "Yeah, what did you get?"

Lois Lane sighed dramatically. "Education."

"Wow. He's really mad this time, isn't he?"

"He'll get over it. Eventually." She shrugged and sat on the corner of his desk, her long legs stretched out in front of her. "You'd think he'd be a little more forgiving considering the fact we blew the lid off the Vasquez cartel."

"He's letting us keep our jobs," Clark offered reasonably.

"Hell, we made national news, Kent."

"We were national news, Lois. There's a difference."

She waved her hands dismissively. "Our stories are running in every magazine, paper and news show on the planet. Circulation's up ten percent."

"And the only reason we're still breathing is the fact that Superman found us in time to keep us from being chopped into fish bait."

Lois sighed. "If he'd only been an hour earlier we could've avoided most of the property damage."

Clark returned her sigh. "If he'd been an hour later, we'd be doing our part for the ecology by being part of the food chain." Clark tapped several computer keys and pulled up his e-mail. "So how long are we stuck on these beats?"

For the first time, Lois looked concerned. "Until we break another story."

"Which is going to be impossible in Science and Education."

"There is that."

"Of course, it might not be all bad."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm choosing to look at our exile from the front page like a vacation. I think I can do a week or two without all the cloak and dagger stuff, and I can definitely do without someone trying to acquaint me with the bottom of Metropolis' tributary systems." Clark typed off a response to an e-mail and hit send.

"You can go ahead and rest on your laurels, Kent, but I've got a Pulitzer to win before I'm thirty." Lois stood and straightened her skirt.

"Oh? And once you win your Pulitzer, what will you do for an encore?"

"I've been thinking of applying for an investigative reporter position for CNN."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. With a Pulitzer, I can skip the research assistant stage and go straight to reporting. I'm thinking foreign correspondent has a nice ring. Don't you?"

Clark watched her rummage through the stacks of paper on her desk. "So where are you heading?"

"School board meeting."

"Where's the fire?"

She grinned in triumph as she held up a dictating unit. "You wouldn't believe the hot dens of iniquity these school boards are. Everyone just assumes they're boring, and on the surface they really are, but underneath the veneer they're all little Peyton Places."

"Lois, for Pete's sake..."

"I predict I'll be out of Education before you're off Science."

Clark turned his chair and raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that a challenge, Ms. Lane?"

She grinned cockily at him. "You up to it, vacation boy?"

"First story on the front page wins me what?"

Lois leaned forward and put one hand on each of the armrests of Clark's chair, her face inches away from his. "One evening with me doing whatever you want."

Clark swallowed hard. "That's pretty powerful incentive." He cleared his throat. "And if you win?"

She grinned saucily at him. "When I win, you'll do whatever I want for an evening."

"Sounds like the same thing."

She leaned further forward, just to watch the blush creep over his face. "No, it's about who's in control for the evening. Still game?"

Clark nodded.

"Good boy. Hope you like whipped cream." And with that, she was off.

"I have an appointment with Mr. Luthor." Clark gave his most winning smile to the officious Cadmus Lab receptionist.

The look she gave him in return was not amused. "I don't think so."

"I beg your pardon?" He frowned, straightening to his full height.

"One, Mr. Luthor doesn't make appointments. Two, it's a lab day and Mr. Luthor would never, ever, make an appointment on a lab day."

Clark flipped open his spiral notebook. "There must be some mistake. I spoke with Evelyn, and she said I could speak with Mr. Luthor at three o'clock today."

The receptionist closed her eyes and sighed softly, repeating Evelyn's name in quiet frustration. "I apologize, Mr...."

"Kent."

"Mr. Kent. You have to understand that--"

"DEFCON TWO. Two minutes. This is not a drill. DEFCON TWO. Two minutes." A metallic voice droned loudly over the intercom system.

The receptionist sighed again, then laughed under her breath. "Could my day get any better?" She pushed an large green button on her keyboard, and Clark watched in amazement as the computer flipped over and disappeared into the desk, until nothing remained but a flat surface.

"Ms...."

"Anderson. Come along with me, young man."

Clark wondered if he had fallen down Alice's rabbit hole. Ms. Anderson reached over the desk, grabbed his elbow and pushed him into a small closest behind her desk, then moved in behind him. No sooner was the door closed than a rumble shook the building.

"Ms. Anderson?"

"As I was explaining earlier," Ms. Anderson said in a brisk, efficient manner that belied the fact that her entire body was pressed tightly against his, "today is lab day and Mr. Luthor never makes appointments on lab days. Evelyn is a sweet woman, but she's seventy years old. She should have retired years ago, but she wants to work and Mr. Luthor will not force her retirement, although she's not supposed to answer the phones anymore."

A siren whooped twice in the background. Ms. Anderson's hand reached behind her and opened the door. "If you're interested in the facilities, I suggest you go to our website at www.Cadmuslabs.com/." She then took him by the elbow again and escorted him to the front door of the lobby. "If you still have questions, I suggest you contact Mr. Sessel in our Public Relations Department. You can find his phone number on the website."

Before Clark could absorb everything she said, she was gone and he was standing outside by himself.

"What in the hell is going on here?" he murmured to himself.

Sitting on the hood of his red Saturn, Clark held his cell phone away from his ear while Mathers' laughter exploded over the line.

"Hee. I'm sorry, Kent," the reporter said, trying to sound serious but failing miserably. "But interviewing Lex Luthor is the journalistic equivalent of hunting snipe."

"You mean he doesn't exist?"

"No, he exists," Mathers said in a more sober tone, "but he's like Howard Hughes. No one ever sees him."

"What can you tell me about him, Jake?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously."

"Why?"

"Because White said, 'Go interview Luthor or something'."

"Ah, that's right, the dream team is being exiled to the outer departments while the owners of the paper deal with the lawsuits."

"It's not that bad."

Mathers snorted.

"Is it?"

"Depends. Was he serious?"

Clark frowned. "Well, he said it sort of glibly, for White, that is."

"I think he just wanted you out of his hair."

"Probably."

"Of course, if you land an interview with Luthor, you could name your price with any news organization in the country."

"You're kidding."

"What? Are you yanking my chain, Kent?"

"What do you mean? Who is this guy anyway?"

"Have you been living in a cave or something, kid?"

"Jake," Clark growled.

"Hey, it's no skin off my nose." Clark could hear Mathers typing in the background. "Alexander Joseph Luthor, son of Lionel and Lillian Luthor. Graduated from Harvard when he was nineteen years old. He has master's degrees in a half-dozen different fields. There are rumors that he's in the same brain league as Hawking."

"Wait. Luthor. Lillian Luthor. The socialite?"

"One and the same. Who would have figured a rich brat could make his way to the top by hard work? Mama Luthor loves glorying in his accomplishments, but hates that he won't work under his father's tutelage. His parents gave him Cadmus when he was twenty-one and he's turned it into one of the most profitable laboratories on the planet. He has something like twenty medical patents and dabbles in everything from genetics to lasers. He's so successful that his parents have tried to take Cadmus back several times, but he's managed to fight them off each time."

"They tried to take it back?"

"It's all about control, Kent."

"Why is he such a recluse?"

"No one knows. Everything about the man is a mystery. His teen years are a complete blank. He was a normal rich kid until the age of nine, but then completely disappeared off the radar scope for about seven years. When he surfaced again, he was completely bald. There are all sorts of rumors about how that happened, everything from he was in a coma after an accident, to being in a boarding school in Europe, to my personal favorite, his being kidnapped by aliens."

"What?"

"How else are you going to account for a thirty-year-old super brain?" Mathers chuckled, although there was a certain defensiveness to his tone.

"Is he seeing anyone?"

"No. Rumor has it that he refuses to give his parents a hostage to use against him in their ongoing war."

"I don't understand."

"Kent, do you actually ever read the Planet?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means the Luthors make the marriage of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine seem calm in comparison. The only thing the Luthors lack are heirs willing to kill each other for the family fortune. In fact, they seem rather disappointed that their only son lacks their bloodthirstiness."

"Man, that sounds rough."

"He's richer than God, Kent. You're not going to see me weeping because the man refuses to date."

Clark rubbed his eyebrows with his left hand.

"So what are you going to do?" Mathers asked when Clark remained silent.

"I'm going to get an interview with Luthor."

"Kent, even Superman couldn't get an interview with Lex Luthor."

Clark spent the next two days carefully examining the comings and goings around Cadmus Labs. Using his x-ray vision, he found that in addition to the three levels above ground, there were another twelve beneath the surface. The complex was staggeringly huge and employed thousands of scientists and clerical staff. The labs also supported one of the best equipped fire/emergency stations Clark had ever seen.

After forty-eight hours and with a little help from the Fortress' AI, Clark figured out where Luthor's office and main lab were located, but Mathers had been correct. Even Superman couldn't get inside without destroying half the building.

Clark was beginning to despair that he might never get out of Science, let alone beat Lois with a front page story, when the figure he had been monitoring moved through the building toward the parking lot. The man who stepped outside was attired entirely in black.

Before Clark could speculate about the man's wardrobe, the figure took three running steps and launched himself into the sky. Clark shook his head and rubbed his eyes, knowing there was no way he was seeing what he was seeing, then chuckled to himself.

"Looks like Mathers was closer to the truth than he realized."

Clark rose into the air, following the figure at a discreet distance. It was only when he focused his hearing on Luthor that he heard the whisper-soft hum of a motor. So, Luthor wasn't an alien after all.

For some reason that thought comforted him. He snorted in amusement. "As if two aliens on the planet would be too many."

Luthor flew straight to LuthorCorp, but instead of heading for the roof or landing in front of the building as Clark expected him to do, Luthor floated upward and leveled out on the thirty-second floor. Clark watched in fascination as Luthor managed to remove the glass from its moorings then secure it to the outside of the building.

Even at a distance, he had no trouble spotting the heat sensors and wondered how long it would take before the building's security was activated. He watched in awe as Luthor floated across the floor, easily evading the laser beam alarms.

While Clark might not have known anything about Lex Luthor, everyone knew about the famous Luthor vault. It was said to be impenetrable. There were wild rumors that Lionel Luthor didn't trust banks and that all of his funds were stored in the vault, while others speculated that it housed the bodies of Lillian's enemies. Whatever secrets it guarded so closely were now open to the world.

Clark gaped as Luthor floated inside the vault. It didn't make any sense. Why would a Luthor break into his own vault?

Less than thirty seconds later, Luthor was back out, putting everything back exactly as it was.

His research revealed that the Luthors had a reputation for being cutthroat and ruthless, especially with each other, but petty theft?

The Superman part of his persona wanted to swoop down on Luthor and haul him to jail, but the reporter in him wanted to see how the story played out.

He followed Luthor as he zipped across town. Luthor touched down outside a Buddhist temple, pulled what appeared to be a giant ruby from his pocket and placed it in a small bowl by the front door. He sounded the door gong before launching himself into the air again.

Clark was torn between following Luthor and watching the drama unfold below him. An elderly monk opened the door and looked around expectantly. His gaze dropped to the bowl and spotted the red stone. The joyous cry which issued from the monk's lips was more than a man realizing he had come into a fortune. It was as if he had found something that had been lost, something precious.

Other monks came streaming out of the monastery and the old man's joy spread until the night rang with laughter.

Clark turned in midair and headed back toward Cadmus Labs, careful not to overtake his quarry, while he tried to puzzle out what he had just witnessed.

Was Lex Luthor a high-tech burglar or a modern day Robin Hood? Had he just witnessed a 'steal from the rich, give to the poor' scenario, or was it more complex than that? What motivated a known recluse to venture out of his safe haven to steal from his parents?

Curiouser and curiouser.

"Sacred Stone Returned to Buddhist Temple," Lois read aloud in an appreciative, if slightly jealous tone, then tossed the paper onto Clark's desk. "Not front page, but front of the Metropolitan section. You're making me nervous here, Smallville."

Clark tried giving her a shark grin, but based on her snort, knew he had failed miserably. "As well you should be. It's only a matter of time before you'll be spending an evening cleaning my bathtub."

"What?" She whapped him on the arm when she caught his mischievous grin. "And here I was going to--"

"Sure you were."

"It could happen."

Clark sighed softly. "Not while Superman's around."

"I'm sorry, Smallville," Lois apologized, sounding truly contrite.

"It has to be the Lycra."

"Kent, I don't think...oh, you!" She whacked him again when he laughed at her.

"Hey, watch it. I bruise easily."

She walked around to her desk and picked up her coffee mug. "You suck." Her tone made her statement playful.

"Yes, yes I do," Clark responded suggestively, just to watch her try not to exhale coffee through her nose. He struggled to maintain his innocent expression once she stopped gagging.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she let the comment go. Clark knew, however, that Lois was all about payback. He was going to have to watch himself for the next couple of days while she lay in wait to zing him.

"But seriously, Smallville, good job on the story."

"Thanks, Lois."

"If you keep this up, I'm going to start worrying that you don't need me."

"As if. You're the best partner a reporter could have."

"Okay, you're forgiven." She grinned brightly at him. "So where are you on getting the Luthor interview?"

"Who said I was trying to interview Luthor?"

Lois rolled her eyes in an 'oh please' gesture. Clark made a mental note to tie Mathers in a knot the next time he saw him.

"I haven't gotten past security yet. I've been trying to outwait him, but the man rarely leaves his labs."

Lois nodded knowingly. "Rumor has it he never leaves them." Before Clark could speak, she added, "Just let me know if you need help with any covert ops stuff. Okay?"

Clark bit the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing, and just nodded appreciatively.

Even though it was two o'clock in the morning, Clark sat in an old oak tree that bordered the labs' property and contemplated the mystery that was Lex Luthor.

Talking with the monks had been enlightening, and not in the normal spiritual way. They had been more than willing to share the story of their good fortune. The ruby had been placed in their care for safe keeping because it was said to have many mystical properties. They had loaned it to the Metropolis Museum as part of a display on rituals. However, when the monks went to collect the gem, they had discovered it had been replaced by a fake. They hadn't been aware that anyone even knew about their misfortune. They had remained silent about their loss because they hadn't wanted to bring shame to the museum.

In the week that Clark had been watching Cadmus Labs, he had followed Luthor on two more forays. Each time, he broke into a LuthorCorp holding, leaving no evidence of his entry. He never kept the items he took, so it didn't appear he was breaking and entering for personal gain.

It was almost as if he was righting various wrongs that had been committed in his family's name.

While Luthor was most definitely breaking the law, Clark couldn't bring himself to out the scientist or even take him into custody. The grayness in which Luthor seemed to be operating confused Clark. He appeared to be doing right by doing wrong.

Before Clark could dwell on the enigma any more, Luthor burst out a side door and immediately launched himself into the air. Clark was so startled by the suddenness of the leap that it took him several seconds to get untangled from the tree in order to follow. Luthor always approached each expedition in a calm, calculating fashion, as if he had planned every detail to the nth degree. However, there was nothing calm about his demeanor at the moment and Clark wondered what could have precipitated such desperate activity from the recluse.

"Come on. Come on. Come on," he could hear the man muttering to himself as he pushed the mechanical limits of his equipment.

Clark followed him to the roof of Anzel Labs, a competing laboratory that specialized in genetics and brain function. As soon as Luthor touched down, he shrugged out of his overcoat and raced toward the stairwell door, lasering the lock open with what looked like a small gun.

Clark hovered, unsure what to do. In the past, all of Luthor's thefts had dealt with his family's holdings. There was nothing to indicate that Anzel Labs was connected to Cadmus in any way other than competition.

Why would Luthor be so calm when dealing with family thefts, yet so reckless when dealing with outside sources? It didn't make any sense.

Sighing, Clark changed into his costume in a blink of an eye and prepared to bring the situation to a halt. While journalistic curiosity had prevented him from acting earlier, he could not in good conscience allow Luthor to destroy or steal property that didn't belong to him.

His decision had barely been made when Luthor burst from the stairwell, carrying what appeared to be a child in his arms. The scientist raced toward his dropped coat, but security agents were already pouring through the door after them.

"Lex!" the child shouted in warning.

Clark watched as Luthor seemed to find a burst of energy from within himself as he scooped up the coat and sprinted behind a large air-conditioning unit. Never releasing the child, the scientist shrugged on his coat and secured the child to his chest while watching the advance of the approaching guards.

"Hurry," the boy whispered, trying not to cry.

"Hang on," Lex murmured, then sprinted toward the ledge of the building.

A shot pierced the night, knocking Luthor to his knees, but he quickly scrambled to his feet and ducked for cover behind another looming metal apparatus. Clark could see Luthor fiddling with several wires in his coat.

"Crap."

"What?"

"We're grounded, kid."

"PUT THE CHILD DOWN AND COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!" the lead security officer shouted.

Luthor responded by shooting his laser several times in their general direction. Clark noticed that while the security agents ducked for cover, Luthor had never actually gotten anywhere close to hitting them, which seemed deliberate.

"What are we going to do?" the boy asked softly, almost in resignation.

"Give me a moment."

"When's your backup going to get here?"

"Backup?"

"Lex, tell me you brought backup," the boy said in an amused, but aggrieved voice.

"I didn't have time to call for backup."

The boy laughed, despite their situation.

Luthor chuckled, hugged the boy gently, then asked conversationally, "So, got any ideas?"

"Please don't give me back," the boy whispered, suddenly serious.

"That's not even an option, Ryan. I've already failed you once; I'm not going to do it again."

"You didn't fail me."

"ALL WE WANT IS THE BOY!" a security agent shouted.

"Lex, it wasn't your fault."

"You know, my mother always wanted me to make a big splash in Metropolis," Luthor said softly, his gaze intently meeting the boy's.

The boy looked confused for a moment. There was a flash of fear, then understanding and acceptance. "You know, Warrior Angel and Tommy did the same thing in issue seventy-one."

"I know."

Clark watched Luthor swallow hard. It was obvious they had reached some sort of mutually acceptable plan. While he had never read any Warrior Angel comics and didn't have a clue as to what they intended to do, he had a sinking feeling it was going to be something desperate.

The boy buried his face in Lex's neck and hugged him tight. "I knew you'd come for me, Lex."

"I will always come for you, Ryan. Always." Luthor returned the hug.

"Love you."

"Back at you, squirt." Luthor took a deep breath. "Ready?"

"Do it."

Luthor raced for ledge, and Clark gasped as the scientist leapt over the concrete barrier into the night sky.

"What the--" Clark swooped down and caught the freefalling pair.

Luthor grunted at the impact and both he and the boy looked at Clark with wide, surprised eyes.

"Superman!" Ryan laughed. "Too cool."

"Please," Luthor begged in a harsh whisper. "I'll face whatever consequence you see fit, just don't take the boy back."

Ryan's laughter died in his throat and he looked at Clark with terrified eyes. Clark was shocked by the fear he found in the boy's gaze. He was used to seeing gratitude, relief, or even alarm at his presence, but not soul-crushing terror.

"We need to talk," Clark said solemnly.

Both Luthor and the boy nodded, then remained silent during the rest of the trip as Clark flew them to a small, rarely used park he knew about on the outskirts of Metropolis.

"Want to tell me what's going on?" Clark watched Luthor unfasten the boy from his chest and gently set him on the ground. He was surprised when the scientist didn't immediately launch into an explanation.

"It's okay, Lex," the boy whispered. "It's Superman."

The scientist didn't seem overly impressed. Instead, he turned slightly and raised an eyebrow at the boy.

The boy shook his head. "Not a thing," he whispered to some unspoken question.

"Nothing?" Luthor seemed genuinely surprised.

"Absolutely nothing."

"Well, that puts us at a certain disadvantage, doesn't it?"

"But, Lex." The boy's whine bordered on petulant. "It's Superman. You know, 'truth'--" He trailed to a stop under Luthor's steady gaze.

The scientist turned and faced Clark, raising one eyebrow. "Justice?"

"And the American way," Clark finished, trying really hard not to smile, knowing it would be highly inappropriate given their situation, yet struggling not to give into the urge.

"Besides, who better to keep a secret?" Ryan added quietly, slipping his hand into the scientist's and looking adoringly at Clark.

Luthor snorted with amusement. "Care for a little quid pro quo, Superman?"

"Sure." Clark squatted in front of Ryan. "I really don't like broccoli."

Ryan threw his head back and hooted with laughter. "I knew it. No one likes broccoli."

"Hey, I like it," Luthor said defensively.

"Loser." Ryan threw his friend a wicked grin, which made the scientist chuckle.

"What's your name?" Clark asked, even though he knew the boy's first name.

"I'm Ryan. Ryan James."

"Pleased to meet you, Ryan James." Clark held out his hand, grinning when the boy shook it enthusiastically.

Clark stood and raised an expectant eyebrow at the scientist.

"What's your name?" Luthor challenged.

"Hey, I admitted my dislike for broccoli," Clark said, trying not to sound defensive.

"Which got you Ryan's name," the scientist retorted coolly.

Clark was beginning to wonder if he'd met his match in the man standing before him. "Kal-El."

"Alexander Luthor. You can call me Lex."

"Wow," Ryan whispered in awe. He raised his hand and tentatively touched the air above their joint grip. "Do you guys feel that?"

"Feel what?" Clark asked as he withdrew his hand.

"The energy. The colors. They swirled and meshed. Man, that was cool. Do it again," the boy said enthusiastically, motioning for them to hold hands again.

"Ryan," Lex said softly.

The boy quieted, but his gaze bounced happily back and forth between the two men.

Clark raised an eyebrow at the scientist.

"Go on, Lex. It's okay," Ryan encouraged softly, nudging the scientist with his shoulder.

"How can we be sure? I trusted--"

"It's okay. He's nothing like her. You know he's not."

"All right." Lex sighed softly, then without preamble simply stated, "Ryan has a brain tumor."

Clark blinked once, stunned by the revelation and unsure of the best way to deal with such a statement. "I'm so sorry."

Ryan leaned into Lex's side, but remained silent.

"Is it operable?"

Both Ryan and Lex shook their heads.

"One of the purported side effects of this type of primary tumor is telepathy." Lex's gaze locked onto Clark's. "As a result, there are some who would like a chance to study the phenomena before the opportunity is forever lost."

Clark opened his mouth to speak, but Ryan cut him off. "Not Lex. He arranged to have me live in Florida, near the dolphins."

"I thought I had hidden him so deeply that he was completely safe, that he'd never have to worry about the horrors of a lab."

"But?" Clark prompted when the scientist remained silent, obviously berating himself for his failure.

"Ryan was kidnapped almost three weeks ago. Tonight was the first time I had any idea where he was."

"I escaped and got to a phone," Ryan said proudly.

"Which explains the poor rescue planning," Clark said, finally understanding Lex's hectic departure from Cadmus Labs.

Lex rolled his gaze heavenward. "Everyone's a critic."

"So now what?" Ryan asked, fear once again creeping into his voice.

"This time we hide deep." Lex knelt beside the boy. "I'm not trusting your fate this time to anyone else."

The boy launched himself at the scientist, hugging him tightly. "Where will we go?" the boy asked in a whisper, not lifting his head from Lex's shoulder.

"I know a safe place," Clark offered.

"So how do we know we can trust this--"

"Clark Kent." Clark opened the door and ushered the two fugitives into his apartment, briefly wondering if he'd ever get over the slightly schizophrenic feeling of having to talk about himself in the third person.

"This Clark Kent?"

Clark shut the door behind them. "He's very good at keeping secrets."

"I thought you said he was a reporter."

"For the 'Planet,' not the `Inquisitor'."

Lex turned and raised a curious eyebrow at Clark.

Clark sighed softly. "He's kept my secret safe for years."

"Really?"

"Cross my heart." Clark winked down at Ryan, who was leaning wearily against Lex's side.

Lex looked around the small apartment, then down at his watch. "Isn't he home?"

Clark made a big show of looking around the apartment like he was using his x-ray vision. "No. He must be at a friend's. I'll go find him."

"Kal-El, wait."

"Yes?"

"Is there somewhere Ryan could rest?"

"Yes, of course," Clark said, ashamed of himself for not realizing how tired the boy was. He walked to the bedroom door and opened it. "In here."

Lex carried the boy over the threshold and to the bed. "Are you sure Kent won't mind?"

"He won't. Trust me. Please," Clark added as an afterthought.

Lex remained silent as he removed Ryan's shoes and belt, then took the well-worn quilt at the bottom of the bed and tucked it around the boy who was already sleeping. He gently pressed the back of his fingers to Ryan's cheek and smiled tenderly as the boy unconsciously leaned into the touch.

Lex shot Clark a grateful look as he removed his hand and tiptoed into the main room.

"You should try to grab some sleep," he told Lex as he pulled the door closed behind him.

"Maybe. Once I've talked to Kent."

Clark nodded and headed for the fire escape. "I'll go get him."

"Kal-El?"

Clark stopped, halfway out the window. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

Clark smiled. "You're welcome."

"Mr. Luthor. Mr. Luthor." Clark gently shook the dozing scientist.

"Yes?" Lex answered, sounding wide awake, even though it took him several moments to actually open his eyes. "Where am I?"

Clark tried really hard not to sound amused. "You're in my apartment."

Fingers clenched into the stuffed chair's armrests. "You're Kent?"

"Yes, sir."

Lex shook his head. "Not `sir'. Lex."

"Would you like some coffee, Lex?"

The scientist nodded then absently rubbed both hands over his scalp.

Clark moved into the kitchenette and removed two mugs from the cupboard while he waited for the coffee maker to switch off. He turned to face his guest when he felt Lex standing silently behind him.

Noticing how tired the older man looked, Clark asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Unsettled."

"Why?"

Hesitating slightly, Lex finally said, "I know we're imposing on you, but at the moment we have nowhere else to go."

"You're not--"

Lex cut him off with a wave of his hand. "We're both men of the world, Mr. Kent. I know you're a reporter, and we both know that you've just had a national story handed to you on a silver platter. I know all about journalistic integrity and the public's right to know, but I'm asking you, man to man, to allow me to spend Ryan's last few days by his side. After that, I'll give you your exclusive and face whatever punishment Kal-El deems necessary."

Clark took in the despair on the scientist's face. "So there's no hope?"

"The tumor has penetrated the brain tissue on a microcellular level. There's no way to pull it out without destroying his brain in the process."

Clark felt a sadness welling up from within his soul, knowing that as advanced as the AI was that Ryan's condition was even beyond its capabilities. "I'm sorry."

Lex swallowed hard. "Do we have a deal, Mr. Kent?"

"Clark."

"Do we have a deal, Clark?"

"I don't think Sup...that is Kal-El, has any intention of turning you over to the authorities, Lex. It's pretty evident what you're doing."

Lex closed his eyes, although Clark wouldn't say in relief, but he also couldn't name the emotion that seemed to be radiating from the older man. When Lex opened his eyes, his gaze pierced Clark as if he somehow had the ability to glimpse his soul.

"And you?"

"My story can wait," he answered simply. He turned and poured the coffee into the two waiting mugs, then handed one to Lex. "Sugar or cream?"

Lex shook his head. "I'm afraid Kal-El has put you in a great deal of danger by bringing us here, and for that I apologize."

"Danger?"

"She'll never stop looking for us."

"She?"

Lex let out a long sigh. "My mother."

"What? Are you saying your mother kidnapped Ryan?"

"Oversimplifying the answer--yes."

"Why?"

A look of pain shadowed the blue eyes. "Because she can. Because she wants to use Ryan to make me toe the line, to control me like she controls my father. Because she'd be powerful beyond all understanding if she could read her enemies' thoughts. Do you really want the full laundry list?"

Clark shook his head, horrified by the very idea that a mother could act so cruelly against her own child, let alone a dying innocent.

"I don't have any money on me," Lex said, breaking through Clark's thoughts. "If I attempt to make any sort of withdrawal..."

"She'll know."

"Instantly."

"Don't worry about money. I have a plan."

"A plan?"

"Yes, and it's foolproof."

"Suddenly, I'm very nervous." While the line was spoken drolly, Clark could hardly miss the amusement radiating from Lex's eyes.

"Ryan?" Clark yawned and tried to blink himself awake when he noticed the boy fidgeting nervously in the stuffed chair across from him.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Clark asked, confused.

"I didn't know. I just...I swear I won't tell anyone. Not even Lex."

Clark felt his stomach clench in fear. "You read my mind?"

The boy shook his head, growing even more distressed. "No. I can't...I can't read you. I couldn't read Sup...you earlier, either. I wasn't sure. I mean, who would have guessed it? But your colors are exactly the same, and I've never seen colors like those before."

"It's okay, Ryan," Clark said softly. He straightened in his chair and held his hand toward the boy. Ryan moved closer, and Clark lifted the boy onto his lap. "But you understand why it's a secret?"

The boy nodded solemnly, his eyes squinting slightly in pain.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's kind of loud in here, but I'm doing okay." Ryan smiled when he saw Clark's frown of confusion. "I can hear everyone in the building," he confessed in a whisper.

"I'm sorry." Clark considered how frightening it must be for a child to be able to hear all the dark thoughts of everyone in his vicinity.

"It's okay." Ryan patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Lex has taught me a lot of different ways to block out most of it."

"You two seem pretty close."

"He's the best." Ryan's eyes grew big in excitement. "Did you know he has two copies of every single Warrior Angel issue ever printed?"

"Is that so? Sounds pretty cool." Clark grinned and thought the tidbit added an intriguing dimension to an already eccentric, billionaire, uber-techno-geek scientist, who attracted him more than he wanted to admit, even to himself.

"How'd you two meet?"

Ryan lost his smile and frowned. "My stepdad kidnapped him and tried to force me to read his mind to get the passwords for his Swiss accounts."

"That sounds pretty scary."

"It was, especially when the police came. But Lex wouldn't let them take me. He said he didn't want me to go into foster care. He was afraid people would take advantage of me. I lived with him for a while at the labs." He hastened his explanation when Clark frowned at him. "He didn't experiment on me or anything, Clark. It was actually a lot of fun, until I kept having nose bleeds and migraines. When he found the tumor, he did everything he could to cure me...but..."

"I'm so sorry, Ryan."

The boy shrugged, and it broke Clark's heart to realize that one so young could be so fatalistic. "Anyway, he hired a nanny and moved me to Florida."

"With the dolphins."

Ryan grinned. "Yeah, they were supremely cool. He was getting ready to come down and visit when..."

"You were kidnapped?"

"Yeah." The boy remained silent for nearly a full minute. "He's scared of her, you know?"

Clark didn't have to ask who she was. "Well, she sounds pretty scary."

Ryan shook his head. "No. I didn't say that right. He's scared of what she can do. I think...I think..."

"You think what?" Clark gently prompted when the boy hesitated.

"I think she's the one responsible for breaking him."

Clark started. "What do you mean 'breaking' him?"

"You can see it in his colors. There's a huge hole surrounding him. It's not natural."

"I don't understand," Clark said quietly.

"I'm not sure I do either," the boy admitted. "It's like half his soul is missing."

"That doesn't sound good." Clark wondered what sort of implications there were to missing half one's soul.

"Does it hurt?" Ryan asked softly.

"Does what hurt?"

"Missing part of your soul."

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you have a big hole, too."

"I do?"

Ryan nodded. "His mind is quiet, sort of like yours," Ryan continued. "I can tell he's always thinking, but he does it behind a wall somehow so it doesn't hurt me."

"A wall?" Clark frowned.

The boy nodded. "At first I thought he was protecting himself, but after he met me he tried to bring me behind the wall."

"How could he do something like that?"

"I don't know. I just remember his mind was really loud so I couldn't stay. While I was in there, I realized he'd lost someone really, really important to him, someone I remind him of, but he's buried the loss so deep within himself that he probably doesn't even remember who the boy is. The pain..." The boy swallowed hard. "The pain is awful...what he carries inside."

"Hey, it's okay, buddy." Clark hugged the child, trying to reassure him.

"He blamed himself for hurting me. He didn't though. He didn't." The boy sniffed. "He's been so great. I just wish I could heal him." Ryan straightened suddenly and twisted in Clark's lap so they were sitting face-to-face. "I bet you could heal him."

Clark chuckled nervously. "What do you mean?"

"When you two shook hands, your colors got all mixed together. Like neither one of you had any holes. His colors have never mixed with any one else's before. That's just got to mean something."

Clark hummed to himself in thought, then smiled at Ryan. "It probably does, but why don't we worry about fixing dinner first, then we'll worry about mixing colors. Okay?"

"Okay!" Ryan jumped off his lap and hopped toward the kitchen.

Clark chuckled. Children were incredibly resilient; however, as he looked back toward his room, he was surprised by the pain he felt in his chest for a lonely scientist who stood to lose everything important in his life for the sake of one child. Who protected the protector? Who could possibly make him whole?

"And just what's wrong with spaghetti?" Clark asked in amusement as he cracked the hard noodles into the boiling water.

"Luthors," Ryan placed one hand over his chest and said with as much dignity as he could muster, "do not eat spaghetti."

"They don't?"

Ryan tittered. "Nope. They eat--"

"Linguini with marinara sauce," a warm voice finished for him.

Clark twisted to find Lex leaning on the doorframe behind them with a knowing grin on his face. Donning his best hick accent, Clark said, "Well golly, Mr. Luthor, sir, all we has here is fat noodles and Ragu."

"Infidel."

Ryan laughed loudly, then pointed to the Ragu jar. "Look Lex, we really are having Ragu."

Lex made a big production of frowning, then walked toward the counter to inspect the jar more closely. "Well, I did say that living with me would be an adventure."

"All right, you two, break it up." Clark reached over Ryan's head and plucked the jar out of Lex's hand, which only made the boy squeal with laughter. "Just for that, you two get to make the garlic bread while I go make a phone call."

Clark set the glass jar on the counter. "I'll be right back," he said as he turned and moved toward his bedroom.

He chuckled to himself when he heard Ryan ask in the background, "So what do Luthors call garlic bread?"

Picking up the phone, he hit the speed dial and walked to the window.

"Lane."

Cool, crisp, efficient, as always. Clark could hear his partner typing furiously and could easily picture her in front of the computer monitor, phone trapped between her ear and shoulder, three Styrofoam cups of cold coffee on her desk and her indecipherable notes lay out in front of her. He once, on a whim, had the AI try to break her code, but had had to put a halt to its decryption analysis due to the machine's growing crankiness.

"So how's Peyton Place?"

"Smallville, where the hell are you?"

"I'm getting ready to head out of town."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Mom was sounding stoic again."

Lois made sympathetic noises. "Do you think it's bad?"

"I won't know until I get out there."

"So you'll be back on Monday?"

"I plan on it." He paused briefly. "I'm not leaving you in a lurch or anything, am I?"

"Nope, although I am getting pretty close to popping the board. You better watch out. I'm going to grab the front page while you're off communing in the wilds of Kansas."

Clark chuckled. "I guess that's a chance I'll have to take." He frowned as a thought occurred to him. "Seriously though, Lois. If you need backup, take Jimmy."

Lois stopped typing for a moment. "You're too cute, Kent."

Clark sighed. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. You do tend to get into trouble when you're on your own. Superman might not always be there to rescue you."

"Says the man I've had to rescue...how many times?"

"I thought we agreed not to keep track anymore."

Lois chuckled and began typing again. "So how's the Luthor interview going?"

"It's not. Cadmus is a fortress, and Luthor never comes out. I figured I could use my time on the farm to come up with a fresh approach for Monday."

"Hey, if this lead pans out, maybe White will let me off Education and I can help you land him."

"I just want an interview, Lois, I don't want to infiltrate the lab."

"You're such a goody-goody, Smallville."

"Yeah, whatever. See you Monday, and don't forget to take Jimmy with you."

"I will. And hey, be sure to bring back some of your mom's cookies."

"You know she'll send a batch just for you."

"Have I ever told you how much I love your mom?"

"Yes, every time I go home on a cookie run. Bye now."

The grin on Clark's face wavered when he turned and found Lex standing in the doorway. Clark brought the headset up to his ear to make sure the connection had been broken then dropped it back into the cradle.

"I'm sorry," Lex said quietly, and Clark was surprised to see that he really did appear apologetic. "I had to--"

"Be sure," Clark finished for him.

Lex looked over his shoulder and into the kitchen before he looked back at Clark. "I can't risk him. Not again."

"I can appreciate that, but you have to understand that I'm not going to betray you or Ryan."

"Why?"

Clark frowned. "Because friends don't betray friends."

Lex's huff of amusement spoke volumes to Clark about life as a Luthor. "Are we really friends now, Clark?"

"I'd like to be, if you'd let me."

"Why?" Lex whispered again.

"Because I think you could really use one about now."

"And because there's an exclusive in it for you at the end?"

An angry retort practically jumped from Clark's lips, but the naked vulnerability in Lex's eyes made him keep the comment to himself. "Yeah," he said softly, "there's always the exclusive to think about." He pointed to the room behind Lex. "What do you say we go see how Ryan's doing?"

Lex hesitated in the doorway like he wanted to say something, but then simply nodded and turned.

"So, just what do Luthors call garlic bread?"

"Is he asleep?" Clark ask in a low voice when Lex looked over his shoulder into the back seat.

"Yes, he seems to be."

Checking his speed, Clark lightened the pressure on the gas pedal. "Is that normal? His sleeping so much?"

"Yes."

Clark dropped his volume down another level. "Does he have much time left?"

Lex shook his head, but remained silent.

"Does he know?"

"Yes."

"How much longer does he have?"

Lex swallowed hard, his gaze dropping to his lap. "Frankly, I'm surprised he's still here. When I was preparing to go to Florida, the specialist predicted he only had about two weeks left."

"And we're at, what, three now?"

"He's a scrapper," Lex said with quiet pride.

"He hung on because he knew you'd rescue him." Clark's gaze darted off the road for a moment to look at his passenger.

"Some rescue."

"Hey, he's here. He's alive. He's free. What more do you want?"

Lex shook his head, but didn't say anything.

"No, really, look at it from his point of view," Clark said earnestly, his eyes never leaving the road in front of them. "His best friend in the whole world breaks into a high security facility and rescues him, using a laser, no less. When your escape route is cut off, you do a Louganis over the side of the building rather than give him back to the people who were hurting him, showing him how much he means to you. And to top it off, you all were rescued by Superman. As far as little boys' fantasies go, you pulled off a 9.6, my friend."

"A 9.6?" Lex turned in his seat and raised an eyebrow at Clark.

"The German judge took points off for your sloppy freestyle dive."

The smile Lex graced him with practically lit up the car. "Damn Germans."

They drove for several minutes in silence before Lex spoke again. "Clark?"

"Yeah."

"You seem pretty tight with Kal-El."

"I guess you could say that."

"When...when Ryan's time comes...would Kal-El be amenable...to taking him somewhere...somewhere he doesn't have to worry about his body being... desecrated?"

Clark swallowed hard. "Yeah, I think he'd be willing to do that for Ryan."

"Okay," was the quiet response.

"Should we take him to a hospital?"

Lex shook his head negatively. "No. We can't chance it. Besides, when it happens, it'll be relatively quick. Up until that time, he should be able to live a fairly normal life." Clark was stunned by weight of anguish in the other man's eyes. "I have to let him have that, Clark. He has to have that."

"He will, Lex. I swear it."

The silence that followed was heavy with grief and Clark worried about what would happen to the scientist once his ward passed away. "Lex?"

"Yes, Clark."

"What are you going to do...afterward?"

Lex let out a long slow breath, then looked over at Clark and smiled sadly. "I'll go home."

"Home? But I thought..."

"This is a game, Clark; at least to my parents, it is. I won this round. They won't give up until they know for sure I've won, but once they've accepted their defeat, they'll pat me on the back, tell me 'good game' and wait for the next challenge, where they'll use my win this time as an excuse to play even dirtier tricks."

"Jesus, Lex," Clark hissed. "Is that why you returned the ruby?"

Lex's voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "What?"

Clark sighed softly. "Is it any wonder why Lois calls me Smallville?"

"Clark?"

"Look, I'm not proud of myself, but I was staking out the labs."

"Why?"

"Because I was hoping to catch you for an interview. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get past your security, so I was hoping to catch you when you came out. Except you never did. Except really late at night. And when you did, you flew."

"So you--"

"Had Kal-El follow you."

"I see."

"Hey, don't be that way. It's a good thing he did. Isn't it?"

Lex remained silent.

Clark nervously squeezed the steering wheel. "So why'd you return the ruby?"

"Is this for your interview?" Lex asked, anger tingeing his voice.

"No, this is for me, so I know what we're up against."

Lex rubbed his hands over his face, then turned in his seat slightly, so his back was against the door and he was facing Clark. "Do you have any concept what it means to be a billionaire?"

"In what way?"

"In any way."

"I'm not sure what you're looking for here."

Lex snorted in amusement. "In a way, that's sort of my point. What would you do if you could have anything you ever dreamed of, buy whatever you could conceive of wanting, never had to wait or work or scrimp and save to have your heart's desire?"

"Sounds like I wouldn't necessarily appreciate what I had."

"Exactly. When you're that rich, you can buy and sell anything or anyone. And if you can't buy them, you can destroy them, by making every single thing in their life go wrong until they come crawling to you on their hands and knees begging for mercy."

"Shit," Clark whispered.

"You might try enlightenment, but basically you'll discover it's just the world's way of telling you not to have fun, of telling you to get rid of your worldly possessions, like that's ever going to happen. Then you might try mysticism because, hell, it's just cool. But after a while, you get bored. And while you're sitting around the club being bored off your ass, you note that there are others like you who are bored. And wouldn't it be fun to wipe that bored expression off their face or see if they can wipe it off yours?"

"And that's when the games start?"

"Exactly. It's like a huge chess game, except you're using real people and real property."

"Then you were--"

Lex cut off his line of questioning by shaking his head. "Sometimes the game goes too far."

"And they need a referee?"

Lex chuckled. "I like that analogy. Yeah, a referee of sorts."

"They don't know it's you, do they?"

"Not if I do it right."

"So why aren't you playing the game?" Clark glanced over briefly when Lex didn't immediately answer his question. "Lex?"

"Have you ever been walking down a path, blissfully unaware, and something happens? You trip, or you stop and look at a flower, and suddenly, you're out of step with the rest of humanity?"

"Yeah, sometimes."

"I remember sitting in my mother's lap while she rocked in this huge, ancient, wooden chair. She smelled faintly of apples and cinnamon. Her hair was the color of fire, and she used to drape it over my head like a blanket while I rested my cheek on her chest. I remember listening to her heart beat and her lungs filled with air. She told me that every person I'd meet would have a story, everyone would have worth, and that no one was better because they were prettier, or richer or healthier. She told me if I cared for those around me that I'd be richer than any king, and that it was my responsibility as a human being to do the right thing even if everyone else was doing wrong. That by my strength, my example, I could change the world."

"That's beautiful."

"Yeah," Lex said slowly, licking his lips nervously. "Except my mother doesn't own a rocking chair and while her hair is red, she's always kept it short."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know. It's like I was raised by completely different people, then thrust into an alien environment where nothing was what it seemed."

"Were you adopted?"

Lex shook his head. "I wish. No. I've run the DNA samples myself."

"What about--"

"My missing years?"

"You know, that's scary."

"What is?"

"Your ability to always know what I'm thinking."

Lex chuckled. "Sorry."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Because you're a cynical reporter."

"Well, there is that." Clark chuckled. "So what about the black hole of your childhood?"

Lex shrugged. "I don't know. My parents only refer to it as the `unfortunate incident.' Not really helpful in the putting-the-pieces-of-my-life-together arena."

"So my original assessment of you was correct."

"And that was?" Lex raised an amused eyebrow.

"You're a modern, ubergeeky, Robin Hood."

"Ah yes, mad scientist by day, super hero by night. Think Kal could take the competition?"

"Depends. How do you look in Spandex?"

Lex barked out in laughter then covered his mouth to stop the noise. He peeked over the seat and sighed in relief.

"Still asleep?"

Lex nodded. After a couple more minutes of silence, he said, "You know, I've never shared this with anyone before."

"Hey, that's what friends are for."

"So, we are friends?"

Clark smiled at him. "Yeah, I think we are."

"Mom? Dad?" Clark jogged up the stairs of his childhood home and frowned when no one answered his call. He moved quickly to the master bedroom, only to find it empty.

Lex stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Is everything okay?"

"What's today?" Clark asked in a loud voice, the beginnings of a memory tickling the back of his brain.

"The fourteenth. Why?"

Clark clambered down the steps. "I'm an idiot."

Lex grinned and raised his hands in amusement. "Far be it from me to disagree, but is there any significance to your being an idiot on the fourteenth?"

Clark playfully pushed Lex's shoulder and rolled his gaze heavenward. "It's their anniversary. Mom said they were going to New York for a couple of days to catch a Broadway show. They won't be back until Saturday."

"And this is a problem because..."

"Because I totally forgot to buy them a gift."

Lex grin grew wider. "I see."

Clark knelt in front of Ryan. "I think we'll set you up in my old room, if that's okay with you, buddy."

"Sounds great, Clark."

Picking the boy up, Clark grabbed a bag and turned toward Lex. "I'll get him settled. Why don't you make us some coffee?"

"Okay." Lex closed the distance between them and pressed a kiss to the boy's forehead. "Night, Ryan."

"Night, Lex."

Jogging down the stairs twenty minutes later, Clark was surprised to find his friend standing in the middle of the front room with his arms crossed protectively over his chest.

"Lex?"

The scientist gave no indication that he had heard Clark's query.

Clark moved to Lex's side and put his hand on Lex's shoulder. He was shocked by the haunted expression on the other man's face.

"What's wrong?" Clark demanded quietly, looking around the room for signs of an intruder.

"Have...have I ever been here before?" Lex asked, his barely-above-a-whisper voice quavering slightly.

It was on Clark's lips to give a flip answer, but the look in the frightened blue eyes stayed his jokes. "I don't think so. Why?"

"I...I...remember this place."

"How could you?"

Lex shook his head, his trembling becoming more noticeable with each passing moment. "There's a small room under the stairs. It's filled with blankets and linen."

"Yeah," Clark said slowly, skeptically.

"Your mom hides a pack of cigarettes on the top shelf in the back. She doesn't smoke anymore, but she likes knowing that they're there."

"How do you know that?" Clark asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"I don't know. But somehow I know there's an old quilt in the wicker trunk in front of the couch, one that smells like roses, and there's a children's book beneath it. Something of a family joke."

"Lex?"

Lex wheezed slightly like he was having trouble breathing as he turned to face Clark, his eyes pleading for answers.

"Lex, are you okay?"

"I...I've seen this place in my dreams."

"In your dreams?"

"I'm...loved here," he said with such longing that Clark ached for him.

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I."

"Let me go turn off the coffee maker and I'll take you upstairs and show you your room."

"I...I didn't make the coffee," Lex confessed in a whisper.

Clark smiled gently at Lex. "One less thing to worry about, then. Come on," he said encouragingly. When Lex remained rooted in place, Clark walked back, took his hand and led him up the stairs.

Opening the door to the master bedroom, Clark guided Lex to the bed. "I'll go down and get our supplies out of the car."

But before he reached the door, Lex called out quietly, "Clark?"

Clark turned and watched Lex nervously lick the scar on his upper lip. "Yeah, Lex?"

"Do you mind...staying with me for a bit?" Color immediately flooded his face. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I apologize for..."

Clark closed the distance between them and gently pushed Lex onto his back then reached down and pulled off his shoes. "Scoot over," he said firmly.

Lex did as instructed while Clark toed off his own shoes and crawled to the head of the bed.

"I..."

Clark shushed him and stroked Lex's scalp, gently massaging the skin beneath his fingers. It took several minutes for him to relax, but Clark knew the exact moment Lex finally drifted off to sleep.

What in the hell was going on, and why did it all seem so achingly familiar to him?

Clark knew, even before he opened his eyes, that Lex was watching him sleep.

"That bored?" he asked, focusing on the face only centimeters in front of his.

Lex shook his head, one side of his mouth curled up in a quirky smile, but he remained silent. Gratitude seemed to radiate from the scientist.

"You're welcome," Clark answered with a throaty murmur.

Lex blinked once, and his smile morphed from morning goofy into desire. But as quickly as the yearning had appeared, it disappeared. He looked everywhere except at Clark, and he twitched slightly like he was looking for a way to get off the bed.

Clark reached out and gently cupped his hand around the back of Lex's head. The scientist stilled instantly, although he wouldn't look at Clark.

"Tell me you don't feel this thing between us." Clark rolled forward, trapping Lex's hip under his.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Nice try." Clark's free hand ran down the length of Lex's body, feeling him tremble. "Want to try two out of three?"

"I don't know the first thing--"

Clark leaned over and cut Lex's protest off with a gentle kiss. "You know me," he murmured against the soft lips. "Don't deny it."

"I--"

Clark licked the sweet lips silent. Lex tried to protest but when he opened his mouth Clark filled it with his tongue. He continued the sensual assault until he felt Lex's resistance crumble. Lex moaned softly, his hands moving into Clark's hair as he deepened the kiss.

"You know me," Clark whispered above the slightly swollen lips when they broke for air.

Lex panted, his eyes half-closed with hunger. "I know you," he murmured, even as his mouth sought Clark's again.

Clark's hands explored Lex's slim body and he nibbled along his smooth chin and neck, reveling in his lover's responsiveness.

"Lex?" a voice queried out from the next room. "Can I get up now?"

Lex gasped softly and pushed Clark onto his back. "Yes, Ryan. I'll be right there."

Clark ran his fingers over Lex's body as he scrambled over Clark to get out of bed. Lex started for the door, then turned back to the bed and grabbed a bathrobe hanging over the foot railing, ignoring Clark's snort of amusement as he slipped it over his shoulders and tied the sash tight.

Clark watched Lex compose himself at the door, then head into the hallway.

Shaking his head, Clark wondered if he'd lost his mind, trying to seduce a fugitive in his parents' bedroom less than twenty-four hours after actually meeting the man. There were so many reasons why pursuing the relationship was a really bad idea, not the least being his connection with Lois, and yet every cell in his body screamed out for the person who had just slipped through the door. Nothing had ever felt so right in his entire life. The problem, Clark knew, wouldn't be dealing with his own feelings, but rather with the someone who had steel walls surrounding his heart, walls Clark wasn't sure even Superman could breach.

"So what's for breakfast?" Clark asked when he noticed Ryan sitting on the counter, anticipation practically glowing from his face.

The boy broke out a mischievous grin. "Frittatas."

"Fri...what?"

The boy giggled. "Heathen."

"Infidel," Lex murmured under his breath.

"Oh yeah." The boy giggled again. "Infidel," he said very pointedly to Clark.

Clark closed the distance between them and peeked over Lex's shoulder. "Why it t'ain't nuffin but a big ol' omelet," he said in a thick hick voice. He tickled the boy just to hear him squeal.

"Why don't you two set the table?" Lex suggested, looking over his shoulder and giving Clark a smoldering look.

"Come on, squirt." Clark lifted the boy off the counter and put him on the floor, then playfully nudged Lex with his hip as he reached for plates in the cupboard beside Lex's head. Lex flashed him a shy smile and it took all of Clark's willpower not to lean in and kiss him until Lex burnt his eggs.

Ryan carefully placed the silverware around the plates then stopped and looked up at Clark. "How are you doing it?" he asked softly, flashing a quick look toward Lex's back that told Clark he didn't want Lex to hear their conversation.

"How am I doing what?"

"Your colors. Whenever you guys are standing next to each other, your colors completely surround him."

"And his?" Clark asked curiously.

"They're pulsing, but--"

"He's still broken?"

Ryan nodded sadly.

"Hey, don't give up, buddy. I haven't."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart."

"Welcome to my Fortress of Solitude." Clark waved his hands expansively around the barn's loft.

"Oh man, this place is so cool," Ryan whispered. "It's like a tree house, but a lot more solid." The boy bounced over to the telescope. "Can we come out here tonight and look at the stars?"

"Of course."

Ryan ran over to the railing and looked down into the barn. "Lex, you gotta check this place out."

"I will in a moment."

Clark frowned slightly at the distracted tones from below. He moved to the railing, while Ryan let out a squeal of delight at having discovered the hammock.

Lex was standing like he had the night before, with his arms crossed protectively over his chest.

"I'll be right back," Clark told Ryan, then jogged down the stairs and moved behind his upset friend. "You're remembering something."

"Yes, but it doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't?"

"This barn. These memories. Any of it. Why would I be remembering a place I've never been before? What does it all mean?"

"I don't know, but I don't think you should fight it. Just go with the flow."

"All right." Lex nodded, then moved slowly toward a medium-sized wooden chest that sat on the bottom shelf of a rack in the corner of the barn's workshop. He looked back at Clark for permission. When Clark nodded, he pulled the box out and carried it to a workbench.

"Whatcha got there?" Ryan asked in an awed whisper from beside Clark, who had moved to the table as well.

"I don't know." Clark picked up the boy and settled him on his hip while they watched Lex reverently pull the latch back and slowly lift the wooden lid.

A soft smile graced Lex's face as he pulled out a small metal pirate ship.

"Too cool." Ryan leaned as far forward as he could and raised a finger above the ship but didn't touch it, as if afraid he'd break it. "Hey, it has tiny little cannons."

"They work," Clark and Lex said together.

"How'd you--" they both started to speak, then stopped at the same time.

Lex began to breathe harder, his eyes desperately searching Clark's for answers. "What do you remember?"

Clark shook his head. "I'm not sure. I just remember being down at the pond on a sunny day and watching one of them sink."

"Do you think we could play with them?" Ryan asked softly, breaking the spell.

Lex nodded, although his eyes lingered on Clark. "Yeah, why don't you two go search for some triple A and D batteries, and I'll check over the mechanisms."

Clark set Ryan on the ground and took the boy's hand as they headed toward the house. He stopped in the doorway and looked back at Lex. Even though his friend seemed paler and somehow younger, there was a contentment radiating from him that Clark hadn't seen before. He liked this mellow version of Lex and vowed to do everything in his power to see more of him.

"I can't believe you guys sank both of my battleships." Clark sighed dramatically, before taking a big bite out of his hamburger.

Ryan rolled his gaze heavenward and visibly struggled against the urge to giggle.

"Clark, pirates don't pout," Lex said pointedly, although his eyes flashed with mirth.

"Yeah, but you sank them both," Clark mumbled, hiding his grin while Ryan snorted with barely suppressed laughter.

Conspiratorially, Lex leaned into Ryan. "I can just see it now. Instead of looting and pillaging, Clark would be whining and kvetching. 'Gimme all your gold. Please. Pretty please. Oh, come on. You better. I got a big cannon. Oh wait, no I don't'." The boy collapsed in laughter against Lex's side. "Darn old pirates anyway, always being so mean to me."

Clark tried to stick his lower lip out in a pout, but failed miserably. His grin threatened to take over his face as he watched Lex and Ryan hug each other in laughter. He was taken aback by how young Lex looked when he was happy.

"This was the best day ever," Ryan said after he and Lex had calmed down. "You guys rule."

"Flattery will not get you out of dishes," Lex said with a wicked grin.

"Yeah, it will," Clark said, overriding him. "Why don't you go out and look through the telescope? Lex and I will be out in a moment."

Ryan jumped to his feet, recognizing a good thing when he saw it. "Okay, don't be long."

"We won't," Clark promised.

The boy ran to the door, flashed them a smile and jumped outside.

"It really was the best day ever." Lex rose to his feet and carried his plate to the sink and began to fill the basin with water. "Thank you for that."

"It was my pleasure." Clark stood up, too, and carried a stack of dishes to the sink, pinning Lex between the counter and his hips as he set them in the soapy water.

Lex gasped. "Clark."

"Hmm?" Clark hummed, his hips thrusting gently against the back of Lex's jeans while his lips nuzzled Lex's neck.

Lex tried to speak, but couldn't form the words, his voice empty and ragged as it passed over his teeth.

"You know me," Clark whispered, before he nibbled Lex's ear.

Lex turned, his eyes searching Clark's face, even as his wet hands moved up and cupped the back of Clark's neck and pulled him down. "I know you," he whispered above Clark's lips before his tongue sought entrance to Clark's mouth.

Clark groaned as he let Lex in, his hands holding the smaller man tightly against him as the kiss grew deeper and deeper.

They were both panting when they finally broke for air, their foreheads pressed together, their hands on each other's hips.

"I want you," Clark said in a low deep voice, pushing Lex back against the counter.

"I know."

"But?" Clark asked when Lex hesitated.

"Ryan," Lex reminded him softly.

"Of course." Clark swallowed hard, a bit ashamed. "What was I thinking? You go check on him and I'll finish up here."

Lex nodded, then leaned up and gave Clark a tender, lingering kiss. "Don't be long."

"I won't. I swear."

"And what three stars make up the belt?"

"Mintaka, Alnilam and...Alnitik," the boy said thoughtfully."

"Alnitak."

"I was close."

Clark stood on the middle step of the last rise of stairs and took in the scene before him. Lex was squatting next to the telescope, his face full of soft wonder as he watched Ryan study the stars.

"Yes, you were," Lex conceded. "And the stars in the handle of the dipper."

"Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth."

"And the one that connects the handle and the dipper?"

"Easy. Megrez."

"Can you see Dubhe?"

"Yes." Ryan paused. "What about...about..." The boy stumbled back a step, clutching his head in both hands.

"Ryan?" Lex reached forward and pulled the boy toward him.

"Lex?" Ryan's confused voice was filled with pain.

Clark ran into the loft, his heart breaking as Lex's anguished voice washed over him. "Ryan? Ryan, talk to me."

"Hurts," the boy gritted out in a whisper. "Bad."

"Stay with me," Lex demanded, lifting the boy in his arms and standing. "Stay with me, Ryan."

"Let's get him in the house," Clark suggested, one hand on Lex's shoulder, the other pointing to the stairwell.

"No!" the boy shouted, then whispered. "Out here. Please. I want to stay out here."

"Ryan," Lex whispered, his voice trembling as he hugged the boy tightly to his chest. "Not tonight. Not on the best day ever. Please."

Clark guided Lex to the hammock and helped lower them both sideways into it, using it like a chair, then sat next to them, wrapping an arm around Lex's shoulder and gently rocking the hammock back and forth.

"Lex?"

"I'm here, Ryan," Lex assured quietly.

"Talk to me."

Lex nodded, but seemed unable to get the words past his lips. "Clark?" he begged in a barely audible whisper.

"How about I tell you about Superman?" Clark injected smoothly as he squeezed Lex's shoulder reassuringly.

The boy in Lex's arms smiled, despite the pain. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Well, you know he comes from Krypton, right? But what you might not know is..."

Clark woke with a start, surprised he had fallen asleep at all. He had talked throughout the night, telling the boy about every Superman experience he could remember, answering every question, asked and unasked, growing adept at expounding on a subject just by reading the boy's facial expressions.

His gaze immediately sought Lex's and was surprised to find him awake. "Is he--"

Lex shook his head, his whispered voice listless, "He's still with us, but it won't be much longer."

"Lex--"

"Call Kal-El. Please, Clark."

"You did everything right," Clark said, trying to assure his friend as he gingerly rose from the hammock.

"I couldn't save him."

Clark spun and knelt in front of the broken man. "You have saved him, Lex; and more than once. You've given him dignity and love. You're everything to him. Everything." Clark's eyes stung with unshed tears. "No matter what happens, you've given him the world. Never doubt that, Lex. Never."

Lex swallowed several times before he was able to speak. "Thank you. For everything."

Before Clark could respond, several car doors slammed shut outside the barn. Clark straightened to his feet, then moved swiftly to the loft's opening, careful not to expose himself to anyone outside.

Two unfamiliar cars were parked outside, while men in dark suits started to fan out and move toward the house.

Without a word, Clark spun and raised one finger to his lips to indicate the danger. He moved forward and gently grasped Lex's arms and lifted him to his feet.

"How many?" Lex mouthed.

"Seven men. One woman. All armed," Clark mouthed back. "Follow me."

Clark led his charges down the wooden stairs and to the back of the barn.

"What now?" Lex asked, holding Ryan tighter to his chest.

"I want you to take Ryan out into the corn while I create a diversion."

"Clark--"

"Trust me, Lex. I grew up here, remember?" When Lex nodded, Clark added, "Just keep walking. Don't come back, no matter what you hear. I'll find you."

"Stay safe."

Clark leaned forward and brushed his lips against Lex's. "I intend to. Now go."

Clark waited until Lex had disappeared completely in the corn then moved faster than sight, flying through the open upper bedroom window.

Deflection.

He didn't have time for a fight. He needed to be with Lex when the end came for Ryan, and yet still needed to protect his parents' home as well.

A knock on the kitchen door reverberated throughout the house.

Clark pulled his shirt from his pants, toed off his shoes and messed up his hair, trying to give the impression of someone who had just been awakened.

He jogged down the stairs and opened the backdoor. "Yes, can I help you?" he asked with a yawn that wasn't entirely faked.

"Mr. Kent?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"My name is Lillian Luthor. I was wondering if you could tell me where my son is."

Lex walked steadily through the rows of corn, grateful that even though the sun was coming up it was still dark enough to provide some cover. The urge to run grew stronger with every step he took, but he forced himself to maintain his pace. Running would only draw attention to the fields, and he couldn't risk dropping his precious bundle. Yet, he couldn't shake the impending sense of doom that seemed to radiate from the corn.

He had the briefest flash from his childhood, of a time before the incident, a time from which he had precious few memories, of watching a cheesy horror flick with the cook late one evening when he was no older than Ryan. If circumstances had been different he might have laughed at himself, but there was nothing even remotely funny about his current situation.

Ryan moaned softly and Lex bit his lip to prevent himself from responding in kind.

How in the hell had his mother found him? For he had no doubt that was who was at the farmhouse. Her actual physical presence was a testament to how desperate she was to win this particular game, and he knew Clark was in grave danger. Every muscle in his body demanded that he turn and head back to the barn. The thought of losing Clark in addition to Ryan was almost more than he could bear, but he had vowed to protect the boy in his arms, even beyond death.

"Forgive me, Clark," he whispered as he continued to walk deeper into the corn.

"Your son?"

"Yes, Mr. Kent. My son."

"Lex Luthor?" he asked with just the right amount of incredulousness.

"Yes, my son, Lex Luthor."

Clark looked at his watch, then looked up at her and frowned. "Ma'am, I've been trying to get an interview with your son every day for the last week, but I couldn't get past his security. I would love for your son to be here, even if it is only six-fifteen in the morning. But why, in heaven's name, would he be in Smallville?"

Lillian looked up at him, her eyes scanning his face for any trace of a lie. She frowned, which only served to accentuate the lines around her eyes. "I don't have time for games, Mr. Kent. My son is confused and misguided and is putting the life of a very sick little boy in grave jeopardy. Do you deny that you drove them out of Metropolis on Thursday night?"

"Yes, of course I deny it. Thursday night I drove my friend Hank Maffry and his daughter, Angela, to their home in Grandville. His car broke down while he was in the city and the repair shop said it was going to take a week to get the part needed to fix it. Since I was heading home to visit my folks I offered them a ride."

Lillian glanced past Clark and into the kitchen. "And where are your parents, Mr. Kent?"

Clark frowned at her. "New York. I forgot it was their anniversary."

"I see." The barest hint of hesitation flickered over her face for the first time since her arrival.

A scream from above was the only warning Lex had to the impending attack. He raised his head to track the noise, then gasped in pain as razor sharp claws raked his face. He stumbled, twisting his foot, but managed to keep his hold on Ryan.

The giant crow wheeled above them in the sky and dove again toward his position.

Lex scrambled forward, keeping a tight hold on the boy. This time when he heard the scream, he dropped to his knees and covered Ryan with his upper body.

As the bird flapped off again, Lex tensed his muscles, ready to push himself off the ground.

"Lex," Ryan whispered, his voice, though barely audible, seemed to echo throughout the cornfield.

"Are you hurt?" Lex ran his hand over the boy, looking for any sign of a wound.

"It's time."

"No, Ryan," Lex pleaded, lifting the boy into his arms and pressing his lips to Ryan's face. "Please, not now."

"...love..."

"I love you, too, Ryan. I love you, too."

"...kay?"

"Yeah, we'll be okay. You just do what you have to do. I won't let them take you. I swear I won't."

"...heal..."

A dry sob escaped his throat as the boy relaxed for the final time in his arms. Lex squeezed his eyes tightly shut, clutching the boy to his chest with every ounce of strength he possessed, rocking back and forth and trying to keep his grief from ripping him in two.

A man with a directional mike stepped into view.

"Ma'am. There's someone in the fields."

"Find them," Lillian demanded, waving a hand in the direction the man was pointing. "And detain Mr. Kent, here."

Lex.

Lex opened his eyes, his vision sparkling as the growing dawn assaulted his abused retinas. Colors danced joyfully around him, blues and greens and purples of every hue. He gasped as the colors dissolved into his skin, but instead of pain, he felt a sort of ecstasy radiating within him.

Heal, a voice whispered lovingly to him.

Clark slammed the door shut and locked it, then spun and ran up the stairs, tearing off his flannel as he did. With speed born of practice and determination, he threw himself out of the window faster than the eye could see.

"This way," a voice shouted, jarring Lex out of his warm haze.

"Over here. I got something on the tracker."

Unsteadily, but determinedly, Lex pushed himself to his feet, continuing to hold the lifeless body to his chest, and charged deeper into the cornfield. It didn't matter that the boy was gone. In his mother's eyes it would be just one less obstacle to worry about when it came to her research. He had vowed that the boy would remain whole no matter what the consequences and he would be damned if he broke that promise.

He could hear the slapping of leaves behind him and knew his lead was quickly diminishing. It was only a matter of time before they'd be upon him.

**CLARK! he screamed with everything he had.

As if in response to his cry, Kal-El appeared in his path. Lex thrust the child's body into Superman's arms, then violently shoved him, silently demanding his departure.

"THERE HE IS!" a voice behind him shouted.

Lex pushed the superhero again, then turned and attacked the closest pursuer, almost crying out in relief when he heard the sonic boom of Kal-El's departure.

Lex would have laughed if he had any breath left in his body. The look on the face of the first goon to reach him had been priceless. He supposed he couldn't blame his mother's minion for being surprised by the fact that a billionaire scientist might actually be adept in martial arts.

He had managed to elude capture for almost a half hour. When the final take-down came it had taken all seven of the hired guns to put him on the ground, although he was ridiculously pleased to note that not one of them left the battlefield unscathed. He knew they had been hindered by his mother's specific instruction not to harm him seriously. It had given him an advantage for a while, but in the end, his tired body had succumbed to the sheer number and persistence of his attackers.

He was carried through the field over the shoulder of the largest man, and Lex wondered absurdly what had ever possessed him to strike a man twice his size. He realized he probably should be grateful for his mother's order, knowing this particular goon could probably break him like a twig if he so desired. Lex snorted in amusement.

Despite his victory, he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground in front of his mother.

**Hello, mother. You're too late.

"Lex. Lex. Lex," she taunted, as she walked back and forth beside him. "You should know by now..." She stopped abruptly in her tracks and whirled around to look at him. "What did you say?"

**Ryan's dead and his body is in a place you'll never find it.

"You're...you're not moving your lips," she accused, her face paling.

Lex blinked up at her in confusion. **What?

"No. No. This can't be happening? How is this possible?" She drew back a foot and kicked him once in the ribs, her entire body shaking in rage. "How did you revert back?" she demanded as she bent over him.

Lex curled away from her, pain stealing his breath.

Lillian grabbed his shoulder and shoved him onto his back. "Tell me, damn you."

**I don't know what you're talking about.

Her gaze frantically searched his face for several minutes, then seemed to calm immeasurably. "You don't, do you?" she whispered to herself. She looked over at one of her bodyguards. "Bring me Kent," she said as she straightened to her feet.

**NO! Lex scrambled to his knees and grabbed one of her hands. **Please.

"Wait." Lillian turned back to Lex, a malicious smile radiating from her face.

Lex heard a vehicle pulling up the long gravel driveway, but didn't dare look away. He knew he was in the most precarious position of his life. He needed to assure himself of Clark's continued safety, even after they left the farm, and still try to maintain some modicum of freedom for himself.

"You have something you want to say to me, son?"

Lex nodded. **The reason I asked Superman to take Ryan is because I knew he couldn't be blackmailed into returning the body. The reporter knows nothing. I simply promised him a story for a ride out of town.

Lillian frowned.

**The game has always been between us, mother. Don't dilute it with outsiders.

Lillian's eyes grew wide in surprise. "Then you don't remember?"

**Remember what?

She bent and cruelly grabbed his chin in her hand. "Don't play games with me, Alexander." Her grip tightened and he struggled to maintain eye contact with her. "You really don't remember. Oh my, this is simply too delicious." She released him with a shove and he fell to his hands in the dirt in front of her. "Twelve weeks, Alexander."

**Twelve? Wha-

"And...you are never to have any contact with the reporter or his family."

**His family? I don't understand.

"Just see to it that you don't. If you need a demonstration of my--"

**No, Mama! He pushed himself back to his knees and grabbed her hand again. **Twelve weeks. No reporter. No family. I swear.

Lillian purred in satisfaction as she gently petted his cheek. "There, there. I know. You've played the game rather well this time out, Alexander. After I'm done being annoyed with you, I'll think of a suitable reward, but for now get in the car."

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"

Lex looked up to see a man and a woman jumping out of a red pickup truck. Clark's parents, no doubt.

The woman took one look at him, and her face drained of all color. "Alex?" she whispered in shock, then shouted his name louder as she ran toward him. "ALEX! Alex, are you okay?"

Lillian's bodyguards stepped into the couple's way, preventing them from getting any closer.

"Get in the car, Lex," Lillian said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Lex obeyed her, but couldn't prevent himself from making eye contact with the woman screaming his name over and over again and wondering who she was.

"Where are you taking him?" the graying, but well-built man demanded, struggling against the largest bodyguard.

"Home. Where he belongs."

"He remembered something, didn't he?"

"Ironically, no." Lillian gave him a pitying laugh. "Just consider this all a bizarre set of circumstances."

"He's an adult now, Lillian. He can make his own decisions," the man said angrily.

"Let us at least talk to him," the redheaded woman begged.

Lillian shook her head. "No. You'll only confuse him."

"You can't keep us from--"

"Be careful how you finish that sentence, Mr. Kent. You've already lost one son. Do you really want to make it two?"

The couple ceased their struggling.

"I thought not," Lillian said smugly, then got into the car. "Lie down, Lex," she demanded, patting her thigh. Obediently, Lex put his head on her lap.

Twelve weeks out of the game. Twelve weeks of his parents solidifying their positions while he was forced to stand on the sidelines, helpless to stop them. But twelve weeks was worth Clark's safety, was worth Ryan's body remaining whole. He would be in a negative position, but he would bounce back. He always had before. He just wondered why he thought of apples when he looked at the redheaded woman who had called out his name.

"Mom! Dad! Are you okay?" Clark shouted as he ran into the kitchen.

"We're okay, son." Jonathan set a mug of coffee in front of Martha, one hand absently rubbing her shoulders. "Care to tell fill us in on what was happening here while we were gone?"

Clark ignored his father's question when he noticed his mother's obvious distress. "Mom?" He dropped to his knees beside her. She didn't acknowledge him verbally, but simply wrapped her arms around him and curled her head into the crook of his neck and shoulders.

As Superman he had been in a lot of horrific situations, but nothing had ever frightened him as much as having his mother weep softly against his neck. "Mama?" he asked, his voice trembling. "Please tell me what's wrong? Please."

"I can't lose him again, Clark. I just can't lose him again."

"Martha," Jonathan said quietly, reasonably. "He's an adult. He can make his own decisions."

Martha pushed herself out of Clark's arms and spun to face her husband, anger etched on every line in her face. "He. Was. On. His. Knees. Jonathan," she gritted out. "Tell me he wasn't protecting us. Again."

Jonathan closed his eyes briefly. "He's a Luthor now, Martha. You know what that--"

The kitchen echoed with the slap.

"What's going on?" Clark demanded as he scrambled to his feet. The tension between his parents was almost a physical force, and one he wasn't sure he could subdue.

Neither of them looked at him.

"This is about Lex, isn't it?"

"Sit down, Clark," Jonathan finally whispered, his eyes never leaving his wife's. "We have a lot to talk about."

"So what do you think about dinner next Sunday night?" Lillian asked conversationally as the car slowed to a stop in front of Cadmus Labs.

Lex stopped, his hand on the door handle. **I think...it would be best for all concerned if I didn't leave the labs during my confinement.

Lillian nodded slowly as if pondering every word he had just spoken. "Yes. Yes, I can see your point. Very well."

As Lex opened the door, Lillian's hand shot out and grabbed his trailing wrist. Her pale hand mocked the strength with which she held him. "You do understand my requests, don't you, Alexander?"

**Yes, ma'am.

"The game is all I have."

**You have father. You have your empire.

Lillian waved her free hand dismissively, then stopped and stared at him pointedly. "Do I have you, Alexander?"

**You know you do, Mama, he said the words he knew she wanted to hear, the words that never seemed to fail to calm her.

"Ah, but you see yourself as a hostage to my desires, don't you?"

Lex swallowed, then leaned back slowly and brushed his lips over her proffered cheek. **No, ma'am.

She smiled happily at him. "You're such a good boy, Alexander. Such a good boy. Your father and I are so proud of you."

Lex nodded, then ducked his head and got out of the car. He managed to stay rooted to the sidewalk until the car was no longer in sight.

When it disappeared, he allowed his eyes to close. Objectively, he knew she was clinically insane, dangerously so. The only way to keep Metropolis -- hell, probably even the world -- safe was to play along with her game, to make her believe he was her obedient son. He shuddered at the thought of how much havoc she could wreck in twelve weeks if left unchecked, but he had no choice.

He would have gladly accepted a year's sanctions in order to protect Clark and Ryan.

What was his personal happiness in comparison to that?

"No!"

"Son, look--"

"No!" Clark shrugged his father's hand off his shoulder and strode into the front room. "It's impossible. You can't honestly expect me to believe that not one single person in fourteen years would ever mention the fact I had a brother, not even in passing or in sympathy."

"Clark, it's Smallville," Martha said in a quiet, reasonable voice.

Clark's laughter bordered on hysterical. "You don't understand."

"Understand what, sweetheart?" Martha asked softly.

"I love him."

"Of course you do." Jonathan nodded, looking to his wife for confirmation. "We all do."

"No, dad! I don't love your Alex. I don't remember your Alex. I'm in love with Lex."

"What?"

"Jonathan!" Martha hissed in warning.

"Ryan said that each of us had big holes, but that when we were together our colors mixed," Clark mumbled to himself, knowing he wasn't making any sense.

"Soul mates," Martha whispered, knowingly.

Clark lifted his gaze to meet hers. "What?" he asked confused.

"Alex used to say you two were soul mates, that you had always been destined to find one another, destined for great things by each other's sides."

"Martha," Jonathan protested. "You can't condone...they're both...he's our son."

"No, he's not," Martha whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "As you've reminded me so many times in the last fourteen years, Jonathan, Alex isn't our son. Although he was with us for a few years, we knew he was never truly ours, not like Clark."

"What are you saying, Mom?"

Martha closed the distance between them. "I've been blessed with two boys in my life; boys I can claim as my own, can say with pride that I had a hand in raising. And even if he doesn't remember who we are, Alex's lessons have taken root in your Lex. He seems like a good man."

"He is, mom. He truly is."

"Then you go fight for him, Clark Jerome Kent. He might not be a Kent by birth, but he is a member of this family. And no matter who he is to you, he will always be my son." Martha closed the distance between them. "You bring him home. Do you hear me? You move heaven and earth to reach his side, to let him know that he's loved. I won't abandon him another day longer than necessary to that witch. I sacrificed him once. Don't you dare make the same mistake as I did."

"...and at three, the boys in the genome section want a meeting. They're very excited about something, although they're being very hush-hush."

**Thank you, Mercy. Lex made several notes into his Palm Pilot then looked up at his assistant. **Was there something else?

"Mr. Kent and Ms. Lane have once again been caught trespassing. They made it to OC4 this time before they were apprehended. May I turn them over to the authorities?"

**No. Lex looked up when his assistant didn't immediately leave and noticed her left eyelid twitch, a sign of stress he hadn't seen from her before. **Would you like me to assign someone else to the security detail?

"No, sir," she said, managing to sound respectful and offended at the same time. She then executed a perfect about-face and left.

"All I'm asking is that you let me punch her in the nose just once, Clark. I'm begging you here. I know I can crack that facade of hers," Lois gritted in frustration as she threw her jacket in the corner of his couch.

Clark sighed and shut the door behind them. "Mercy's just doing her job, Lois. Besides if you hit her, she'd probably break every bone in your body. And," he added with some amusement, "probably never change her expression once while doing it."

Lois stomped to his freezer, pulled out a pint of Rocky Road ice cream, slammed open his utensil drawer to get a spoon, then stalked over to his stuffed chair and threw herself into it. "I did make her left eyelid twitch this time, though. Did you see her twitch?" she asked proudly as she pried the lid off the carton.

Clark knew better than to come between Lois and her chocolate, so moved into the kitchen and pulled out the rainbow sherbet. "Yes, Lois. I saw her twitch." He took out a spoon from the open drawer, then shut it and sat on the couch.

"Damn straight."

"You're just upset because you can't use your feminine wiles on her."

Lois raised a haughty eyebrow, but ruined the effect by grinning goofily at him. "Damn straight."

"Of course--"

"Finish that sentence, Smallville, and I guarantee you'll be eating ice cream with a straw."

"All I was going to say is that the reason she gets to you so much is because you two are exactly alike, personality-wise."

Lois glared at him. "Sure you were."

Clark snickered, then took a bite of his ice cream.

They ate in silence for several minutes, before Lois sighed heavily. "It's been six months, Clark. We're never getting in. In fact, I think we're responsible for most of Cadmus' security upgrades of the last few months. We've tried everything humanly possible to get inside. I think you're going to have to break down and ask Superman for his help."

Clark sighed. "I did."

"And?"

"Even he can't get in, although from what he tells me, Mercy was a lot more polite to him than she usually is to us. But the last time he flew over the labs, he noticed they had intermingled meteor rock with the gravel on the roofs."

"Wow, that's pretty harsh considering what he did for Luthor."

"I know," Clark said quietly.

Lois concentrated on her ice cream for several minutes before she stopped and sat straight up in her chair. "We're idiots, Smallville. Absolute idiots."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you're still on the short bus, but I'm a certifiable genius."

"Certifiable is right, alright. I'm revoking your ice cream privileges, missy. Hand over the carton." Clark wiggled his fingers at her, which only made her clutch the carton tighter to her chest.

"No, hear me out, Clark. If we can't make Mohammad come out of the mountain, then maybe we can...well, hell, that analogy doesn't work."

Clark laughed in exasperation. "What are you talking about?"

"I was just sitting here thinking that what I really, really needed right now was one of your mom's cookies to go with the ice cream."

"You know you cleaned me out on Thursday."

Lois sighed. "Work with me here, Kent."

"Wha-"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "You said he didn't remember anything about the unfortunate incident," she said, using air quotes around unfortunate incident.

"That's right."

"And you don't remember anything about that time either, correct?"

"Just snippets. Bits and pieces, but nothing of significance," Clark said, wondering if he should have told her about his connection with Lex.

"So who remembers?" Lois asked, looking at him intently.

Clark frowned. "My parents."

"But your dad is still having problems coping with--"

"Yeah," Clark said, cutting her off with a whispered affirmative.

"Which leaves..."

"My mom."

"Your mom." Lois smiled in triumph, like an English teacher whose student just won the national spelling bee.

"And just what do you think my mom can do that we couldn't do or even Superman, for that matter?"

Lois leaned back and dug out a huge scoop of ice cream and sucked on the spoon for a full minute before she answered. "Never underestimate the powers of a mother separated from her child.

**ALEXANDER!

Lex jumped, startled, and almost dropped his Palm Pilot onto the lab table.

"Are you okay, sir?" Jason Taylor asked quietly, stopping his explanation when he noticed his boss' hands tremble.

**I'm fine, Lex insisted, although his heart continued to slam against his chest like it was looking for a way to escape through his rib cage. **Please continue.

"As I was saying--"

**I INSIST YOU LET ME IN RIGHT THIS INSTANT.

**I beg your pardon.

"I said the first twelve test runs proved to--"

**ALEX!

**I'm sorry, Mr. Taylor, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to continue this meeting at another time, Lex apologized, even as he back toward the door. **Please reschedule with Hope.

"Yes, sir. Are you okay, sir?"

Lex nodded, then all but fled the room. He moved quickly down the corridor, intent on consuming a large quantity of hard liquor. After all, it wasn't every day one lost one's mind in such a spectacularly public fashion.

**I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE AND I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL WE'VE SPOKEN FACE-TO-FACE.

Lex felt like he was wearing mittens while he tried to key in his entry code. On his third attempt, the green light finally blinked and he opened the door and moved straight to his desk, activating the security cameras before he sat in his high-backed leather chair. A vaguely familiar redheaded woman was shown waiting in the lobby with a folder in her lap and a rather large purse sitting next to her crossed ankles.

As if realizing eyes were upon her, she looked up and smiled at the camera. **COME ON, SWEETHEART. LET ME IN.

Even though the voice in his head was yelling, the woman on the screen appeared to be the model of patience.

**What...what do you want? he tried experimentally.

The woman's smile grew warmer. **I WANT TO TALK TO YOU.

**Do I know you?

**THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT.

**Why are you shouting at me?

**I'M SORRY. I'M WINGING IT HERE. I SUPPOSE I MIGHT HAVE TOO MANY METEOR ROCKS IN MY BAG.

Lex's heart continued to thump hard in his chest, and he ran his index finger slowly over the bottom of the monitor, unsure what to do.

Several minutes passed, before the woman tried again. **ALEX?

He sighed softly to himself. **Yes.

**PLEASE, BABY, I JUST WANT TO TALK.

Lex rubbed both hands over his face, then releasing a pent-up sigh, turned in his chair and sent a message to Ms. Anderson, asking her to have Hope escort the visitor to his office.

For reasons he couldn't fathom, he inspected his office to make sure it was presentable, as if some part of his unconscious wanted to make a good impression on this woman. He frowned, wondering how much time he had before he went around the bend permanently, even as he straightened a stack of papers on the right-hand corner of his desk.

Moments later there was a soft knock and his door opened. Hope escorted the woman in, then left after he gave her a slight nod.

"Hello, Alexander," the woman said softly, belying the strength of her earlier sending.

Lex gave her a faltering smile as he watched her move to the opposite side of his desk. There was something hauntingly familiar about her presence. **I'm sorry, do I know you?

"Don't you?"

He searched her blue eyes, her expectant face, feeling as if she was willing him to recognize her. **No, I'm sorry. I don't believe I do.

"I'm Martha Kent." The woman sat in the chair across from him. "I was your mother for a time."

**I...I...beg your pardon.

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have blurted it out like that."

Lex blinked at her, unsure what to say or how to proceed with the conversation. Just how did one follow an opening line like that?

As if understanding his stunned silence, Martha started to talk. "In 1989, your father took you out of prep school and had you accompany him on a business trip to Smallville, Kansas."

**Smallville? Where Clark is from. You're Clark's mother?

"Yes, I am."

**But...you said...

"Shh," she shushed softly. "I'm going to explain everything, okay?"

He nodded, his curiosity nearly overwhelming him.

"There was a meteor storm. You and your father were both injured during it, but somehow, you had gotten separated from him before it happened. My husband and I found you and Clark after the second wave of meteors. You had apparently wrapped yourself around him in order to protect him, and in the process most of your clothes and hair were burned off your body. You were mute, but you healed incredibly fast."

Unconsciously, Lex ran his hand over his hairless scalp.

"When no one claimed you or Clark, we petitioned the courts to adopt you."

**You adopted me?

Martha smiled at him and nodded, then opened her folder, removed a piece of paper, and laid it on his desk.

Decree of Adoption.

"We named you Alexander because I had a book called--"

**Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good Very Bad Day.

"That's right," she said encouragingly. "You lived with us for seven years. You graduated high school when you were fifteen and went to college when you were sixteen. While you were at Metropolis University, she found you."

**She?

"Your mother," Martha said, obviously trying to restrain herself from saying something more. "She threatened Clark, but despite that, we were determined to fight for your custody. However, before we could speak to my father about our legal options, you sacrificed yourself for us."

Lex became aware of the fact that he was shaking his head back and forth, but was unable to stop the action.

Martha leaned forward. "I know it's a lot to take in, but I have proof."

Lex pressed himself back into his chair, but Martha made no effort to draw any closer. Instead she opened her folder and placed a large eight by ten photo in the middle of his desk.

He leaned forward, practically against his will. The picture revealed a young version of him lying sideways in a large stuffed chair, a chair he recognized from Clark's house. In front of him, back plastered to his chest, was a curly mopped child who appeared to be looking at something off-camera. His younger self was wearing a hint of a smile as if just becoming aware of the fact that someone was taking his photograph.

"You were ten. Clark was four. At night, you two used to sit like that and watch television until you both got to big to fit in the chair, at which point you migrated to the couch. Clark never let you sit by yourself. I thought you might grow tired of him always hanging on you, but you never did."

Martha laid another picture on the desk. "Here's one from when you were thirteen."

Lex smiled as he spied Clark's laughing face peeking over the shoulder of his younger self. They were outside, the sun was shining, and love shone from every pixel of the photo. The captured look of contentment on his face made his chest ache.

"You used to say you two were soul mates," Martha said as she placed picture after picture on his desk. "You used to tell Clark that you two were destined for greatness and there was nothing you couldn't accomplish together. You were his world, and he was yours."

Lex's hands trembled as he ghosted over the pictures. **He didn't seem to remember...

"No, he doesn't. Just as you don't. When you severed the connection between the two of you, the backlash either blanked his memory or suppressed it, just as it did you." Martha sat back in her chair, making no effort to collect the pictures. "At first I was angry with you for taking all his memories, but then I realized it was perhaps the kindest thing you could have done for him, given the circumstances. He would never have survived your loss if he remembered you. I...I barely survived it myself."

**What? he asked in horror.

"Your connections with your father and me weren't anywhere near as deep as the one you had with Clark. While there was pain, I maintained your memory as did your father. We...we..." Martha stopped, pulled a Kleenex from her jacket pocket, and dabbed her wet eyes. "We raced to Metropolis afterward, realizing, too late, what you'd done. Severing your connection with Clark put you in a coma for several days. Lillian tried everything to make us leave. She tried to bribe us, and even had the gall to threaten us to our faces, but we refused to leave your side. We were your legal guardians at that time, and there was nothing she could do about that particular fact. When you woke up, you could talk and it was like you had awakened from a seven-year coma. You didn't remember us at all, but you remembered her. You sacrificed everything to keep Clark safe. So we...we... God forgive me...we walked away. I left my baby with a stranger."

Lex's eyes burned with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry," Martha sniffed. "I told myself I wasn't going to do this."

Lex looked away to give her a moment to compose herself. His eyes were drawn back to the photographs in front of him.

"Why won't you see Clark?" Martha asked, startling from his thoughts.

**I've been busy.

"Alexander Kent, I can't believe..." Her burst of anger died quickly, until she was left whispering, "I saw you, you know."

**Pardon me? he asked, feeling a icy fist clench in his stomach.

"On your knees. At the farm. Begging. You were pleading for Clark's safety, weren't you?"

**I--

"Weren't you?" she overrode his thought.

He dropped his gaze to his hands.

"He loves you, you know?" she told him in a soft voice as she stood up and walked around the left side of the desk.

Lex looked up at her, shocked.

"He doesn't remember Alex. He only knows Lex."

**But according to what you've said, I'm his brother in everything but blood.

"What you two share transcends all ties, sweetheart. You can't label it or quantify it. It just is."

**You don't understand.

"I do understand. Even now, even though you don't remember why you're doing it, you're still trying to protect Clark from Lillian."

**Mrs. Kent, I--

Martha reached out and gently cupped his cheek in her hand. "You're going to tell me she's crazy. You're going to give me all the reasons why you have to stay separated from us, from Clark. Well, I'm not having it, Alexander. Whatever happens, we will face it together. As a family."

She brought her other hand up and laid it on his other cheek. Leaning forward, she gently pressed a kiss to his forehead, over each eyebrow, on the tip of his slightly freckled nose and tenderly on his lips. Lex felt something deep within him buzz like a dead cord jolted to life with an electric current.

He gasped as the scent of apples and cinnamon wafted around him.

"Open up, sweetheart. Trust me."

He felt her pushing against a door deep in his mind. He tried to fight her, tried to keep the door locked and so was shocked when it splintered in front of him.

Love, like a warm glove, surrounded him and held him tight. A thousand memories, hazy, yet achingly familiar, poured through the opening, comforting him while at the same time making him desperately aware of how empty he was. Hesitantly, he reached out.

//Come on, sweetheart, time to get up. Cows don't milk themselves.//

//Blow out your candles and make a wish.//

//I love you, Alex.//

//I'm so proud of you, baby!//

//See that star up there? That's Megrez.//

//If everyone wanted to jump off a cliff like a lemming, would you do it, too?//

//I have the world's best sons.//

//No, really, I want to know. Tell me.//

//I know it hurts, honey. Let me kiss it and make it feel better.//

**Mama? Lex reached out blindly for her and pulled her forward until she was sitting in his lap, then buried his face in his shoulder.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'm here. I'm here. It's okay. I won't leave you again. I swear it."

The beeping intercom roused Lex out of his cocoon of warmth. He lifted his wet face and blinked, trying to remember where he was.

Martha Kent cupped both hands over his face then got off his lap. Her gaze slid over to the phone, silently suggesting he answer it.

"Mr. Luthor, your father is here to see you."

Lex's gaze immediately went to the woman standing by his desk.

"I'm not going anywhere, Alex, so you might as well bring him on back."

Before he could form a thought in order to protest, she placed a finger over his lips. "I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere."

Lex pushed a button acknowledging the message and instructing Hope to bring Lionel back.

"Go wash your face," Martha said gently when he sat back in his chair.

**Mom.

The slightly embarrassed smile she gave him made him want to laugh out loud. Despite his amusement, he found himself standing, surprised by the weakness in his legs. His shock grew when he noticed the digital clock on the far corner of his desk and realized the length of time that had passed since Martha had entered his office.

He moved into the private bathroom and made his ablutions. He stood in front of the sink and studied the man in the mirror. A successful man. A hard-working man. A man who was garnering the reputation in pop culture as the hip, new brainiac. A man with not just one past, but two. A wounded man, yet finally, a healing man.

The hot towel calmed his fraying nerves even as it soothed the muscles in his face. His pasts were about to collide and he had no idea what the future held and a part of him couldn't be happier. He was tired of the games, tired of never being able to trust anyone, tired of being by himself.

He set the towel on the sink and moved back into the office at the same time his father limped through the door. Even though fifteen years had passed since Lionel had awoken from his coma, his father had never regained full use of the muscles in his right leg. Apparently, even Luthor will had its limitations.

Normally, on those few occasions when he deigned to visit the labs, Lionel would make a grand entrance, leaving his indelible mark on all those he encountered. There was, however, no drama radiating from the man who moved painfully toward the chairs in front of his desk.

**Father, he acknowledged. **To what do I owe this unexpected visit?

Lionel eased himself into the chair, taking a moment to carefully study Martha, who was sitting in the other chair.

"Mrs...Kent, isn't it?"

Martha nodded, her lips pressed tightly together, but remained silent.

Instead of demanding an explanation for her presence, Lionel simply nodded in acceptance.

**Father--

Lionel held up one hand and Lex stopped. With a loud sigh, Lex moved to his own chair and sat down and waited for his father to make an opening move.

"If Mrs. Kent will excuse the vulgar non sequitur, I once had a mistress who used to call me 'The Magnificent Bastard'."

Lex blinked, unsure how to respond to such a statement.

"I was rather proud of that title," Lionel continued with a quiet chuckle. "After all, I was a ruthless prick."

**Was?

"Touche." Lionel smiled with uncharacteristic warmth. "I had such plans for you as my heir apparent. You were to be Alexander to my Philip, but fate, it seems, had other designs for you." Lionel looked over at Martha and gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement. "As I look back over my life, I can't say I'm completely unhappy with the your path."

Lex shook his head in disbelief. **What?

A small smirk appeared on Lionel's face as he rose from his chair. "The game will terminate this week, Alexander. Please remain in the lab until it's over."

Lex jumped to his feet. **What are you talking about 'the game will terminate?' If there's one thing you and mother have drilled into my head time and time again is that the game is never over; to believe the game over is to be a fool, to accept surrender without completely decimating your enemy is to leave yourself vulnerable for a killing blow.

The smirk turned into a proud grin. "My God, I've taught you well. You could have been an opponent truly worthy of my attention and energy."

**Could have? What are you talking about, Father?

Lionel limped toward the door as he explained, "Your mother had an affair while I was in a coma, had a bastard son which she managed to effectively conceal from me all these years."

Lex stumbled back into his chair. He had a brother? A blood brother?

"It appears she has taught him the game better than we managed to jointly teach you." Lionel stopped at the door, his hand on the knob. "They tried to take me out of competition last night."

**Are...are you all right?

"While your concern is quite touching..." Lionel closed his eyes and released a deep sigh before he opened them again. "Actually, it is touching. I can only assume your compassion is something you gained while under the tutelage of the Kents. It'll probably be your ruin in the end, for I doubt you can succeed at the game with such a debilitating weakness."

**Father--

"My timing, it seems by Mrs. Kent's presence, was serendipitous. The game was about to change anyway."

**Father, I don't understand.

"Understanding is not required, simply compliance. Mrs. Kent, your visible presence in the lab until the weekend should ensure our son's alibi."

Martha started to speak but Lionel waved his hand. "I formed the shape of the vessel, but before I could put it in the kiln, you reworked it and fired it at a lesser heat. Only time will tell if the new design is strong enough to carry the weight about to be thrust upon it."

With that, Lionel opened the door and disappeared into the hallway, leaving Lex and Martha staring at each other in stunned silence.

"Metropolis' First Family Lost in Tragic Jet Explosion," Lois read in a quiet voice from the corner of Clark's desk. "My God, Clark, what happened?"

Clark sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Investigators believe that several wires shorted out and ignited the fuel just before the plane reached cruising altitude."

"Was Lex..."

"No. Mom called me minutes after CNN broke the story to let me know he was safely ensconced at Cadmus."

"So who was the third passenger?"

Clark shrugged and shook his head.

"What are you not saying?"

"I think mom knows or suspects who the third person was, but she's not saying."

"I don't understand."

"Either do I."

"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly.

Clark leaned back in his seat. "Honestly, I don't know. Mom said it'd be best if I stayed away for a few weeks while the dust settles. She said my presence would only complicate matters."

Lois nodded thoughtfully. "She's probably right. Given your family's history with the Luthors and the 'game,' it's probably best not muddy the waters anymore than they already are; better not to give the authorities a red herring to needlessly chase." She looked thoughtfully at Clark. "The thing you have to focus on now is the fact that your mother's in Cadmus and Lex isn't facing this ordeal alone."

Clark smiled at the slight tinge of jealousy in Lois' voice. "Hey, it was your idea, Ms. Certifiable Genius."

Lois sighed. "I know, but--"

"You just wanted to be the one to get past Mercy."

Lois shrugged and gave him a small embarrassed smile. "So what does this all mean for you two? I mean, didn't your mom speculate that the reason he was being so elusive was because he was protecting you from his family?"

Clark nodded.

"So what happens now?"

"I wish I knew. In less than a year, he's lost Ryan and the only parents he remembers..."

"But your mom's at the lab. That's has to mean something, doesn't it?"

"I guess. I hope. I don't know."

"Don't give up, Smallville. Not after everything we've been through."

"I'm not. It's just...he's lost so many people. Why should he open himself up again?"

Lois grabbed the arm of his rolling chair and pulled it toward her. Leaning forward, she whispered, "Love."

"Lois, we were together for less than seventy-two hours."

"Kent, you two shared a connection that most people will never have in their lifetime, which most people only dream about having. Don't you dare give up without a fight."

Clark leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Lois Lane, closet romantic. Who would have thunk it?"

Lois harrumphed and shoved his chair backward. "It has nothing to do with romance. I just want a chance to use the sewer plans I got from one of Cadmus' subcontractors."

"News. Kent speaking."

"Clark."

"Mom? What is it? What's wrong?"

His mother sighed tiredly. "Nothing's wrong, sweetheart. I mean, nothing this instant. It's just..."

"What?" he promptly quietly when she hesitated.

"I think Alex is going to try to disappear soon."

"What do you mean?"

"He's in so much pain, Clark. So much is being thrown at him from all different directions that he barely has time to deal with one crisis before another one is demanding his attention."

"Are the authorities--"

"No, the FAA's closed the investigation, deeming it poor maintenance, but no charges have been brought against anyone."

"Mom?"

"Don't, Clark."

"Okay," he whispered, wondering what she knew and why she wasn't sharing it.

"God forgive me for thinking ill of the dead, but I could just strangle them," she confessed in a whisper.

Clark allowed himself a small smile, safe in the knowledge she couldn't see him. "He's got you, though."

Martha let out an explosive gust of air. "That's just it. While he's been exceedingly kind to me, he won't let me help him shoulder any of this burden. He says he doesn't want me tainted by anything Luthor. He's withdrawing more and more into himself."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to be ready."

"Ready?"

"He can run, but he can't hide from the Kents. He may carry a different last name, but he's as much a member of this family as I am. I need you to remind him of that fact. Do you think you can handle that, Clark?"

Clark grinned. "Yes, ma'am. I think I can definitely take care of this problem."

"Back in the tree. Again." Clark sighed, idly wondering which Jurassic Park movie the line was from. "One," he told no one in particular.

He looked up from his watch and noticed the side door of the lab opening to reveal a man in a dark overcoat and carrying a briefcase.

Lex.

The scientist walked with purpose to his Aston Martin, opened the trunk, and put his briefcase inside before closing it once again.

"Mr. Luthor," Lois Lane called out as she stood from behind a nearby car.

"Shit." Clark untangled himself from the oak and jumped to the ground. "Not now, Lois."

**Ms. Lane. Lex acknowledged politely, although he still moved toward the driver's side door. **I was under the impression that even reporters slept from time to time.

Lois closed the distance between them. "I apologize for ambushing you in the middle of the night, but you're an extremely hard man to reach during the day."

**And what's so urgent, what insight are you so sure I can provide, that you feel you must stalk me in a parking lot at three in the morning?

Lois stammered a moment, then blurted out, "Why won't you see Clark?"

Lex stopped and turned to face the reporter. **What possible interest would the public have in knowing the answer to that question?

"I'm not asking as a reporter," she said, managing to sound hurt and angry at the same time. "Look, Clark's a friend, my best friend, and I don't like seeing people I care about hurting."

Lex opened the driver's door. **Then your friend would be wise to stay as far away from me as possible. Luthors are notorious for hurting people.

Lois shoved the car door shut. "That's a cop out."

**This isn't a fairy tale, Ms. Lane. There are no happily-ever-afters in real life.

"How do you know? You aren't even willing to try."

**Ms. Lane, Clark Kent is a decent man, an idealistic man if his coverage of the news is anything to go by, who is making a name for himself because he's got integrity and honor and excels at what he does. As the sole, though undeserving, heir to the separate fortunes of Lillian and Lionel Luthor, I am now the richest man, dare I say, the most powerful man, on the planet. Even though I spend most of my time in my labs, I still have to interact with people of my station. Do you have any idea how savage the world is on my level? Could your friend live with the 'boytoy' tag, to be seen as nothing more than a willing piece of ass?

"But--"

**Or do you suggest I throw it all away for love? Lex turned to face the car. **Grow up, Ms. Lane.

"But do you love him?" Clark asked quietly.

Lex dropped his chin to his chest, but refused to turn around. **If you'll pardon the Turnerism, what's love got to do with it?

"It has everything to do with it."

Lex remained silent.

"You crossed your heart," Clark whispered as he stood behind Lex.

Lex's shoulders shook minutely. **If it's any consolation, Clark, my heart died a long time ago. He pressed something on his sleeve and rose into the air, never once turning to face Clark.

*Well, that's a neat trick," Lois whispered in awe as she watched the departing figure.

"Neat, but not necessarily unique," Clark growled the words angrily as he rose into the air after his stubborn lover.

"Clark? What--? Oh my-- Clark Kent, you come back here this instant!" Lois stomped her foot in frustration, but Clark never took his eyes off the fleeing figure.

Speeding forward, he placed himself in Lex's path and almost smiled when blue eyes widened in shock.

Lex stopped, hovering in mid-air. **Clark?

Clark simply crossed his arms over his chest as he, too, hovered in the air.

**Clark, how--? Lex grabbed his head with both hands, his face contorting in pain.

"Lex," Clark whispered as he moved forward.

**No, don't touch me. Don't.

"Screw that," Clark said angrily, reaching out and touching Lex's face.

Both men gasped as wave after wave of memories came crashing down around them.

//So, I'd really appreciate your depending on me so I can be brave, okay?//

//Twenty-two seconds, Mama.//

//Because we have a destiny.//

//So...that was sex?//

//I want to make you feel that way.//

//Soul mates are two souls who are destined to be together throughout eternity. Two halves of one whole.//

//No, you don't. You bastard, you lied to me. You lied. I hate you, Alexander. I hate you! Please don't leave me.//

//And if you're ever lost, I'll find you.//

//Forgive me, my love.//

Bright vibrant hues swirled around them as Clark opened his eyes. Wiping his face with the back of his wrist, he watched Lex blink back to awareness and discover the living colors. Lex's fingers reached out to touch them, but stopped and looked up at Clark, a tender smile slowly blossoming over his face. "Even after Mom...I didn't remem--"

"Neither did I. Not fully. Just fragments."

Lex swallowed hard and whispered, "You found me."

"I told you I would." Clark closed the distance between them. "You're talking again."

Lex shook his head, trying to follow the conversation. "Clark--"

"Shut up, Lex." Clark's tongue delved possessively into Lex's mouth when he opened it to protest. For a moment, Lex remained passive, but Clark felt Lex's hands tighten in the back of his shirt as they drew even closer together. "I told you I knew you," he panted harshly over Lex's lips.

"You didn't remember though," Lex teased, pulling back a bit to regain his breath.

"Semantics." Clark circled slowly around Lex, making him turn mid-air to maintain eye contact.

"So, Kal-El, hmmm?"

Clark shrugged. "The ship talked when I was eighteen."

"You're kidding? What did--"

"Focus, Lex." Clark moved forward, his kiss was teasing, but before he could float back again Lex's fingers laced with his, holding him in place.

"Who am I to you, Clark?" Lex whispered, his tone serious.

"You're the other half of my soul. You know that."

"Not a brother?"

Clark smiled tenderly at him as he entwined his arms and legs around his soul mate. "How many times have you told me that we're destined to be with each other?"

"But you don't need me anymore, Kal-El," he said, using Clark's real name to emphasis his point. "If you ever truly did. Look what you've become without me."

"A man who protects humanity but can never truly be part of it."

"That's not--"

Clark stopped the protest by running his fingers over Lex's lips. "Do you feel only brotherly toward me?"

Lex dropped his gaze and, after a moment, shook his head.

"Thank God."

Lex huffed, then lifted his gaze, hope shining through his eyes. "Now what?"

"Now we face the future...together."

"You're watching me sleep?" Lex mumbled in sleepily amusement when he felt Clark studying him.

"Quid pro quo. Wasn't that what you called it?"

Lex turned his head toward Clark, not bothering to open his eyes. "Not much excitement in watching an unconscious bald man."

"You'd be surprised," Clark whispered. "You look so vulnerable when you sleep, nothing at all like the head of the country's foremost scientific lab or the world's most powerful man."

Lex brought his hands up underneath Clark's hair and massaged the back of his neck, until Clark lowered his head and brushed his lips over Lex's, tenderly at first, but then growing hungrier, more powerful. Clark rolled Lex underneath him, pinning Lex's hands over his head.

"You're everything I've ever wanted."

"So you have a thing for bald billionaires, huh?"

"No. Just one," Clark whispered, peppering Lex's face with small kisses.

Lex hummed happily against his lips. "Thank God."

Clark rubbed his face along the juncture of Lex's neck and slightly freckled shoulders, then bit Lex's chest. Lex moaned and thrust upward. Clark shuddered above him, arching down. Lex leaned up and gently bit the exposed throat, scraping his teeth along Clark's neck and tenderly sucking his Adam's apple while planting his feet flat on the bed and pushing upward, daring Clark to push him back down again.

Clark thrust downward, answering the challenge. They found a rhythm of moving against each other, then separating, only to be drawn together again, moving with such incredible slowness that their entire world became about sensation, about touch, about their connection with each other.

Lex felt the heat between them intensify, the need to release slowly growing. He moved his hands until his fingers were entwined with Clark's, then slowly moved their joint grip away from his body in order to lower Clark's chest to his face. Stretching his neck upward, he gently suckled the closest nipple. Clark cried out and his rhythm became faster. Lex worried the nub with his tongue until it was hard, until Clark's head whipped back and forth.

"Come on, Clark," Lex encouraged, his voice husky with passion. Lex bit his way over to the other nipple, refusing to let go of Clark's hands, his hips raising to meet each plunge with equal force, until Clark's moans became silent screams as he came. Lex joined him in release.

Clark collapsed on top of him, and Lex pulled him into a hard embrace, holding the trembling body, feeling his soul merge into the colors that were Clark's soul, hearing the joyful echoes of his mate's heart, and reaching for the bond that would make them whole.

"I can't believe you don't have any food in the apartment," Lex groused as he put on his shoes.

"Oh, quit whining. I've been busy. Besides, we have to drive mom back to the farm anyway. Taking her out for breakfast beforehand will win us major brownie points."

Lex frowned at him. "I'd go out and stock your refrigerator, but since you'll be moving in with me, I guess I can let this go. For now."

"You'd go out?" Clark asked incredulously.

"All right, I'd send Hope out. The point is--"

"I'm not living in a laboratory, Lex. That's just a little too--"

"Hey, I have a penthouse."

"One you never spend any time in."

"I've never had a reason to spend time in it before."

Clark wrapped his arms around Lex's waist, and leaned in to give him a kiss. "You're sweet."

"Shut up."

"You are."

"Ruthless brainiacs are not sweet. We have union rules against it. Besides, someone has to take care of you. You're too skinny."

Clark frowned. "Skinny? Skinny? You obviously haven't seen any of my pictures in the paper." He modeled a classic Superman pose.

"Look, the AI enhancement is all well and good," Lex said, shaking his head and chuckling as he opened the front door, "but we need to...Ms. Lane."

"Need to what?" Lois asked, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes blazing with barely suppressed fury.

"Clark, you have a visitor."

Lois took a step forward, and Lex surprised himself by taking a step back.

"Uh, hi, Lois," Clark's cheerful tone wilted under her granite stare.

Lois took another step forward, and both men took a step back. Lois' gaze never left them while she shut the door, very deliberately, behind her.

"Maybe I should leave you two alone," Lex suggested quietly.

Clark's fingers dug into Lex's upper arms, keeping his wary lover in front of him. Don't you dare leave me with her.

Excuse me, but who's the superhero around here?

Hey, you heal fast.

Yeah, but you're indestructible.

But you promised to protect me.

You big weenie, deal with your 'girlfriend' and let me go.

Never again.

Lex turned his head and flashed Clark a shy smile.

"All right, you two, knock it off."

Lex turned back toward the furious woman. "Knock what off, Ms. Lane?" he asked in a reasonable voice.

"You know," she said moving steadily forward while both men backed themselves into the kitchen, "I forgave Clark for not telling me up front about finding and taking you to the farm, given the circumstances. Given the stress you've had in your personal life recently, I'm even willing to forgive you for avoiding us and making us deal with Mercy, especially since I've significantly improved my stealth skills by pitting myself against her."

Lex heard Clark grunt as he back into the wall and realized they were trapped. A strong arm came up around his waist and Lex laid his hands over it.

"I even understand the need for secrecy, even though I want to scream from the top of the Planet that my best friend in the whole world is Superman."

**Tell me you didn't take off in front of her.

**Umm.

"Of course, I'm kicking myself for not seeing the forest for the trees, but I think you two should at least have the decency to give me an audience for my squealing girly moment because I don't have anyone else to share the fact that my best friend in the world is Superman and I now have access to the most powerful man on the planet. Don't you?"

**Crap.

**Oh, shit.

"Are you okay with Lois knowing your secrets, sweetheart?" Martha Kent asked as she sat between her two sons in the back seat of the limousine.

"We've been through a lot together, Mom. I trust her with my life."

"I offered to have her whacked," Lex said, shrugging.

"You did not." Martha laughed as she playfully slapped his leg.

"Actually, he did," Clark said with a huge grin. "Of course, he did it in front of her which made her poke him in the shoulder until I had to step in between them to break it up."

"I think she likes me," Lex said innocently.

Martha sighed. "Alexander."

"She started it."

Martha laughed, then took his hand and held it to her chest. Tears pricked her eyes.

"Don't cry, mom," Lex's voice wavered.

"Don't mind me, Alex. I'm just so happy." She swallowed hard. "I can't tell you what it means to have both my boys back." She leaned over and hugged him hard.

The limousine turned right into the farm's long lane and all three occupants in the backseat nervously looked toward the house.

"It'll be okay," Martha said, squeezing both of their hands.

Neither man said anything.

The limousine stopped and Mercy opened the back door. Clark sighed, ducked his head and got out, then turned and held his hand out to his mother for support. Martha got out quickly, then turned and did the same for her eldest. Taking a deep breath, Lex took her hand and climbed out of the car.

Clark moved to Lex's side and wrapped an arm around his waist, silently lending his support.

"Pretty fancy car for a farm in June." Jonathan Kent came out of the barn, wiping his hands with an old rag.

Martha took a step back, tugging on the back of Clark's shirt to do the same. For a moment, Clark refused to move, but then gave Lex a quick squeeze and stepped back next to his mother.

"Yes, sir. I suppose it is a little ostentatious."

"I guess with your status now, you're allowed some extravagances." Jonathan stopped a few feet in front of Lex and remained silent for nearly a minute before he spoke again. "I read about your patents and the scientific discoveries you've made. You've done well for yourself."

"Thank you, sir," Lex said quietly.

"Clark's told me how it's going to be between you two now."

"We're not trying to--"

"I know," Jonathan said, cutting him off. "Your mother's a big believer in soul mates."

Lex's gaze snapped up to Jonathan's face.

"It killed me to see you laying in that hospital bed, knowing what you'd done for us, knowing that despite our protests you were right."

"She would have destroyed Clark."

"I know," Jonathan whispered. "But that didn't make losing you any easier, son."

Lex blinked, his eyes burning with tears. "Dad?"

Jonathan stepped forward and wrapped Lex in a bear hug, both of them gasping for breath as memories swam around them.

//Now, put the worm on like I showed you, son.//

//If you use a three-millimeter screw, I think it would work better. Less chance of the water seeping into hull.//

//Don't tell your mom, but I managed to sneak us some of her oatmeal raisin cookies.//

//You're a Kent and that means knowing how to dig your heels in and fighting for what you believe.//

//I know I'm hard on you, Alex, but as the oldest, certain responsibilities fall upon you.//

//I've got bragging rights at the lodge for a month, what with your beating Lester Miller's son. Damn braggart. I never doubted you could out-think, out-race or out-do anything he could suggest.//

//I know I don't say it enough, Alex, but your mother and I are incredibly proud of you. Proud to be your parents and proud of the man you're becoming.//

"Welcome home, son."

"Thanks, dad. It's good to be back."

"What are you thinking?" Clark asked as he reached the top step of the barn's loft.

"I was just wondering if dad would let me buy him a new tractor," Lex said as he turned slightly from the opening.

"And retire Bessie? Not anytime this decade."

Lex huffed in amusement. "What do you give a man who has everything he wants?"

Clark closed the distance between them. "Your time. Your love. Your respect. The State of Kansas."

"You know, I might be able to arrange that." Lex chuckled, then sighed happily. "You know I think I might be the world's luckiest man."

"Lucky? How can you say that after everything you've been through?"

"How can I not? I have everything I've ever wanted."

"Oh?" Clark wrapped his arms around Lex's chest and rested his chin on Lex's shoulder.

"I have parents who love me, an empire to rule, and the other half of my soul back. What more could a man ask for?"

Clark kissed Lex's neck. "To rule the world?"

"Why, Pinky, I like the way you think."

"Or save it." Clark bit Lex's ear playfully. "You'd make a good sidekick."

"I am not wearing Lycra for you, Clark. Besides, you have a sidekick."

"What? Who?"

"What do you call Lois?" Lex leaned back into Clark's chest.

"Oh, God, please don't give her any ideas."

Lex laughed. "Besides, I've always wanted to be M from the James Bond movies."

"That could work."

"Why, Clark, what's with the tone?"

Clark sighed. "Bruce always has the best toys. I want cool toys, too."

"What? Being invincible isn't enough?"

"Come on, Lex, make me some cool toys," Clark whined in a playful tone.

"Oh, all right. After all, we can't be second best."

"Nope," Clark said smugly. "We have a destiny."

"That we do, my love. That we do."

"Cross your heart?"

"And hope to die."

-End-