Guardian Devil

Disclaimer: Not mine, except for the Arcs.

Pairing: Clark x Lex

Warnings: AU/Slash/Incest/Non-Con - in this chapter Lex is abused a bit by Lionel, so be aware of that as you are reading and feel free to skip it if it squicks you out. It's in the last section. Just remember to read the last bit so you see what happens.

Update! I thought this was going to be the last chapter, but as I was writing the piece kept getting longer and longer and longer ... you get the idea, so I've cut the "last" chapter into two chapters. So this is the first half and it is NOT the end. I'm still working on the second half and potentially last chapter of Guardian Devil. I will do a sequel IF there is interest in one. So you must let me know if you wish a sequel. I have some other story ideas with the boys I would like to play around with anyways before I do that.

I leave this chapter with a major cliffie. Those of you who know my work won't be surprised, but before you grab up your torches and pitchforks to storm my home and force me to finish the piece, just know that I am working on the second half furiously and will finish it before I work on any other piece. I intend to have it completed the end of this week or next (May 19, 2006 or the week of May 22, 2006).

Once again THANK YOU for all the support. It is you, the readers and reviewers especially, that make me continue to write and have such fun with this. Please drop me a line and let me know what you think. Remember this is NOT the end. So don't worry.

Hugs and kisses,

Raythe:)


---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 15: PART 1 – KRYPTON’S FATE
Clark’s POV

Lex turned white when the A.I. identified him as the son of the Arc of Fallen Light. He looked up at me, a shadow of a smirk on his lips, trying to appear as nonchalant as ever, but he couldn’t fool me. The burden of whatever he had seen in the potential futures was reflected in his eyes. Lex turned back to the ship.

“Why do you think I’m the son of the Arc of Fallen Light?” He asked the A.I. quietly.

“Are you saying you are not? My scanners indicate his presence within you at a genetic level.”

Lex grew rigid beside me. “What!”

I used my x-ray vision on him. There was a line of blue fire running along Lex’s spinal cord and up into his brain. It was the same blue fire that the Arc was made of. As far as I could tell it wasn’t causing Lex any damage, but I imagined it could kill him if the Arc wished it to. Was this some sort of backup plan to convince Lex to choose him? I clenched my hands into fists.

“You see something, Clark? Something … different … inside of me.”

I nodded and told him about the fire.

Lex’s lips thinned into a tight, white line. “But I haven’t agreed to--damn him! What has he done to me?”

“This change does not appear to be permanent or complete … yet,” The A.I. said after a moment. “Why do you resist becoming his child?”

Lex grimaced. “I’m not resisting … exactly. I’m calculating what’s best.”

“But he is a god. You would be the son of a god. My understanding of your character is that such power would not be unwelcome.”

“What you understand of his character?” I shouted. “You don’t know Lex!”

Lex patted my shoulder, a wan smile on his face. “It’s not an unfair assessment, Clark.”

“But that’s not the whole of you! And it has no right to judge.”

The A.I. had reminded me so much of Martha for a moment and her surety that Lex was a bad man that I couldn’t keep silent. A man motivated solely by power wouldn’t be agonizing like Lex was over whether to become the son of a god or not. It would be a done deal. Lex squeezed my shoulder.

“I don’t think it’s judging. More like trying to understand my behavior.” Lex’s eyes narrowed as he turned back to the A.I. “Why is it so important to you that I am the Arc of Fallen Light’s son?”

“Because it is part of the promise that he made to Kal-El’s parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van. It is one of the reasons Kal-El was sent to Earth.”

I felt a creeping uneasiness spreading over my chest. It was that same sick feeling I’d had when Martha had told us about me sneaking down into the cellar and promising to take over the world for Lex.

“Who is Kal-El?”

“That’s my Kryptonian name,” I explained.

My jaw was so tense that I could only grit the explanation out. I knew the muzziness that still affected the memory of that moment in the cellar would be stripped away soon. I sensed whatever had been hidden from me was something I wouldn’t like. But it was something that Lex needed to know to make his decision so I kept silent even though all I wanted to do was scream at the A.I. to keep silent.

Lex cast a worried look in my direction. “Clark, do you want me to continue to … do you want me to stop asking the A.I. questions?”

It took every ounce of will-power I had to shake my head. “Ask, Lex. You need to know. And maybe I do too.”

Lex cupped my cheeks with his hands. “I want to know, Clark, but … maybe I don’t need to know. Not this way. Not if it’s going to hurt you.”

I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. For Lex to turn down the opportunity to learn something was the ultimate sacrifice. And he was willing to do it for me. He didn’t even squirm as he said it.

“I want you to know. I want to know, too. It’s … I have to understand the whole of it. This … this is why Martha decided I should be hurt.”

I tried to turn away from Lex’s all-too understanding gaze, but even though physically he could never have stopped me from taking that action, somehow the force of his will could and I was unable to move.

“Nothing we learn here will excuse what the Kents did to you, Clark. Nothing. Do you understand?”

“I … yes, I understand.”

“But do you believe it?”

“I … I want to believe it.”

“I wish I could have taken your place in that cellar, Clark. God, how I wish that.”

“No! That would have hurt me more.”

Lex pressed his forehead against my shoulder. I could feel the warm puffs of his breath through the sweater and all I wanted to do was get him to kiss and touch me again. I could lose myself in him and this could all be forgotten. But that would be cowardly, that wouldn’t help Lex, and I couldn’t let fear rule me.

My voice sounded strained, but I managed to tease him nonetheless, “The faster we do this, Lex, the quicker we’ll get to the better part of the evening. You know the making love part.”

He laughed softly. “I’m eager to get on with the … deflowering, too.”

“Deflowering? Is that another one of your grandmother’s words, Lex?”

He smirked. “Not one she would ever have said to me … or anyone. But like ragamuffin, it’s a useful term.”

He kissed me lightly. The concern he still felt for my well-being was revealed in the tense set of his jaw as he pulled back, but he went forward with the questioning without more argument. He turned to the ship, but this time he took my hand and squeezed it to give me comfort.

“What was this promise the Arc of Fallen Light made to Clark’s parents?” Lex asked the A.I.

“Jor-El and his mate, Lara Lor-Van, became aware that Krypton’s sun was unstable. Their calculations showed that the sun would supernova within the year. They tried to convince Krypton’s ruling body to evacuate the people before it was too late. But their pleas were in vain. Many openly scoffed and they were completely ignored by others. That was when they were approached by Artek Naleth Falrea.”

“Was he considered a god by those on Krypton? Worshipped or something?” I asked.

“He was thought a myth by modern Kryptonians. They believed that he was the first concept their ancestors had of a darker force in the universe. At first, Kal-El’s parents were skeptical of him, but he proved his identity to them. It was then that he made them the promise. Artek Naleth Falrea said that Kal-El would survive the destruction of Krypton and would rule with the Arc’s own beloved son, not just one world, but countless.”

Lex’s mouth twisted slightly. “What was the catch? What did they have to do?”

“It was a simple exchange. They were to refrain from continuing to warn people about Krypton’s impending destruction.”

I let out a gasp. Lex gripped my hand tighter.

“Kal-El, you are disturbed by this. Why?” The A.I. asked.

“How can you ask that? They traded the lives of billions for mine!”

“No. All they did was trade giving another warning, one that would have been ignored like all the rest had, for the assurance that you would survive … and that you would rule.”

“People might have listened to them! More may have escaped, but … but without that warnings … only I did.”

I sank to the floor. Lex came down with me. He was rubbing my back, making soothing noises. If Martha had heard this, how my own parents had chosen one they loved above the lives of everyone else on a planet, maybe she was right to fear that I would do the same for Lex. Actually, I knew she was right to fear. I knew I would choose Lex above all others. I shut my eyes tight.

“Lex,” the A.I.’s voice boomed, “do you believe as Kal-El does?”

Lex said nothing for a few moments. I could almost see the wheels in his head turning as he thought of an answer that wouldn’t hurt me, that would perhaps justify my parents’ actions and I wasn’t disappointed when he gave his answer.

“I understand why they made the decision they did. Faced with the same facts: the assured survival of Clark or potentially someone listening to them after having been ignored, most people … good people … would make the same choice Clark’s parents did.”

I shuddered slightly against him. He hadn’t really answered the question the A.I. had posed. I felt so cold.

“Lex, you know that the last warning would have made a difference! You know. If the warnings would have been useless then the Arc wouldn’t have asked my parents not to make them. It would’ve been an empty deal otherwise and I don’t think he makes those.”

Lex’s head lowered. “We can’t know that for sure, Clark. And … no parent is going to risk their child’s survival on suppositions, not if they can avoid it.”

“Did you tell me this information the night I agreed to … to take over the world for Lex?” I asked the A.I.

“Yes, I explained that your sole purpose in coming here was to conquer this planet for the Artek Naleth Falrea and your mate, Lex.”

“Mate?” Lex asked, one elegant eyebrow arching upwards.

“You and Kal-El are mates—”

“Was that all the Arc of Fallen Light told my parents?” I interrupted, a flush heating my cheeks.

Lex gave me a questioning look, but I ducked my head so he couldn’t see the nervousness in my eyes. I guessed that the A.I. was going to tell him something about this feeling I’d been having that I was genetically programmed to please him as my mate. I was sure Lex would freak out. He would never trust that anything we did together was of my own free will, but instead fear it was due to a biological imperative. Already he worried he was like those men that had hurt him, this would just add to it.

“That was not all he said,” the A.I. intoned.

“Did he say what caused Krypton’s sun to become unstable?”

“He told Kal-El’s parents that the sun’s instability was due in part to a power struggle with his counterpart for the fate of Krypton. It was unclear what the actual mechanism was that caused the problem.”

“Lex, is Earth going to be destroyed? Is that what you saw in the futures?”

Lex raised one hand to stop me from asking more questions. He looked so incredibly weary. “I can’t answer you, Clark. No matter how much I want to.”

“I guess if it was as easy as picking the future in which the world wasn’t destroyed you’d chose that one.”

Lex nodded and laughed bitterly. “Maybe it will lead to that in the end. I know that at least in one future the world is spared from–”

Lex stopped speaking suddenly and clutched at his throat. He grimaced and rubbed the front of his neck. He was being blocked from telling me what he saw again. I tried to hold back my frustration. Lex felt enough of it for both of us.

“Damn this!” He was silent for a moment, and then asked the A.I., “Can you tell me anything else about the Arcs?”

“Only that they were thought to be in a battle for the universe. That each world that fell to one or the other of them affected a balance.”

“Good versus evil?” I asked, hoping it would be so simple, but knowing it couldn’t be.

“No, not in any sense that was understood by the Kryptonian or Earth cultures. It was theorized by Kryptonian philosophers that to follow one and not the other was like saying one prefers dawn to dusk.”

“Meaning that there is darkness and light in each of them in equal measure, right?” Lex guessed.

“So it was thought,” the A.I. answered.

“But didn’t Chloe say that the Arc of Fallen Light was the precursor of the Devil?” I objected.

“Meaning that the Arc of Ascendant Light would be the precursor to a benevolent god?” Lex asked.

I nodded.

He shook his head. “I don’t buy that explanation. It was the Arc of Ascendant Light that sent that information to Chloe in the first place in the hopes that it would influence us against Lucien. And even with what she was shown, Chloe said that the research also indicated neither of them was truly good. Besides …” Lex paused and his gaze skittered away from mine, which was a sure indication he was leaving something out.

“Lex, what else?”

“What do you mean? That’s it.” He gave me an affronted look, but it failed when he couldn’t meet my gaze for more than a moment.

“There’s something else you’re not saying.”

His shoulders slumped slightly. “I can lie to most anybody else and they’ll believe me, but not you. Is that another one of your super powers?”

I ran my hand down the side of his face. “Tell me, Lex. Please.”

He sighed softly. “Lucien told me that the Ascendant was the one to speak to Jonathan Kent.”

I must have given him a confused look. He gripped my shoulders, his storm colored eyes never leaving mine.

“Clark … she … she whispered in his mind. Told him to do those terrible things to you. Encouraged his feelings of disgust towards homosexuality and damnation along with it. I think she … drove him a little … crazy. I believe she may have even alerted Martha to your going down to the cellar in the first place and encouraged her to behave badly as well.”

I was silent for a long moment, digesting what he had told me, unsure how to react to the news that the Kents’ minds had been played with, their prejudices and fears plucked like they were stringed instruments just waiting for the right tune to be played to make them into monsters.

Lex increased the pressure of his hold on me. “The Ascendant is part of the reason you were hurt, Clark, and nothing that’s good could do that to you. Believe me. You’re not something that should ever be … hurt.”

“But if it’s for the sake of the whole planet—”

“Trust me, Clark, that a good being would find a different way of keeping us apart. Not beating you and emotionally destroying you. That’s something more like what Lionel would do or … what the Slither would advocate.” Lex brushed one hand over the top of his forehead. He said softly, “I’m so sorry that you were hurt in the Arcs’ game.”

“This isn’t your fault, Lex. None of it.” Shaking off thoughts of the Kents, I asked him, “Which one of the Arcs can be moved to protect this world so that what happened to Krypton and its people won’t happen here? Do you think that if Lucien truly cares for you, you could influence him to keep the Earth safe?”

“If I have influence over either of them it’s Lucien.” Lex rubbed his chin for a moment, his gaze unfocused and distant. Speaking more to himself than us, he said, “Perhaps that’s it. Influence who I can and … and then to have a backup in case …”

He stood there silently for some time, but then he suddenly stood up straighter. His eyes were brighter than they had been in some time. He touched my cheek, just holding the side of my face for a long moment.

“Lex, what is it?”

He just gave me a small smile then shook his head. “Merely thinking things through.”

“There’s nothing mere about any of your thought processes, Lex.”

He just smiled at me and said nothing more. But something in the way he continued to look at me at that moment, as if memorizing my face, made my stomach plummet. And suddenly I knew why. He’d made his decision whether to accept Lucien or not! I was sure of it. But why didn’t he want to tell me that? Then a disturbing possibility wormed its way into my mind: did one of the futures have us not being together? What if that was the better future for the world, but the worst for us? What if that was the one he had chosen?

The Lex I had first met would have chosen based purely on what would have served him best, maybe even the Lex of a few days ago would have, but he had changed. Yet that change meant he could choose a path that led him away from me in order to assure the safety of the rest of the world. It chilled and warmed me. And it made me love him so much more. But I wanted to scream. It wasn’t fair for us to have just found one another a year ago and confess our love for each other a day ago only to have it end now. Knowing him, he’d tell himself that I’d be better off without him anyways. He wouldn’t understand that there could never be anyone else for me, biological imperative or not.

“Clark, you look like you’re going to … what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Then I sniffled. I wiped my hand across my eyes then buried my head in his neck. I breathed in his scent, felt his heart beat and listened as mine joined in the same rhythm.

“I can tell it’s a whole lot of nothing. We don’t need to ask the A.I. anything else. I think maybe we’ve had enough revelations today.”

He thought I was still upset about my birth parents’ choice or the Kents and I decided not to say differently. I knew he couldn’t tell me about the futures and I was afraid I would just start pleading with him to choose whatever future assured that we were never apart no matter what the cost.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here. It’s time for the fun part of the evening.” He leaned forward and nipped my earlobe.

Even upset, the hot touch of his teeth and tongue against my ear made heat arc through me. I ran my fingers over the place on the ship where the key had melded into the metal. The key reappeared and I removed it, placing it on the table. The A.I. powered down and the ship sank back onto the tabletop. It looked like a metallic seed pod of a gigantic flower.

Lex stared at the ship for long, silent moments. “It’s an amazing thing, Clark. The technology your people must have had … the promise of your species … only to be destroyed due to one of the Arcs’ battles. And for what? For some mystical balance? Dawn or dusk is all the same in the end.” Lex’s gaze turned steely. “We can’t let that happen here. Humans may not be at the level of Kryptonians, but they deserve the chance to progress and grow and become all they can be.”

I just nodded. I knew he was right, but my heart felt so heavy with dread that I was going to lose him that I couldn’t speak the affirmation. Lex took my hand and led us out of the room.

PART 2 - INTERFERENCE

Lex’s POV

As Lex locked the door behind them, he had to school his expression into one of calmness and contentment. He had long ago learned that mimicking emotions sometimes led to actually feeling them. This time though he doubted it would work. He had decided which future to choose and his heart was breaking.

Lucien had told him that the only thing that was in flux was whether Lex was his son or not, that all else he had seen in the rest of the chosen future was set, but Lex wondered if that was true. He decided to gamble on it being false. He would become the Arc’s son, try to influence Lucien to preserve Earth and its people as the war raged. But Lex would not take Clark with him. He would join the Arc of Fallen Light alone.

Clark had powers, vast powers, and if he were in the capable, caring hands of someone like Bruce, he would learn to use those powers to challenge the Arcs or at least keep them in line. If Lex were to fall under the Lucien’s sway, abandon himself to the siren song that was the Arc’s power, and try to harm Earth, Clark would be there to challenge him. The foreclosed future had shown him that Clark was capable of fighting him. Clark would be Lex’s backup. It was as perfect a solution as Lex could come up with.

Except the thought of being without Clark, his light in the darkness, was killing Lex. And what was worse was that he couldn’t even tell Clark what he was doing. He doubted he would be allowed to speak the words due to the restrictions placed on him by Lucien, but even if he could, he knew that Clark’s reaction would destroy his resolve. So he couldn’t inform the one person he’d ever truly loved that it took the fate of the world and all the beings on it to force Lex to leave him.

And even now he was tempted to just damn the world to be with Clark forever.

His other fear was that once he made his choice, and forgot why he chose to leave his beloved, that he would not let Clark go. Somehow he had to stick to his resolve.

He threaded his fingers through Clark’s and they began to walk down the hall towards the dining room. The boy’s green eyes never left him and Lex was loathe to look anywhere else. He stopped walking just before they reached the main foyer, pulling the boy to a halt beside him. In the dim light of the hallway, he kissed Clark. He poured himself into the kiss. The boy gave out a small muffled sound of pain and drew back.

“Clark?” Lex reached for Clark’s face to pull him down into the kiss again.

“Don’t!”

Lex’s chest seized. Why didn’t Clark want to be kissed?

The green eyes filled with tears and one spilled out. Clark swiped at it. “Don’t kiss me like that!”

“Like what?”

More tears fell and Clark’s lower lip trembled. Lex cupped his face.

“Like what, angel?”

“Like you … like you don’t think you’ll be able to do it again!” Clark’s eyes squeezed shut and his whole body shook. “Like this is it. Like this moment is all we’ll have.”

Lex’s throat went tight and dry. How could Clark know? He hadn’t said a word and as far as he knew telepathy wasn’t part of Clark’s powers. Clark turned away from him, furiously scrubbing his face with his hands.

“Damnit! I don’t want to cry! I … Lex … I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

Lex stood there, frozen. His grand plan lay in tatters around him. This was the reality if he left Clark behind when he joined the Arc. Clark’s suffering was the reality. ‘But he’ll get over me. He’s sixteen! He’ll find another person to love. Someone truly worthy. Even if I never am able to love anyone but him, he can still have a full life. If he’s with me and I go to the Arc then … then he might not act out of love for me. He’ll be too close. The Arc could corrupt him as well. This is for the best. But why does it have to hurt so much?’ Lex wrapped his arms around Clark’s waist, resting one cheek against the broad muscles of Clark’s back.

“I’ll love you forever, Clark,” Lex murmured.

Clark was rigid against him. “But will you be with me forever?”

Lex shut his eyes tightly. He couldn’t lie, but he could shade the truth. He knew what Clark probably meant was would they be together as they were now forever, but there was another way to interpret his question and Lex took it. No matter where Lex was, he would always be with Clark, watching over him, wishing the best of everything for him, keeping him safe. But Clark would not know it.

“Yes, angel, I’ll always be with you.”

The tension bled out of his ward. Clark turned around in Lex’s arms. The green eyes were dark and the lashes still wet. Lex brushed the tears away with his thumbs. Pain thundered in his chest at how achingly beautiful Clark looked at that moment. Could he truly give this up? If he were a stronger man he would not take Clark’s virginity tonight. He would not have the boy associate him with that first moment, perhaps every sexual moment, after that. If he were truly honest, he would acknowledge that being with Clark tonight was his way of keeping a place in Clark’s heart forever as well. It was a selfish thing, but Lex couldn’t let it go. He desperately needed this memory to survive all the cold darkness ahead when the temptation to fall to Lucien’s sway would be great.

Clark leaned down and their lips met. Even though Clark was the aggressor in the kiss, somehow he managed to surrender at the same time he sought out Lex’s mouth. The boy was so warm, like a fire against his skin. Lex’s hands ran through Clark’s hair, finally fisting in the silken strands as he concentrated on the slow steady stroking of Clark’s tongue against his own. They only broke apart for air. They stood there, wrapped around one another, not speaking, for long moments. The silence was only broken by a low growl from Clark’s stomach. Lex couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him.

“Sorry,” Clark said and blushed.

“No need to be. I’m the one that’s been remiss in not getting you fed. Let’s go eat. You’ll need your strength for later.”

Lex wasn’t surprised when Clark blushed at that comment.

As they took the stairs down to the front foyer, Lex said, “Oh, tomorrow we have to go to Gotham to see Bruce. I thought we would stay there for a week or so and … and work all this out. Besides I want you to get to know Bruce. He’s a good man, Clark. Someone you can trust.”

Lex placed emphasis on the word trust. He wanted to introduce to Clark right away the idea that Bruce was someone he could have confidence in even with his secrets. Bruce was going to be take his place as Clark’s guardian after all. He almost laughed when he realized the jealousy he felt at that thought. But it had to be.

Lex didn’t know what would happen when he told Lucien he would become his son. Would they go through a legal adoption or would something far more drastic be required? Either way, it would be necessary for the Dark Knight to know about Clark’s origins so he could guard him and train him properly. He had a lot to tell Batman.

Clark nodded. “I’m sure he’s a good guy if you vouch for him. Chloe could get my homework assignments for the week. But I think you need to call the school to let them know I’ll be gone.”

“I’ll put in the call early tomorrow before we leave.”

Clark playfully bumped shoulders with Lex. “The principal is going to totally have a cow when he realizes that you’re my guardian. I’d pay to see his expression when you talk to him. I bet he’ll get the lemon look.”

“The lemon look?”

“His face goes all scrunched and red and sour.”

With a smirk, Lex said, “Maybe we should head over to the school in person to tell him. I think I’d like to see that look.”

“I think you already have.”

“When?”

“Remember when you took me to school in the Ferrari? You roared us into the parking lot 1 minute before the bell rang and caused a logjam of students as they all rushed back out of class to check out the car. And then the principal told you to get that car off school property and never return with it. The look on his face then, that was the lemon look.”

“I think I do remember that. We’re definitely going to go see him in person tomorrow.” Lex smirked.

Clark’s laugh was cut off by the ringing of Lex’s cell phone.

“Who is it, Lex?” Clark asked.

“Chloe.” Lex pursed his lips thoughtfully and flipped his phone open. “Hello, Ms. Sullivan.”

“Alexander.”

The woman’s voice was like cool oil slithering into Lex’s ear. He nearly jerked the phone away from his head.

“Who are you? Where’s Chloe?”

“I am known by many names, but you know me as the Arc of Ascendant Light.”

Clark was suddenly at his side, his eyes wide.

“Where is Ms. Sullivan?” Lex demanded again.

“Here.”

“What have you done to her?”

“Oh, Alexander, dearest nephew, you malign me! But I forgive you.”

Lex gritted his teeth. Somehow the Ascendant knew his choice to become Lucien’s son. ‘Or she’s making a good guess.’ He began pacing. He felt Clark’s eyes on him, tracking his movements, ready at a moment’s notice to take off to get to Chloe.

“You should well know that neither I nor my brother can act directly in this world without breaking our pact.”

“That hasn’t stopped you before.”

“You mustn’t believe everything my brother tells you, Lex.”

“Oh, and I should trust you instead? You who had Clark tortured!”

Clark winced at his words, and ducked his head as if ashamed that he allowed such a thing to happen to him. Lex rested one hand against Clark’s chest.

“That was a miscalculation,” she answered and Lex smiled at the trace of annoyance in her tone. He had pricked her. He wanted to draw far more blood.

“I bet it was.”

“Still even you must acknowledge it wasn’t my hand that raised the belt or baked the pies.”

“It might just as well have been. You manipulated the Kents. You played upon their fears and hates. You are responsible for Clark being hurt and I’ll never forgive you for it,” Lex hissed the last. His free hand was clenched at his side. The depth of his anger towards her surprised him, but it was only right she bear as much of it as the Kents themselves. He realized he would enjoy joining Lucien if, for nothing else, to help destroy her.

There was silence over the line. Lex heard nothing, not the crackle of the connection, nor the soft exhale of her breath. Did the Arcs need to breathe? Would he when he became Lucien’s son? The absolute silence was unnerving, but Lionel had taught him to relish silence and always let your adversary break it. He wasn’t disappointed.

“I thought you would be able to see the bigger picture, Lex, than just your desire for revenge.”

Lex ignored the poorly aimed barb. “So why is Ms. Sullivan with you? Have you tried to influence her like you did the Kents?”

“No, she was on her way to see you and Clark. Only it seems she ran into Mr. Kent while he was staking out the perimeter of your estate, looking for a way to get in to finish the job he started.”

Lex’s stomach dropped. Mr. Kent was here to kill Clark and he had Chloe. Clark’s superhearing was obviously working well, because the boy had gone white. Clark started turning slowly in a circle, using his x-ray vision to look for figures on the Castle grounds. Lex moved himself, running across the foyer floor into his study and to his desk. He unlocked the drawer that held the gun. The weight of it was comforting against his palm. Lex stared at the now empty drawer for a moment, feeling like something was missing, but he couldn’t recall what it was.

“What will it take for Mr. Kent to let Ms. Sullivan go?”

“Only for you to come outside and play, Alexander.”

The line went dead. Lex tried to contact Lucien like he had before with his mind. But there was nothing, not even the buzzing sensation. His concentration was broken by Clark suddenly appearing before him.

The boy said, “I see two figures and … something that looks like blue flames out by the lake.”

“We have to be careful, Clark. Mr. Kent is bound to have Kryptonite on him.” Lex slid out the gun’s magazine to check it was full and then slapped it back in when he was satisfied.

Clark’s eyes were focused on the distant scene. “I don’t see any, but he may have it in another lead container. Though I don’t see one of those either.”

Something about a lead container and the empty drawer again niggled at the back of Lex’s mind, but it was gone like smoke.

“Let’s just be careful, okay?”

Clark nodded grimly.

“Should I alert security?”

“No, I’d have to be too careful about using my powers. And I think we’ll need those more than guns.”

Lex hid the half-smirk. The truth was Clark acting “careful” about his powers amounted to him hoping people were blind. The strange thing was in Smallville that people were. Clark pulled Lex against him for a frantic kiss. Lex moaned at the intensity of the contact. The boy’s hand pressed against his lower back, molding their bodies together. How many times had he and Clark been in life or death situations before and he’d longed to kiss the boy just like this? It was better than he’d ever imagined. ‘How can I let him go?’

Clark pulled back from the kiss, his eyes looked wild. “I love you, Lex.”

“I love you.” The words were whispered and breathless, but Lex had never meant them more.

“We’ll save Chloe and stop the Ascendant.”

Clark’s expression was firm and for a moment Lex caught a glimpse of the strong, capable man Clark was and in the future would be even more. ‘He can challenge the Arcs. I know it.’

“I know we will, Clark.”

Clark blushed slightly and a small wry smile lit up his face as he said, “I guess the … deflowering … will have to wait for a little while.”

“But only a little.”

The quick happy nod of Clark’s head was the last thing Lex saw before the world blurred. The study was replaced with the outdoors. They were in the woods surrounding the lake on Lex’s property, about twenty feet from three figures. Lex shook his head to get rid of his disorientation from Clark’s superspeed.

When he was able to see without the world spinning, Lex looked over to the figures. Chloe was on the ground, her hands and feet bound. Mr. Kent was disheveled, the white shirt he wore underneath the open flannel shirt was ripped and appeared stained even in moonlight. Lex was shocked that Mrs. Kent would have let him go out in that condition. ‘But then again maybe she doesn’t know. Maybe she’s in her own personal hell somewhere, too.’ Jonathan’s head was cocked to the side as if listening to a voice.

Then Lex saw her.

The Ascendant had the same long copper-colored hair as her brother. Her features were delicate and pale. She had those identical bewitching mercury eyes that glowed softly in the darkness. With a start, Lex realized that Jonathan’s head was cocked towards the Ascendant and her lips occasionally moved though Lex couldn’t hear what was said.

“I don’t feel the effects of any Kryptonite. If he has some, he’s got it shielded,” Clark whispered. “God, the Ascendant looks like Lucien’s twin.”

Lex nodded. “Speaking of, I’m going to try to contact Lucien again before we move in.”

Lex concentrated, but once more there was nothing. He wondered if the Ascendant was blocking the connection. Surely Lucien would be aware of their predicament and intervene? Lex had made his choice. Lucien said he could protect him once that was done. ‘Do I have to click my heels together three times and say I want him to be my father or what?’ Lex knew his fear was getting the better of him. He’d never needed to lean on anyone before. They didn’t need Lucien’s help to rescue Chloe. It would just make things easier. More assured.

“Any luck?” Clark asked softly, his focus half on Lex and half on the group by the lake.

“No. It’s just us, I guess. I should go in first. Take the direct approach. You hang back where they can’t see you. I’ve got the gun so that’s something. Once I’ve got their attention, you should move in and overpower Mr. Kent.”

Clark nodded, his expression serious and focused. Lex brushed his knuckles against Clark’s cheek.

“It’ll be all right.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Lex.” Bright green eyes pinned him where he stood.

“I know.”

Lex turned and began walking out of the tree line over to the group. He saw a flicker of a smile cross the Ascendant’s face. Her lips were as red as her hair and her mouth looked like a bleeding wound. He swallowed, but didn’t move any faster than a casual stroll, as if this was nothing out of the ordinary. Lex heard Chloe speaking to Jonathan. Neither of the two humans noticed his approach.

“Please, Mr. Kent, let me go!”

Mr. Kent swatted the air as if Chloe’s voice were an annoying gnat. “Quiet! I can’t hear with you talking.”

“Hear what? Mr. Kent, you’re … you’re not well! Please untie me and let me help you.”

Jonathan was motionless, his expression a rigid mask of concentration, his head still cocked. Lex saw sweat breaking across his brow as the mental act of trying to hear the Ascendant’s voice was causing physical exertion.

“Whatever you’re hearing, Mr. Kent, it isn’t real! Please let me go!”

“I told you to be quiet, girl!”

Jonathan towered over Chloe. He raised one hand above his head as if to strike her. Lex knew it was time to intervene. He moved forward until he was only ten feet from Jonathan and pointed the gun at the older man’s chest.

“Mr. Kent, back away from Ms. Sullivan.”

Both heads jerked towards him.

“Lex! Thank god!” Chloe cried.

Lex could see tear streaks running down her face and the beginnings of a bruise on her left cheekbone. Jonathan had clearly struck her before.

“It’s you!” Jonathan hissed, flecks of spittle flew from his mouth.

There were dark circles like craters around Jonathan’s eyes, the skin hung slack from his face giving him an almost hound dog appearance, and his flesh had a sickly cast. Jonathan looked like he had aged ten years since Lex had last seen him. The handsome man that had been Jonathan Kent was gone. In his place was a gnarled stranger. Though he had no love for this man, it still sickened Lex to see what the Ascendant had made of him.

“I believe we’ve played this game before, Mr. Kent, and if you recall, I won. The same thing is going to happen this time,” Lex informed him softly.

Jonathan just stared at him. He hardly blinked. His hands clenched spasmodically into fists at his sides. Lex had the impression of a bull about to charge.

“Mr. Kent, you will stand back from Ms. Sullivan. Your hands will remain at all times where I can see them. You will –”

“She said you would come.” Jonathan’s voice sounded hoarse as if he had been screaming for hours.

Lex licked his lips once and his eyes darted to the Ascendant who smile wider, her mouth more gash-like than ever. “The Ascendant told you I was coming?”

Chloe had seen his darting glance and she craned her neck to see everything around her in a 360 degree angle. “They’re real? The Arcs are real?” Though her gaze passed right over the Ascendant but there was no recognition that there was anyone there.

Lex wondered if the physical changes he’d undergone allowed him to see the Ascendant when other humans could not. Jonathan didn’t turn to look for her. He was, however, nodding and smiling. Lex saw the Ascendant’s mouth was moving.

“She’s talking to you now, isn’t she, Mr. Kent?”

“Her voice is like … honey in my mind.”

Lex swallowed at the look of ecstasy that crossed Jonathan’s ravaged features. His eyelids fluttered slightly as the word ‘honey’ left his mouth. His voice softened and warmed, and a flush heightened his all ready ruddy colored skin. ‘What has she done to him?’

Lex’s eyes skittered to the woods. Where was Clark? He was surprised the boy hadn’t come out yet, but maybe he thought Lex had things in hand and didn’t want to tip Jonathan off to his presence. But Jonathan’s behavior was disturbing enough that Lex wanted backup now. But Clark did not appear.

“Mr. Kent, you have been lied to. The Ascendant has been influencing you in order to win a war against her brother. Certain people are key in this war to each side. You and Mrs. Kent got caught up in the middle of it, because Clark and I are two of those crucial people.”

Chloe’s eyes were as big as saucers. He could see her reporter’s mind working, realizing that this was a story bigger than any she had on her Wall of Weird. Mr. Kent’s chapped lips stretched into a grimace of distaste.

“I know all about the Balance Wars, fallen one. And I know which side you stand on. The side you took my precious son to. Seducing him with your wicked body! Trying to send the world together into darkness! Letting the Fallen win.”

“No, that’s not true. The Ascendant is destroying you and Mrs. Kent. Tried to destroy Clark. Could anything good do that? Her side is not the right one.”

Jonathan took a step forward. Lex stepped back. Where was Clark? He didn’t want to shoot Jonathan. He needed Clark’s help.

“Mr. Kent, stop moving. Don’t make me hurt you!”

Lex looked past Jonathan’s shoulder and wasn’t comforted by what he saw. The Ascendant was giving him a pitying look and shaking her head mournfully as if she truly cared that something terrible was about to happen to him. It was the something terrible part that was worrying Lex. Chloe was struggling with her bonds, but there was little chance she could free herself in time to do anything.

Jonathan advanced another step.

“Mr. Kent, I warn you right now that if you move one more time I will be forced to shoot you.”

“Do what you must do. I intend to.”

Unable to think of anything more than the fact that he was going to have to shoot and kill a man, Lex did the only thing he could think of to stop that event. “CLARK!”

“Lex, get … get … get away from there!” Clark’s voice was faint, agonized, like it sounded when he was under the influence of Kryptonite.

Lex’s eyes left Jonathan at that moment, searching for Clark. Jonathan took the advantage and lunged. Lex flew backwards landing painfully on his right shoulder. The gun skittered off into the lake. Lex struggled under Jonathan’s bulk, but the older man held him down, squatting over his mid-section. Lex hissed in pain as Mr. Kent struck him on the jaw. Blood leaked out the corner of his mouth, the copper tang unpleasant on his tongue.

“I don’t want him damaged, Mr. Kent.” Lionel words rang out like a clarion bell.

“Jonathan, don’t hurt him!”

Mrs. Kent’s contralto voice hit Lex harder than Mr. Kent’s fist had. ‘They’re all working together!’

Lex turned his head towards where he heard their voices coming from. The scene that greeted him was like a nightmare. Clark was prone on the ground. The same meteor-rock necklace that Lex had taken off him in the cellar was looped tightly around his neck again. His arms were tied behind his back making it impossible for him to get the necklace off on his own even if he were conscious. Mrs. Kent was crouched down next to him, petting his back in a parody to Lex of motherly love.

Lionel stood beside them like a proud lion, a triumphant smile on his face, and a small dark box in his hand. ‘The jewelry box with the necklace … that’s what was missing from my desk!’ Lex remembered now that after Lionel had left his bedroom that morning, he had said he was going to Lex’s study. Lex had accused him of going to snoop. Evidently he had. And he had sunk to stealing as well it appeared.

Lex looked for the Ascendant. But she was gone. He tried to concentrate on Lucien again, on reaching him with his mind, but no one answered. ‘If he’s trying to make me understand what life would be without him, I’ve got the picture!’

“Your side will lose this war,” Jonathan said.

His breath against Lex’s face was foul, like garbage cooked in the sun. The man’s skin felt too warm against his own. He couldn’t bear the feeling of another male body over his other than Clark’s, but the Ascendant’s corruption of Jonathan Kent made it all the worse. Lex fought back the urge to vomit.

“You’re working with Lionel Luthor, Mr. Kent. Do you truly believe anything he would support is a good thing?”

Jonathan growled at him and Lex truly feared the man was one thread from completely losing his mind and whatever humanity he had left. Not able to look at the manic face above him, he stared over at Clark’s still body. ‘Please, please, let him be all right! Damnit, Lucien, we really need you here!’

“Clark? Clark, can you hear me? Please answer me!”

The boy’s body seemed to stir slightly. Pained green eyes looked up at him.

“L-L-ex … s-s-sorry. Didn’t … know they were there until too late.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“D-d-don’t think of me, Lex. If … if you have a chance to get away … t-t-take it.”

“I’m not leaving you, Clark!”

“Such heroics. Not that I’m surprised to hear it out of the do-gooder’s lips, Lex, but yours? How ridiculous. I brought you up better than this.” Lionel came swooping over to him, his shined shoes entering Lex’s vision.

“Why, Father, how good to see you two times in one glorious day.”

“Father? Are you sure I still bear that title, Lex?” Lionel’s voice was far too controlled for anything good to come out of it.

“What are you talking about? Have you disowned me since this morning?”

“No, but I hear that you have disowned me. Or you planned to. Did you or that bastard, Lucien, think I didn’t understand what was going on at lunch today?”

Lex shrugged against the ground. “So he offered to become my father. I can’t control what people offer me. I haven’t taken him up on it.”

Lionel knelt down by his side. “And you never will.”

His father’s gloved hand brushed against the side of his skull. Lex jerked his head away. But Lionel gripped his son’s skull, forcing the touches.

“You’re mine, Lex. I’m going to remind you of what that means.”

Lex glared up at Lionel’s shadowed face. There was a brief glimpse of a tense, set smile. Was he working with the Ascendant yet? Did he know about the war? Or was he just acting to get back at Lex like usual?

“What about Clark?” Lex tested his strength against Jonathan’s, but the older man’s seemed so much greater even with the deterioration of his body.

“Clark … will be going to one of my labs,” Lionel explained simply.

“What? NO!” Martha cried. “That wasn’t our agreement, Lionel. You were just to get them apart!”

“I’m changing our agreement. Pray that I do not change it any more,” Lionel said softly and was on his feet, brushing off the knees of his dark trousers. “Dominic!”

“Yes, sir?” Dominic appeared at his elbow. His eyes skittered down to Lex’s prone form, but didn’t stay there long.

“Get the men to move Clark and my son into the vans.”

Lex saw out the corner of his eye that Chloe had managed to free her hands and was working on her legs. He prayed she could run away, into the woods, back to her house. She could tell someone about this. ‘But will it do any good? Lionel can get away with almost anything. Kidnapping us is nothing to him.’

“Jonathan! Do something. We can’t let them take Clark!” Martha cried as three of Lionel’s drones surrounded Clark’s prone form

Jonathan made that odd growling sound again and leapt, not at the drones, but at Lionel Luthor. In a way, it was the best and worst thing he could have done. He’d have no chance against the three armed drones, but if he grabbed Lionel he could negotiate, but Jonathan was beyond rational thought. He was just going for Lionel’s throat. The elder Luthor yelled, and barely held his ground as Jonathan slammed into him. Lionel threw a punch that landed on Mr. Kent’s jaw. The farmer only gave out a grunt and head-butted Lionel in the gut. Lionel went down hard. Lex couldn’t watch any longer. He only had a few minutes before the drones took down Jonathan and then they would get back to imprisoning him and Clark.

Chloe was untying the last knot in the rope that bound her ankles. Lex caught her eye as he scrambled to his feet. He yelled to her over his shoulder, “Chloe! Get out of here! Get help! Tell people about what’s happening here!”

She nodded, gave one desperate glance over at Clark, and hared away into the woods. Lex turned towards Clark’s prone form and began to run. Dominic moved to intercept. Lex used his elbow to crush the man’s windpipe and thrust the choking, screaming body out of his way. The only thing that stood between him and Clark was Martha Kent.

She was suddenly coming towards him, shouting, “Get Clark out of here, Lex.”

If Jonathan Kent looked like he aged 10 years, she looked to have aged 20.

Her mouth trembled then she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to be like this. God, so sorry. Take care of him.”

Then she was running towards the fight to help her husband, giving Clark and Lex a few precious more seconds to get away.

He dropped down by Clark’s side. He untied Clark’s hands and began to rip the necklace off but it only led to him strangling Clark. The boy’s hands uselessly clawed at the chain. Lex looked for the clasp. His own hands felt two sizes too large, but finally he was able to locate the small piece of metal, unclip it and begin unwinding the necklace from around Clark’s neck.

“Almost off, angel. It’s almost off.”

Dark veins pulsed along Clark’s face and he looked up at Lex with pleading green eyes.

“We’re going to get out of here, I promise.”

The necklace finally was completely loose from Clark’s neck. Lex tossed the damn thing as far away as he could. He expected to see Clark recover immediately like he had in the cellar but the young man still lay there like a dead thing. Perhaps he had a bit more strength but not much.

“There’s more … more … r-rock nearby,” Clark gasped out as he struggled to sit up. “I … I can’t tell where though.”

“We need to get back to the Castle. Enrique will help us. I’m sure he’s on our side, not my father’s.” Lex looped his arm underneath Clark’s and lifted the boy to his feet.

A gunshot shattered the night air. A woman cried out almost simultaneously. Then Jonathan Kent screamed something unintelligible, except the emotion behind it was anguish.

“You fool!” Lionel screamed. “You shot Martha!”

Lex turned to the fight behind him. He heard the harsh gasp of pain from Clark as both their gazes landed on the crumpled figure on the ground. Martha Kent’s red hair was spread out in a fan behind her. Her eyes were staring up at the night sky, unblinking. Lex could see a red stain spreading across her chest. Clark sobbed and tried to move towards her, but Lex hardened his heart and his grip.

“Don’t let her sacrifice be in vain. We have to go now, Clark!”

The boy whimpered but let Lex drag him away. Jonathan had taken down two of the drones temporarily, but there was still Dominic, who had recovered from Lex’s blow, Lionel and one more drone left and they had guns. Lex did not. If they did not get away now while Lionel was distracted, they would not be getting out of there under their own power. He knew he was leaving Jonathan Kent to die, but he couldn’t muster up much sadness for that. There wasn’t much left of Jonathan Kent as it was. It would almost be a mercy to end him.

Lex heard another howl from Jonathan, but this time it was filled with rage, not anguish, as he and Clark hobbled into the woods. Three, four, then five gunshots rang out in the still night air before there was silence. Clark gave out a little moan, but didn’t slow down. Lex had Clark into a fast trot up into the woods, but they were still too near. Lionel would find them. ‘Where the hell is the meteor rock? If we could just access Clark’s powers and superspeed out of here …’ Already, he heard frantic sounds of searching behind him: the snapping of branches, his father’s voice yelling at the men to find them, the cries of one of the men saying he thought he saw them as the moon came out from behind the clouds.

“Lex … l-l-leave me … g-g-get away!” Clark’s breathing sounded so labored to Lex’s ears it was painful to hear.

“Never.”

That’s when Lex felt a gentle hand on his shoulder that wasn’t Clark’s. He turned towards the touch and saw a brilliant green glow. Clark gave a muffled cry and tumbled from Lex’s arms to the ground. The Ascendant stood inches from Lex holding a huge meteor rock, smiling at them.

“You bitch!” Lex lunged towards her but like a will-o-wisp she was always slightly ahead of him. “You interfering bitch!”

“I’m going to win this war, Alexander. This is but a taste of what it will be like to be my enemy.”

“I swear I will do everything in my power to take you down!”

Lex continued to pursue her, hoping he could get her and the rock she carried far enough away from Clark that the young man could recover and get away. The Ascendant took another step back and it was as if she entered a black fogbank. Lex tried to stop his forward momentum, but he was unable to. He stumbled into the blackness after her. The blackness shifted and solidified around him. He had walked right into Lionel Luthor’s arms. She had tricked him into the arms of another enemy.

“Why, Lex, I thought you were running away from me,” Lionel purred.

Lex tried to jerk away, but Lionel’s arms fastened around him like steel bands and the press of a gun muzzle against the back of his head froze him in place.

“Don’t struggle, Lex. This gun could go off again,” Dominic said.

“Dominic, you killed the Kents?”

There was a slight tremble to the gun against Lex’s head. “She was an accident. He wasn’t. I don’t want to repeat either. So be still.”

While Lex doubted that Dominic would intentionally shoot him, however, the man was shaky enough that it could accidentally happen. Lex was able to look over at where Clark had been without moving his head. Lex hoped somehow the boy had gotten away, but what he saw instead were two of the drones securing the young man. Lex watched in horror as they fastened the meteor rock necklace around Clark’s throat again.

“Clark! No, get away from him!”

“Lex, Lex, stop this futile fight. It’s over,” Lionel chuckled. “You’ve lost. I’ve won. Now surrender gracefully.”

“I won’t!” But Lex’s words sounded hollow to his own ears.

The Kents were dead.

They were Lionel’s prisoners.

He couldn’t reach Lucien.

Could things get worse?

Lex felt a prick against the side of his neck. He turned just in time to see Dominic drawing back an empty syringe. Numbness traveled through his veins and Lex found himself slumping against Lionel. The older man chuckled darkly into his ear.

“Time to remind you of who your father really is, Lex.”

As Lex was plunged into darkness, he felt the brush of Lionel’s lips against his cheek and knew that things could get much, much worse, because they just had.

PART 3 – THE PROTECTION OF DARKNESS

During his drug-induced slumber, Lex dreamt of the time right after Tom Riley had raped him.

He was staggering down the hallway of Luthor Manor. He had escaped the room where Riley had assaulted him for hours during one of Lionel’s interminable business meetings at the house. No one had come looking for him. And Riley hadn’t even tried to keep him quiet. The Manor was large enough and they were in a little used part of it so no one would have heard his cries anyways.

Blood trickled down Lex’s thighs in long, sticky streams. Every time he moved, he could feel the tears inside of him widening and spilling more of his life’s blood. He had to get to his father. Surely his father would help him. But at the same time, he feared Lionel would turn him away. Mr. Riley had told his father agreed to their ‘lovemaking.’ Lex wanted to vomit at the thought.

Pain lanced through his bowels. Lex’s vision darkened and swam. He tottered over and landed with a thump on the Persian runner. Suddenly, strong hands were on him, lifting him up, and cradling him close. He struggled weakly at first, thinking it was Mr. Riley coming back for more, but some part of him knew it was not. The spicy scent of this man was different and Lex felt … safe. Maybe it was Lionel. That felt right. It felt like a father’s touch. The way he’d longed for Lionel to touch him. Perhaps this time it would be true.

He blinked through blurry eyes at the chest of the man he was held against. He could see a shimmery black tie with a delicate silver wolf pin. His gaze drifted upwards until he saw a pair of striking mercury-colored eyes and a wash of red hair.

‘It will be all right, Lex. Just hold on, my angel.’

Lex nodded in his dream/memory. Even though it wasn’t Lionel, he hadn’t been afraid of the man. And oddly, the man had felt familiar though he didn’t recall his face. The man felt like someone he’d been waiting for all his life. As the dream began to fade and awareness beckoned, Lex felt Lucien’s presence fill his mind in the present.

‘Was that real, Lucien? Were you really there?’

‘Yes. I … I couldn’t leave you like that, Lex. I had to interfere. You were so small, so fragile, so brave. As Clark is your light in the Darkness … you are mine. I couldn’t bear to watch you suffer alone.’

Lex felt a wave of warmth at the words, but he tamped them down. He had to know more. ‘But you are the Darkness, Lucien, aren’t you? Being the Fallen and all that. Dusk moves towards full darkness.’

‘Always thinking, Lex. I love that about you.’

‘You haven’t answered my question.’

‘All you need to know is this: mine is the greatest darkness, and with it I can keep you safe against all others. Let me.’

Lex jerked into full-consciousness. He frantically tried to find the link to Lucien again, but it was just out of reach. He attempted to lift his hands up to rub sleep out of his still-closed eyes, but he couldn’t move them. His whole body was strapped down to a bed. The side of the bed dipped and Lex’s eyes flew open. Lionel was perched on the mattress beside him. The scent of antiseptic and Lionel’s sandalwood cologne washed over him. He was in a hospital or perhaps one of Lionel’s labs.

“You’re finally awake, Lex. I was worried we gave you too much. We used a fraction of what you used to inject for fun, but now that amount was more than enough to knock you out for nine hours,” Lionel remarked as he straightened the sheet over Lex’s legs.

Lex repressed the desire to twitch away. It would just encouraged the man to get closer. Lex could still feel the press of his Lionel’s lips against his cheek from before. He wished he could scrub the sensation off.

“Where’s Clark?” Lex rasped out.

Lionel’s mouth thinned and his eyes narrowed. “The boy is the first thing that comes to your mind? Pathetic, Lex.”

“What would you rather my first thought be?” Lex asked as he glanced around the room, looking for a means to escape. He was in a simple, white room with barred windows on either side of him. A mirror was directly opposite his bed. He was sure it was a one-way mirror so that he could be observed at all times. There was only one door out and it was made of heavy-duty steel with a slim glass window, too small for anyone to squeeze through. Where was Clark? What had Lionel been doing to the boy for nine hours while Lex was unconscious?

“I would have your first thought be of me, Lex.”

Lex’s attention was jerked back to Lionel. “What?”

“I would have you be thinking how you can please me, your father.”

“I would think you would want my first thought to be how I can beat you in this war we’ve got going on between us.”

“You think we’re at war, Lex?” Lionel gave him a tight smile. “That would make us enemies and we’re not that.”

“Then what are we exactly? Friends? Confidants? Devoted father and son? No, definitely no to the last. You certainly don’t act like a devoted father to me.”

“And you don’t give me the respect a son should to earn a devoted father.”

“Respect you? After all you’ve done to me?” Lex spit the words out.

He knew now was not the time to bring this topic up with him strapped to a bed and Clark god knew where, but it bubbled out of him. He knew the full truth now that Lionel had sold him for a few million dollars to Riley, to cover up his own mistakes. Even if he was restricted from saying it out loud, even if he would forget, he knew right now what the truth was and he telegraphed that knowledge to Lionel in a steely look.

Lionel’s eyes flickered away from his as he said dismissively, “You did worse things to yourself than Riley ever did or could afterwards.”

“Because I was already ruined! Isn’t that what you told me?” Lex hissed.

“I never said any such thing.”

“Not in words, but in everything else. After he raped me, you wouldn’t even touch me. It was like I was covered in filth and you were worried it was catching.”

Lex remembered clearly now that after Lucien had taken him to a populated part of the mansion and disappeared, how his father’s lips had twisted in disgust when he’d seen him, how he’d called a servant to clean Lex up and ordered Toby be called. Not one comforting touch or word to his destroyed son. Just get him out of the room so the guests didn’t see what a mess he was.

Lionel’s expression darkened. “You were the one that pulled away from me. Whenever I came near you, you flinched!”

“You just expected me to be the same after it happened! Like it didn’t matter! But I wasn’t the same, Father. I’ve never been the same since then. Sometimes it feels like part of me is still in that goddamn room with him!”

“You should have gotten over it.”

“I was thirteen. You just don’t get over something like that!”

“And if I’d touched you then, would you have gotten over it?”

Lex opened and closed his mouth. “That’s a bit simplistic, Father. And it’s not the point—”

“What if I touched you now?”

Lex was stunned into silence. Lionel was just looking at him in this disconcertingly open way. It was like he could see into his father’s soul for a moment and he didn’t like what was there.

“I’m going to give you want you want, Lex,” Lionel’s voice was low and husky.

The hand that had straightened the sheet was suddenly resting on Lex’s upper thigh. Both Lionel and Lex stared at it. The passion that had fueled Lex’s earlier speech drained from him and his stomach began to quiver unpleasantly. ‘Why is he touching me like this? Why not on the shoulder or forearm or any place else?’ Perhaps there were more truths that he would learn today, truths he didn’t want to learn. Then Lionel rubbed his thumb along the inside of his son’s leg and Lex swallowed hard. He slowly lifted his eyes from his father’s hand to Lionel’s face.

“What are you doing, Father?”

“Touching you.”

Lionel smiled, but it didn’t reach his tawny-colored eyes. His hand slid up a fraction of an inch and his thumb was rubbing over the head of Lex’s cock. Lex jerked up under the touch.

“Stop doing that!” Lex’s lower lip began to tremble. He pressed his lips together to control it.

“Why?”

“Jesus, Father, you know why!”

Lionel’s thumb slid right over the sensitive slit on Lex’s cockhead. Lex felt an unwelcome current of desire run through him. He wanted to retch at the same time.

“It doesn’t feel like you want me to stop.” Again the voice was low and smooth, but it rushed over Lex’s nerves like sandpaper, making him jumpy, only he was strapped down and couldn’t go anywhere.

Lionel’s breath heated Lex’s cheek. Lex hadn’t realized how close Lionel had moved. Only inches from his face.

“I’m going to remake you, Lex. Into what I want. You’ll be completely over that business with Riley. Won’t remember a thing about it.”

A stronger rub, a further caress and Lionel was fully cupping his sex now. Lex couldn’t understand his words, his whole being was focused on his father’s touch that made his skin feel like it was covered with insects. But his cock didn’t know the difference between Lionel’s touch and Clark’s and it had begun to ache. He shivered with disgust.

“What are you talking about? Stop touching me!”

“You’ve always listened more to the ones who fuck you, then to me. Perhaps I’ll make myself all things to you. Father and lover. Then I’ll be the one who is fucking you and you’ll finally listen to me.”

Lionel’s eyes were blazing now as his hand wandered up to the edge of the sheet that covered Lex’s lap. He pulled down the sheet to the end of the bed. Lex had never felt so exposed in his life even though he still wore a thin hospital gown. He strained against his bonds. But there was hardly any give. He couldn’t get away.

Lex’s breathing sped up and his throat tightened. ‘This can’t be happening! He’s never shown any interest in me like this in the past. Never given a hint of it!’ But even as Lex gave these thoughts form, he knew they weren’t completely true. His father’s eyes had strayed to him many times, but Lex hadn’t allowed himself to understand the meaning behind those veiled glances until now. Perhaps setting Lex up on those dates had been a way for Lionel to have what he thought he could not.

‘But to pursue me now? What pushed him to … oh, God, no …’ Lex thought of how Jonathan Kent had beaten his son into a crimson pulp after ever visit to Lex’s, something Lex hadn’t believed the man capable of. At least before the Ascendant got to him, influenced him. Was Lionel the one the Ascendant was influencing now?

“I should have done this years ago. Should have shown you that you’re mine. No one else’s,” Lionel breathed.

Lionel put both hands on Lex’s bare knees and slowly slid them up his son’s quivering thighs, pushing the hospital gown up as well, until it rested lightly on his flat abdomen. Lex’s groin was completely exposed to Lionel’s view. Lex saw his cock was half hard, flushed pink with blood, precum glistening at the head.

“So sinfully soft, Lex. Just like I was told. Like I imagined.” Lionel’s fingertips brushed against Lex’s cock. Lex gasped.

“Father, please … god, father, listen to me! Do you hear someone whispering to you? In your mind?”

One of Lionel’s ginger-colored eyebrows lifted. “Whispering? Perhaps we did give you too much of the drugs.”

He gripped Lex’s shaft and stroked it once and twice. Lex was getting harder. His dick was curved up wantonly towards his belly and a few drops of cum dotted his stomach. He moaned softly and tried to shift his hips away, but Lionel’s hold tightened on him.

Lex forced his breathing to be even, made the words slow, not rushed. “This … what you’re doing. It’s not your idea!”

Lionel laughed harshly. “I don’t do things that aren’t my idea, Lex. And believe me, this is an idea I’ve had for a long time.”

Lionel’s hand slipped lower, between Lex’s legs to the sensitive spot behind his balls. Lex panted as his father pressed up, massaging his prostate. He cursed his traitorous body as his dick wept semen. When Lionel’s fingers slid further back to between his ass cheeks, Lex tried to stifle the moan that burst from his mouth. His hips arched off the bed.

“Are you still tight, Lex, after all those men have taken you?”

“Father … Father, think about what you’re doing!” Lex writhed on the bed, but he couldn’t get away from his father’s fingers.

“I’m showing you that there is nothing of yours that is not mine. Especially not here. Your most intimate place.”

Lionel crooked one finger and Lex felt the pad of it rub along the small pucker. Lex tried to squirm away, but it just gave Lionel more room to maneuver. His manicured finger breached Lex’s passage. It was lubricated slightly with Lex’s own cum, but it still felt huge inside of him.

“Please, stop this! Have you gone mad?”

Lex’s mind was spinning. He had to show Lionel that this wasn’t logical, that this was someone else inspiring him to act this way, but he couldn’t think with his father looming over him, his finger inside of him. Panic was welling in Lex’s chest like a flock of birds about to burst forth. ‘Does he intend to fuck me? No, no, please God no!’

“Hardly mad, my boy. My beautiful boy,” Lionel said softly and pushed up with his finger more deeply into Lex. “I think any sane man would be hard-pressed not to take you.”

Lex cried out, but manage to say, “But why are you doing this here? Now? Where you could be seen?” Lex gestured jerkily with his chin towards the one-way mirror.

“No one’s in there.” But Lionel sounded unsure, his forehead furrowed slightly. His finger stopped worming its way inside his son.

“But you aren’t certain! And I bet a camera is in there. Recording. Right now. Someone could get the tape, make copies, ruin you. This isn’t like you, Father. Too sloppy, too uncontrolled. There are these … people … that are chasing Clark and I and they can influence people to do things. I think one of them may be influencing you to do this,” Lex spoke quickly as he recognized an opening and his father’s confusion. The Ascendant didn’t have as deep a hold on him as she had on Jonathan apparently. Lex was wheezing by the end of the speech. He didn’t know if he could handle Lionel raping him. He’d lose it. ‘No, I have to keep it together for Clark!’

Lionel shook his head. His mane of hair obscured his face. He was silent for long moments. Lex held his breath. Then Lionel straightened and removed his finger from his son’s body. Lex groaned and eased back down against the pillows. Lionel smoothed his hair back into place and pulled down Lex’s gown over his still-erect organ, but already Lex felt the erection thankfully receding. Lionel patted his son’s face. Lionel’s skin was burning hot. His thumb swept over Lex’s lower lip. Another light as air caress that roiled Lex’s stomach.

“You’re right, Lex, here is neither the time nor place. Besides … I want you willing.”

Lex shook his head violently. “I’ll never be willing.”

“Oh, you will be. I told you that I am going to remake you.”

“What are you talking about? That’s not possible.”

“It is with this.”

Lionel took a syringe filled with glowing green liquid from the nightstand. Sweat broke out over Lex’s upper lip. ‘It’s one of the meteor rock injections he told Clark about in the future! The ones that turn me into a mind locked in a useless body. Then Clark will be in his power. Bruce might never find him, let alone get Clark out of Lionel’s clutches. NO! I don’t want that future! I don’t! Lucien, help me!’

“This will allow me to program you … or perhaps influence you … to do as I wish. To be as I wish. And you will be a willing, eager lover and son, Lex. I’ll have you mewling with your legs spread for me by this time tomorrow. And you’ll think nothing about Clark. The boy will be gone from your mind like he never was.” Lionel snapped his fingers.

“You can’t do this!”

Lionel leaned down, his lips so close to Lex’s ear that he could feel them move with each word. “But I can, Lex. When will you learn that I can do anything I want to you, with you, and no one can stop me?”

At that moment, there was a discrete knock on the door to Lex’s room. Lionel called for them to come in. A man in a white lab coat with equally white hair entered. He had three more syringes prepared, all with the glowing green liquid.

“Ah, Dr. Gettlesman, I see that you have brought the rest of the treatment for today.”

“Yes, Mr. Luthor. Are you ready to begin?”

Lionel nodded and stood back for the doctor to take his place by Lex’s side. For one wild moment, Lex wondered what would have happened if Lionel had been molesting him when the good doctor had knocked. Lionel looked on dispassionately as Dr. Gettlesman swabbed the inside of Lex’s arm, thumping the skin to raise a vein.

“Father, these aren’t going to work! Trust me on this! These injections will … w-w-will …” Lex could not get the words out. They were forbidden for him to utter. He wailed in frustration.

“They will work, Lex. They’ll make you well.”

“I’m not sick, you bastard!” Lex screamed.

“Now, now. You must be still so that I don’t tear a vein with the injection,” Dr. Gettlesman admonished gently, his white hair falling across his forehead, looking like a kindly old professor. But he wasn’t and Lex was in deep trouble.

“Don’t do this, Father! Please, please, please!”

“I’m sorry, Lex, but it must be done.” Lionel shook his head sadly as if he truly regretted this, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

The liquid meteor rock felt like acid when it was injected into Lex’s veins. He screamed. He couldn’t help it. Dr. Gettlesman removed the first syringe from his flesh and reached for the second on the tray. In his rage and agony, Lex turned to Lionel one last time.

“You aren’t my father! I disown you! You are not my father!” Lex shrieked the words. All he wanted was to let Lionel know with his last conscious moments that he had lost his son. He had no real hope that he would be rescued. “I want Lucien to be my father, you fuck! Not you! Never you! Do you hear me? I am not your son anymore!”

As soon as the words were spoken, Lex saw the Ascendant. She was framed for an instant in the small window at the doorway to his room. She was frowning, her forehead furrowed, then she was gone. Dr. Gettlesman injected him with the second syringe. Lex’s eyes fluttered shut as the meteor rock coursed through his body like lava. ‘I’m dying. This is dying. Lionel was wrong in the future. My mind is being destroyed completely. I’ll just be an empty shell. Oh, God, Clark, forgive me! I don’t want to leave you alone!’ As blackness reached up to swallow him, Lex suddenly heard Lucien in his mind.

‘Lex, my child, I’m here. You’ve chosen me and I’m here.’ Rapturous joy from Lucien filled Lex’s mind like starbursts.

‘I want to be your son. I want you to be my father.’ And Lex realized that he really meant it this time. ‘But I’m dying. I can’t get to you.’

‘Then I will come to you, my beloved child.’

‘How?’

But then Lex saw how and he didn’t need to be told. In his mind there appeared a path of blue fire leading downwards. It was fire that didn’t burn, that didn’t hurt. It lit up the blackness around him and led into an even deeper darkness. But Lex wasn’t afraid. The Darkness was Lucien and Lucien would protect him from everything. So Lex allowed himself to fall … straight into Lucien’s dark embrace.

Lionel watched as Dr. Gettlesman gave Lex the last injection. He was seething inside at Lex’s melodramatic last words. They were nonsense and he need never worry about hearing them again. The injections would make Lex far more malleable, far more agreeable, in every way. Lex had gone still after the second injection, his eyes falling shut. At first Lionel hadn’t been worried. The injections were probably working, sending his son into unconsciousness. But then Lex’s chest stopped moving. His son wasn’t breathing anymore.

“Oh, dear,” Dr. Gettlesman murmured and pressed his fingers to Lex’s neck. “Oh, my, my, my.” Dr. Gettlesman punched the button that signaled a Code Blue on the floor.

“What the hell is going on here? What’s wrong with my son?” Lionel roared even though he feared he knew. Lex had stopped breathing. Lex’s heart had stopped beating.

Doctors and nurses poured into the room with a crash cart. Lionel looked on in impotent fury and, yes, fear, as they defibrillated his son. Five, ten, fifteen minutes of breathing for his boy and trying to restart his heart.

But it was no good.

Lionel tottered from the room. One hand gripping his forehead, the other stretched out in front of him as if blindly searching for something that was forever out of his reach.

At 4:55 a.m., Lex Luthor was pronounced dead.