Lex, Lies and Videotape

'Mister Kent, might I speak with you for a moment?'

Clark Kent looked up from his pose in the chair -- he was sitting in it backwards, arms folded over the back. 'Why?' he asked, gruffly.

'I will explain that in some detail, if you will follow me,' Tess Mercer replied.

Clark shrugged, and got to his feet. 'I'll be back,' he said to the room's other occupant, and followed Tess down the hall, with a somewhat ill grace.

'I want you to stop visiting Mister Luthor,' she said when they reached her office, and she'd shut the door.

'Why?' asked Clark.

'Because I don't trust your motives,' Tess replied. 'Why do you keep visiting Mister Luthor? All you do is sit and stare at him.'

'I don't trust Lex's motives,' said Clark. 'I think he's plotting something. Something against me, maybe.'

Tess laughed, as she sat down behind her desk. 'Mister Kent, with someone as paranoid as you clearly are, no one needs to plot against you. All they have to do is exist, and you connect the dots to create your own little picture of evil motives. Mister Luthor is in a nearly vegetative state. Ergo, he cannot be plotting against you or anyone.'

'A nearly vegetative state. Nearly, but not complete. He may not be moving, or speaking, but his brain is still ticking over.'

'So, he's essentially the opposite of you,' Tess observed. 'You can walk and talk, but there's almost no real brain activity.'

'Funny,' said Clark.

'I wasn't joking,' said Tess. 'And I'm not joking about this: stay away from Mister Luthor. I don't like you, and I certainly don't like you around him.'

Clark leaned over the desk, looking down her cleavage. 'Are you sure you don't like me?' he asked.

'I'm sure,' she replied. 'I've known men like you before. Everyone is just there to be used, one way or another. Like you used Mister Luthor.'

'I never used Lex!'

'Bullshit! I have evidence of how much he helped you, and how often you used him. The farm you live on in Smallville, for example?'

'That's none of your business!' Clark bellowed.

'The hell it isn't. He bought it for your family when they went broke, and gave you the deed.'

'So what?'

'And now you're living there with his ex-wife, who stole ten million dollars from him....'

'She got that in the divorce settlement....'

'She stole it, faked her own death to frame him, and then he forgave her and let her keep the money.'

'He deserved it. She deserved it.'

'Get out of my office, and don't ever visit Mister Luthor again. Is that clear?'

'And how do you intend to stop me?' asked Clark.

'I have a lot of information about your activities and the way you treated Lex Luthor,' Tess replied. 'If necessary, I will make it all public.'

'Are you threatening me?'

'If you don't stay away from Lex Luthor, Mister Kent, I will reveal to the public details of your treatment of him. Treatment that amounts to harassment, as does your treatment of him now. You are harassing a mentally incapacitated invalid, and you were the one originally responsible for his mental incapacitation. I have my reasons for not making that public before now, but if you force my hand....'

'I'll consider what you said,' Clark replied.

'Thanks,' Tess replied. 'You are too kind.'

****************

'Clark is upset about your conversation with him.'

'Indeed, Chloe? I really don't care how he feels. I just want him to stay away from Lex. He sits and stares at him, almost every day, sometimes for hours. '

'I... I didn't know about this. I mean, I knew he visited Lex, but I thought that was....'

'Out of the kindness of his heart? That he was reading poetry to him? Talking about old times to try to jog his memory? No. He just sits. Sits and stares.'

'That's... disturbing.'

'I have logs of his visit times. Video. Here. Check this out.' Tess waved Chloe over to sit beside her, and watch the monitor. 'See? There's Kent arriving, yesterday morning, 10 AM. There he is, sitting in front of Lex, staring. Sometimes he moves a little, but mostly...' Tess fast forwarded through 20 minutes of video. 'Mostly he just sits.'

'And stares,' said Chloe. And Clark did this almost every day? It was disturbing, if true. But why would Tess make it up? And Chloe had known Clark was visiting Lex. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, merely that Clark was, maybe, feeling a bit guilty. That he wanted to help Lex. 'I'm sorry, Tess. I didn't know about this, honest.'

Tess reached out and massaged Chloe's shoulder for a moment, offering forgiveness and consolation. 'It's not your fault,' she said. 'You've been busy, and Lex's condition hasn't changed in months. Life goes on. On the surface, Clark's actions hardly seem threatening. Nevertheless, I don't like Clark's actions.'

'I'll talk to Clark about this, okay? We... we've been getting along a bit better lately. He's stopped arguing with me about you, for a start.'

'That's good,' said Tess. She turned and kissed Chloe on the mouth, with great tenderness. 'Talk to him if you want, but be careful. Clark can be dangerous.'

'I know,' said Chloe. 'I'll be fine. He wouldn't hurt me. Not really.' I'm sure of that, thought Chloe. Clark was her friend. They'd always been friends. Clark had saved her life, over and over. He wasn't a bad person, no matter what he might have done, on this occasion or that. He was Clark, and her friend. He was one of the good guys.

***************

Clark and Lana gave her the creeps sometimes, thought Chloe. She could never put her finger on exactly why, and since both of them were her friends, and she'd stopped being in love with Clark long ago, she felt guilty about the creepiness that shivered down her spine when she saw them together, sitting at the kitchen table in the farmhouse, drinking coffee. She smiled cheerfully, and put her uneasiness aside with a firm hand.

'Hi!' she said.

Lana looked up, and smiled her Mona Lisa smile, like she had a big secret, and it was special. Really special. And she might share it with you, and that would make you special, too. I'm being a bitch, thought Chloe. She's not like that at all -- whatever that is.

Clark looked up, too, after a moment. He seemed sad, downtrodden, depressed even. 'Hi, Chlo',' he replied. 'How you doin'?'

'I'm fine,' said Chloe. 'I just thought I'd drop by to see how you were. It's been a while since I paid a visit.'

'A while,' said Lana. 'But, it's a three hour drive from Metropolis, after all, so we understand. Don't we, Clark?'

Clark mumbled something about the farm being the back of beyond these days, to people in Metropolis.

'Yes,' said Chloe. 'Why exactly do the two of you live out here, anyway? You have that money from the divorce settlement, don't you?'

'I spend it all on charity,' said Lana, in her sweet, nun-like voice. 'I didn't think it was right to profit from Luthor Evil.'

'No,' said Chloe. 'I guess it wasn't.... isn't, I mean.' She sat down across from Clark, and folded her hands on the table in front of her.

Clark stared at her, sadly, for a moment, then forced a smile. 'Would you like a cup of coffee?' he asked.

'Yes, of course. It was a long drive.'

'A long drive, yes. Why did you drive all that way?' He poured a cup of coffee, and put the cup down in front of her. The cup had a chip out of the rim.

'Can't I come to see my friends?' Chloe asked in turn.

'I don't know,' said Lana. 'Are you still our friend? You've turned against us, I thought.'

'Well, you thought wrong,' said Chloe. 'I haven't turned against you. I disagreed with... things you did, that's all.'

'Things,' said Lana, in her soft, wispy, dreamy voice. She smiled at Chloe, sweetly.

'Things,' said Chloe. 'Things like taking the law into your own hands. Things like torture, and brainwiping. Things like that. I thought they were... uncalled for.'

'Oh, that,' said Lana. She looked pensive for a moment, then brightened. 'Would you like a muffin?' she asked. 'I'm baking muffins.'

Chloe could smell the muffins baking, now that Lana mentioned it. 'No, thanks,' she said, hanging onto her temper with a firm hand. Losing her temper and yelling at Lana would have no effect. Lana would look offended, like the Virgin Mary upon being called a whore, and that would be that. Nothing would change. 'Clark, I did want to talk to you about something.'

'I knew this visit had a purpose,' said Clark.

'And what's wrong with that?' asked Chloe. 'Every visit you pay to me lately, has a purpose. But speaking of purposeful visits, why do you keep visiting Lex? If you would just explain that to me, and I agree with your purpose, I'll talk to Tess, and....'

'Tess!' said Clark. 'That's why you're here. Tess sent you.'

'No, she didn't. She warned me not to come, but I....'

'She warned you not to visit me? Tess warned you about me?' Clark's voice was icy, his eyes even icier.

'Yes, she did,' said Chloe. 'So what? I came to see you anyway. What bug's crawled up your ass now, Clark? Which scenario makes you madder? The idea that Tess would ask me to come see you, or that she would warn me not to? Make up your mind.'

'I've made up my mind,' said Clark. 'Don't worry. I don't like your relationship with Tess.'

'It's none of your business,' said Chloe. 'I told you that before. Back me up here, Lana. I'm a grown woman. My private life is my own.'

'But you can interfere in our private lives,' Lana responded.

'What? No, I did not. I criticized what you were doing to hurt other people....'

'Your actions have hurt us,' Lana went on. 'Your... friend... Tess, for example. She killed Oliver. Our friend. Our loyal friend.'

'She did that....'

'To protect Lex Luthor,' said Clark. 'And you protected him, too. You betrayed us, and protected Lex. That's not like you, Chloe. To betray a friend, and protect a traitor like Lex.'

'Lex never betrayed you. You know that. The tapes proved it. Those last few sessions. Lionel saw the video where Lex told you he hadn't revealed your secret. He tried to get Lex to betray you, but Lex refused. You could have trusted Lex. Maybe things would have been different.'

Clark smiled at her, his sad smile, like a hurt little boy. 'It doesn't matter,' he said. 'I couldn't take the chance. Things could never have been different. Lex was always going to go down that road. It's destiny.'

'I thought you didn't believe in destiny,' said Chloe.

'I changed my mind,' said Clark. 'And now I'm going to change your mind.'

'What? Change my mind about what?'

'It's not your fault,' said Lana. 'We know that. That's why.'

'Why? Why what?' Chloe was starting to feel like a parrot. What was going on?'

'Why we have to fix it,' said Clark.

'Fix you,' said Lana.

'Fix your mind,' said Clark.

'The AI can fix it,' said Lana.

'Jor-El? Forget it,' said Chloe. 'He's not fixing anything about me. I'm fine. I'm leaving now. Goodbye.' Chloe got to her feet, somehow. Her legs felt like rubber bands, but she made it to the door, which opened at her push, and she could see her car waiting in the driveway. She took one step outside the door, and then she was being lifted up, up high, held under one of Clark's arms. Clark was holding Lana under the other arm, and Lana was giggling. 'It'll be fine,' she said. 'The AI will fix you, and it will be like old times. You'll forget all this nonsense about Tess.'

'No!' screamed Chloe, and she screamed and screamed. But there was no one to hear her, no one who could help. Only the farmland far below her, dotted with placid cows, and unobservant trees.

******************

It was cold in the Fortress. It was always cold in the Fortress. But today, the cold struck deep into Chloe's heart. The sight of the spires of ice made her ill. She felt sick, even sicker than she had on the trip here.

'You drugged me,' she said. 'You filthy cowards. You drugged me. Why? Because you were scared I might struggle? Filthy cowards.'

'No. No, Chloe. We did it for you.' That was Clark. Filthy Coward Number One. Justifying himself by claiming he was helping someone. 'We did it for you, so it wouldn't hurt too much,' he said.

'Thank you,' said Chloe, attempting a tone indicative of a vast sarcasm, but only sounding sick to her stomach, she was sure. 'I would prefer not to experience this at all, if you don't mind. You hear me, Jor-El?' she screamed at the top of her lungs. 'I forbid you to brainwash me. I do not agree to be brainwashed. Your son is a tyrant and a filthy coward.'

'Why have you come here, my son?' asked Jor-El, ignoring Chloe's words, of course.

'He brought me here to brainwash me, because my having an opinion other than his own scares the shit out of him.'

'Chloe, Chloe. Shshsh. It's okay. I'm doing this because I love you.' He stroked her hair, clearly believing this would comfort her, though it made her skin crawl.

'Take your hands off me,' she tried to say, but the drug was clouding her mind, and it was cold in here. So cold. She could hear Clark talking to Jor-El, telling him that she'd been brainwashed by Tess, lured into a Lesbian relationship with her, and that she was now fighting on the side of Lex Luthor. Something must be done about this.

She could hear Jor-El agreeing.

'I wasn't lured into anything,' she tried to tell them. 'I was already disagreeing with you, fighting you, before Tess and I became lovers.'

'Shshsh,' said Clark. 'It's okay, Chloe. I'm not angry. I'm not doing this to hurt you. I'm doing this to help you.'

'You're doing this because I'm not your little go-to girl any longer,' said Chloe. 'And because I'm a Lesbian. You hate that, don't you. The girl who used to adore you isn't throwing herself at you any more, and she's a Lesbo. That must really hurt.'

'Listen to yourself,' Lana chimed in. Lana, Filthy Coward Number Two. 'You're jealous, that's all. Jealous of Clark and me -- especially me -- and what we have together. You've always been jealous, and becoming a Lesbian is just a way to get back at the world. To act out your anger at the world.'

'But we'll take that anger away,' said Clark. 'We're going to help you, Chloe. It will all be so much better, you'll see. Father?'

'No!' said Chloe. 'I don't want this, I don't want to lose myself. You're stealing my soul, stealing my soul....' She watched as parts of her mind, the memories of the last few months, her new knowledge of herself, all, all grew faint, grew dim, grew dimmer, and eventually disappeared....

****************

It was morning. The next morning, Chloe thought. But the next morning after what night before? She couldn't gather her thoughts. There were gaps in her thoughts. Holes in her mind, as if....

'I've been sick, or something, right?' she said to the ceiling.

'Hi, there. You're awake.' That was Lana, her voice soft and gentle, like a nun in a sickroom. Something in her voice made Chloe angry, and she didn't know why. So, she smiled and agreed that she was awake.

'I feel sick,' she said. 'I can't remember yesterday.'

'That's Lex's fault,' said Lana. 'He kidnapped you, and brainwashed you. But we saved you, Clark and I. Would you like a muffin?'

*******************

'So, you're back in the fold,' said Martian Manhunter. 'We missed you. Clark explained.'

'Oh, yes,' said Chloe. Nothing made sense, she couldn't put the pieces together, so she smiled, and agreed with everything everyone said to her, and smiled.

The other members of the Justice League all smiled and nodded back. 'We know you've been spying for Clark, at LuthorCorp,' someone said. Chloe couldn't place him, though she felt she should know him. Her mind felt slow, and muddy, like molasses.

'Do you think we have enough information to move against him?' asked Wonder Woman. 'We have all that Chloe learned for us, that should be enough.'

I was a spy, thought Chloe. Undercover. A spy. That's why I feel so lost now. So... cold. I'm a spy who came in from the cold, that's what I am. I never understood that phrase before.

'We know that Luthor is in a vegetative state, for sure now, though we knew that before, and I don't understand why you doubted it. And Chloe has won Tess's trust....'

Tess, thought Chloe. Tess's trust. I won Tess's trust -- as a spy. Why do I feel so cold, like someone just walked over my grave? I never really understood that phrase before, either.

'That will be useful,' said Lana.

Useful? Useful, how?

'I don't trust Lex....' Clark began.

The others laughed. Chloe laughed along with them. It felt good to laugh. A relief. Such a relief. She stopped laughing, before she started crying. She noticed Martian Manhunter watching her out of the corner of his eye, and smiled, quickly, to show everything was okay.

'I mean,' said Clark. 'I don't trust that he's really helpless.'

'How helpless do you want him to be?' asked Martian Manhunter. 'Short of dead, I mean.'

'I'm not helping you to kill anyone,' said Chloe. 'Not even Lex Luthor.'

'Of course not,' said Lana, sweetly. 'We don't expect that of you, do we, Clark? No. I have another idea. A way we can figure out exactly what's going on in Lex's mind. We did it before, remember?'

Clark beamed at Lana. 'Yes!' he said. 'We used this machine, invented by LuthorCorp themselves, that let's you read people's minds.'

'I remember that,' said Chloe. 'It's dangerous.'

'I know what I'm doing,' Clark replied. 'I've done it before. On Lex. I know his mind. How pathetic it is. How childish. No wonder Lionel.... Anyway, I suggest we use it again. Chloe can get me inside, because Tess trusts her.'

No, thought Chloe. No. No. No. Nonono.

But Clark looked at her. He smiled at her -- his big, beaming, meaningless smile. And Chloe felt cold.

*************

The world was back the way it should be, thought Clark. Chloe was working with him to defeat Lex Luthor, with no more doubts. She smiled and agreed with him that Lex and Tess were evil. She seemed happier than she'd been in a long time, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Clark wished that he could forget the last eight years so easily. Well, maybe not every moment of the last eight years, but a good part of them. Lex, for example. He wished he could forget Lex. Or, rather, he wished he'd never met Lex.

Clark felt a new wave of hatred wash over him. Chloe looked up, as if she sensed this. Clark smiled reassurance at her, and she nodded, smiling back. This was better. This was as it should be. Lionel was still dead, but Chloe was back where she belonged -- helping Clark.

Chloe used her pass key to open the back door to LexCorp. Clark picked up the Machine, and hefted it easily over his shoulder. He followed Chloe into the building, and Lana followed him.

'I've disabled the security cameras,' Chloe told him. 'Once we get to my office, I'll turn them back on. But we'll have to work quickly, just in case someone gets suspicious. You never know.'

'Everything about Lex and his company are suspicious,' said Clark. And Chloe nodded. And Chloe smiled.

Chloe opened her office door, and worked her magic on the computer. 'Security is back online,' she said. 'I don't think anyone noticed.'

'Good,' said Clark. 'Let's get to work.'

************

They made it to Lex's room without problems. There was a guard outside the door, but Chloe had access and the guard didn't question her. While she distracted him, Clark sped into the room with Lana under one arm, and the Machine under the other.

Lex was sitting in his usual place by the window, staring into space. It was all an act, Clark knew. In reality, he was like a spider, sitting at the centre of his web, spinning lies, sending out lures, manipulating people, as he'd manipulated Clark. It had all been a plot from the beginning. The so-called accident at the bridge? A plot. The so-called friendship? A plot. The so-called good deeds? Plots, all of them. Clark knew this. He thought he'd always known. But now he wanted to see inside Lex's mind. Really see inside this time. Not like the last time when he'd been trying to save Kara, and couldn't do any real exploration. And then he'd been distracted by that childhood scene with Lex and his parents. God, what a pathetic little brat Lex had been.

'Do we have to lie down this time?' Clark asked Lana. 'I don't want to lie beside him.'

'I don't blame you,' said Lana. 'I had to sleep with him, pretend to be his wife. Ugh! It was horrible. But I did it to protect you.'

Clark beamed at his love. She was a true heroine, as always. He pulled up a chair, and sat beside Lex. 'Let's do it here,' he said.

'Remember,' said Lana. 'This could still be dangerous for you. Keep your eye out for the red door. If you start to feel threatened in any way, get out.'

'I remember,' said Clark. 'I did this before, and survived. I can do it again. Don't worry.'

Lana kissed him, and squeezed his hand. Chloe smiled at him, her face bland, but peaceful. Clark closed his eyes, and Lana turned on the Machine.

************

Clark opened his eyes. The view was somewhat different from the first time he'd visited Lex's Brain. There were no Industrial Cement Passages. Lex was out in a sunny field, flying a kite. This was not the adult Lex, nor the cute little adoring Lex from Clark's last visit. This was an adolescent Lex, bereft of hair, but smiling and happy. At his side, a toddler with bright red hair.

'Lex, Lex! Make the kite go high. High!'

Lex obliged, reeling out more cord. Then he got down on his knees and put the cord in the toddler's hands. 'Here you go, Julian. You fly it.'

The toddler cooed. 'Can I really? Can I, Lex?'

'Of course,' said Lex. 'Hold tight, now.'

Julian flew the kite for a few moments, laughing and singing Let's Go Fly a Kite. That song from Mary Poppins, thought Clark. How cute.

Suddenly, a strong breeze tore the kite from Julian's tiny hands. Lex made a wild grab for it, but the kite took off, up into the blue, blue sky.

'Lex. The kite. It's gone,' said Julian, crying broken-heartedly. 'I lost it.'

'Don't cry, Julian,' said Lex. 'It's not your fault. Some little child will find it, and be happy. I'll get you another one.'

You destroy everything you touch, thought Clark. You can't even fly a kite without breaking your brother's heart. And then you think money will fix it.

A flash of red and blue out of the heavens. A young man flying, catching the kite, bringing it back to Lex and Julian. 'Here you go,' said the hero. 'One kite, saved.'

'Thanks, Superboy,' said Julian, taking the kite from the young man's hands. The young man who looked just like Clark.

'Yes, thanks, Superboy,' said Lex. Then he whispered, 'Thanks, Clark.'

No, no, no, thought Clark. 'This is horrible,' he whispered. 'Don't trust him, Clark.'

The other Clark turned, and looked across the meadow at Clark. He frowned. Then he smiled back down at Lex. 'I should go,' he said. 'I'll see you later.'

'Sure, Superboy,' said Lex.

'Bye, Superboy,' said Julian.

And Superboy jumped up into the air, and flew away.

'Wasn't that cute,' said a voice behind Clark. A dark, smoky voice that Clark knew so well. He turned, and there was the Adult Lex, smirking and sneering. 'It just breaks my heart when I watch these scenes,' Lex went on.

'You don't have a heart,' said Clark.

'Indeed? And you know that, how?'

'I know you,' Clark told him. 'I know you through and through. You... you're just....' Clark remembered his thoughts of earlier, before he'd come here to this meadow. 'You're human garbage,' he burst out. 'A totally inhuman monster. You never think of anyone but yourself. Everything you say and do is a lie. Your own father hated you, and wished I'd been his son. I agree with him. You should have died that day at the bridge. The day I saved you, I should have let you die. Or you should have died when the meteors came. Maybe your father would have found me, and everything would have been better.'

Lex listened to this speech with a calm, cool expression, as if Clark had commented on what a sunny day it was. 'I see,' he said. 'Thanks for pointing that out.'

'Aren't you even offended by what I just said?'

'You calling me an inhuman monster? That's a joke. Actually, I'm flattered, as I would be by the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross on my lawn. Or the Nazis putting me on their Most Wanted list.'

'You're comparing me to the KKK? How dare you?'

'This is my brain, and you invaded it,' said Lex. 'You don't get to set the agenda. Follow me!'

Clark looked back at Young Lex and Julian playing in the meadow.

'Leave them alone,' said Lex. 'They're happy, creating fantasies of you as their friend. Someone they could trust.'

'I was your friend,' said Clark. 'You betrayed me.'

'When?' Lex demanded. 'When did I betray you?'

'You... you had that room. You investigated me. You sent mutants after my family. You took Lana away from me.'

'You call that betrayal? Let me show you real betrayal. This is my mind, remember? Follow me.'

**************

'So, where are we going?' asked Clark. They were strolling along the main street in Smallville. It was a sunny Kansas day. People nodded at them as they passed, though they hadn't walked side by side like this for years.

'We're going to the Talon,' said Lex. 'I own the place, remember? It's a major part of my plot for world domination, according to your friend Lois Lane.'

'Huh?'

'One day I told Lois I owned the Talon and she worked for me. She made some remark about me trying to own the world, or something.'

'Yeah, well that's true enough.'

Lex turned on him. 'I bought the Talon because Lana wanted to save it. We were partners. Then she wanted to sell it to make money to go to Paris. That's why I own it. And you knew that.'

'Yeah, well....'

'So why do you do this, Clark? Why do you turn everything I do into something ugly. I did all that to help a friend, and she was your friend. Is your mind so ugly you can't see anything but your own ugliness in everyone around you?'

'Hey! That's not fair.'

'Fair? You want fairness, Clark? If you want fairness from other people, it's only polite to offer it in turn.'

'And when have you ever been fair, Lex?' Clark couldn't think of a time when Lex had ever treated him fairly. His hatred rose up again at all the mistreatment he'd received from his so-called friend.

'What do you mean, Clark?' asked Lex. 'Are you trying to suggest I was ever unfair to you?'

'You never trusted me,' Clark shouted. 'You were always pushing me, asking me questions, expecting things from me. You just expected me to break you out of Belle Reve, as if I owed you. I don't think that's fair.'

Lex turned, and pushed open the door to the Talon. 'Well,' he said. 'Let's cool off in here. It's the old movie festival. Let's watch a movie, my treat. Have a drink on the house, Clark.'

'I don't know....'

'Sit down, Clark,' said Lex in a commanding tone. 'This is my mind, my movie theatre, my show. Sit!'

Lex pushed Clark down into a chair, and put a drink in his hand. The lights went down, a curtain drew back, and a movie screen lit up.

'This is an interesting little flick,' Lex was saying. 'It's called My Life as a Dog.'

The film started. The credits rolled up the screen in that famous Star Wars scroll, as the theme to Star Wars played. My Life as a Dog, starring Lex Luthor, Lionel Luthor, Lillian Luthor, Julian Luthor, Oliver Queen, Clark Kent, Lana Lang.... The credits scrolled on and on.

'Okay,' said Clark. 'When does the picture start?'

'Patience, Grasshopper,' said Lex.

The credits finally ended, and the movie started, though there seemed to be little story and a lot of jumbled images. Monster mutants attacking Lex. Clark appearing out of no where to save Lex. Over and over this happened.

'See? I was a good guy,' Clark pointed out. 'I was your friend.'

'Let's add some dialogue,' Lex suggested....

'Yeah? So what?' asked Clark. 'And I wasn't lying that day. I'd lost my powers, and you would have hurt me if you'd hit me with that hammer.'

'But you got your powers back, didn't you?' said Lex. 'And that's how our friendship progressed. You lying. Me trying to make sense of it all. You lying some more. You suggesting I was crazy. Then telling me outright I was crazy. But you were lying all along, and my scenario was the correct one.'

'So what?'

'I had every right to question your honesty, Clark. But let's watch the movie.'

'I'm sick of this movie,' said Clark.

'Really? Sick of it already? I've been living this movie for years.'

More scenes of Clark's amazing abilities. More denials. Scene after scene flashing by, until...

***********

'What was that all about, Clark?' asked Lex.

'I... You were putting yourself in danger,' said Clark.

' 'I can't understand why my best friend keeps lying to me.' 'You gonna stop snooping around my back, now?' '

'Lex....'

'Shut up, Clark and let's watch the movie. Let's see where this all began....'

'Hold on,' said Clark. 'How did you know about that conversation?'

'It works both ways, now,' said Lex. 'I have access to all your memories, too.'

*************

Clark sat in his chair, sipping at his drink and wearily watching the movie screen. There he was, in Technicolor, beating up Lex. Choking Lex. Threatening to kill Lex. Tossing Lex across the room. Breaking into Lex's house. Lex's office. Lex's safe.

Lex himself was casually strolling around the theatre, picking up empty popcorn buckets and tossing them in the garbage can.

'This place is a mess,' he said. He glanced up at the screen in time to see Clark choking Lex once again. 'Was that the second time,' Lex asked. 'Or the third. I've lost count. Tell me, Clark, were we ever really friends?'

'Lex, I....'

Lex was across the room, moving almost as fast as Clark himself at his best speed. He loomed over Clark, huddled into his chair, and snarled. 'Were. We. Ever. Friends.'

'I don't know,' Clark admitted.

'Then what were we, Clark? I cared about you. I loved you like a brother. I would have died for you.'

'I cared about you, too,' Clark insisted.

'Then why did you treat me like this? Clark, listen to me. Why did my father brainwash me?'

'You know why,' Clark began, but Lex leaned into him, his face inches from his own.

'I want to hear it from you,' Lex said. His voice was dark, and dangerous, like his eyes. Clark looked up into Lex's face, and shuddered, feeling really afraid for the first time in a long time. He realized that he had made an assumption, an inaccurate assumption, that only physical power was important. Lex's power was of the mind, and it was equal to Clark's own powers. Clark was truly trapped here in this chair, and this theatre, and in Lex's mind. He was trapped.

'Your father poisoned you, and imprisoned you in Belle Reve, and used electro therapy on you, to stop you from testifying against him in a murder trial,' said Clark.

'What murder trial?' asked Lex, his voice dispassionate and unyielding.

'The trial for the murder of his parents,' said Clark. 'Lionel murdered his parents for their insurance money.'

'I see,' said Lex.

'He... he killed Oliver's parents too,' Clark went on. 'And I didn't tell Oliver about it, so it wasn't only you that I....' Lex had him by the throat, cutting off his voice in mid-word.

'Was Lionel trying to kill Oliver Queen, or brainwash him?' asked Lex.

'No,' Clark managed to choke out.

'I see,' said Lex, again. 'Now, I want you to tell me something else, Clark. Think carefully before you speak. Why in the name of God did you betray me to this man, and then become allies with him? What made you trust him more than you trusted me?'

'He... he helped my family a lot,' said Clark, desperately falling back on the excuse he'd given to Pete.

Lex stepped back, dropping his grip on Clark's throat, and laughed and laughed. 'And I thought you were lacking a sense of humour,' he managed to say at last. He wiped his eyes and sat down in the chair beside Clark. 'That's so sweet, Clark. My daddy helped your family a lot. I fucking bet he did. He helped you, and he flattered you and he convinced you that he had changed and become all sweetness and light, and that I was born evil. Didn't he? Didn't he?' he roared the last question more loudly than Clark had ever heard him speak.

'Yes, that's about it,' said Clark. 'How did you know?'

'How did I know? Because I've seen him do that sort of thing many times. His little Godfather act. The iron fist in the velvet glove. And you fell for it, and dumped me for him. Or... or maybe you were always working with him.'

'What do you mean?' Clark whispered.

'Maybe you were always part of his plot,' said Lex. 'Part of Veritas and that whole scheme to take over Earth. I've been giving you the benefit of the doubt, believing that you didn't really know about it, that your programming would kick in later. But maybe it was always at work.'

'What programming?' Clark managed to say before Lex was looming over him again, his face even more terrifying than before.

'Don't lie to me, Clark. Don't ever lie to me again, have you got that? Don't try to tell me you don't know. I used to believe that, or I tried to believe it, because the truth hurt too much.'

'What truth, Lex?'

The movie screen flared into life again. The scenes were horrific. Black Thursday, thought Clark. The day Zod took over Lex's body and used it to wreak havoc on Earth. Clark watched through Lex's eyes as Zod forced him to kill, using Zod's Kryptonian powers.

'He was one of your people wasn't he, Clark? Wasn't he?' Lex demanded.

'Yes. He was from Krypton, like me,' Clark admitted.

'Then why,' said Lex, in a sweet, reasonable voice. 'Why didn't you come to me, explain yourself to me, work with me to fight these people, if you aren't one of them, working with them? Why did you go on lying to me?'

'You can't think I was working with them,' said Clark. 'I was fighting you, you know that.'

'Fighting me! Fighting me? You were fighting Zod, Clark. Did you think that was me. Did you think I wanted that, to be used like that, to kill like that? Did you think that was me?' Lex's voice rose with each new question. 'That was Zod, Clark. I woke for years after with nightmares about Zod and what he used me for.. Sometimes I still have nightmares about it. I dedicated my life to trying to make an army to fight him if he ever returned with a real army of his own. Everything I've done for the last few years was because of Zod and the others, to fight him, to stop him, so he can't use me like that again. Earth needs to be strong enough to fight them, Clark.'

'I'll fight them,' said Clark. 'It's not up to you.'

'The hell it isn't, Clark,' said Lex. 'You're not fighting Zod, you're still fighting me. You're wasting your time blowing up my labs, and beating me up, and all the time your fellow Kryptonians are planning an invasion. I have nightmares about it. Lana knew. Didn't she ever tell you?'

'No,' said Clark.

'What did she tell you about me, when she left me for you? That I'd abused her, or something?'

'She told me about the baby,' said Clark, very carefully.

'The baby that she lost?'

'The... she told me there was no baby, Lex,' said Clark.

'She told me that story, too,' said Lex. 'She accused me of faking a baby with her, as if my cock wasn't working, or something, and then she faked her own death and you came after me to kill me, because you jumped to the conclusion that I'd murdered her. But I hadn't, because she wasn't even dead. She was alive and well and living in Shanghai on the money she'd stolen from me. Did you know that,Clark? But of course you did, because a few weeks later she came back here, and moved in with you, and built a tower of her own just down the street from LuthorCorp, even though her story was that she'd had to fake her death because she was so afraid of me. Do you understand Lana, Clark? I'm just asking because, if you do, I'd appreciate an explanation of that little escapade.'

Clark stared at the floor for a while, unable to meet Lex's eyes. 'Lana is... Lana is....'

'Lana is pretty, isn't she? I used to think I was in love with her too, but now I think it was all about the fucking,' said Lex.

'How dare you,' said a voice behind them, a voice Clark knew well.

'Lana!' he said, turning to her. 'How did you get in here?'

'The same way I got in,' said Chloe, and there she was, right behind Lana.

'How did you get in?' asked Lex.

Chloe looked up and smiled. 'Tess sent us,' she said.

***************

Chloe pushed past Lana, her face cold and determined as Clark had never seen it. She stepped right up to him, trapped in his theatre chair, and slapped him across the face. Clark actually felt the blow. 'Chloe!' he said. She slapped him again on the other cheek. 'What are you doing?' he asked.

'Giving you what you deserve,' she said. 'Maybe your problem is that no one has been able to do that for years now, and you think you're privileged, and safe from all criticism, or any consequences for what you do. Well, you're not.' She slapped him a third time.

Lana grabbed Chloe's arm, and pulled her back. 'Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you hit Clark? Poor baby!' Lana dropped Chloe's arm, and curled up in Clark's lap, cooing to him, and petting him. 'Poor, pretty baby.'

'Don't make me sick,' said Chloe. 'The two of you make my skin crawl. Your parents should have beaten the both of you every day and twice on Sundays.'

'This isn't you, Chloe,' said Clark. 'This is Tess speaking. We tried to save you from her.'

'I didn't want saving,' said Chloe.

'What's this about Tess?' asked Lex.

'Don't tell us you don't know,' said Clark.

Lex ignored him, and drew Chloe over to the other side of the theatre. 'What's been going on?' he asked, as they sat down.

'You've been in a sort of vegetative state, ever since Clark brainwiped you,' said Chloe. 'I helped Tess and Batman rescue you from Clark and his friends, but you didn't come out of your coma, or whatever you are in. You just sit and stare. It's been months now.'

'Ah! I see,' said Lex. 'I haven't been aware of what's going on, or the passage of time, but I've done a lot of thinking. It was nice, without all the interruptions I normally get, from assorted mutants and Clark breaking in to lecture me. Very peaceful.'

'I became friends with Tess, then more than friends, and Clark and Lana didn't like that. They... they brainwashed me too, and then... decided to invade your brain, as they did once before. They have a machine....'

'I know about that machine. Lionel's team designed it. It's dangerous. This is dangerous for you.'

'Tess had a team redesign the machine. It's not so dangerous now.'

'What?' Clark shouted across the room. 'You let Tess use a machine on you, that she designed? God knows what she'll do to you.'

Chloe got to her feet, and advanced on Clark and Lana, who were still cuddled in their chair. 'Nothing worse than anything you already did to me,' she said. 'You never learn, do you? You always judge yourself as beyond criticism.'

'Actually, I was beginning to get through to him when you and Lana interrupted,' said Lex.

'Well, thank God we did interrupt,' said Lana. 'You don't want that monster "getting through to you", Clark. You know how he treated me. Being married to him was a nightmare.'

'I don't know about that,' said Lex. 'You came out of our marriage with ten million dollars. That's about a million dollars a fuck, if my arithmetic is accurate.'

Lana put on her Offended Vestal Virgin expression. 'How dare you!' she said.

'Oh, but I do dare,' said Lex. 'I was just telling Chloe that I've been doing a lot of thinking the last few months, since I had nothing else to do.'

'I knew you were plotting something,' said Clark.

'I've been doing a lot of thinking, Clark. You might consider taking that up as a hobby. But, before we get involved in a long slanging match, I want to get back to the subject of our earlier debate.'

'We don't have much time,' said Chloe.

'Time enough for this,' said Lex. 'I was asking Clark why he abandoned me to the tender mercies of my father, knowing what he was. I have yet to hear his answer.'

'You just got what you deserved from Lionel,' said Lana.

'It's not your answer I want,' said Lex. 'I'm waiting, Clark. First you let him torture me. And brainwash me. Then, later, you betrayed me to him again. What had I done to you to deserve that.'

'My parents told me....'

'Don't blame your parents, Clark. You weren't a child, ignorant of the meaning of friendship and honour.'

'What do you know about those things?' asked Lana.

'I tried to save you,' said Clark.

'When? How long did you wait? How long did you leave me to be tortured by that murderer, Clark? How long?'

'A... a month,' said Clark.

'A month. A month. What the hell had I ever done to you to deserve that? What had I done to you, Clark?'

'Nothing,' said Clark. 'But my parents thought you were dangerous. They were afraid you might try to dissect me, or something.'

'Dissect you? Me? Dissect you? I grant that the prospect is looking attractive at this precise moment, just to see what makes you tick. A man who would betray a friend to a murderer, just in case the friend might try to dissect him -- or something. What the hell is "or something", by the way?'

'I don't know,' Clark admitted. 'But they were always afraid of what might happen if my powers were discovered.'

'And I was their sacrifice. What kind, good people.'

'They are good people,' said Lana. 'You just don't recognize them when you meet them.'

'You can shut up now,' said Lex. 'Why did Tess send you along, anyway?'

'She was in the room,' Chloe explained. 'She sent me to rescue you, but Lana can stay. We have to leave now.'

'What? What do you mean, Lana can stay?' Lana shrieked. 'Chloe? You're my friend.'

Chloe took Lex's hand. 'You can leave,' she said. 'Hold my hand, and don't look back. Follow me.'

'But I haven't got my answer from Clark.'

'He's not ready to give you an answer yet,' said Chloe. 'Maybe after a time alone in here with Lana....'

'No!' Clark was still pinned in the chair, but Lana jumped up and ran after them, out the door of the Talon. 'Don't leave me here. Chloe?'

Chloe turned on her, her face like stone. 'Go back!' she said. 'The Talon is your creation. Go watch a movie with Clark.' She turned back to Lex. 'I can find the door out, but they can't. Hold my hand, and don't look back, remember? Not for anything, got that?'

'I understand,' said Lex. 'It's like the myth of Orpheus. Do you know some of the possible meanings of his name -- cognates, actually -- are "to be deprived", or "to put asunder",, or "to cast a spell"... "darkness"... "orphan"....'

There was a door before them. A green door. Overhead a light flashed on and off. It said "Entrance". Chloe pulled on the door handle, and it opened. Ahead of them, down a long, dark tunnel, Lex could see a light. Behind them, he could hear his former friend, and his former wife, calling his name, begging him to come back and to rescue them. All his life, all he had ever wanted was to be loved, and to be of use to those he loved.

'Don't look back, Lex,' said Chloe. 'Follow the light.'

********************

'Mrs. Kent, please sit down and listen to me!'

'No, you listen to me, Miss Mercer.'

'That's Ms. Mercer to you.'

'I want my son released into my custody immediately.'

'I've explained why that isn't a good idea,' said Tess. 'I've explained at least ten times.'

'I don't care about your explanations,' said Martha Kent.

'Of course you don't,' said Tess. 'All you care about is yourself, and whatever ideas are floating around in your own mind. I've explained why we can't release Clark to you. It would not be safe -- not for him, not for Lana, and most certainly not for Lex.'

'And of course, all that matters is Lex,' said Martha. 'This is all his fault. Why should I care about him?'

'You really don't listen to anything anyone says to you, do you? It would not be safe for anyone involved in this. And it's Clark's fault, Clark's and Lana's. They invaded this facility. I have the evidence on tape. And before that, they brainwiped Chloe Sullivan....'

'To save her from you, and your perversions.'

Tess leaned over and pushed a button on her phone. 'Mary? Please send a security guard to escort Mrs. Kent from the premises.'

'I'm not going anywhere without my son,' said Martha.

'He is not your son,' said Tess. 'He is an alien who invaded Earth, and he's dangerous.'

'How dare you? He's going to be a great hero.'

'So far, he's shown little sign of that. Yes, he's saved a few lives....'

'He saved Lex's life, and how did Lex repay him?'

'By saving Clark's life, by saving the lives of Clark's friends, by saving your farm for you, by saving other people Clark brought to the mansion, by protecting Clark's secret when Lionel tried to torture it out of him.... Oh, yes. I have that on video. Watch this.' Tess put a CD in her computer, and turned it on. She turned the computer monitor around so that Martha could watch.

Martha stared at the screen, her face cold and unreadable, as Lex jerked and writhed under the effects of the electrotherapy.

'Listen,' said Tess. 'Listen to what Lionel is saying....'

'And he let Lionel wipe his memory to save your son's secret,' said Tess. 'You knew this, didn't you?'

'I knew none of this.'

'Ah, but you knew Lex was in Belle Reve, being mindwiped. You knew he knew Clark's secret. You knew he didn't tell. And you abandoned him, like he was a pile of garbage.'

'That's unfair,' said Martha.

'Is it? I don't think so,' said Tess. 'Ah. Here's the guard. Please escort Mrs. Kent out the door, and see she stays out.'

'No,' said Martha. 'I'm not leaving.'

'If you don't leave under your own power, I'll have you frogmarched out,' Tess declared.

'That won't be necessary,' said a voice from the doorway.

'Lex?' said Tess. 'What are you doing up? The doctor said....'

'Never mind what the doctor said,' said Lex. 'I heard Mrs. Kent was here. I want to speak to her. Alone.'

'I don't think that's a good idea.'

'I'll be fine,' said Lex. 'Please, Tess. Leave us alone for a few minutes.'

'Okay,' said Tess. 'But I'm staying close, and keeping the guard with me. Was she checked thoroughly for weapons when she came in, do you know, Martins?'

'We ran a wand over her,' the guard replied.

'If I'd known about this private conversation, I'd have ordered a full body cavity search on you,' Tess told Martha.

'I'll be fine, Tess,' said Lex. 'Please?'

Tess left the office, the guard on her heels.

'Lex, please,' said Martha. 'You have to help me. I want Clark at home with me.'

'I'm recovering, Mrs. Kent. Thanks for asking. Also, having Clark's and Lana's consciousness inside my own mind hasn't caused me too much trouble so far, so don't worry. They must have very small minds,' he confided with a smile.

'That's not funny,' said Martha.

'I wasn't joking,' said Lex. 'What Tess told you is the simple truth. Clark and Lana used the same interrogation machine on me that they used once before. They invaded my mind with their own minds. This experience awoke my consciousness, but in that process, Clark and Lana became trapped inside my mind. I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do about it right now. We're keeping them both on life support, until a solution can be found. I regret this situation as much as you do, but it's their fault, not mine. Have you spoken to Chloe? What did she say?'

'The same thing,' said Martha.

'Then I suggest you go home, relax, and wait until my scientists find a way to resolve this problem safely. They aren't in any immediate danger of dying or becoming vegetables, I assure you. But removing them from close contact with me might have a deleterious effect on both their physical and their mental health. I'm staying close by, and as soon as my team finds a solution....'

'You already have a solution, Lex,' said Martha. 'You just refuse to use it.'

'I beg your pardon?'

'You can use the machine, go back into your mind, and release Clark and Lana.'

'That would be dangerous, Mrs. Kent. I just regained consciousness, after months spent trapped in the deep recesses of my mind, and all because of Clark. I'm not going to risk that again.'

'Coward!'

'I'm sorry, Mrs. Kent, but it's my life and my mind. If Clark hadn't....'

'It wasn't Clark's fault. He was trying to help you, trying to stop your dangerous activities.'

'I don't care what he was trying to do. It's his fault he's trapped in my mind, and I don't like it any more than you do. I can hear Clark and Lana right now, agreeing with you, and blaming me for everything. I'm sick of it. I want them gone. But I'm not going to risk going back into a coma.'

Martha's eyes filled with tears. 'Please, Lex,' she whispered. 'Clark is all I have. My husband is dead. My father won't speak to me. Clark is all I have. Please, Lex?' She came up to him, put her hand on his arm, and looked up into his face. A woman, who reminded him of his mother, soft and gentle and feminine, looking up to him for help and protection. All he had ever wanted in his life was to be loved, and to be useful to the people he loved.

He knew this wasn't real. He knew, deep down, that Martha Kent didn't give a shit about him, and never had, and never would. He knew it, but his heart's longing was there, right before his eyes, and the little child that lived inside him believed the lie.

'I'll tell my team to work on it,' he said. 'I'll tell them to work harder, and when they think it's safe, I'll do it.'

'Tonight, Lex? Please?'

'No,' said Lex. 'Not tonight. I'll call you when we're ready.'

'I'm staying here,' said Martha.

'No,' said Lex. 'You're going home now. I'll call you when we're ready. That's final. Please leave now.'

Martha opened her mouth to argue again, but the door opened and Tess stormed in. 'Mister Luthor told you to leave,' she said. 'Leave!'

***********

'I knew she would talk you into something like this,' Tess was saying. 'I should never have left you alone with her, whatever you think.'

'I want them out of my mind as much as she does,' said Lex. 'That's the truth, whatever you think. Do you think this is mad fun... Oh, my God!'

'What? What's wrong?'

'They're... they're making out. Oh, God, they're... I'm going to be sick. That's way more than I ever wanted to know. And it's not funny, Chloe.'

'I'm sorry,' said Chloe. 'It can't be much fun, reading other people's minds like that. But it is just in their minds. I mean, they're unconscious, so they're not really doing it. Can't you, like, show them movies of gross things? Or think of smelly cheese or something?'

'That's an idea,' said Lex. He thought about dead skunks on the road, covered with old, smelly cheese, and after a while the hot romance cooled down, and Clark and Lana went to get cups of coffee, and sit at the window in the Talon and watch the world go by. That was better.

Lex put his head down on his desk and sighed. He should go back to bed, he thought. His body was tired, even though he'd spent months unconscious. But he had so much to catch up on. The world had gone by, gone past him, for too long. There was so much he needed to know. He couldn't bear to waste any time catching up.

And then, if he were to stop, if he were to try to sleep, the image of his heart's longing would rise again -- the promise of love that Martha Kent had held out to him, that had seemed, for a moment, to be within his grasp.

***The End ***

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