Title: Teacher's Pet
Author: La Chatte Noire
Summary: Sequel to "Trial by Media."
Notes: Post-Shattered, sequel to "Trial by Media" on the SSA. Read
that first, else this will make little sense. The address:
http://smallville.slashdom.com/archive/30/trialby.html

Sad, that I can't think of a summary for my own work. Not like
that's a rare thing...

My grandma's old Mustang makes a cameo. ::sniff:: I miss that car.

-----

Clark was about to faint when he saw the new Science Professor - Lex
Luthor. He stared as Lex sauntered up the aisle to the front of the
classroom to stand before the room of now silent juniors of
Smallville High. He seemed not to notice the deafening silence as
he opened his laptop case and started to set up for lecture, at
least until Lana raised her hand tentatively.

"Um, Mr. Luthor, where's our teacher?" Lana asked without being
called upon.

Lex looked at her. He pierced her with a slight stare to quiet her
again. He looked around at the silent, confused, even shocked
faces. "I see you haven't been told." He stepped away from his
laptop and moved in front of the teacher's desk, leaning back
against it. "Your science professor from your fall term quit for
personal reasons. All things considered I was volunteered to take
her place. I will be continuing the lesson plan laid out with her
original syllabus." He reached over and grabbed the external
monitor cord for his laptop. "Now then, where is the multimedia
projector?"

Pete couldn't help himself. "The what?"

Lex pulled down the projector screen. He then looked at the wall
opposite. It held only a clock, 7 minutes off. "Never mind. Is
there at least an overhead projector to be had?"

Pete spoke up again. "It's in the supply closet. Good luck though."

Lex snorted then waked out of the room. He paused at the door. He
walked back and closed his laptop, waiting for it to fall asleep.
He unhooked it and carried it with him out of the room to the supply
closet. He turned on the bare light bulb above him and took a good
look. The glass was scratched beyond repair and the light bulb was
busted. "Damn."

The class fell silent as he walked back in, setting his computer
back down on the teacher's desk. "Well then, how do your other
teachers manage to lecture without technology?"

Chloe raised her hand. "Chalkboard. Chalk."

Lex looked at her, then at the chalk board half hidden by the
projector screen. He snapped the screen back up and looked
disgustedly at the chalk board. He picked up a piece of chalk,
placed it to the board, and sneezed.

He mentally grumbled. Why did I ever agree to this?

-----

Clark stood in the doorway to Lex's office. He stayed there for a
minute, watching Lex grumble over his laptop and several handfuls of
paper: lesson plans. "So how did you pull this off?"

Lex looked up. "Hello Clark. How was school?"

Clark snorted. "You know that; you were there."

Lex groaned. "Please don't remind me. Remind me why I ever agreed
to this?"

Clark walked in and sat down on the couch closest to Lex. "Belle
Reve is still unconvinced of the fact that you're you again, despite
the fact that they stopped the drugs. Thus, in order for you to be
declared sane again you need to go through an amount of community
service where you can be watched at all times by an impartial
audience. You're the one who chose teaching. It was either than or
giving motivational lectures."

Lex looked over at him and gave him a horrified look. "Holy hell,
what has my father convinced them of now?"

Clark shrugged. "Nothing more or less than last time, but his money
tends to hover for awhile."

"Like a foul stench."

"So, what are you doing?"

Lex looked down at the papers on his desk. "You know, perhaps I
should have gone into motivational speaking. They at least would
have had technology better than a chalkboard."

"You know, you could always buy the technology you need."

Lex shook his head. "Nah, my accounts are still frozen until I get
through this bullshit. I can't outfit the classroom the way I want."

"What about the overhead projector you talked about? That shouldn't
be too hard."

Lex sat back in thought. "You know, I need to have a look at that.
Other than a light bulb and glass it didn't look too damaged. And
even if it is, I know a way to build my own. Now if only I were
teaching physics I could make a lesson out of it."

Clark grinned. "You're such a nerd."

Lex gave him a look.

Clark blushed. "Point taken. So, what are you planning?"

Lex shook a finger at him. "Nope, not telling."

"Why not?" Cue the pout.

"Clark, you're my student now. I can't talk about the lesson plan
with you. It'll give you an unfair advantage over the rest of the
class."

The pout lessened. "Well can you take a break?"

Lex stood up. "I thought you'd never ask."

-----

"But sir--"

"Mr. Luthor, I said no and that's final."

Lex stood in Principal Reynolds office. He had been trying to ask
the older man for more money for nearly half an hour, explaining the
situation and how technology eased various problems the teachers had
been having for years. "If I might ask, why?"

Reynolds sighed. "Mr. Luthor--"

Lex sighed as well. "Sir, considering you are my boss, don't you
think it's time you started calling me `Lex'?"

Reynolds gave him a slightly venomous look. "Lex," he began,
emphasizing the name, "the fact of the matter is the school district
doesn't have the money for any of the changes you're demanding.
There is no way we could possibly afford even one multimedia
projector for each department, much less one in every room."

"Then what about overhead projectors?"

"Also out of the question."

"Why? I can get enough directly from the manufacturer for a
fraction of what the supply companies charge."

Reynolds considered for a second before his pride got in the
way. "According to state law all new supplies must either be
donated or bought from the state supplier. Under the circumstances,
accepting something like this from you would be unacceptable."

"According to whom?"

"Belle Reve."

Lex stood in thought for a moment. "Somehow I don't think that'll
last."

Reynolds stopped his attempt at politely shoving Lex out the door
and gave him a long stare. "I doubt using your pet hacker for
something like this would be a good idea."

Lex gave him a look. "I'll have you know sir, that I have no pet
hacker. He simply seems to show up to my benefit. No, this would
be handled on purely official channels. Good day." He turned and
walked out of the office.

Reynolds sat heavily in his chair and sighed. "Why did I ever agree
to this?" He paused. "I did agree to this, right?"

-----

"Mr. Luthor, it's great to hear from you and all, but you're not
supposed to be doing work for another three months."

Lex sighed. "Gabe, this isn't work. This is personal. Now, if I
recall correctly you're CEO of LexCorp until I get back."

"Yes, that's correct." Gabe refrained from nodding. It wouldn't do
much good over the phone.

"Then I need a favor. I need 47 overhead projects. You got my
message, you know where to send them and who to buy them from."

"Sir, isn't the school going to figure this out? It's not like
you've kept your disdain for the school's living in the stone age
quiet."

"Ah, but that's why I'm asking you. You have a daughter. She's
been complaining about the lack of technology for almost three
years. And the chalk dust. Yes Gabe, now that you're in a position
of power you're going to give your daughter the best possible chance
by making sure she gets the best schooling she's allowed."

Gabe paused. He was sure Lex could hear his grin beginning. "Has
she really been that adamant?"

Lex grinned as well. "She's your daughter. You decide."

"They'll be on their way by tomorrow, Mr. Luthor."

"Thanks Gabe, you're a good man."

-----

Reynolds stormed into Lex's classroom. Lex was grading homework and
listening to the radio. He looked up to see the principal standing
in front of his desk, looking furious. "Hello sir, what can I do
for you?"

Reynolds threw a few leaves of paper onto Lex's desk. "What is
this?"

Lex looked the papers over. They were a notification of LexCorp's
contribution and a packing list. "Ah yes. I see Gabe decided to
donate the overheads we need."

"Don't give me this bull shit, Lex. I know you. You told him to do
this, didn't you?"

Lex turned off the radio and leaned back in his chair, steepling his
hands at the sudden silence. "Gabe has a daughter who was raised in
Metropolis. She learned with the aid of computers, overheads,
videos, more than just the droning of a voice and the scrape of
chalk on slate. Now that's he's temporary CEO of LexCorp he has the
power and the resources to make sure she gets the best education
possible. I admit he did ask if it was alright, but other than that
I played no part in this."

Reynolds growled and stalked out of the room. Lex smirked as he
turned his radio back on and started grading again.

-----

The students walked into the classroom that Monday to see Lex in a
darkened room standing behind the glow of an overhead projector.
The projector gave him an otherworldly, insane glow that had most of
the students shivering as memories of his psychotic break surfaced
with new fury. Clark followed the masses and grinned when he saw
Lex with his new toy.

Lex glanced over the room as the students took their seats, sitting
as far from him as the small room would allow, all but Clark and
Chloe who took their usual seats in the front row. Lex reached down
and placed the title page of his overhead lecture on the glass and
stepped back to begin the lecture when the whispering began.

"How do you think he pulled that off?"

"I didn't think he was allowed to buy stuff for the school."

"Where did you hear that?"

"A week ago Mr. Luthor and Mr. Reynolds had a shouting match in the
principal's office. Mr. Luthor isn't supposed to buy stuff for the
school; he's still too crazy."

-WHAP-

The small group that had been whispering looked up with terrified
eyes into the unreadable eyes of Lex. He stood right next to their
desks holding the yardstick he had just slapped their desks with,
causing the whole room to jump. He walked back up to the front of
the room, turning on the lights as he went. The words on the screen
faded as they were washed out by the light all around. "It seems
there's a question in this class that has nothing to do with the
course and it appears that no real learning will take place until
this question is answered." He turned off the overhead and leaned
back against his desk, still holding the yardstick, slapping his
hand with it like a riding crop. "Well, ask."

The room was silent. Clark looked at Lex disapprovingly, but knew
the older man had to get this off his chest and out of the room if
anything was to get done.

"Well?"

In the back of the room a single hand raised. "What happened to
you?"

Lex stopped movement of the yardstick and placed it on the desk. He
stood up and started to pace. "As you all know from The Hacker, and
no I don't know who The Hacker is, I had been drugged with a
hallucinogen since returning to Smallville after my aborted
marriage. And as you all know from The Hacker it was my father's
doing because of the investigation I was leading against him and the
fact that I had managed to come back from the dead in the first
place. He worked me to my breaking point with the drugs and with
various little things that I won't go into. When I finally did
break he had me shipped off to Belle Reve to be placed under a
regimen of drugs that only made the hallucinations worse. The
Hacker apparently couldn't gather enough information on what those
drugs really were and I can only assume they were designed to
destroy me utterly. However, luckily for me The Hacker revealed
this all and the rest you know."

"But why would your father do that to you?" asked a voice in the
back.

Lex looked over the room of stunned students, stunned save Clark and
Chloe. "How many of you actually know Lionel Luthor?"

Clark, Chloe, Pete and Lana raised their hands.

"Out of the four of you, in your experience with him, is he capable
of what I just described? Of what The Hacker revealed?"

"Most definitely yes," said Clark.

"He's a bastard," agreed Pete.

"He doesn't care. If anything stands in his way, even his own flesh
and blood, Lionel Luthor will destroy it without thought." Chloe
nodded slowly as she spoke in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

Lana only nodded her assent.

Lex nodded as well. "Very well then. I can assume you're all more
likely to agree with fellow students over the crazy guy, so may we
begin the lecture?"

The class settled down as Lex began talking about molar masses.

-----

Reynolds walked into Lex's classroom that very afternoon. Once
again Lex was listening to the radio, this time with headphones and
singing softly. Reynolds stopped and listened for a moment,
shivering when he realized the song was about a man falling apart
the way Lex had.

At the shiver Lex looked up. He took the headphones off, letting
the furious screaming of the music fill the room before turning off
the radio. "Hello sir. Is there anything I can do for you?"

From in the back of his mind, Reynolds heard that music
again. "Rumor has it you had a little talk with your students this
morning."

Lex shrugged. "I had to. They couldn't focus while wondering if
their teacher was really insane."

"Couldn't you have handled it in any other way?"

"Thus far, sir, you're the only person, including my therapist, who
doesn't think I handled the situation in the best possible way." He
paused. "Was there anything else?"

Reynolds bristled at the obvious dismissal. "You'll to be observed
tomorrow. From the moment you step onto campus tomorrow to the
moment you leave you'll have a teacher and a staff member from Belle
Reve following you. You won't always see them, but they'll be
there. If you put even a toe out of line they'll use it as an
excuse to take you back, so don't screw this up."

Lex cocked his head. "Sir? Why are you telling me this?"

Reynolds shrugged. "You've come too far to screw up now." He left.

Lex sat there for a time, thinking. Belle Reve was coming to take
him back. All they needed was a reason.

-----

Dr. Foster and Dr. Chen strode the halls of Smallville High,
surrounded by an air of oddity. They drew the stares of every
student in the halls; the stares letting them know that they were
neither known nor welcome. Principal Reynolds met them in the
hallway. "Good morning. If you'd follow me to my office we can get
this started."

Dr. Chen shook his head. "We'll have to decline. We must get down
to business. Where is Mr. Luthor?"

Reynolds instantly became annoyed. "I will answer all questions you
might have in my office."

"We have no questions. We only wish to get this started as soon as
possible."

Reynolds bristled. "And you will not get started until you follow
me to my office. Now either follow me or I reserve the right to
throw you off the premises."

Dr. Foster stepped forward. "I assure you, Mr. Reynolds, you have
no such right."

Reynolds drew a court order out of his shirt pocket, signed by Judge
Ross that very day. He showed it to them. "Oh, I assure you I do.
Now if you'll follow me."

Drs. Foster and Chen followed reluctantly, students openly and
silently staring at them as they passed.

As soon as Reynolds closed the door, trapping them in his office,
Dr. Foster started to speak. "I assure you Mr. Reynolds we are here
in your best interests. One of your teachers is mentally unstable
and we have been sent to observe him and possibly take him back to
Belle Reve if necessary."

Reynolds glared at them. "I know exactly what you were sent here to
do."

"If you were to get your information from a source other than a
deranged hacker you would know we are here in Mr. Luthor's best
interests."

Reynolds smirked. "I don't believe a person who feels the need to
hack the planet to get a point across instead of going through
official channels. However, I do believe what's been going through
those official channels. The very proof The Hacker claimed to have
has been found in those official channels and has been found sound
by Kansas State Court. More evidence is surfacing every day, not
only about what you did to Lex but also what Belle Reve has been
doing for years. Using Opium salts on patients to keep them
hallucinating, to keep them insane?"

Dr. Chen bristled. "Opium was approved by the FDA years ago."

Reynolds nodded. "Yes, as an anti-inflammatory. In 10 milligram
doses. With a warning in the Physician's Desk Reference about
hallucinations as a side effect. Somehow I don't think Belle Reve
is a hospital equipped to treat diseases so chronic such that they
need 150 milligram doses of a known hallucinogen."

Dr. Foster fell silent, opting to glare at him. Dr. Chen opened his
mouth to retaliate. "How dare you accuse Belle Reve of such
atrocities?"

Reynolds stared him down. "I dare only because the story hit CNN
yesterday. Now get out of my office and do your observations, but
hear this. I'll be watching you both. If either of you even think
of stepping out of line I can and will have you thrown off this
campus."

The pair stared at him before turning and leaving the office,
slamming the door as they left. Reynolds sighed. He called Clark
out of class. He needed an ally.

Clark opened the door a minute later. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Reynolds motioned him in. "Close the door. Clark, I'll be frank.
There's a pair of psychologists from Belle Reve following Lex around
today. I need you to tail them. I know you're a friend of Lex and
he does seem saner when you're around. I'll write a pass to get you
out of your other classes. Don't even let him go to the bathroom
alone, Clark. If Lex does anything even remotely abnormal they'll
use it as an excuse to lock him up again."

Clark nodded. "If I may ask, sir, why are you doing this? I
thought you didn't like Lex."

Reynolds gave a self-depreciating smirk. "I finally realized we
have a common enemy. Get out of here, Kent. Don't let them take
him away again."

Clark nodded. "Thank you sir." He left and jogged through the
corridor to Lex's classroom, hoping he wasn't already too late.

-----

Lex stood by the projector screen as he tried to lecture. The
psychologists in the back of the room were doing all that they could
to get a rise out of him. He was to the point of throwing them out
of the room, consequences be damned when he saw Clark walk in.
Clark put a finger to his lips and sat in the back row, unnoticed by
anyone else. Lex's eyes gave a smile and he calmed down. He
pointed his laser-pointer at the screen when Dr. Chen interrupted
him again.

"Mr. Luthor, I'm afraid you're not allowed the use of a laser."

Lex looked at him, refraining from cocking his head. "And why is
that?"

"Mr. Luthor, the insane are not allowed to use laser-pointers. It's
entirely possible they may use it to hurt themselves."

Lex growled inwardly at the obvious dig against him and turned the
laser off, setting it on his desk. He got out his trusty yard stick
and began again. Once again, Dr. Chen interrupted him.

"Mr. Luthor, nor are you allowed to use a yardstick."

Lex closed his eyes and thought of smacking Dr. Chen across the back
of the head with said yardstick. He put the stick down and walked
over to stand next to the overhead. He started pointing by holding
a pen directly over the glass of the projector so the shadow was
projected on the screen pointing to the point he was trying to
emphasize.

"Ah, Mr. Luthor, nor that."

Lex, with a by-now disturbing sense of calm placed the pen on the
desk next to him and pointed with his finger instead.

"Ah, Mr. Luthor, what are you using now?"

Lex pulled his hand away from the projector to hold it up in a grand
motion, point his finger straight up, then to place it with another
grand motion back where it was in the first place. "Now then, may I
continue?"

Dr. Chen nodded and remained silent, making notes as he watched Lex
lecture and answer questions. He noticed Lex looking toward the
back of the room at difficult times, drawing calm out of something
he saw there. He turned around to see what it might be.

Clark almost hid when Dr. Chen turned around, but figured if he
wasn't completely visible the doctors might claim Lex had been
looking at a hallucination during the lecture, immediately declaring
Lex insane on the spot. Clark sat up and gave Dr. Chen a look.

Dr. Chen looked back at Lex. "Mr. Luthor, could you excuse us for a
moment?" He left without waiting for an answer, leaving Dr. Foster
there and dragging Clark out with him. In the hallway Dr. Chen
turned toward Clark. "And who do you think you are, young man? You
are not in this class."

Clark nodded. "That is true." He held out a note from the
principal without letting Dr. Chen touch it. "I've been ordered to
follow you and Dr. Foster around, to make sure you stay within the
bounds of legality."

Dr. Chen bristled. "I assure you, we need no such guidance."

Clark pocketed the note. "We'll see." He walked back into the room
and caught Lex's eye. Lex relaxed visibly and continued.

As the bell rang the two doctors huddled together in the back of the
room. Lex sat down at his desk and sighed. Clark sat down on the
desk next to Lex's. "So how are you holding up?"

Lex shrugged. "I'll live I guess. I really do need something to
point with, though."

Clark nodded. "I can run over and get it. I'm thinking I need to
get my PDA anyway. I've got a hunch I'll need it."

Lex smiled. "Thanks. Anyway, don't you need to be in class?"

Clark shook his head. "Not today. Today I've been assigned the
duty of watching over you, making sure they don't screw you up." He
got up. "I'll be back in a few." He walked out of the room and
jogged down the hall until disappearing.

Dr. Foster walked forward and stood in front of Lex's desk. "And
what is going on between you and that boy?"

Lex gave her a look. "And why do you want to know?"

"Because it is my duty to determine if you are a danger to people
around you. Seducing an innocent minor certainly qualifies you as a
danger to society."

Lex shrugged. "The age of consent in Kansas is 16 and there's no
proof that he's anything more or less than a friend. Tell me
Doctor, do you have friends?"

Dr. Foster looked taken aback for a split second. "Of course I have
friends. All sane human beings have friends."

Lex smiled. He looked like a shark. "Then my having friends does
not constitute a danger to society. In fact, it can be seen as
evidence of my stable sanity." He got up as students began to file
in for the next period and began setting up the next lesson.

-----

Clark walked in the room as Lex was ready to start. He handed Lex
his pointer for the lecture and moved to the back of the room as he
set up his PDA to work, probably work on the psychiatrists sitting
one row in front of him, staring in an amused confusion as Lex began
his lecture with his new pointer.

A fishing pole.

It was a good quality graphite pole, built for trout and salmon, but
it was a fishing pole.

Dr. Foster spoke up. "Mr. Luthor, that is a fishing pole."

The students giggled.

Lex looked at her. "I am perfectly aware that this is a fishing
pole. Since you have taken away my laser pointer and my yardstick I
am forced to use this for my lectures. There is nothing in your
little handbook of rules preventing me from using a fishing pole in
lecture, is there? Clark?"

Clark looked up from his PDA and the very book of rules the doctors
claimed to be following. "Nope, nothing in the book of rules."

Dr. Chen gave him a look. "And how would you know?"

Clark turned the PDA to face the screen toward him. "I just
downloaded the most recent set of rules and there's nothing in them
about using a fishing pole in lecture."

Dr. Chen grumbled as Dr. Foster looked at him, amused. She nodded
at him in respect, then turned back to the front of the room as Lex
continued.

-----

After the next few periods Clark and Lex found themselves sitting in
the school cafeteria. Lex looked down at the mystery meat served to
the masses, then at Clark, who was scarfing down his own serving of
discolored glop. Clark paused, then looked at Lex, then at his
tray. "Are you gonna finish that?"

Lex pushed his tray toward Clark with a look of faint
disgust. "It's yours."

Clark grinned and pulled the tray next to his. "So how're you
holding up?"

Lex shrugged. "I've been worse. How are they doing?"

Clark looked around them, then leaned over to whisper. "Dr. Foster
isn't going to be a problem, but I've got a feeling Dr. Chen is
going to be your undoing."

Lex leaned over to answer. "What can you do about it?"

Clark shrugged and sat up. "It's all a question of credibility."

-----

In the classroom, Clark set up a little keyboard for his PDA and let
his hands fly. Lex finished his last lecture and answered the
questions of the stragglers while the psychologists made their final
notes. They finished and bid Lex goodbye. As soon as they left Lex
sighed in relief and shooed the stragglers out, dropping into a
chair next to Clark. "So how'd I do? How'd it go?"

Clark looked up, then looked down and continued to type. "Tell me,
what's more likely to destroy a psychologist's credibility? Child
porn or child porn with a history of false diagnoses?"

Lex gave him a look then answered. "Since you're going for the
child porn you might as well add the malpractice. Destroy his
credibility and keep him out of our hair for a while. Why do you
ask? Or do I not want to know?"

"Dr. Chen failed you something fierce. I think Dr. Foster likes
you, though. I think she kinda pities you, knowing what you've gone
through."

Lex sat back and crossed his arms. "I hate being pitied."

Clark sat up and looked at him. "I know, but it's saving you big
time right now. Don't knock it when it's keeping you free."

Lex shrugged but did not alter his defensive position. "So you're
gonna destroy Dr. Chen, am I right?"

"Yep. I already put in the specs for a website on his machine along
with the actual porn. The website is run by another hacker, a
moderately twisted fellow as you can guess. He's been pinning his
site on others for a year now. He agreed to let me link Dr. Chen to
it."

Lex sat up, arms dropping to the table. "He'd let you do that?"

"The site exists only to destroy people who get in our way. It's a
public resource in that respect. It gets shut down for about three
days each time then is restarted to collect hits and to be pinned on
some other annoyance."

"So when did you lose your faith in humanity?"

Clark finished the hack and pulled out. "I guess I lost it when you
were taken. What do you remember from when they took you? When we
confronted Morgan Edge?"

Lex sat back and closed his eyes. He remembered all to well the
drugs, the hallucinations, the straight jacket. He remembered how
he had been beaten that time he had wiggled himself out of the
jacket, how his shoulder had hurt from tearing it out of its socket
while escaping the rough canvas. He pulled himself back and
remembered before that, before Belle Reve. He remembered Clark
writhing on the floor surrounded by glowing green beads. He
remembered killing again. He remembered Clark jumping between him
and the speeding car. He remembered the crunch of metal and looking
up expecting to see his friend scattered over the driveway, instead
seeing a concerned face and panicked eyes. He remembered feeling
fear, confusion, betrayal, and throwing it all back into Clark's
face. He remembered devastation as Clark faded, running faster than
he could ever follow. Lex opened his eyes.

Clark looked at him, gazed into his eyes as they opened. "Do you
understand?"

Lex lifted a hand and dropped it onto Clark's face, fingertips
dragging over his cheek in wonder. "You're not human."

Clark smiled sadly. "Nope. I never was."

"Clark, do you have any idea what this means? What this really
means?"

Clark nodded. "Third party observation, not alone in the universe,
practical space travel, and alien autopsy videos."

Lex paused. "So you're an alien."

Clark nodded nervously. "You don't hate me, do you?"

"No, Clark, I don't hate you. It explains everything. It all makes
sense now." He paused. "We really shouldn't be discussing this in
school."

"Ok. Let's continue this later. I can guarantee at least the barn
is safe."

"Then I'll be over later."

Clark gave him a look as he started gathering together his teaching
materials. "Wait, not now?"

Lex shook his head. "I'm still a teacher, Clark. I have a
meeting. I'll be done in a few hours or so."

Clark nodded and put his PDA together, ready to disappear.

-----

Clark stood in the loft looking out the window into the sun as it
hovered over the horizon, glinting across the snowless ice covering
the fields below. He listened as Lex walked up the stairs. "How
was your meeting?"

Lex joined him at the window, looking at Clark's profile in the
reddish light of the low sun. "I've had better. Principal Reynolds
told everyone the meaning of the psychologists running around. I
swear someone had the audacity to ask me when I was going back. I
think I surprised everyone when I didn't go for his throat."

Clark continued to stare into the sun. He was secretly glad he
didn't have to remember to blink. "The doctors submitted their
evaluations. I tracked them. Dr. Foster passed you, Dr. Chen
failed you. He'll be arrested within the next 24 hours. I
recommend you have his evaluation challenged in court. With the
arrest and the charges it'll never hold up."

Lex nodded. "What about my father?"

Clark shrugged. "You told him to stay the fuck away from you.
Well, he has so far. His money is still influencing Belle Reve but
he's staying away from your company. Mr. Sullivan even outbid
LuthorCorp for a good-sized contract without challenge. He might
actually be trying to be civil."

"More likely he's waiting for me to retake control before destroying
me."

"He can't." Clark looked at Lex. "I won't let him. I've got too
much on him. It probably won't do much good legally but I can
always take it to the court of the media again."

"You know when I told you and Chloe you can store your equipment in
the plant?"

"Yeah, why?"

Lex turned toward him, guided Clark to turn and face him. "Would
the two of you like to work for me?"

Clark cocked his head. "What would we do?"

Lex smiled. "You'd build my network. You'd keep watch on all my
employees. You'd be protected from anyone who might come looking
for you. The two of you hacked the planet, Clark. Those abilities
cannot be lost. I'm offering you a way to use them, cultivate them,
even improve them. I've never told anyone you're The Hacker and I
never will. You're both safe with me, forever. All your secrets
are safe with me."

Clark smiled. "I don't know about Chloe, but I'd be happy to do
it. Will we have to work with anyone? Will anyone have to know?
When your father put the Sheriff on our trail before we got you out
I told her I can crash a computer by typing two keys. I admit I
wasn't joking, but she assumed I was talking about crashing my own
computer, not somebody else's."

Lex shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "Nobody has to
know, well, except your parents will wonder where you'll be getting
all the money."

Clark paused. "Money? Wait, how much money are we talking about?"

Lex shrugged. "Network administrators traditionally make 6 figure
sums, Clark."

"No, wait, Lex, that's too much. I don't need all that money."

"You'll be earning it, Clark. Chloe will be getting the same.
She'll be earning it, too. In fact, you'll both be earning much
more than money can say."

Clark stepped back, interested despite himself. "What will we
really be doing?"

Lex smiled. "Good. You're my friend Clark, but I don't want you or
Chloe to work for me unless you're willing to question me, to think
for yourselves. You'll be protecting me from my father, doing
whatever you need to make sure he never comes near me again. You'll
officially be network administrators, keeping any hackers I don't
know off my network, basic computer job stuff. You don't have to
answer now, Clark. I want you to think about it."

Clark shook his head and stepped back, pacing with uncertain
energy. "This is going to change our friendship, isn't it? I won't
be your friend anymore, I'll be an asset. I don't want to be an
asset, Lex. I don't want to become your pet hacker."

"That won't happen, Clark."

Clark stopped. "How do you know? How do you know you won't
suddenly wake up one day and I'll be nothing more than an asset to
covet and trade?"

Lex looked Clark straight in the eye. Now or never, he thought. "I
don't love my assets, Clark."

Clark gave him a confused look. "Love?"

Lex sauntered up to Clark and pressed himself lightly against
Clark's chest. He placed his hands on Clark's shoulders to caress
down his back. He leaned in and brushed a kiss over Clark's
lips. "Love." He pulled back and stepped away from Clark. "And I
just effectively ruined our friendship right there, so I'll just
go." He turned and fled down the stairs.

Clark snapped out of his confused trance. He heard Lex rundown the
stairs and out of the barn. When Lex slipped his key into the door
of his car, Clark sprang into action. He ran out of the barn and
pulled Lex away from the door.

"Clark, just let me go. It's obvious you don't want--"

Clark silenced Lex's protest with a kiss. When he pulled off he
gazed into Lex's eyes. "I'm not sure how I want you, Lex, whether
it be as a friend or more. I was wondering if we might try this,
but if we do we'll have to go slowly."

Lex nodded mutely and stroked Clark's face. "We'll go slowly."

They kissed again.

-----

Epilogue

Clark pulled into the LexCorp parking lot next to Chloe's car.
Standing next to her car were Chloe and Lex indulging in a little
nerd-speak. Chloe's mouth dropped as Clark got out of the
car. "Dude, where'd you get the car?"

Clark grinned at his cherry red '76 Mustang. "Some sucker sold it
because they were unwilling to spend the money to replace a bad
suspension. Came complete with Jack-in-the-Box ball." He pointed
to the faded clown head on the antenna. "I just finished working on
it yesterday and figured I'd show off."

Lex leaned against the driver's side door of the bright red
classic. "I need to talk to you both, soon. My father's starting
his old tricks again and I need you two to find a way to keep him
out."

Clark sighed. "Again? This is, what, the 4th time this month?"

Chloe scrunched her nose. "The 5th."

Lex gave them both darkly amused looks. "Yeah, well if half of my
staff wasn't on his payroll this wouldn't be a problem."

Clark gave him a look. "I think the President's on his payroll,
Lex."

Chloe snickered. She grinned. "Yeah, yeah, I know, go play. I'll
be in the basement you two, working."

Clark gave her an innocent look. "I didn't know downloading old 80s
movies was work."

She flipped him off. "As if watching `X-Files' repeats is?"

Lex laughed at Clark's "who, me?" look. "Enough, you two. Go do
whatever, so long as you make my father scream in frustration." She
left, laughing. "Finally, alone."

Clark grinned and sauntered over to Lex, pressing him against the
door of the car. "I thought we'd never be alone." He leaned and
kissed Lex leisurely, knowing they had all the time in the world.

End