Title: Storms in Time
Author: Ambiguous719
Feedback address: Bluemagic8888@juno.com
Rating: PG, mention of sex but no actual displays.
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Summary: What does Lex choose to do to/about Lionel at the end of Tempest? What
are the consequences?
Disclaimer: Smallville is not mine, and no money is being made from this.
WARNINGS: DEATH FIC!!! Characters die. Some of them several times. It is important to understand that the Non-Con and Torture scenes are only hinted at and not actually described in too much detail. BE FOREWARNED this is not a happy fic at all. It is very dark and shall be treated as such.
Part of the ClexFest at: http://www.kardasi.com/Lexclusive/ClexFest
Beta reader: AngelKisses

STORMS IN TIME
By Ambiguous719

May 10, 2002
8:33:47 pm

He stared around the room that had once been his office. The shattered glass of his former stained window was sprinkled liberally about the room as if some demented flower girl had exchanged her flowers for slivers of death. The wild wind howled outside the room. The sickly green sky cast a deadly pallor on the ground below. The gray funnels were visible in the distance. The scene commanded attention from the viewer, if only for the fact that said viewer wasn’t going to live to see anything else.

He heard the pitiful cry of his father. The repetitive cry was the very definition of a banshee’s wail. Traditionally a banshee heralded the death of a loved one and he could think of nothing that was farther and yet so close to the truth. Something deep inside him commanded him to somehow stop the incessant wail, it had no conscience, cared naught if the being that carried it out lived or died only to make it stop.

He tasted the chilled metallic fluid that so liberally doused his face. It was only a surface wound and he knew it. The amount of blood was irrelevant. It ran from a cut above his eyebrow into his eye. It then made its way down the side of his nose into his mouth at the corner. He raised his right hand and wiped at the offensive fluid with the back of his hand. Dust and grit from the ground below flew into his eyes and mouth trying to distract him from the task at hand.

The most important decision of his life faced him in this perilous moments and it was quite possible that the fate of the very world rested in his hands at this moment. Always his decisions had had effects on others but never before to this magnitude. In the all too recent past his decision would have been clear. In fact it would have been made in milliseconds rather than minutes. To save his father, the one and only man he despised so fully and yet strived to be recognized by. The nature of his relationship with his father was so undecipherable even to the both of them that neither really knew and consequently gave the other what they so deeply desired. Lex wanted his fathers love and barring that his acceptance of him. Lionel wanted only to raise a child worthy to be his heir apparent and that was tantamount to a type of love for him.

Neither however even knew that these were their underlying emotions. Each thought themselves beyond such petty emotions as love or need or want. And this perhaps was their most basic commonality; they both denied and suppressed their baser instincts. A Luthor doesn’t need anything. They have everything they could ever need. Anything they wanted they got regardless of cost. And love was only a weakness, one that could be exploited and therefore used against them to control them. Weakness lead to control, control led to abuse, abuse led to loss of power and a loss of power was what Luthors’ feared most.

That however was before, before him, Clark Kent. In the space of ten minutes Lex’s life was changed so profoundly that the dynamic between father and son had started to change. A good psychiatrist would have used the word heal but a Luthor would never admit having ever been wounded. Clark Kent had deemed Lex worth saving without even knowing who he was and what he had done. He had risked his life to save Lex who some considered more foul than even his father. That had started the reaction. The one that had led to what was happening right now, the problem at hand. Should Lex save Lionel’s life or pay him back for the years of emotional abuse and leave him to die?

Before Clark, Lex would have left him to die in an instant. The thought of taking over Luthor Corp, and all the power that it entailed would have enticed him right out of any thoughts of saving his father and right into the arms of power, greed, and his life till then. But when Clark saved Lex’s mortal life he had also saved Lex’s immortal soul. Saved it from becoming consumed by everything his father was and turning into a true Luthor. A few more months alone in the castle to lick his wounds and plot would have turned Lex completely to a place from which nothing but God himself could save him from.

Clark with his innocent naiveté and willingness to believe everything at face value had shown Lex that not everyone wanted to use him to get something. Clark had wanted only friendship from Lex and had given it to him totally unabashed without thought of the power that a relationship gave Lex over Clark. Clark never tried to get something out of him and use him like so many others had in the past. That was what made Clark so special to Lex that was what made him fall in love.

The one and only Lex Luthor, spawn of the Luthor empire, brilliant strategist, and unfeeling businessman was in love. And as with everything Lex did, it wasn’t halfway. He was totally head over heals, get down and kiss the ground you walk on, in love with a sixteen year old farm boy. Not that he would ever admit it. Not under pain of death would he ever admit that little weakness. Lex had no idea why he fell in love with Clark, maybe it was his rugged good looks, or his inability to use people. Maybe because he was the antithesis of everything that defined a Luthor, maybe just maybe because Lex needed that.

And in the end it screwed him over. As with all emotions it had come back to bite him in the ass at the most inopportune time. For Clark, Lex would do anything. And anything to a Luthor was really ANYTHING. Kill, maim, hurt, destroy, poison, love, buy, sell, leave, anything that Clark wanted Lex would do. But thankfully Clark was patently oblivious to Lex’s feelings for him; Lex had serious doubts as to whether or not Clark even knew that such things took place, and Clark therefore couldn’t exploit it and hence him. But it made Lex’s decisions so much tougher. The ramifications of the decision he was about to make could loose him Clark’s friendship and hence the most important thing in Lex’s world.

Lex thought about all the things that Lionel had done to him over the years all the backstabbing, the hatred, and the lessons, all at Lionel’s hand. But one thing stood out in Lex’s mind as the greatest and thence most unforgivable thing Lionel had ever done to him; Lionel killed his mother; the one person in the world for whom he was nothing but a loveable being, a child. But Lionel killed her. Maybe not directly but certainly indirectly through his lack of caring. That was what pushed Lex over the edge. The feelings of hatred and disgust coursed through his adrenaline soaked veins just as surely as the cold wind of the approaching tornado whipped against his hairless skin.

The thought of what Clark would do stopped him from his next move. Clark of course being all goodness would save an axe murder from dying. But Lex wasn’t Clark. He had long ago had he come to the conclusion that he wasn’t worthy of Love and therefore Clark, so what difference did it make whether he judged himself from Clark’s point of view anyway? A lot of difference he decided, even the famed Luthor self-denial couldn’t hide that. If Clark stopped being his friend or even worse Clark hated him then how would he feel? The thought of Clark turning away from him and hating him like he had during the nicodemus incident made his stomach churn. He had for the first time in almost 12 years been scared. Losing Clark hurt him much more than he cared to admit. So Lex decided to do what he did best, obfuscate, lie, and hide. The opportunity to get rid of his father was too much. Keeping Clark’s friendship meant the world to him and technically he couldn’t do one and keep the other. Lex didn’t bother with such trivial things as technicalities. What Clark doesn’t know can’t hurt me. And with that in mind he pivoted on the spot and took a step towards the former doorway.

He started to spin and the world went fuzzy before he fell into a bottomless abyss only to emerge…

August 25, 2002
9:10:45 pm

He was brooding and he knew it. What else was he to do? His life had been so great after Lionel’s death. First he inherited all of the much-vaunted Luthor Empire and had remade it into the infinitely more popular Lex Corp. That in and of itself was nothing short of amazing. The public had hated Luthor Corp even more than Enron and more than a few, ok face it, hundreds, had hoped fervently that Luthor Corp was going to BE the next Enron. Alas it was not to be. With the tragic demise of Lionel Luthor in a freak tornado on his son’s estate in Smallville, quite a few prominent members of the business community had practically thrown themselves upon him in their rush to show their gratitude at his removal of his father. Of course that was only after they had, unsuccessfully, tried to take over Luthorcorp. No one except Lex knew what really happened at the manor that evening.

As was his wont, Lex had seized an opportunity that would never have passed his way normally and it was highly improbable that such a fortuitous chance would ever do so again. He had had Lionel at the proverbial and figurative throat. Lex remembered it so clearly. The heavy storm laden air, the hot gush of blood on his face, and the words that had changed his life so profoundly. “Help Me.” Two simple words that uttered from anyone but his father would have elicited a helping instinct under the circumstances, but from Lionel caused the callous reply that Lionel himself had worked so deep into a young impressionable boy, Lex. “No. I see no need to waste any energy or time upon you again Lionel.” With that Lex had turned his back on the man who sired him, a man who was his father, at least in Lex’s mind, in name only.

That had been his beginning and his downfall. It had started his life off so right and then it had all gone down the drain so fast his head was still spinning. Lex just couldn’t fathom how his life had been so good for almost a year and then become so dreaded and awful that he could barely get up in the morning. So many good things had come out of that day, not the least of which was his relationship with Clark. Ahh, the beautiful man whose visage filled his daytime fantasies and his nighttime dreams.

His brooding was caused by one man, Lionel Luthor. Even though he was dead he still seemed to have a death grip on Lex’s heart. He could still influence his son, even from the grave. Lex when he thought about it, and he did, finally had come to the conclusion that Alexander J. Luthor was not able to sustain a relationship. But more importantly he was not capable of being loved. Only his mother and Clark had done so and now he had neither of them. Lionel had pleaded for his life at his son’s feet and Lex had done the one thing that being a Luthor demanded, he had felt no pity, remorse or other hindering emotion, and let him die.

It was all very simple. The wound on his head, though only superficial, had bled enough that he appeared to have sustained a concussion. At least that’s what the paramedics concluded at the scene of the accident when they got there. Luthor castle was one of the last places searched after the destruction of the tornado. Lex knew that the reason behind the castle being so far down the list of places to search had more to do with small town prejudices rather than the amount of people that were possibly hurt inside. If everyone had known that Lionel was inside, it probably would have been the last place searched.

Not that Lex minded in the slightest. The timing of the rescuers couldn’t have been more perfect if he had planned Lionel’s murder himself. His father had slowly bled to death from internal injuries and a severed leg. The coroner had guessed that he died in a lot of pain and at an excruciatingly slow rate. Several hours for him to die. No one was surprised by Lex’s indifference to the news, except Clark. Clark had come running over to Lex’s after helping save Lana Lang. Lex was glad that it took Clark so long. Clark had then had to run off to find his own father leaving Lex with the doctors.

Clark had no way of knowing what had really happened at the mansion and Lex had tried valiantly to keep it that way. In the end it wasn’t an emotional weakness that got him, it was a Luthor weakness, revenge. Lex had the only piece of hard evidence that could prove he let his own father bleed to death. A security tape that had somehow miraculously survived showed everything in excruciating detail.

Lex had the tape locked up in his vault. He just couldn’t bear to part with it. Even the threat that it had posed to his life with Clark didn’t stop him from sealing it up in the lead lined high pressure duranium vault. He had had the newest state of the art vault installed after he was robbed the first time. It came with a 34500-bit encryption code, voice, retina, fingerprint, and access key code. It was impossible to break in with out detection. Between the two 5 inch thick plates of duranium there was a highly pressurized nerve gas. It would leak out and paralyze anyone who wanted to cut into the vault. It was non-flammable so an explosion wouldn’t stop it either. The absolute best money could buy.

“ Mr. Luthor?”

He was forcefully knocked out of his reverie by his secretary/ Bodyguard, Mercy. Her name was ironic because she wouldn’t show anyone any mercy if they tried to harm him. The only one who had ever gotten close enough to breathe at him was Clark. Anyway he was wool gathering, not that he’d admit it to anyone, even Mercy.

“Yes”

“Sir, the last of your belongings have arrived. I’ve had them placed in the penthouse. It is ready for you now sir.”

He immediately stood up and straightened his thousand dollar suit and proceeded to vacate his office as fast as possible. He had waited for several weeks fro all his things to come from the castle. Most of it he had left behind to be sold with the mansion. Not that he expected anyone to actually buy the monstrosity, especially one out in the middle of nowhere like Smallville. He was missing Clark. God sex with Clark had been like living inside a supernova. Hot, explosive, exhaustive, and left him craving for more.

He exited his suite of offices and headed to his private elevator to the roof. It was big enough to house several people but it was only ever used by Lex and Mercy who was never far behind. As the elevator ascended to the roof and opened the plexiglass bulletproof doors, Lex could almost visualize what his apartment looked like. It was on top of the New LexCorp tower. It was his personal home the one where he could live and work from at the same time. After all the only reason he would need to go out for would be conferences and who wouldn’t come to Him? After all he was the head of a multi-national, multi-trillion dollar corporation

The elevator reached the top floor and opened slowly revealing to Lex his new life. He walked in to the front reception room and appraised it. Nodding slowly to himself he decided that this was the best it was going to be. Clark would have loved this he thought before getting angry for even thinking of him. Turning promptly on heel he headed to the bedroom and flung himself down for another night of restless angry sleep. He fell asleep quickly but his dreams were the usual curse, he had to relive that fateful day all over again.

The ride to Smallville was pleasant and unhindered by choppy currents in the air that usually marked a helicopter ride of a substantial distance. He looked down and saw Clark waiting by the helipad for him. He could tell that there was going to be a lot of sex once he got off the helicopter. He could see it in the way Clark held himself. Whenever he was in the mood he practically oozed sex. It made Lex’s heart start to beat faster and certain parts of his anatomy grew substantially.

I swear to god sometimes I don’t know how I can keep up with the boy. He seems to be one continual walking erection. He laughed ironically. He knew very well that he was more than happy to give in to Clark’s demands for sex. All he wanted to do for the rest of his life was sit inside his huge castle in a large flannel covered King size bed and Fuck and be Fucked by Clark all day long.

Clark had started sophomore year two days ago and that was why he had taken the trip to Metropolis for the first time since his father’s funeral. Lex wanted to let Clark at least have a week to adjust to school before they went back to their nighttime and quite often-daytime activities.

Besides he had needed to be at the conference in person. It provided the perfect opportunity to claim it was in Clark’s best interest while it was also in Lex’s. He didn’t want Clark to become too focused on him. Lex cared for Clark more than he had ever cared for a lover and if he cared to admit it, he loved the boy. But Lex was sure that Clark would one day, maybe during High School, maybe when he went off to college, leave him for some semblance of normalcy. Lex didn’t know what he was going to do when that day came. He was sure it would. You’re about to have mind blowing, life altering sex, again, with Clark, he chastised himself. Stop thinking about things you cannot change.

While he had been caught up in staring at Clark through the plexiglass window, the chopper had descended.

“We’ve arrived Mr. Luthor” The pilot said into the intercom. Lex heard it over his ear phones.

Clark walked forward ducking the still whirring blades in order to open the door to let Lex out. When he unlatched the door Lex calmly jumped out onto the landing pad. By the time both Lex and Clark had negotiated the underside of the blades the chopper had started ascending. On its way to maintenance Lex assumed. He dismissed the idle thought and started to concentrate his full and formidable attention on the gorgeous ass that was qutie obviously being flaunted by Clark for the express purpose of getting him into bed as soon as humanly possible.

Lex followed Clark through the door on the roof down the stairs and into the bed room that Lex found himself in most often when he was with Clark. Clark led him towards the bed slowly taunting Lex with his slow removal of clothing. When Clark finally bumped into the bed he lay with his legs over the side as Lex pounced on him and started their lovemaking in earnest.

2 hours, 4 orgasms later:

“Lex?”

“hmm?” Lex rolled slightly on his side trying to open his eyes but the contented beckoning of sleep kept him from becoming fully awake.

“Do you love me?” Clark almost whispered his question and Lex was dumbfounded.

“Of course I love you Clark. You’re everything that is good in my world. You were what sustained me after my father’s death. Without you I don’t know what I am or even what I could become.”

“Good. Because there’s something I need to tell you”

That woke Lex up from whatever vestige of sleep might still have retained residence in his brain. He sat up and pulled the comforter around his naked lower half and looked down at Clark, who was studiously avoiding his eyes.

“What is it?”

“I love you”

“Clark, stop sidetracking, what is it you want to say?”

“I’manalien”

“Excuse me? Did you just say you’re an alien?”

“yes” Clark barely made a noise as he answered lex’s question.

Lex didn’t know quite how to take that. He knew that Clark was special and that Clark was keeping secrets from him but he didn’t honestly expect Clark to come right out and tell him that he was an alien. Lex thought maybe he was a meteor mutant but an alien? Never.

“Clark, how do you know you’re an alien? Did you come down in a spaceship? Do you have green blood? What?”

“Yes, No”

“Yes, No, what? Yes you came…down…in…a…space…ship.” Lex slowly said the words as if they wouldn’t quite come out easily. He couldn’t believe it much less say it.

“And we don’t know if I even have blood because nothing can break my skin”

Lex tried vainly to suppress a shudder but he was unable to and Clark caught him. Clark’s eyes went wide as he processed how the man who had changed his life in so many ways, the man who had professed moments ago to love him, the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, was repulsed by him. Clark’s eyes started to fill up with tears. He tried to say something to express what he was feeling but finally gave up after looking like a fish out of water. He dressed so quickly and ran out of the mansion that had Lex had hair Clark’s passing would have ripped it off.

“Clark! Clark, wait!” Lex ran after him but knew that there was no way he could possibly catch up to the upset teenager. He hadn’t meant to really. He was just cold and slightly shocked. It’s not every day you have sex with an alien who decides to tell you during your post coital bliss.

“Fuck! God Damnit!” Lex threw the blankets off his bed and looked around for something substantial to throw. Something that would break and leave a satisfying physical example of how he felt inside. He hated himself for reacting that way to Clark. He loved him, he really truly did. He’d meant everything he’d said in there and still Clark had left him.
“He left me”

“He…Left…me” the last word was whispered so softly Lex wasn’t even sure he’d uttered it. He was alone, naked, and he felt dirty. Clark had left him because Lex was so stupid and selfish he couldn’t control his own body’s reaction to what Clark had been telling him. His father had been right, emotions, especially love were devious and they only led to pain and weakness.

Well Alexander J. Luthor had forcibly excised that weakness and now Clark wouldn’t ever come back. Pain filled his heart at the thought of never seeing Clark again but he couldn’t stand being hurt. Clark knew what a stretch this was for him, how hard it was to actually be in a meaningful relationship and still Clark had run out on HIM.
Maybe, just maybe Clark would come back to…NO. Lex refused to even start thinking about it. He couldn’t even bear to think that he might get so hurt again. He needed something to prove to himself that he could be strong and he could be tough. Something that showed he had control over his emotions and that they didn’t control him. And then he knew.

No one else even knew it existed. He supposed that some might guess at it’s existence but no one knew where or how to find it. Only he did. His personal safe was hidden in a place no one would expect, his lab. He calmly walked into the shower now that he had a plan. He scrubbed himself until his skin was red and chaffed. The last vestige of his old self was gone and when he looked into the mirror the man that stared back at him was a younger Lionel.

He finally understood all of his father’s lessons. To have complete and total control over his emotions placed him above mere mortals. He couldn’t get hurt but he could inflict much pain on others. No one could touch him. He was in complete control and it felt…safe.

He dropped his towel on the floor beside the bed as he chose from his closet a pair of khaki slacks and a black turtleneck. He exited his room with no haste but he knew that he would never set foot in that room again. It had…memories and memories could be used to inflict pain.

After crossing the ground floor of the castle he descended into his lab. After entering the appropriate key code he entered the first chamber of his lab. It was for all his less than lethal or explosive experiments. He proceeded into the second and then third antechambers before coming to a small round window. It appeared to be a window anyway.

Using advanced LED technology it presented the image of whatever he wanted and right now it showed a brewing thunderstorm on the horizon. Amusing how sometimes things just fit your mood he thought. He opened the ungodly expensive vault and removed a VHS cassette.

“It’s all your fault Lionel. All of it. If you hadn’t tried to make me into the heir of yours I never would have lost Clark. Never. Even after you’re dead you still haunt me and cause me grief!”

Lex moved back into the first room where he kept a video player for various and sundry purposes. He had left the safe open because after tonight he had no intention of ever returning to Smallville. He had felt stupid talking to a tape as if it was his father but sometimes a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. Pulling up a short white lab stool to the table that contained the monitor and player Lex started the tape.

He watched as Lionel cried out for help, cried out for mercy, the pain and spite evident as well as anguish in his eyes.

“Yes, well you are quite dead and you can’t hurt me. I know because I killed you”

Lex was curious as to who he was trying to convince of Lionel’s demise because he already knew that the man was dead. Lex then watched as he lay down after ignoring Lionel and listened to him slowly die. It took almost an hour but Lex felt better after watching the tape. It soothed the emptiness in his soul. This was the last time he would watch the tape. He walked over to a cabinet on the wall and removed a pair of surgical scissors. He then ejected the tape and opened the end of it. Yanking out the magnetic film he brutally chopped it to pieces taking out all of his frustration and anger on it.

Unbeknownst to him someone else had seen the entire display and soft tears splattered to the ground as the slightly adjacent lab door was closed fully without even a sound.

Lex woke up drenched in sweat, just like he had every night since then. The dream never went past that moment but Lex knew very well just how it ended. He shuddered, wondering if he was condemned to never stop reliving his greatest mistake. Was god punishing him for not saving his father? Was god punishing him for what he had done to Clark? Was his entire existence going to be waking moments between purgatories?

Lex knew that moments after Clark had vacated the space by the door he had walked out. He had began to search for Enrique to give him instructions to pack up the his things and ship them to Metropolis. Enrique had found him first and asked the one question that had unalterably changed his existence.

“Did you talk to Mister Kent? He ran out of here very quickly and then turned around and came back in, I assume to look for you.”

Lex had known then and there that Clark had obviously seen the tape. With his powers Clark would have had no problem location Lex and obviously had stayed quiet for a reason. His fear had left him then because he knew that Clark wouldn’t ever tell anyone. He wouldn’t tell anyone because he loved Lex or had and because Lex knew his greatest secret. Lex no longer felt anger, or hate, in fact he didn’t feel much at all and whenever he contemplated that moment after waking from his dreams he knew that was when he had finally become Lionel.
Years later when Superman had come to Metropolis, Lex knew exactly who Superman really was and set out to destroy his former lover by slowly killing as many people in Metropolis as possible. Superman fought until the day of his death and when Lex Luthor died he was the only attendant at the funeral. At that funeral Superman shed tears for the first time since seeing the tape so many decades ago in Smallville.

***

May 10, 2002
8:35:23 pm

Lex stopped. He was sure that he had just placed only one foot forward facing away from Lionel. But at that same time he was just as sure that he’d lived a lifetime. He couldn’t explain it. Later when he thought about it he was sure he’d chalk it up to stress and the storm but right now he was positive that if he turned away from his father and let him die, he would end up just like he had seen.

Lex made a decision. He didn’t want to live that life. He didn’t want to lie to Clark and in reality he didn’t want the responsibility of Luthor Corp just yet. Soon, yes soon but not right now. And besides he at least grudgingly admired his father in the absence of loving him. He didn’t want to disappoint Clark and end up losing him over something as trivial as power.

Geez Clark must have had more of an influence on me than I thought. I never in my entire life thought of power as trivial. He was afraid though of what would happen if he did save Lionel. Was he going to experience that whole living in a second thing again? Well he didn’t have a choice. He turned around and braced himself for the inevitable. He stepped forward.

Nothing happened.

A sigh of relief swept over him as he accepted the fact that the first little “trip” had been an aberration. With all the confidence in him Lex took another step towards Lionel and his new fate.

The world tilted on its axis again and Lex knew that he was going on another trip because after all why wouldn’t he have one when he tried to save Lionel if he had had one when he didn’t?

The darkness swallowed him up…

***

August 25, 2002
11:59:55 pm

Lex didn’t think he could live anymore. He made the decision after watching a video cassette for 2 hours. He couldn’t stop himself. He had to watch the whole thing because no one else would ever see it and he needed to finally come to terms with his father’s ultimate treachery.

Lex’s steps were dogged as he slowly trudged to his car. He needed not to be forgotten or hushed up when he did this. There was only one way to do it. It was gruesome and horrible but he had to. One last act of revenge to show the world what a horrible man Lionel Luthor was. The press conference was to be held outside in Riley’s Field. It was somehow fitting that the field that had caused his beloved’s death would bear witness to his.

Lex got into the truck. Cherry Red with two white racing stripes down the front of the cab and hood. It had been Lex’s thank you to Clark when Clark had saved his life in the river. Now it was his chariot of death. It would take him to his fate and do so unflinchingly. Clark would never use it now and so Lex thought that it at least deserved to be used once before it would go to his father.

Driving down the dusty road to the field Lex wondered that he hadn’t cried. He thought that perhaps it was because everything good in him had been cruelly ripped away and shredded before being fed to the hounds of Hades himself. Lex had shed his last tear over three hours ago when he had finished the tape. It had been torture to wait this long but it took awhile to mobilize the press to come to Smallville. Only his cryptic hints that by tomorrow every news station in the world would be playing this had gotten them to come out to see him.

He arrived in the field to see hundreds of reporters and cameras milling around in front of a large makeshift stage. On the stage were the microphone and the chair he had requested. He didn’t think he would be able to make it through this without sitting down. He drove the truck right up to the edge of the stage and got out. He climbed up the three steps in the back and stood in front of the microphone. Unusually for the press no one was shouting for his attention and none of the little red lights on their cameras were on. Just as he had requested.

“Ladies and Gentleman thank you for coming so promptly. I appreciate all of your efforts in coming out at such a late hour. Thank you for following my instructions. You may all turn on your cameras now”

They all complied and suddenly as if he were facing specters of death Lex saw hundreds of tiny little red LED’s staring at him, waiting to devour his soul.

“Ladies and Gentleman, to all who may be listening to this, think carefully before you decide what to do next. I am going to tell you something that is not for the light hearted or squeamish. If there are any children watching this please remove them immediately. Thank you.”

Most people would have scoffed at him and wondered where he got off thinking he could boss them around from behind a TV. They would have except for the fact that more than ever Lex Luthor looked serious. He was pale and drawn, his skin sickly and white. They could all see that his once emotionless eyes were haunted with something gruesome and they were inclined to listen to him.

“As most of you know or have guessed I have had a relationship with Clark Kent for almost a year.”

No one was surprised to hear this it was common knowledge since the young man had disappeared almost three weeks ago.

“In this mornings mail I received a video cassette from my father. It contained a note taped to the front that said and I quote “ Emotions are a weakness. Clark caused emotions in you and was therefore a weakness. I did what any good father would do and eliminated him””

Gasps were audible from the press as the processed just what new depravities the Luthors had sunken too.

“As I previously mentioned it contained a VHS cassette. I placed it into a player in my mansion and started to watch.”

At this point everyone could tell that Lex was shaky and reliving something horrible. He trembled violently and sat down on the chair. He lowered the microphone and started to talk softly.

“The video cassette contained two hours of footage. In this footage was the rape, torture, and murder of my beloved”

Everyone was stunned speechless. Most started to think rapidly about whether this was some new ploy by Luthor or what type of game he was playing this time. But when they looked back at his face no one doubted for a moment that he was telling the truth and that most importantly he had loved Clark Kent.

What Lex didn’t tell the reporters was that all of it was performed at the hands of his father. He neglected to mention that Lionel had used kryptonite to inflict pain on Clark before brutally torturing and later raping him. Lex had been forced to endure every second feeling as if it was himself rather than Clark who was being violated. Lex made no mention of what his plans were. He made no mention of the fact that he had sent the only copy to Martha and Jonathon because they deserved to know what had happened to their son. Most especially Lex made no mention of the gleeful look in his fathers eyes as he had raped Clark. Nor the excruciating pain in Clark’s as he died. Lex had died then and now it was just a formality.

Lex had almost destroyed the tape but had left the decision up to them as to what they would do about it. Lex stood up from his chair seemingly having found new strength from his admission.

“Clark Kent was the only good thing that ever happened to me and I rue the day I ever came into his life because he might have lived if it hadn’t been for me.”

Lex again neglected to tell them that none of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for Lionel trying to exploit his son. Lionel had installed a hidden bug that had picked up Clark telling Lex his greatest secret, who he really was and why he couldn’t be near Kryptonite.

Clark had died hating Lex, believing that Lex had betrayed him to Lionel in exchange for Luthor Corp. Lex hoped that Clark had seen through the lie but he would never know because Clark, beautiful raven haired, farm boy of many exceptional talents was dead. Murdered because he had loved Lex Luthor. And Lex Luthor had returned his love.

Lex had already what if’ed everything and had ultimately come to one conclusion; if it hadn’t been for Lex, Clark would still be alive and well. And that was why he was here.

“I beg anyone out there listening to me tonight to heed my words. Nothing good has ever come of being around a Luthor.”

Lex no longer seemed to be talking to them but to someone or something else.

“Clark” his voice cracked and more tears flowed, “I’m sorry that you ever met me and I’m sorry for not being able to stop him, but most of all I’m sorry that you ever made me feel alive, feel hope, joy, and love because now I have no choice but to leave this life behind and maybe by giving my life in penance this will all be set right and you’ll live again, without me.”

Every eye was anchored to Lex as he made his next move. Slowly, inexorably, he reached down into his pocket and removed a colt 9 mm pistol. The audible intake of breath was staggering as Lex fixed his eyes on a point in the distant sky and pulled the trigger.

***

May 10, 2002
8:37:05 pm

Lex didn’t know what to do. In all his foreseeable futures he ended up hurting Clark. Quite obvious to him was the fact that no matter what course of action he took from here on out, Clark would be hurt. Lex loved Clark. More than he had ever loved anything in his life. He could not figure out what to do to save Clark. There had to be someway to do it.

He approached his quandary logically. What was common to all of the futures that could be removed and save Clark in this one? The answer when he came up with it was surprising but not wholly unexpected. It was him. Lex Luthor was the common denominator. His decision was rapid and logical. The only way to remove himself was to die. Lionel would die by himself and Luthor Corp would be destroyed saving others. Lex knew what he had to do.

He walked away from Lionel hearing a gasped “Help Me” and ignoring it. Lex carefully sidestepped debris and broken glass. The edge of his former office loomed before him, the wall totally missing. He could see the tornadoes had disappeared and in their wake they had strewn massive amounts of debris.

“This is for you Clark, because I love you” he whispered to the wind as he took flight. Flying for nano-seconds in the air before he plummeted the three stories to the ground below.

“NOOOOOOOOOO, LEXXXX!!!!!!!” Clark ran as fast as he could but he couldn’t save his best friend and love interest from falling to the ground with such force that his neck snapped on impact.

Clark picked up the body of his fallen friend and sobbed uncontrollably as he held the broken body in his arms. Then and there he made a promise to save as many people as he possibly could from death’s indiscriminate touch. For almost two centuries, long after all he had loved had died Clark still tried to save people even though he could never save the one person he had loved beyond belief, beyond explanation, the one he had failed. Two months following the demise of Superman no one remembered how he had died or why all of a sudden the death rate in Metropolis had doubled. They forgot that he had been there and only a select few even recalled where he was buried.
 

END