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Okay, so you might not want to read this if you have any lingering illusion that I'm anything other than a total mushball, fond of the worst romantic cliches. When I wrote Five Things That Never Happened to Lex Luthor, as the middle story I had Lex rather than Scarecrow Guy put into the non-aging coma and waking up in 2001. He meets Clark and then Greg -- Bugboy from Metamorphosis -- threatens the two of them and gets squashed. I actually had a lot more of this thought out, but there was no way I could write it, especially since I really wanted to skip quickly to hot young Lex in college while Clark is already out in the world making a new name for himself. But I did sketch out my sappy thoughts, and I also have a chunk of the young Lex left over from when I picked an end point.
In my defense --
Oh, there's no point.
NB: In this version, Lex got the same power over electricity that Scarecrow Guy did in the pilot. In the posted version, he still has it, because he's breaking all the light bulbs and *something* happens in the field with Greg, but he doesn't figure it out quite as quickly as in this older version.
****
After that, Clark came over almost every day after school. He never said anything directly to Lex, but Lex's father didn't come sailing in demanding to see his son do a Benajmin Franklin-and-kite trick, so Lex figured that Mrs. Kent had warned Clark not to talk. Lex didn't even think Clark had told his mother exactly what Lex's newest secret was, because she looked at him with just the same concern she'd always shown.
Lex was trying very hard to figure out what he could do, other than break light bulbs and, well, do what happened to Greg. He maneuvered his tutor into doing a unit on electricity and ordered textbooks on the household account.
After about two hundred light bulbs, he figured out how to light one instead of breaking it. Breaking was a lot easier, especially when he was upset. He learned the words like a secret code: volts, ohms, amps, watts. There were formulas for defining each by its relation to the others, transforming into one another like a magic trick. The equations flowed in his head like water, like the electricity itself. When he concentrated very hard, he could feel it, like a sound with weight or a light he could taste.
Lex could have fried Dr. Malhotra's equipment on purpose, but that would have been dangerous and, besides, after a long conversation with Mrs. Kent, his father had explained that the shocks would help them figure out how to help other people who were hurt. Lex could be strong for a good cause like that.
He shared it all with Clark, who worried but listened. It wasn't anything like being able to tell his mother, but at least Clark seemed to care. Clark would play video games with him or just hang out and do homework. Sometimes Lex worried that Clark was just feeling sorry for him, but Clark never seemed bored. He told Lex about his friends at school and the crazy things they did.
Every once in a while, when Lex was feeling particularly scared, Clark would tell him about running through three counties in thirty seconds or putting fenceposts in the ground with his bare hands, because being different didn't mean being bad. Lex wanted to believe that, even though all the meteor freaks besides Clark seemed to go nuts. Lex didn't want to end up like Greg.
One day, Clark came to the mansion with another boy, one Lex's age – or, anyway, the age Lex looked and felt. Lex looked at the boy, who was hanging on to Clark's arm like a little brother, and felt sick.
[Ryan]
[Lex has a new birthday, calculated as if the time he'd been in a coma had never happened – Martha uses his dad's credit card to buy him all the Warrior Angels he's missed]
Lex looked at the thin package in front of him. He hoped it wasn't stock certificates, but he had no idea what could be in such a small present that would be appropriate for a Luthor.
"Go on," Mrs. Kent urged. Carefully, he ran his finger under the tape holding the wrapping paper together. Clark was shifting on his feet, impatient.
"Oh my God," he said, looking at the cover that emerged. "It's the first ever Warrior Angel!"
Mrs. Kent smiled. "And I bet that if you went upstairs into the library, you'd find a cabinet with the rest of the series."
Lex's mouth dropped open. Clark was smiling at him with so much joy that he might himself have been the recipient.
He put the comic book down and launched himself across the room, grabbing Mrs. Kent by the waist and hugging her. "Thank you!"
"The gift is from your father," she chided, but not as if she meant it. Looking up at her, Lex could tell that, though his father had paid for the comics, she and Clark had found and bought them.
"Thank you anyway," he said, and pressed his cheek against her chest as her arms came up to hug him back. One hand patted the back of his head, briefly, and then retreated, even though Lex didn't mind her touching him.
There were years, years of Warrior Angels he hadn't read, waiting for him upstairs. He looked at the cake, then at the door, then back at the cake.
Clark read his expression. "Don't worry, Lex," he said, laughing. "They'll all be there after we have cake."
"With Clark around, the cake won't last long," Mrs. Kent added, and Clark made a face at her.
He smiled at them, thoroughly happy. At his last birthday party, there'd been thirty kids, only one of them a worthwhile friend. This was much better.
Mrs. Kent lit the candles. Lex came up to the chocolate-frosted cake studded with crumbled peanut butter cups and took a deep breath.
Wishes and other superstitions were for the weak, he knew, but his mother had always encouraged him to wish anyway. If he did it now, it would be like she were still here.
I wish – I wish that Clark and Mrs. Kent will stay, he thought and blew hard, harder than he could have done before the asthma went away. The candles flickered and went out, except for one last one. He put his hands on the table and huffed, nothing left in his lungs. Just as he thought he'd have to give up, the flame disappeared and a thin curl of smoke trailed up. Lex sucked in a huge breath, joyous.
This is the best birthday ever, he thought and immediately felt guilty, because it couldn't be the best without his mother. This is as good a birthday as I could have, he thought, which was better.
Mrs. Kent cut the cake, an enormous slice for Clark, a slice nearly as big for Lex even though he'd never finish it, and a small slice for herself. She' d brought out milk, and they sat around the big table and enjoyed themselves.
"Hey, I almost forgot," Clark said after he cut himself a second piece. "I have something for you, too."
"Really?" Lex realized that he was being impolite. "I mean, thank you! But you didn't need –"
"It's not about needing," he chided gently. "It's about wanting."
Lex swallowed and nodded, trying to keep himself from fidgeting in excitement.
Clark went over to his backpack, abandoned in the corner of the room, and pulled out a lumpy package that looked to be as much tape as wrapping paper, and as much wrapping paper as present.
"Thank you," he said again as Clark handed it over.
"I know it's not a full set of Warrior Angel –"
"Clark," he interrupted. "It's not about *spending*, either."
Mrs. Kent giggled and put her hand to her mouth. "I think he's got you, Clark."
Clark smiled and blushed, ducking his head. "You're welcome, Lex."
Lex tore at the paper, his fingers catching on odd bits of tape, revealing an orange cotton T-shirt. He shook it out, revealing a logo that read "Kent Farms" on the top, with an odd-looking cow in the middle and "Organic Produce" at the bottom. He stared at it.
"I got Pete to draw the cow," Clark said hurriedly. "The T-shirt store at the mall did their best, but I know it looks silly." He held a hand out as if to take it back.
"No!" Lex said, grabbing the shirt close to his body. "It's great. It's just – great." Quickly, before Clark could change his mind, he slipped the shirt on over his head, letting it fall over his button-down. It was pretty big; the hem was somewhere around his thighs as he stood up.
Clark winced. "Um, maybe you'll grow into it."
Lex opened his mouth to agree, then stopped, because they didn't know if he'd ever grow. The thought of never fitting into Clark's gift was as bad as never being able to drive, or do anything for himself.
Mrs. Kent was watching his face closely. He reminded himself that he had to keep the secret. He didn't want Mrs. Kent and Clark to look at him and see a freak, not any more than they already did.
"That reminds me," Mrs. Kent said thoughtfully. "Give me a moment," she said and rose to leave the room.
After she left, Clark looked down at his cake. Lex took off the shirt and folded it neatly, laying it next to the Warrior Angel on the dining room table.
"I really like it," Lex reassured him. "I like that you had it made for me."
"I guess you're kind of used to that, hunh?" Clark met his eyes and grinned.
"I don't think I've ever had something custom tailored in orange," he said, trying to sound serious and thoughtful, but smiling anyhow.
Clark chuckled and dug into his cake. Lex picked at the remainder of his slice; there was no way he was going to eat his dinner tonight.
Mrs. Kent returned, holding something small and metallic in her hand. "Take off your shoes and come stand here by the door, Lex," she instructed. Clark grinned conspiratorially at Lex, much to Lex's confusion.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he submitted, standing straight as she pushed him back against the doorframe.
"When Clark was a little boy, we'd measure his height every six months. We made marks on the kitchen door, a little bit higher each time."
"Yeah, until they got a *lot* higher," Clark chimed in.
Lex gulped and closed his eyes as Mrs. Kent bent to put the end of the measuring tape on the floor.
"How tall were you when you were last measured, Lex?" she asked, rising.
"Fifty inches," he said and held his breath.
"Well, congratulations," she said as she examined the tape by his head. "Fifty-one and a half."
He turned his head, needing to see for himself. There it was, in black and yellow. He was taller. He was growing. He was going to grow up.
"Thank you," he said and hugged her again, even though it was awkward with the tape in the way.
"You did the growing, Lex," she said gently, patting his back. He could feel her exchanging glances with Clark above his head.
"Thank you for everything," he said. "I'm really glad you're here." Then, to break the silence that was too crowded with unsaid things, he added, "May I go upstairs now?"
Mrs. Kent laughed and let him go. "Should we let the prisoner free, Clark?"
"Maybe just for a while," Clark teased back. Lex looked at him gratefully, then zipped out of the room.
He wore the T-shirt that night instead of his pajamas.
****
[tests his powers; clocks Clark's land speed, how long he can stay underwater, how much he can lift]
[Desiree – Lex is jealous; she's his tutor and attracts both Clark and Lionel; tries to get Clark to kill Lionel and Lionel to kill Lex]
Clark's eyes followed Desiree as she walked up the stairs. Halfway up, she turned back and flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking at Clark the entire time. Lex wished she'd fall, but no luck.
"She's really ... something," Clark said, his eyes still on the top of the stairs even after she'd disappeared.
"Really *what*?" Lex couldn't believe it. First Dad, now Clark. "What's so special about her?"
Clark looked down at Lex. His face was amused, tolerant, a look Lex never wanted to see turned on him.
[Ryan returns; dies]
[Lucas shows up, redecorates]
[Lex is jealous again because he's older and more glamorous than Clark; Lex is attracted to Lucas's sophistication, too]
[Lucas lures Lex to caves, traps him behind rockfall, where Lionel has a research operation, though not particularly intensive because he's not focused on Clark]
[Lex shocks Lucas but can't get out]
[Clark rescues them – Clark's having Ryan flashbacks – promises "I'll always save you"]
[At some point Lex really has to hotwire a car just by putting his hand on the steering column.]
[La la la Lex heads to college in Metropolis as soon as he can swing it, which is 15, when he's still a skinny bald kid, not very popular despite his immense inheritance. He's soon the star of the physics lab – this Lex went into physics instead of biochem for obvious reasons. The summer after his freshman year, he gains two inches and twenty pounds, most of it muscle and all of it in the right places, and is suddenly much more like the sexy guy we know and lust after. After discovering that he's both dateable and fuckable, Lex sets his sights on Clark, even though – or because – things have been really awkward between them of late.]
[Successful seduction! Go Lex! They're blissfully happy, and the next morning Lex goes into the lab to check on something and finds Men in Black. They know about his talent, and show him surveillance photographs of Martha and Clark, threatening to hurt them if he doesn't go along. Lex knows that if they try to hurt Clark, they'll find a whole 'nother line of investigation, so he agrees to cooperate and go to some secret government facility. They tell him just to pack up, but he says he has to talk to Clark; if he just disappears, Clark will hunt to the ends of the earth. Do they really want Metropolis's rising star reporter on some sort of crusade to find him? MiB threaten some more; Lex says he knows. Then he goes and breaks up with Clark in the nastiest way he knows how, which is plenty nasty. He's a Luthor, after all. Lex tells Clark he's getting out of Metropolis, getting out of his whole past life, leaving all the freaks of SV behind. Clark is devastated but convinced. Lex leaves for what turns out to be a facility in Virginia.]
[So, Lex's talent is good for letting him understand physics, but it's really not much more than a party trick, and certainly no better than a sniper. (He conceals his maximum capabilities, of course, but in fact he's no Magneto, and he can't even really aim his lightning all that well.) Nor is it transmissible. Though they have some inkling about the meteor rocks, they don't actually *have* many meteor rocks – that's Lionel's bag -- and their experiments with what they do have prove unsurprisingly unpleasant. Eventually they give up and just have him do research, which he's good at, and he even gets to keep the patents. Lex develops a small high-tech company with a bunch of military contacts and he doesn't go back to Kansas for years.]
[Eventually, Lionel – who Lex suspects of having ratted him out to the military in the first place – tries to glom on to Lex's company, do some joint projects that would quickly lead to the absorption of Lexcorp into Luthorcorp. Though Lex has no intention of letting this happen, he does want to see his father again – Lionel is getting old, and maybe there's some chance of reconciliation now that they've been out of each other's orbits for a few years – so he agrees to a meeting. Lionel brings Martha, who is still working for him. At the meeting, Lionel drops his bombs, revealing jovially to Martha that Lex only left because the government threatened her and her son. And suggesting that Martha tell Lex about Clark's engagement. Lex sees Lionel hasn't lost his talent for pulling the wings off flies. Martha looks at Lex, sees that it's true. She says she's sorry; Lex walks out.]
[Clark flies in. Revelation! Reconciliation! Twu wuv! (Have Lois dump Clark for somebody really good, because she deserves better than second best.)]
[The end.]
In my defense --
Oh, there's no point.
NB: In this version, Lex got the same power over electricity that Scarecrow Guy did in the pilot. In the posted version, he still has it, because he's breaking all the light bulbs and *something* happens in the field with Greg, but he doesn't figure it out quite as quickly as in this older version.
****
After that, Clark came over almost every day after school. He never said anything directly to Lex, but Lex's father didn't come sailing in demanding to see his son do a Benajmin Franklin-and-kite trick, so Lex figured that Mrs. Kent had warned Clark not to talk. Lex didn't even think Clark had told his mother exactly what Lex's newest secret was, because she looked at him with just the same concern she'd always shown.
Lex was trying very hard to figure out what he could do, other than break light bulbs and, well, do what happened to Greg. He maneuvered his tutor into doing a unit on electricity and ordered textbooks on the household account.
After about two hundred light bulbs, he figured out how to light one instead of breaking it. Breaking was a lot easier, especially when he was upset. He learned the words like a secret code: volts, ohms, amps, watts. There were formulas for defining each by its relation to the others, transforming into one another like a magic trick. The equations flowed in his head like water, like the electricity itself. When he concentrated very hard, he could feel it, like a sound with weight or a light he could taste.
Lex could have fried Dr. Malhotra's equipment on purpose, but that would have been dangerous and, besides, after a long conversation with Mrs. Kent, his father had explained that the shocks would help them figure out how to help other people who were hurt. Lex could be strong for a good cause like that.
He shared it all with Clark, who worried but listened. It wasn't anything like being able to tell his mother, but at least Clark seemed to care. Clark would play video games with him or just hang out and do homework. Sometimes Lex worried that Clark was just feeling sorry for him, but Clark never seemed bored. He told Lex about his friends at school and the crazy things they did.
Every once in a while, when Lex was feeling particularly scared, Clark would tell him about running through three counties in thirty seconds or putting fenceposts in the ground with his bare hands, because being different didn't mean being bad. Lex wanted to believe that, even though all the meteor freaks besides Clark seemed to go nuts. Lex didn't want to end up like Greg.
One day, Clark came to the mansion with another boy, one Lex's age – or, anyway, the age Lex looked and felt. Lex looked at the boy, who was hanging on to Clark's arm like a little brother, and felt sick.
[Ryan]
[Lex has a new birthday, calculated as if the time he'd been in a coma had never happened – Martha uses his dad's credit card to buy him all the Warrior Angels he's missed]
Lex looked at the thin package in front of him. He hoped it wasn't stock certificates, but he had no idea what could be in such a small present that would be appropriate for a Luthor.
"Go on," Mrs. Kent urged. Carefully, he ran his finger under the tape holding the wrapping paper together. Clark was shifting on his feet, impatient.
"Oh my God," he said, looking at the cover that emerged. "It's the first ever Warrior Angel!"
Mrs. Kent smiled. "And I bet that if you went upstairs into the library, you'd find a cabinet with the rest of the series."
Lex's mouth dropped open. Clark was smiling at him with so much joy that he might himself have been the recipient.
He put the comic book down and launched himself across the room, grabbing Mrs. Kent by the waist and hugging her. "Thank you!"
"The gift is from your father," she chided, but not as if she meant it. Looking up at her, Lex could tell that, though his father had paid for the comics, she and Clark had found and bought them.
"Thank you anyway," he said, and pressed his cheek against her chest as her arms came up to hug him back. One hand patted the back of his head, briefly, and then retreated, even though Lex didn't mind her touching him.
There were years, years of Warrior Angels he hadn't read, waiting for him upstairs. He looked at the cake, then at the door, then back at the cake.
Clark read his expression. "Don't worry, Lex," he said, laughing. "They'll all be there after we have cake."
"With Clark around, the cake won't last long," Mrs. Kent added, and Clark made a face at her.
He smiled at them, thoroughly happy. At his last birthday party, there'd been thirty kids, only one of them a worthwhile friend. This was much better.
Mrs. Kent lit the candles. Lex came up to the chocolate-frosted cake studded with crumbled peanut butter cups and took a deep breath.
Wishes and other superstitions were for the weak, he knew, but his mother had always encouraged him to wish anyway. If he did it now, it would be like she were still here.
I wish – I wish that Clark and Mrs. Kent will stay, he thought and blew hard, harder than he could have done before the asthma went away. The candles flickered and went out, except for one last one. He put his hands on the table and huffed, nothing left in his lungs. Just as he thought he'd have to give up, the flame disappeared and a thin curl of smoke trailed up. Lex sucked in a huge breath, joyous.
This is the best birthday ever, he thought and immediately felt guilty, because it couldn't be the best without his mother. This is as good a birthday as I could have, he thought, which was better.
Mrs. Kent cut the cake, an enormous slice for Clark, a slice nearly as big for Lex even though he'd never finish it, and a small slice for herself. She' d brought out milk, and they sat around the big table and enjoyed themselves.
"Hey, I almost forgot," Clark said after he cut himself a second piece. "I have something for you, too."
"Really?" Lex realized that he was being impolite. "I mean, thank you! But you didn't need –"
"It's not about needing," he chided gently. "It's about wanting."
Lex swallowed and nodded, trying to keep himself from fidgeting in excitement.
Clark went over to his backpack, abandoned in the corner of the room, and pulled out a lumpy package that looked to be as much tape as wrapping paper, and as much wrapping paper as present.
"Thank you," he said again as Clark handed it over.
"I know it's not a full set of Warrior Angel –"
"Clark," he interrupted. "It's not about *spending*, either."
Mrs. Kent giggled and put her hand to her mouth. "I think he's got you, Clark."
Clark smiled and blushed, ducking his head. "You're welcome, Lex."
Lex tore at the paper, his fingers catching on odd bits of tape, revealing an orange cotton T-shirt. He shook it out, revealing a logo that read "Kent Farms" on the top, with an odd-looking cow in the middle and "Organic Produce" at the bottom. He stared at it.
"I got Pete to draw the cow," Clark said hurriedly. "The T-shirt store at the mall did their best, but I know it looks silly." He held a hand out as if to take it back.
"No!" Lex said, grabbing the shirt close to his body. "It's great. It's just – great." Quickly, before Clark could change his mind, he slipped the shirt on over his head, letting it fall over his button-down. It was pretty big; the hem was somewhere around his thighs as he stood up.
Clark winced. "Um, maybe you'll grow into it."
Lex opened his mouth to agree, then stopped, because they didn't know if he'd ever grow. The thought of never fitting into Clark's gift was as bad as never being able to drive, or do anything for himself.
Mrs. Kent was watching his face closely. He reminded himself that he had to keep the secret. He didn't want Mrs. Kent and Clark to look at him and see a freak, not any more than they already did.
"That reminds me," Mrs. Kent said thoughtfully. "Give me a moment," she said and rose to leave the room.
After she left, Clark looked down at his cake. Lex took off the shirt and folded it neatly, laying it next to the Warrior Angel on the dining room table.
"I really like it," Lex reassured him. "I like that you had it made for me."
"I guess you're kind of used to that, hunh?" Clark met his eyes and grinned.
"I don't think I've ever had something custom tailored in orange," he said, trying to sound serious and thoughtful, but smiling anyhow.
Clark chuckled and dug into his cake. Lex picked at the remainder of his slice; there was no way he was going to eat his dinner tonight.
Mrs. Kent returned, holding something small and metallic in her hand. "Take off your shoes and come stand here by the door, Lex," she instructed. Clark grinned conspiratorially at Lex, much to Lex's confusion.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he submitted, standing straight as she pushed him back against the doorframe.
"When Clark was a little boy, we'd measure his height every six months. We made marks on the kitchen door, a little bit higher each time."
"Yeah, until they got a *lot* higher," Clark chimed in.
Lex gulped and closed his eyes as Mrs. Kent bent to put the end of the measuring tape on the floor.
"How tall were you when you were last measured, Lex?" she asked, rising.
"Fifty inches," he said and held his breath.
"Well, congratulations," she said as she examined the tape by his head. "Fifty-one and a half."
He turned his head, needing to see for himself. There it was, in black and yellow. He was taller. He was growing. He was going to grow up.
"Thank you," he said and hugged her again, even though it was awkward with the tape in the way.
"You did the growing, Lex," she said gently, patting his back. He could feel her exchanging glances with Clark above his head.
"Thank you for everything," he said. "I'm really glad you're here." Then, to break the silence that was too crowded with unsaid things, he added, "May I go upstairs now?"
Mrs. Kent laughed and let him go. "Should we let the prisoner free, Clark?"
"Maybe just for a while," Clark teased back. Lex looked at him gratefully, then zipped out of the room.
He wore the T-shirt that night instead of his pajamas.
****
[tests his powers; clocks Clark's land speed, how long he can stay underwater, how much he can lift]
[Desiree – Lex is jealous; she's his tutor and attracts both Clark and Lionel; tries to get Clark to kill Lionel and Lionel to kill Lex]
Clark's eyes followed Desiree as she walked up the stairs. Halfway up, she turned back and flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking at Clark the entire time. Lex wished she'd fall, but no luck.
"She's really ... something," Clark said, his eyes still on the top of the stairs even after she'd disappeared.
"Really *what*?" Lex couldn't believe it. First Dad, now Clark. "What's so special about her?"
Clark looked down at Lex. His face was amused, tolerant, a look Lex never wanted to see turned on him.
[Ryan returns; dies]
[Lucas shows up, redecorates]
[Lex is jealous again because he's older and more glamorous than Clark; Lex is attracted to Lucas's sophistication, too]
[Lucas lures Lex to caves, traps him behind rockfall, where Lionel has a research operation, though not particularly intensive because he's not focused on Clark]
[Lex shocks Lucas but can't get out]
[Clark rescues them – Clark's having Ryan flashbacks – promises "I'll always save you"]
[At some point Lex really has to hotwire a car just by putting his hand on the steering column.]
[La la la Lex heads to college in Metropolis as soon as he can swing it, which is 15, when he's still a skinny bald kid, not very popular despite his immense inheritance. He's soon the star of the physics lab – this Lex went into physics instead of biochem for obvious reasons. The summer after his freshman year, he gains two inches and twenty pounds, most of it muscle and all of it in the right places, and is suddenly much more like the sexy guy we know and lust after. After discovering that he's both dateable and fuckable, Lex sets his sights on Clark, even though – or because – things have been really awkward between them of late.]
[Successful seduction! Go Lex! They're blissfully happy, and the next morning Lex goes into the lab to check on something and finds Men in Black. They know about his talent, and show him surveillance photographs of Martha and Clark, threatening to hurt them if he doesn't go along. Lex knows that if they try to hurt Clark, they'll find a whole 'nother line of investigation, so he agrees to cooperate and go to some secret government facility. They tell him just to pack up, but he says he has to talk to Clark; if he just disappears, Clark will hunt to the ends of the earth. Do they really want Metropolis's rising star reporter on some sort of crusade to find him? MiB threaten some more; Lex says he knows. Then he goes and breaks up with Clark in the nastiest way he knows how, which is plenty nasty. He's a Luthor, after all. Lex tells Clark he's getting out of Metropolis, getting out of his whole past life, leaving all the freaks of SV behind. Clark is devastated but convinced. Lex leaves for what turns out to be a facility in Virginia.]
[So, Lex's talent is good for letting him understand physics, but it's really not much more than a party trick, and certainly no better than a sniper. (He conceals his maximum capabilities, of course, but in fact he's no Magneto, and he can't even really aim his lightning all that well.) Nor is it transmissible. Though they have some inkling about the meteor rocks, they don't actually *have* many meteor rocks – that's Lionel's bag -- and their experiments with what they do have prove unsurprisingly unpleasant. Eventually they give up and just have him do research, which he's good at, and he even gets to keep the patents. Lex develops a small high-tech company with a bunch of military contacts and he doesn't go back to Kansas for years.]
[Eventually, Lionel – who Lex suspects of having ratted him out to the military in the first place – tries to glom on to Lex's company, do some joint projects that would quickly lead to the absorption of Lexcorp into Luthorcorp. Though Lex has no intention of letting this happen, he does want to see his father again – Lionel is getting old, and maybe there's some chance of reconciliation now that they've been out of each other's orbits for a few years – so he agrees to a meeting. Lionel brings Martha, who is still working for him. At the meeting, Lionel drops his bombs, revealing jovially to Martha that Lex only left because the government threatened her and her son. And suggesting that Martha tell Lex about Clark's engagement. Lex sees Lionel hasn't lost his talent for pulling the wings off flies. Martha looks at Lex, sees that it's true. She says she's sorry; Lex walks out.]
[Clark flies in. Revelation! Reconciliation! Twu wuv! (Have Lois dump Clark for somebody really good, because she deserves better than second best.)]
[The end.]
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(All these WIPs that I want finished...meh.)