Sabotage

Prologue
*********

'It's like a ship in a bottle.'

'What?'

'The forest.  It's a bottled forest.'

'Yes.  I suppose.  Or a terrarium on a grand scale.  I do mean to expand it, gradually.  That way, I think.'  Lex pointed off to his left.

'I didn't mean that remark as criticism,' said Clark, after a pause.

'Mmm?  No, of course not. I didn't think it was. Why?'

'You've been quiet since you got back.'

'Have I?  I've been thinking.'

'Did you see my mother, like you promised?' asked Clark, after another pause.

'Yes.  Yes.  She was very… kind.  I think she does like me, a little.  She kept looking at me as if she wonders what you see in me, though.'

'That's par for the course, Lex.  All mothers wonder that.'

'You're going back to Earth on the next shuttle, right?'

'Yeah, it's a nuisance.  But I have to make a living.  I'll be back, for the big opening day..'

'You could fly here, as Superman, any time you like,' Lex suggested.  His tone of voice was casual.  Too casual.

'I could,' said Clark.  'And I'd love to.  But even as Superman, I'd have to enter through the front port like everyone else. It would lead to speculation if I kept showing up every night.'

'Damn!' said Lex.

'I know,' said Clark.

'Do you?'

'Yes.  I do.'  Clark tugged at Lex's hand, drew him closer.  'My feelings are as strong as yours,' he said.  

'You hide them better,' said Lex.

'I show them differently,' Clark argued.

'You always have an answer.'

'So do you.'

Lex smiled.  'Let's do it,' he said.

'Here?'  Clark gave him a mock-horrified look, as if Lex had suggested they do it on the roof of the Daily Planet.

'I invited you here for a picnic,' Lex pointed out.  'With me as the main course.'  

Clark spread the blanket out on the mossy bank under an oak tree.  Lex started to strip.  'Hey.  Hey.  Slow down,' said Clark.  He took Lex's hands in his own, and kissed each finger tip in turn.

'Romantic foolishness,' said Lex, but if his voice was harsh, it shook too much for Clark to believe in the words.

Clark drew one of Lex's fingers into his mouth, and sucked on it, gently.  Lex made a small, soft sound, and sank to his knees at Clark's feet.  'Don't,' he said.

'I'm sorry,' said Clark.  He slid down to kneel before Lex, and they were breast to breast.  

'No!' said Lex.  'Don't stop.  Just, don't… don't give me this, and then take it away again.  My soul wouldn't survive it.'

Clark looked up from his contemplation of Lex's hands.  His lover's face was pale, and his eyes dark, like burnt holes in a white blanket.  Clark wanted to protest that it was hardly fair to lay the salvation of Lex's soul on him alone.  But then, he was Superman after all.  If he could leap a tall building in a single bound, if he were more powerful than a locomotive, couldn't he help a single human soul to survive?

Lionel Luthor had been given the care and feeding of Lex's soul at its birth, and had done his best to turn Lex into a fair copy of himself -- egotistical, avaricious, and as Clark had noted recently, ruthless.  Surely Clark could do better than this?

Lex desired tenderness, but refused to acknowledge that need.  He tried to turn each one of their erotic encounters into a wrestling match.  But if Clark represented himself as being the one to need gentle lovemaking, Lex would surrender.  As he did now.  

Clark undressed Lex, slowly, kissing each centimetre of revealed flesh as if it were a substance more precious than alabaster or platinum.   He waited until Lex's eyes closed, before quickly undressing himself, and entering Lex's body with his hard organ.  Lex cried out, but Clark knew it was in ecstasy, not pain.  He felt Lex's legs circling his waist, and began to rock them gently, gently on the soft moss.  Clark watched and listened and waited until his lover had reached orgasm several times before he allowed himself to climax.

'Oh, you are a bastard,' said Lex, after a time.

'Why? What have I done now?'

'I want to make you lose control, but you never do.  You never did even then.  When you were young, just a horny kid, and I should have been able to drive you insane.  Even then.'

'If I'd lost control then, we wouldn't be here now.  You'd be dead.'

'And you?' Lex whispered.

'I'd be insane,' said Clark.  'But there would be no one to shoot me down like a mad dog…. Lex?  You have very strange ideas about what is suitable post-coital conversation.'

'Listen who's talking.'  Lex ran one of his fingers down Clark's chest, to his groin, and touched the tip of Clark's organ.  It rose instantly, hard and eager.  'How would I have died?' he whispered. 'Torn apart like Actaeon, or burnt to a crisp, like Semele?'

'I don't know,' said Clark.  'And I don't want to know.'





Chapter One: Smallville Days
***********************

'Mornin', Lois.'  

Clark dropped into the chair at his desk across from Lois Lane's.  

The Daily Planet's star reporter looked up at him blankly.  'Hello?' she said, quizzically.  'Can I help you?  You seem to be lost.  That desk is reserved for my partner, Clark Kent.'

'Very funny, Lois.'  Clark took his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and laid it carefully on his desk.

'Been talking to your friend, the billionaire tycoon and real estate developer Lex Luthor?'

'No.  Lex is still on the Moon, and cell phones don't reach that far.  Yet.  I'm sure Lex is on it already, and we should expect great developments in cell phone technology soon.  But I did send him a text message, and he replied.  And yes, I had a very nice vacation, thank you for asking.  And a safe flight back.'

Lois looked up at him properly for the first time.  She smiled.  'You do look rested,' she said.  'I'm sorry I was so snippy, but you just disappeared.  I came in to work the day after the Great Moon Symposium Thing, and Perry told me you'd taken a vacation.  On the Moon, no less.'

'Lex and I had some things to work out.  I sent you a text message.'

'Yeah.  I got it.  The next day.  And I'm also sorry for sounding so selfish.  It's just….'

'We're partners,' Clark finished.   'I'd feel the same way if you just took off.  It wasn't very considerate of me.  But….'

'But you and Lex had things to work out,' said Lois.  'I understand.'

She didn't sound as if she understood at all.

'Lois?  Do you have a problem with my relationship with Lex?  Because….'

'A problem?  Not exactly.  I can see why you'd be attracted to him, if you were that way inclined, which you obviously are. He's a billionaire….'

'…tycoon and real estate developer.  Yes, I know.  Lois, I don't care about his money.  One way or the other.  Money means nothing to me. I have all I need.'

'Okay…  And he's very powerful….'

Clark smiled.  'Powerful,' he said, reminiscently.  'Good looking, too.'

'Good looking enough, despite being bald.  Granted.  But… his reputation?'

Clark glanced around the busy office.  Several other reporters were watching them, maybe hoping to catch a word here or there.  Clearly the news was out, though so far no one had said anything openly.  Lex Luthor still ran Metropolis, even if he was living on the Moon.  

'Let's take this outside, Lois.  Far from prying ears, okay?'

'Sure, Clark.'  Lois gathered her purse and notebooks.  Her cell phone, too, and Clark smiled at that.

It was a sunny day.   They got coffee and a Danish each, and walked to a park.  Strolled along a little creek, and watched the ducks.  

'I googled Lex Luthor and Smallville,' Lois announced, at last.

'Oh, yes?'

'Yes.  That I did. Indeed.'

'And what did you learn?'

'Nothing, Clark.  Zero.  Zip. Zilch.  Nada.  No-thing.'

'I see.'

'Did you know that's what I'd find?'

'Well, yes.  I knew that.'

'Clark….'

'Listen, Lois.  You're a reporter, and it's your vocation to go after the news, but… this isn't new news, it's old news.  No one cares about Smallville.'

'Except your friend Lex Luthor, apparently, who seems to have wiped out every possible reference to every tiny little connection he may have had with the town.  And why is that?'

'I really couldn't say,' said Clark.

'I don't believe you,' said Lois.

'Well, that is your privilege,' said Clark.

'Why did you tell me you and Lex Luthor were boyhood friends together?  In Smallville, I mean?'

'Because we were,' said Clark.  'I told you that in confidence, as a friend.'

'And you'd be angry if I published that piece of information?'

'I'd be disappointed,' said Clark.  'I imagine Lex might be angry.'

'Clark!'  Lois turned on him, looking a little disappointed herself, and more than a little angry.  'Are you threatening me?'

'No!  No, Lois, not at all.  I'm warning you, because Lex Luthor can be a dangerous man if he's thwarted. Not that he'd kill you for it, or anything like that, because you are my friend.   But if he went to a lot of trouble to wipe out all record of his time in Smallville, then he must have had his reasons.'

'Do you know what those reasons were?  Did he commit some terrible crime there, or something?'

'Nothing like that.  He just wanted to forget those days, I guess, and didn't want to see references to them in the press.  But Lois, why would you want to publish that little piece of information?  Lex Luthor grew up in Smallville.  So what?  Why does the public need to know?'

'Lex Luthor can be a dangerous man,' said Lois, flatly.

'Oh, yes,' said Clark.

'And you… like him?'

'I love him, Lois.  He can be dangerous.  He can also be kind.  Very kind.  He can be selfish -- and unbelievably generous.  He's capable of taking ruthlessly what he believes is his -- and he's also capable of giving away everything he owns, if he believes it's right.'

'Which side of him is the real Lex Luthor?' asked Lois, after taking a moment to digest this speech.

'They both are,' Clark told her.  'You can't divide one side from the other.  He'd cease to be Lex Luthor.  But I want to encourage the more generous side to grow.'

'For his sake?' asked Lois.  'Or for your own sake?'

'For both our sakes, and for the sake of the whole world,' said Clark.  'Don't laugh, Lois.  Lex Luthor is so powerful, his actions affect the whole world.  It's useless to deny it.  I could try to fight him, but how much success do you think I would have?'

'Even Superman couldn't stop him in the past,' Lois noted.  'Once or twice.'

'Yes.  So if Superman can't always win, I'd be wasting my time, wouldn't I?  Far better to persuade Lex to see my point of view.  Try to get him to co-operate.'

'Co-operate?  You mean change his… modus operandi?  Would he do that for you?'

'Yes,' said Clark.  'He would.'





Chapter Two: From the Earth to the Moon
**************************************

'Isn't this amazing?  Clark?  Isn't this amazing, Clark.  Clark, wake up.  Earth to Clark… What is it about men?  I swear, if men gave birth to the children, you'd sleep through that, too.'

'Huh?  Sorry, Lois.  I wasn't asleep.  Just dozing a bit.'

'Yeah, well, you'd doze through having the babies, then.'

'I thought men can't stand pain like women can, and we'd die of agony, or go crazy with it, or something?'

'That too.  You'd sleep through dying of agony…. Oh, forget it.  That's not what I started out talking about. What was it again… Yes!  The view.  Look at that!  And we'll be on the Moon in a few hours.  Isn't that marvellous?  It used to take days.  But I guess that's not as exciting for you.'

'Why?  What do you mean?'

'You've already been to the Moon… on your little honeymoon with Lex Luthor?'

'Oh, yes, but that was several weeks ago.'

'Well, don't worry.  I'm sure he hasn't forgotten you…  Clark!  Now I have coffee all over my blouse.'

'Sorry, Lois.  I'll pay to have it cleaned, if you can't wash it out.'

'You certainly will, but I know some good tricks for getting stains out of clothes.  I'm no Monica Lewinsky.  Oh, look.  Look back there.  We can see the whole planet Earth already.  It's amazing.'

'Yes, it is.  Amazing.  So, you're happy about this trip?  You think it's worthwhile?'

'Of course.  Otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it to Perry.'

'Uh-huh.  Why do you think it's worthwhile, anyway?'

'The human race is moving out, into space.  We're finally going to colonise another planet -- even if it is just our own Moon.  Whatever we learn from this enterprise, we can apply to later colonies on, say, Mars, or one of Jupiter's moons, or….'

'Sounds like you've been reading Lex's press releases.'

'And very well-written press releases they were, too.  I could have done better, of course.'

'Of course.'

'And I may, if I'm impressed by Moon Colony One.'

'Earth Rise.'

'Sorry?'

'We… Lex is calling it Earth Rise.'

'He is?  And why didn't you think fit to tell me before?'

'I'm telling you now.  Lex will announce the new name at the Opening Ceremonies.  You're the third person to know.  Right after Lex and me.  Happy?'

'Well… okay.  Yes, I'm happy.  I suppose Lex had to tell you before me.  Seeing that you're dating and all that.  When did he decided on the new name?  And why?'

'Why don't you….'

'Ask Lex.  I know.  But what's the good of having a partner who's dating Lex Luthor if I can't pump him for information?  So you will just have to accustom yourself to being pumped, Mister.'

'Okay.  I'm prepared to be pumped.  But I lived on a farm,  and we had wells, and sometimes the wells ran dry, and no matter how hard we pumped….'

'Nothing spewed out.  Gotcha.'

'Spewed out? Thanks for that lovely piece of imagery, Lois.'

'Any time.'


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

The shuttle settled into the docking bay.  The flight attendant told them to remain in their seats until their luggage had been checked.

'Checked?'

'For contraband substances, Ms. Lane.  It is the usual procedure when anyone enters a foreign country.  You will be asked to show your passports before you exit the shuttle, as well.'

'Will you stamp my passport?  To show I visited the Moon,' asked Lois, her eyes as big as saucers.

The flight attendant smiled, paternally.  'If you wish, Ms. Lane.'

'Well, I wish.  Imagine, Clark!  Having my passport stamped by Moon Customs, on the page between, let's see… Russia, and where am I going next?  China, maybe?  And you don't need to look so superior.'

'If you say so.'

'Well, I do say so.  I mean, have you been to Russia or China yet?'

'No,' said Clark Kent.

The signs lit up, informing all passengers that they might disengage their seatbelts.

'All luggage has been checked, and declared safe and legal,' announced the flight attendant.  'You may leave your seats now.  But stand up slowly, at first.  Gravity is now at about 95% of Earth levels.  It may feel a bit strange at first, but you will grow accustomed to it.'

After several hours of near weightlessness, it was good to stand up and really stretch her legs, Lois discovered.  She handed her passport to the customs official waiting at the shuttle door, and was truly excited to see it returned stamped "Moon Colony One".  She nearly stumbled over the threshold on her way out the exit port, but Clark caught her arm in time.  That was annoying, she thought.  To make her first appearance on the Moon looking like a typical heroine in distress who couldn't stand on her own two feet.  But the truth was, she did feel a bit dizzy.  Space sickness, maybe.  An affliction Clark Kent didn't seem to suffer from.

Clark also didn't seem to notice her embarrassment.  He dropped her arm before she could snatch it back from him, and waved off toward the end of the concourse.   A man was waiting there, surrounded by armed guards.  A tall man.  A bald man.  Lex Luthor, thought Lois.  But a new and different Lex Luthor, somehow. If she had met him by accident in the street, she might not have recognised him.  

He looks… happy, she thought to herself.  And then she realized that she had never seen Lex Luthor look truly happy.

'Greetings, everyone,' said Luthor, as he strode towards them.  'And welcome.  I apologise for the level of security which has now become necessary.   We must check you all for concealed weapons, but once you have passed this checkpoint, you are free to go wherever you please, however you please… I'll just pat you down myself, Mr Kent.  No hidden guns, knives?  Oops, what's this?  No, it's just a pen.'

'You sound disappointed, Mr. Luthor,' said Clark Kent.

'I am,' Lex Luthor whispered back.  'I had fantasies of arresting you and keeping you chained up for private interrogations.'

A tall Black woman approached Lois, and smiled at her, coolly.  'This is just a formality,' she said. 'We are assured no friend of Clark's would be plotting to assassinate anyone.  But we have to treat everyone equally.'

'Of course,' Lois responded.  'It's in your brand new Constitution.'

The woman patted Lois down with professional skill.  Then she offered her hand.  'My name is Hope,' she said.  'Welcome to the Moon.'



Chapter Three: Security
********************

'There's a much more visible security presence than the last time I visited,' Clark noted.

'Yes,' said Lex.

'Has something happened?  That you didn't tell me about?'

'Wait a moment, Clark.'  Lex pressed his palm against the small black panel by the entrance to his private quarters.  The door slid open, and he waved his guests inside.

Lex's rooms were not more luxurious than the public areas of Moon Colony One.  'We're still pretty much utilitarian here,' he said.  'I spend most of my time working, very little time relaxing, and no time at all engaging in orgies, whatever the gutter press might say.  Coffee?  Ms. Lane?  Clark?'

'Thanks, Lex.  You don't have to wait on me.'

'I know, but I like it.'  

'Speaking of which, I have a little present for you,'  said Clark.

'A present?  For me?  You don't have to buy me presents.'

'I know.  But I like it.'  Clark handed Lex a small parcel, wrapped in silver paper.

Lex gazed at the present, with a expression of awe that Lois thought was overdone.  The man owned half the world, and a goodly portion of the Moon.  He must have received many and far richer presents than whatever Clark Kent could afford to give him.  

'It's in honour of the Opening,' Clark explained.  'I don't think you have it already.'  Clark sounded rather shy and uncertain.  

Lex responded by ripping into the parcel eagerly.  It was the latest DVD release of 'Le Voyage dans la Lune'.  'No,' he said.  'I've seen the movie, but I don't have my own copy.  Oh, look at all the extra features.'

'That's why people buy DVDs,' said Clark.  'For all the extra features.'

'Really?  Movies themselves are just secondary these days?'

'It would appear so,' Lois tossed in.  'Which begs the question, "Why bother making them?"'

'So that one can make the special features DVDs, of course,' Lex explained.

'Of course,' said Lois.  'It's all about business.'

'You say that like it's a bad thing.  If it weren't profitable to create, to produce, we'd all still be wearing smelly animal skins and living in smelly caves, and, well, smelling.'

'So what you're saying is that business is good business?  That it's all good and above suspicion and shouldn't be questioned?'

'I think nothing is all good and above suspicion.  I believe in questioning everything.  But I don't believe in idolising the past, in assuming that people lived wondrous lives before the rise of business and the market economy.  Because they didn't.  You are an educated woman, Ms Lane, with your own career.  You wear comfortable clothes, and live in a respectable private residence, and eat foods imported from all over the planet.  What do you think your life would have been like, oh, say, 500 years ago, or 5,000 years ago?'

'Not so pleasant, I guess.  But I wouldn't have known the difference.'

'Not then, no.  You wouldn't have been able to imagine your life as you live it now.  But is that any reason to disdain the life you live now, and protest that we should all go back to living in the Stone Age?  Is that any reason to condemn those who try to carry the human race forward?'

'Uh… Lex? Does all this have something to do with the increased security?' asked Clark.

'Well, yes.  It does, now that you mention it.'  Lex moved restlessly about the room for a moment, picking up small objects and putting them back in what he seemed to consider better order.  'This is off the record.  Understood?  Clark?  Ms. Lane?'

'It's off the record, Lex,' said Clark.

Lex Luthor was silent for a moment, clearly awaiting Lois' agreement.  

'We came here to cover the story of the new colony,' she said, at last. 'Or at least I did.'

'Yes, I know,' Lex agreed. 'And you will have plenty of time for interviews and press conferences later.  But this isn't an interview or a press conference.  And if I can't have your assurances that private conversations in my quarters will go no further….'

'You have my assurances,' said Lois.  'As long as I have your assurances that I am still allowed to interview you.  That interviews are not forbidden.'

'Well, of course they're not forbidden.  In the right time and place.  Would you want to invite friends into your home for coffee, and find yourself being interviewed?'

'I suppose not, so… go ahead.  Off the record.'

'Okay.  Now that that's settled, are you unaware of the various protests that are taking place?  The protest groups that have sprung up?  The Earth Firsters, and so on?'

'We've heard of them.  They're Eco-terrorists.'

'Eco-terrorists?  They're just terrorists, period, Clark.  I've checked them out.  They don't do anything positive.  All they do is plant bombs and spike trees.  But their intentions are pure, so I guess that excuses them. I'm a businessman.  I've never hidden that my intentions are to make money, to gain power.  That makes me evil, and so they feel justified in threatening to sabotage this station.'

'Have you received actual threats, Lex?'

'Phone calls.  Emails.  Letters.  Here.  Have a look.'  Lex went to a desk, and pulled out a file.  He handed the file to Lois.  'Pass them on to Clark when you're done,' he said, with a charming smile.  'And don't accuse me of hiding things from you.'

'This letter accuses you of not answering their emails,' said Lois.

'No?  Really?  How evil of me.  I have a confession to make.  I didn't answer the phone calls or the letters, either.  I don't engage in any form of civil discourse with terrorists.  I'll do anything I have to do to protect my interests.  And my interests include my employees.  All my employees, no matter how humble.  In a few days we'll have the Opening Ceremonies, and then the colonists will begin to arrive.  I suppose that will be the most dangerous time.'

'Have the colonists been warned?' asked Clark.

'Everyone has been warned.  All the colonists, all my employees.  And now you, as well.  Do you feel intimidated?  Do you think we should stop what we're doing?'

'Of course not!' said Lois Lane.  

'Nor has anyone else been intimidated so far,' said Lex.  'I've tightened my security as you noticed, but eventually one of these lunatics will get through my net and try to harm someone.  All my security guards have orders to kill.  I thought I should warn you about that, as well.'

'Is that wise, Lex?'

'Wise?  It depends what you mean by wisdom, Clark.  If you mean some great philosophical and religious form of wisdom, in which justice and mercy prevail, then no.  It isn't wise.  But this little colony is still vulnerable.  If someone got in and damaged the air circulation system,for example, they could kill everyone here.  We're like a ship upon the ocean, back in the old days, when there was no possibility of rescue.   And I'm the Captain.  I'll protect my crew and my passengers, with my life if necessary.'




Chapter Four: The Lioness and the Oryx
********************************

'Clark.  You're back.  Did Lois get settled in her rooms?'  

'Yes.  She's still feeling a bit dizzy, so she's trying to get some sleep.'

'Good.  It affects many people that way at first, but most get over it.  Like being at sea, or on the top of a mountain.  If she's still feeling dizzy tomorrow, we have a doctor here, on staff.  I like Lois.  She's tough, and doesn't take shit from anyone.'

Clark sprawled on Lex's bed, and smiled up at him, but his eyes were shadowed. 'Tough, yes,' he allowed. 'Nosy too.'

'Of course she's nosy.  She's a reporter.'

'She's still curious about the Smallville connection….'

'The Smallville Connection.'  Lex sat down on the edge of his bed, and regarded Clark, as if suspicious about his possible origins.  'Good title for a movie.  A thriller, in the tradition of the French Connection, but what they used to call a B movie.  Cheap and cheesy.'

Clark laughed.  'Was it cheesy?' he asked.

'In parts,' said Lex.  'Though you were never cheap.  But don't worry.  I have no intentions of bumping Lois off, even if she does cut too close to the bone.  No one would believe any stories she printed.  She'd be in more danger of commitment to the loony bin.'

'She doesn't quite trust you.  She thinks you're overdoing the honesty bit.  That you haven't really changed.  That you're just trying to impress us.'

'Perceptive woman.  I haven't really changed.  But she got one thing wrong.  I'm trying to impress you, Clark.  I don't care what she thinks of me.  All I care about is you.  Is it working?  Are you impressed?'

Clark sat up, and studied Lex, carefully.  'You always impress me, Lex.  But if you want to convince me that you're going along with my agenda, that you're trying to be less ruthless….'

'No, no.  I'm being entirely honest with you, and I'm trying to compromise.  That's all.  My core values haven't changed.  And yes, I do have values.  Just because my values aren't your values doesn't mean I have no values.  But I'm willing to make the effort to adapt my values to yours -- probably because I've lost my mind, but at least I'm making the effort.'

'Then I'm impressed.'

'Thank you.'

'Why do you think you've lost your mind?'

'Let me tell you a little story,' said Lex.  He got to his feet and began to stroll around the small bedroom, as if it were the magnificent bedroom in his penthouse back home on Earth.    'Some years ago, a lioness who lived on a game preserve in Kenya adopted a baby oryx.'

'I remember this story.'

'And the oryx was eaten by a male lion.  So, she found another baby oryx.'

'I do remember this story, Lex.'

'You remember it in photographic detail, as you remember everything else you have ever read, heard or seen, but allow me to continue.'

'Sorry.'

'She found another baby oryx, but the game wardens stole it from her to keep it from starving.  She found a third baby oryx, but it escaped back to its mother. So did the fourth.  The fifth baby oryx starved to death.  The sixth baby oryx this deluded lioness adopted escaped back to its mother.  And after that?'

'Are you asking me?  Okay, the lioness disappeared and hasn't been seen since.'

'Why do you think she adopted members of her prey species, Clark?'

'I don't know, but perhaps she wanted to raise a domesticated breed of antelope that trusted her, so she wouldn't have to hunt them.  It would make her life easier.'

'How very cynical of you.  Now I think she wanted to be loved by her fellow creatures, instead of feared.  And I think she finally despaired, and died of a broken heart.  She tried to change the world, and it didn't work.  Because the world is the way it is -- heartbreaking.  Whatever you love, it will be stolen from you, or it will die, or it will run away because it doesn't love you back.   It's safer not to love.'

'I don't believe that, Lex.'

'Of course you don't.  I love you, so I'm trying to win your trust.  Look at me, pretending not to be a lion.  I held an open symposium to create the Constitution for this colony -- and I still have people threatening to kill me for it.'

'Do you care what those people think?'

'No, I don't.  I'm just saying.'

'My opinion of you is not influenced by what the Earth Firsters have to say.  I know what you are.'

'What am I, Clark?'

'A lion?  Okay, you're a lion.  But a romantic lion.  Too romantic…. Oh, don't laugh.  You put on this big tough act….'

'It's no act.  I am tough.  Look who I have for a lover.   And I've even exhausted you, once or twice -- or so you said. Were you just flattering me?'

'I'd never try to flatter you, Lex.'

'Good.'

'And you certainly don't flatter me, either.  Comparing me to a baby oryx.'

'Is that what you thought?  No.  I'm comparing you to the lioness.  You've adopted us humans.  We're not your species.'

'You're not my prey, either,' said Clark, his tone of voice a warning.

Lex came back to the bed.  'No,' he said, taking Clark's hand.  'Not your prey species.  But we will break your heart.  We're not invulnerable, and none of us will live forever.'

'Forever?'  Clark's eyes grew shadowed.  'No one lives forever, Lex.  Not even I will live forever.  I hope.'





The Smallville Connection
**************************

Lois Lane opened her eyes, and closed them again.  She opened one eye, rather more slowly and carefully this time, then cautiously added the perspective of the second.  She sighed with relief.  The room was not spinning around.  She sat up, and looked about.  Yes, everything seemed to be in its proper place.  The floor was beneath her, the ceiling above, and the walls were more or less perpendicular to the floor.  So far, so good.

Her room was small, and as Lex Luthor said, very utilitarian.  Her suitcase was waiting unopened by the door, where Clark had dropped it last night.  She herself was still wearing yesterday's clothes.  She'd simply dropped into bed, and fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

All of this was irrelevant, she thought, as she jumped out of bed and opened the curtains to look out upon the lunar landscape.  The Lunar Landscape, she capitalised it to herself.  She was the first journalist ever to stand upon the Moon.

Well, the first journalist besides Clark Kent, if one could count him, which Lois doubted, since Clark had not been here in his journalistic capacity, but in some other capacity altogether.  Clark had been here in the capacity of Lex Luthor's… what?  Boytoy?  No.  Clark was no toy.  And Luthor certainly didn't treat him as he had treated his former amours.  But, Lex Luthor's lover?  Did the rich Mr. Luthor ever have lovers?

Over the last few years there had been an assortment of toys, of both genders, dangling on Luthor's arm.  Luthor had treated them like accessories, to be discarded when the fashions changed, or simply when he was tired of them.  Rumour had it that when he tired of said toys, they were paid off quite handsomely, but were also forced to sign a non-disclosure document of some sort, in which they promised to reveal nothing of their time in Luthor's company.  Lois had been unable to confirm this rumour, because no one, so far, had attempted to break the compact.  Lois couldn't help but wonder what Lex Luthor had to hide -- but then most multi-billionaires were fanatical about their privacy.  It came with the territory.  Look at Howard Hughes.  

But why would Clark Kent want anything to do with dating such a man?  And why would Lex Luthor want anything to do with dating a reporter, if he were fanatical about his privacy?  

Lois tossed off her wrinkled clothes, and grabbed a quick shower.  She dressed casually, in jeans and a pullover and jogging shoes.  Best to be ready for anything, she thought.  They didn't stand on ceremony here on the Moon, and perhaps Luthor would allow her to go on a Moon walk.

As she stepped out of her cubicle, a woman waiting by the door snapped to attention.  She was tall, and Black, and as Lois recalled, her name was Hope.

'Ms. Lane,' said the bodyguard.  'Mr. Luthor and Mr. Kent are waiting for you in the Conservatory.  Please follow me.'

'Follow you?  And what if I don't want to follow you?' asked Lois, rather belligerently

The woman looked impatient and even a little disgusted at the idea.  'Well, you aren't a prisoner,' (Yet, her voice suggested.) 'You are at liberty to wander off on your own and become thoroughly lost.  But Mr. Luthor asked me to escort you to the Conservatory.  He's having breakfast there with Mr. Kent, and….'

'Breakfast!'

'Yes.  Breakfast.  We feed our guests before we imprison and torture them,' Hope sniffed.

 'Good for you.  I'm relieved to hear it.  Lead on, Macduff!'

'Thank you for your co-operation,' said Hope, with a mocking smile.  'The Conservatory is this way.'

Hope strode on ahead, in no way resembling an escort.  Unless one were into bondage and domination, thought Lois, and happily anticipating one's time in the Dungeon.  

The halls in this building were bleakly beige, and Lois wondered at Lex Luthor's choice of decor. He had always struck her as the sort of man who enjoyed gilding the lily on a grand scale, and she couldn't think what had made him decide to eschew his own taste in favour of something so bland.  But it was early days yet, and….

'Ms. Lane!' said Hope, in loud announcing tones.  

Lois started, wondering what she had done wrong now, then realized that Hope had in fact announced her to those waiting beyond the beige door.  The door swung wide open, and Hope stepped aside to allow Lois to enter.

It was indeed a Conservatory, with a capital C, thought Lois.  Hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of plants whose origins she could only guess at, grew in abundance.  She stared about her in awe.

'Do you like my little garden, Ms. Lane?'  Lex Luthor appeared from behind a palm tree, rather like the snake in the Garden of Eden.  'Have an apple?' he offered. There was indeed an apple in his hand. 'Unfortunately, it wasn't grown here,' he admitted.  'So you can't call it a Moon Apple.  We haven't reached that stage yet.  Soon, though.  We want to be self-sufficient, in a few years.  Breakfast is this way.  Did you have a good sleep?'

'Oh.  Yes.  Very good.  Slept like a baby.'

'You woke up every two hours wanting to be nursed?'

'What?  No!' Lois couldn't help but laugh.  'Okay, I slept like the dead...like a log…Oh, damn you.  Fill in your preferred simile here.'

'"Like a log" will do,' said Luthor.

He really could be charming and funny, thought Lois.  Was that why Clark was attracted to him? They rounded a corner in the foliage and there was Clark Kent himself, looking as uncomplicated and as muddle-headed as ever, and certainly not the sort of person one would imagine someone as complicated and precise and multi-layered as Lex Luthor falling in love with.  

'I smell coffee,' said Lex Luthor.

'Yes,' said Clark.  'It's finished brewing.  I took the last waffle out of the waffle machine… thing.  We can eat.'

'Belgian waffles, Ms. Lane,' Lex Luthor pointed out.  'With fresh fruit that just arrived from Earth.  And can you fault the view?'

'No,' Lois breathed.  

The men had set up a table for three, with a side buffet of waffles, fruit, and whipped cream, and a large coffee maker.  There was an arbour of roses overhead.  But beyond that, were the windows of the Conservatory, and they looked out upon the bright lunar sky.  The sun was shining of course, since the Moon had little atmosphere to speak of, and thus no clouds, but so was the Earth. The Earth was shining like a great blue globe, like a dream of heaven. Oh, Lois had no words. Words were... trite.  

'There's a telescope, if you want a closer view,' said Luthor.  'But you can make out the continents with the naked eye.'

'Yes,' said Lois.  

There was a long silence as they gazed upon Mother Earth.  Then Lex said, 'It is beautiful, isn't it?'

His voice held an odd tone.  Lois turned to look at him.  His face was filled with something… longing?  Sorrow?  Acquisitiveness?  She remembered someone telling her that Lex Luthor would never be satisfied with ruling Metropolis, or the Moon.  That eventually he would set out to rule the Earth.  

'Lex Luthor was named for Alexander the Great,' her friend had told her.  'Lionel sees himself as Phillip of Macedon, raising the young conqueror of the known world.   Only today, the known world is all the world.'

The Moon would be a good place to conceal an army, thought Lois.  An army -- and weapons.  Missiles aimed at the mother planet.  Earth would be helpless against the man who ruled the Moon….

'Uh?  Guys?  The waffles are getting cold.'

'What?  Oh, sorry, Clark.  How thoughtless of me, to forget your waffles.  I could heat them up for us in the microwave.'

'Thanks, Lex.  But they're still warm enough, if you get over to the table now.'

'Yessir! Come on, Ms. Lane.  Clark is a tyrant when it comes to eating a proper breakfast.  He grew up on a farm, you see.  In Smallville, Kansas.  I knew him then.  The farm.  Cows.  Chickens.  Apples.  That apple I gave you came from the Kent Farms.'

'I see,' said Lois.

'We were good friends, and then we grew apart.  And when I left Smallville and came to Metropolis I wanted to forget all that.  Clark wanted to forget me, too.  I'm sure of that.'

'I never forgot you, Lex.'

'But you wanted to forget me, Clark,' said Lex.  He slammed down his fork rather peevishly.  'I wanted to make it easy for you.  So I did the best I could to erase all record of my time there.'

'I see,' said Lois, again.

'Do you, Ms Lane?' asked Lex.  He turned to her, his eyes bright and knowing.  'There's no great mystery.  Clark and I had… broken up.  We were starting new lives.  Separate lives.  I tried to erase the past.  But the past always catches up with us, doesn't it?  As here we see.  Clark and I are back together again.  So Smallville is back on the map.'

'Is it?  Back on the map?  Back as part of your history?  You wouldn't mind if I wrote about your Smallville days?'

'Mind?  No.  Why should I mind?'  Lex wrinkled his brow, quizzically.  'Your readers might mind, though.  I should warn you, Smallville is a small farming community, and -- let us be honest -- boring as Hell.  No, scratch that.  Much more boring than Hell could ever be.  Nothing ever happens there, does it, Clark?'

'Nothing, Lex.'

'Clark and I probably broke up because we were bored, and there was nothing better to do.  See, once we met in the exciting city of Metropolis, we got back together.  There's a lesson there, Ms. Lane.'

'Yes,' said Lois.   'I suppose.  A lesson.'

'Have another waffle, Lois?'

I'm being bamboozled, thought Lois.  But I'm not sure how or why.  And if I called them on it, they'd just laugh at me, for making a big mystery out of their boring old cow town.  

Kent Farms?  Now there was a possible lead….

Lois smiled, and took another waffle.  




Sabotage ch 6: Manifest Destiny
**************************

'Hey, Boss?'

Lex didn't bother to look up from his computer.  'Go away, Mercy,' was all he said.

'Boss!  You told me to call you when the shipment arrived.'

'Oh, yes.  So I did.  Now that you've told me -- go away.  I'll be there in a minute.'

Mercy shrugged.  And men considered women changeable, she thought.  That was a joke if there ever was one.

Lex returned his full attention to the computer.  The shipment was important, but this was vital.  It had taken a lot of work to erase all references to his time in Smallville.  But to go back and replace some of those references?  Wiping something out was relatively easy, in comparison.  

It had to appear as if the stories had been there all along, merely overlooked.  Improperly indexed, or not entirely erased.  And the stories had to be carefully chosen. A few hints about his relationship with Clark. Enough to intrigue, and also enough to appear to justify his efforts to hide them.  A trip to Metropolis, just Lex and Clark.  Staying at Lex's penthouse.  Dining out at an expensive restaurant.   A party at the Castle with friends from Europe, which turned into an orgy.  Clark storming off, outraged.  Lex Luthor leaving Smallville and going back to Metropolis not long after.  Alone.   

No references whatsoever to meteor mutations -- or to Clark's strange powers.  

Everything set to debut if anyone did a search for the words 'Kent Farms'.

There. That should do it.  

Lex smiled peacefully, and turned off his computer.  

'Mercy!' he called.  'Hasn't that shipment shown up yet?'

***********

The cargo bay was a chaos of crates, fork lifts and variously coloured hard hats.  Most of the crew had been here before, but as always there were a few new people, and one or two of them looked a bit queasy from the lower gravity.  

Lex watched as the last few crates were unloaded from the freight shuttle.  Soon, he would have his own factories on the Moon.  Manufacturing would be easier in the lower gravity field.  Less stressful on the human body, and on mechanical equipment.  Yes lower gravity could have negative side effects on some people, but there were down sides to everything.  The benefits could be enormous.  

The last crate was unloaded, and Lex walked down the rows of crates, ticking the numbers off against his memory, not needing to even glance at the ship's manifest he held in his hands.  He asked for several crates to be opened, and examined the contents.  Everything seemed to be in order.  

The foreman of the work crew came up to him, clipboard in hand.  'If you could just sign here, Mr. Luthor?'

Lex fished in his pocket for his pen.

'Uh, Lex?'  That was Clark, calling to him from the entrance to the cargo bay.   'Could I speak to you for a moment?'

'Now, Clark?'

'Now, Lex!'   

Lex shrugged. 'Be right back,'  he told the foreman.
 
Clark pulled him into the hallway, out of sight and hearing of the work crew.

'What is this, Clark?  Couldn't it have waited?'

'No, it couldn't.  I've been checking the crates.  Parts of the shipment are defective.  The material for the new section of the air recycling plant, for example.  The majority of it is up to standard, but the rest?  It will give out after a few days.'

Lex stared at him.  'A few days?'  Just in time for the arrival of the last colonists.  Everyone would be here.  The failure of the air recycling system would have maximum effect.

'Do you want me to speak to Tony?  Have him bring his testing equipment here?'

'Yes,' said Lex.  Then, 'No.  No, don't think like Clark Kent.'

'You want me to think about what Superman would do?'

'Not on your life,' said Lex.  'What would Kal-El do?'

'Kal-El?'  Now it was Clark's turn to stare.

'Neither Clark Kent nor Superman are of any use here,' Lex explained.  'I'll warrant you that crew knows nothing,' he gestured out toward the men impatiently waiting for him to sign for the delivery, so they could go home.  'The shipment has passed through dozens of hands.  The parts will give out in several days, but I bet no one but you would have noticed. How easy would it be to create something so precise?  Do you think anyone out there could have done it?'

'They used some sort of microwave beam, to break down the materials at the cellular level.  That's all I could tell from my cursory inspection.  We can't be certain that the crew aren't involved, though.'

'No.  No, they wouldn't be involved,' Lex stated, firmly.  'Whoever is responsible is a coward, hiding in the background, waiting to gloat when the news comes out that everyone here on the Moon has died.  Then they will claim responsibility, but not before.'

Clark's eyes opened wide.  'You mean you want to….'

'I'm not a Criminal Mastermind for nothing,' said Lex.  'Could you do me a favour?'

'Anything!  Er…within reason.'

Lex smiled.  'That's both Superman and Clark talking,' he pointed out.  'When is my Kal-El going to kick in?   Go talk to Tony for me, but ask him to meet us in my quarters.  And alert Lois, too.  I think we should get her involved.  I'm going to go sign our lives away.'  He pulled Clark's mouth to his for a quick kiss.  'Thanks for watching my back,' he whispered.




Chapter 7: Transparency
********************

'That's the last of them, Lex.'  Anthony Bond, Lex's Chief Engineer on the Moon project, put the last part into the 'Damaged' pile, and sat back with a sigh.  He'd come to Lex's quarters, at Clark's request, quite cheerfully.  He hadn't flinched when Lex asked him to check an assortment of parts and equipment.  But by now, his face was white and strained.  'Do you now mind if I ask what this is all about?' he enquired.

Lex shrugged.  'Sabotage,' he said crisply.  'By person or persons unknown.  But I will know them, believe me.'

'Whoever they are, they're devious, and they have state of the art equipment.  Look!'  Tony held up a short piece of tubing.  'It's perfect, to the naked eye, and to a cursory test.  If you hadn't warned me what to look for, I wouldn't have noticed.'  Tony looked stricken.  'The damage is at the cellular level,' he went on.  'It would hold up to stress for a few days, then begin to give out.'

'Just in time for the opening of the colony.  Everyone is settling in to their new homes, and the air goes bad.'

'Whoever did this knows about our building schedule,' Tony suggested.

'Yes, but who doesn't know our schedule?  I've been completely open and honest about this colony from the start.  Everything is up front and public.  Building plans, schedules, where I buy my parts and equipment…. Why we decided to expand the air recycling plant at the last minute.'

'It was better to be safe than sorry, Lex,' Tony chided.  'There was a lot of criticism centred around the fact that so many people were dependent on recycled air, and that we would be trapped here, without any other source of oxygen.'

'Well, we might have been unsafe and sorry, if I hadn't got that tip… and no, don't look at me like that, Ms. Lane.  I know at least as much as you about protecting my sources.'

Lois sat back down, looking discouraged and affronted.  

Lex laughed.  'Don't look so hurt,' he said.  'You're sitting right here in the middle of what would otherwise be a very private meeting.  And if you play your cards right, you may be part of the exciting operation I'm about to set in motion.'

Lois brightened and sat up straight in her chair.  'Operation?' she breathed.  'What sort of operation?'

'A sting,' said Lex.  'But before I go any further, I want to make it clear that nothing leaves this room.  Not one word.  I trust myself, Clark, Tony and you, Lois.  In that order.  For various reasons, I'm convinced none of you had anything to do with the sabotage.  But we're going to trap the people responsible.'

'I'm glad you trust me, Lex,' said Clark.  'Even if I did encourage you to be honest and open about all your plans.'

Lex stopped pacing about, and pulled up short in front of Clark.  He studied him carefully for a moment, as if unsure what he was looking at.  'I made a choice,' he said, at last.  'Based on the fact that I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn't.  I was informed that people couldn't trust me, if I was secretive about my plans.  Perhaps I was building a colony with unsafe materials, that would then collapse and kill everyone within.  Perhaps I wasn't building the colony at all, and was going to take all the money invested and run off to parts unknown.  Perhaps I was secretly communicating with evil aliens, plotting to take over Earth.  So, I went public, revealed all.  Thus leaving the door open for saboteurs to do the very things I was accused of doing.  But that is the danger of being open and honest.'

'It's always dangerous to come out into the open and be honest,'  Clark agreed.

'What would you know about that?' asked Lex, turning away.

'Lex?' asked Clark, rather plaintively.

Lex turned his head and exchanged a look with Clark.  Lois couldn't see his face, but she saw Clark relax and smile again.  

It's difficult not to be ravenously curious about these two, she thought.  Well, difficult for her, at least.  Tony Bond seemed oblivious, but most men were dense that way.  Dense about almost anything but mechanical relationships.   Where the nut went on the bolt, or what wire went where.  But Lex Luthor and Clark Kent were layer upon layer of subtlety, once you got to know them.  But, once you got to know them, you couldn't help wanting to know more.  Like, what was really behind their break up, back in Smallville.  Boredom?  No way.

'So, are we all on board?' Lex was asking.

'Sure.'

'Sure.'

That was the two stupid men who didn't even think of asking what they were on board with.  

'I'm on board,' said Lois.  'As long as I can ask where this train is headed, and who's driving.'

Lex grinned.  'Well, I'm driving, of course,' he said.  'It's not a train, though.  It's a Ferrari.'

'Of course,' said Lois.  'And you're driving it twenty-four hours a day?'

'You better believe it, Ms Lane.  I'm driving, I'm not drunk, and I'm watching the road.  As to where we're headed… like I said, this is a Sting.  We're going to flush the terrorists out of their little nest, and make them pay.'

'How are we going to do that, here on the Moon, if you don't mind my asking?'

'We're all going to die, of course.'

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


Chapter 8: Martial Law
***********************

'Is this where you condescend to tell me I'm out of my mind?'

'No, Lex,' said Clark, gently.  'Why bother?  Either you're completely out of your mind and telling you  would be pointless, because you wouldn't be able to understand or accept a word I said, or you're completely sane, in which case you already know you're out of your mind, and I'd be wasting my time telling you something you already know.'

'Huh?  Run that by me again?'

'Either you're completely….'

'Shut up, Clark.  That was a figure of speech.'

'Well, I think it's all worth saying again…. Okay, okay.  The point is -- yes, you're out of your mind.'

Lex turned to Clark, his face glowing with earnestness.  'Why?' he asked.  'This sort of thing has been done before.  Someone is trying to kill you, and you don't know who, so you play dead, in hopes the murderer will reveal himself.'

'Your life since you left Smallville must have been even more interesting than I thought,' said Clark.

'I watch TV a lot,' Lex lied.  'It's an old plot.  I think I even saw it on Starsky and Hutch once or twice. Why shouldn’t it work now?'

'There are too many people involved.  Too many variables.  Too many opportunities for it all to go wrong.'

'I agree,' Lex agreed.  'Which is why I'm going to invoke my constitutional right as Founder of the Colony, to declare Martial Law… hold on, hold on.  Don't go ripping off your shirt and turning into Superman.  I'm speaking of temporary Martial Law, because of the threat to all our lives.  I have that right under the Constitution.  And no, this whole thing isn't a plot to have the excuse to use that right.  The Constitution wasn’t forced upon me.  I agreed to it.  I set up the entire Symposium to write the damned thing.  I'm not so pathetic that I need excuses to do what I think is right.'

'I didn't suggest you were,' said Clark.  'Come here.  Sit beside me.  Relax for thirty seconds, or so.  The terrorists aren't busting through the door on us.'

Lex came to sit beside Clark, on the bed.  'How can I relax,' he protested, even as he leaned back against his lover's chest.  'This colony is important to me.'

'I know,' said Clark.  'Why?'

'Why? What do you mean, why?'

'Why is it so important?  Because you're a man who has everything, except for his own colony?'

'Something like that,' said Lex.  He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his breathing to synchronise with Clark's.  It was always easier to think that way.  'Remember Smallville?' he asked.

'Every day,' said Clark.  

'So do I, despite the fact that I tried everything I could to wipe the memory of it from my mind.'  Lex shifted, restlessly, and Clark responded, smoothing his hand down Lex's chest, pausing to fondle his hip, not too intimately.  Not yet.  'My father offered me Smallville as a chance to prove my abilities, then did everything he could to screw me up.  I started out with every possible black mark against me.  People hated me from the start, because of my last name.  My father lied, and made me look like a traitor to the town.  But I tried, Clark.  I tried.'

'I know.'

'I wanted to see what I could do, starting with a clean slate.  As clean a slate as Lex Luthor could ever have, without finding a planet inhabited by aliens somewhere.'

'You're not the only person who's had a hard time in life,' said Clark, after a moment to digest Lex's confession.

Lex laughed.  He turned to Clark, his eyes bright with amusement.  'Is that what I sounded like?' he asked.  'Full of self pity?  Sorry.  But don't other people feel the same way?  Don't other people wish they could start over?  What about you, Clark?  Haven't you ever wished you could correct some mistake you made in the past?'

Clark looked up at him, from under his long, dark lashes.  'I don't know,' he admitted.  'Maybe I should refuse to answer, on the grounds I might incriminate myself.'

'Good for you,' said Lex.  'You do that.  I'm of the opinion that confession is good for the soul.  I made mistakes with you, Clark.  You were right that we were both young, but I was older, and I had more experience of the world.  But I wanted you to save me.  You seemed… miraculous.  You had powers that I wanted.   Powers to fight your enemies, to be a hero.'

'And you expected wisdom and maturity to go along with all that?'

'I expected too much, yes.  Understanding of my needs.  Honesty.  I wanted you to fight beside me.  Fight my father with me.'

'Lex.'

'You didn’t know all that.  All my dreams and hopes.  You had your own life, your own problems.  But your life seemed perfect to me.'

'Perfect?'  Clark laughed.  'Hardly perfect.'

'It seemed perfect, from my perspective.  You had parents who loved you. Friends.  People trusted you.  They didn't spit your name like it was a curse.'

'Lex.'

'Let me finish.  This is my confession, remember?  You had so much that I lacked.  And all my money was useless. I couldn't buy you.  But I wanted you on my side.  Remember when I was possessed by General Zod?'

Clark shuddered.

'I had a taste of that kind of mindset.  The sort of mindset that reduces people to pawns on a chess board.  And it was a relief to look at other people that way.  It sets you free, Clark.  You never again have to worry what other people think of you.'

'I can imagine,'  Clark drawled.

'Yes.  Imagine it, Clark.  Let your imagination fly free for a moment.  Imagine really using your powers.  Imagine taking whatever you wanted, with me at your side.  Imagine ruling the whole world.  You'd never have to fear that your identity would be found out.'

'I'd have no identity,' said Clark.

'You would be Superman,' said Lex.  'Everyone would bow down to you, and fear you.'

'It's lonely at the top,' said Clark.

'Yes,' said Lex.  'I know.  And when everyone fears you, you begin to fear yourself.'



Sabotage ch9: Fear
*******************

'Are you afraid of anything, Clark?'

'How can you even ask that?'

'Really afraid, I mean.  I'm not talking about some kind of… speculative fear.  What if…?  What if the Stock Market crashed, and I lost all my money… that sort of thing…  I mean… fear.  Gut-wrenching, sweat-inducing fear.'

'Well, I have no money to lose on the Stock Market. But, I am afraid of losing control, and really hurting someone.  It would be so easy.  I'm afraid of being found out, and people I love being held hostage against me.  I'm afraid of coming home to what I thought was a safe haven, and finding it a nest of Kryptonite.'

'That's all speculation. No, Clark, I don't think you understand real fear.  Fear is….'

'I was afraid of being exposed as an alien, as someone from Outer Space, for many years.  I still fear that, from time to time, not as Superman, but as Clark Kent.  It would feel like being stripped naked in public.  I… I was afraid when Whitney hung me up as the Scarecrow, with the Kryptonite necklace around my neck.'

'Keep trying, Clark.  Fear.  It's what you feel when you know something awful is going to happen, and there's nothing you can do about it.  Because it's happened before, many times, and you couldn't stop it.  And you know how awful it's going to be.  You can taste your pain, before it even hits you, and it tastes like vomit.  That's fear.'

'I guess I've never felt fear, then.  You're right.'

'Good.  I hope you never do.  Because it isn't pretty.'

'Lex… you've been asking a lot of strange questions lately.  Just thought I'd point that out.'

'It has come to my attention that we're having a relationship.  Therefore, we need to understand each other better.'

'According to whom?'

'According to all the women's magazines.'

'You read women's magazines, Lex?'

'Mercy does.  She leaves them lying around all over the place.'

Clark tried to imagine Mercy reading Ladies' Home Journal -- Can This Marriage Be Saved? -- tried and failed.  'We understand each other just fine,' he said.

'Do we?' asked Lex.  'Then you tell me.  Tell me what I fear.'

'Losing all your money on the Stock Market?'  Clark asked, with a grin.

'No.  That will never happen.  My investments are diversified, and I own too much real estate.  I have stores of gold bullion that rival Fort Knox, and no one will ever find it all.  Not even Superman.  I'm no fool -- when it comes to finances, at least.'

'When are you a fool, Lex?'

'You should know the answer to that.'

Clark leaned forward, his bright eyes intense.  Lex imagined he could feel their warmth upon his flesh, even without the heat vision kicking in.  

'You aren't a fool to care about me,' Clark said.  'And I'm no fool to care about you.  No matter what happened in the past, no matter what happens in the future, I will never betray you.  I will never betray you, Lex Luthor, the best part of you.  Your soul, your heart.  I will always believe in that best part of you.  We aren't having a relationship.  We are Lex Luthor and Clark Kent….'

'Kal-El!'

'Lex Luthor and Kal-El.  It was our destiny to meet.  It was never our destiny to be enemies.  We took a wrong turn, somewhere.'

'I've been holding on to that thought, all these years,' said Lex.

'Hold on to it a little longer,' said Kal-El.  He took Lex's hand, and placed it over his heart. 'When it comes to love,' he said. 'My investments aren't very diversified either.'


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




(to be continued)

(to be continued)

Sabotage Chapter 10 (coming soon)

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