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Title: No Place Else

Summary: An exploration of the nature of family.

Warning: These are the Luthors we're talking about. Don't try this at home, kids.

Disclaimer: Smallville belongs to The WB/DC Comics/AOL Time Warner. This story is for entertainment purposes only and is not an attempt to make money or official claims.

Feedback: It makes me a happy kitten. Send it to ciaan at nemurokinenkan dot net.

Thanks: To kinetikatrue for the beta and all the world-building conversations early on. We'll always have the Lucas family tree. Thanks also to tiamatorin and tsukiryu for additional comments.

Contents:
A sorta cover picture: Lex and Lian Luthor
Part 1: in which a secret is revealed
Part 2: in which childhood is summarized
Illustration: the penthouse
Part 3: in which Lian attempts to draw
Part whatev: in which there is a gun and a target

Part One

The double doors to Lex's home office bang open, and with a whoosh of air his brother appears in the middle of the room. Lex glances up from the financial reports he's studying just in time to see the blur turn into Lian's form as the doors slam shut again.

Lian stalks at normal pace across the smooth stone floor of the office and throws himself down on the dark leather sofa facing Lex's desk. "Hey, Lex." He grins, stretching his long legs in front of him and sticking his arms out along the sofa's back.

"Lian. What brings you here?" Lex sets the pages down on the glass desk and leans back in his chair, crossing one arm over his chest. The fingers on his other hand splay out over the papers, tapping lightly.

"Maybe I'm in trouble, too," Lian answers, teasingly.

"I'm not in trouble," Lex replies, starting to frown.

"Then why aren't you in Tokyo?"

It's 8:30 am on a summer Saturday, and the only reason for Lian to be awake now is that he hasn't gone to sleep. Lex isn't quite sure how long it would take his brother to run from Metropolis to Smallville, but not more than ten minutes ought to be quite sufficient for the approximately 180 miles, and that's being generous. He peers sideways at Lian, sees that his dark hair is windblown and messy, slightly damp. His boots are covered in mud, and so are his black jeans. The blue t-shirt is speckled with chaff.

"What's going on? Were you out there all night?"

Lian sighs sharply. "Yeah. The Rocky Mountains are lovely this time of year." Lex finally notices that Lian is trembling slightly, shivering as if he's cold. But Lian doesn't get cold, or hot, and Lex hasn't ever seen him worn out from exertion, no matter what he does.

"Are you okay?" Lex asks, standing up and walking over to his brother, sitting down beside him. He glances worriedly at Lian's eyes, at his eyelids dragging shut. He reaches out, places his hand on Lian's shoulder. The tiny shudders roll through the chilled cloth of Lian's shirt, and Lex squeezes gently in response. "Did you and Dad have a fight?"

"No. But we would've if I hadn't left."

"Do you want breakfast?"

Lian smiles up at him. Lex stands and walks back to his desk, back to the red and purple squares of light from the wide stained glass window, morning sun streaming through it. He presses the button on the phone that gets him into the intercom system, dials the kitchen. "Margaret? My brother's visiting. Could you send up breakfast for him to the office? Lots of it, something hearty with some fruit. And more coffee for me, as well." Margaret assures him that she can do so, and Lex wheels his chair around to the front of the desk, sits back down. He watches silently as Lian gets himself under control, breathing evenly with eyes closed until he's calm again.

Opening his eyes finally, Lian stares over at Lex, the green wide and bright. Lex tries to smile, but it comes out as just a twitch of his mouth. "Want to tell me what's going on?"

Lian runs a hand through his hair, brushing it back from his face. "I remember one time, when I was about ten, sitting in my room thinking about something that happened years before. I guess I was maybe four, and I broke someone's arm or something?" Lex nods. "The thing is, I don't actually remember the event itself anymore. I just remember thinking about it later on. I remember remembering it, and not even that very clearly."

Lex would love it if Lian got to the point, but he knows better than to say so if he actually wants it to happen any time soon.

"I don't remember my biological parents at all."

After a moment when Lian doesn't continue, Lex realizes he's supposed to respond. He shrugs. "You were very young when they died."

"Yeah, but I never think about them. And I never really did. I don't remember thinking about them. I don't remember ever remembering them. I don't remember missing them. There's just nothing there. I do remember Mom dying though, and I remember being confused. I missed her, thought about her. But not them."

"That's not necessarily something wrong. You shouldn't worry about it."

Before either of them can further elaborate, the door opens and Margaret wheels in a tray table covered in food. She deposits it between the two of them and leaves at Lex's nod. Lian lifts the cover off, begins shoveling blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs into his mouth only slightly faster than a normal person.

"So," he begins, fork pausing, as Lex sips his coffee, "you heard I totaled my car last week?"

"Yeah. Good work on that."

"I was sitting around the house-"

"Moping."

"...Sitting around the house, because Dad wouldn't buy me a new one, and unlike some people, I don't have the personal funds to acquire five cars of my own. Yet."

Lex sticks his tongue out flippantly. "Aw, poor baby, your life is so hard."

"And I heard him talking on the phone." Lian continues as if Lex hadn't spoken, but when he picks up his mug of coffee, his middle finger sticks out. "He said something about the facility out by the agricultural college, and the materials stored there, and then he started talking about the new research he's doing on those pea plants."

"We don't own any facility by the agricultural college. Or rather, we did, but it was sold in the early '90s." Frowning, Lex leans forward, balancing his cup on his knee.

"To a dummy corporation. I went out and took a look." There's a flash of motion, and the contents of the first plate are gone. Lian wipes his mouth on the back of his hand, slowing down again. Lex envies his brother's ability to multi-task like that, but he's gotten used to it. Lian starts in on the second plate.

"I thought you'd given up the hobby of breaking into Dad's labs."

A strip of bacon hanging out of his mouth, Lian shakes his head. "Yeah. But still. I went out there. It's really not a lab, just a storage facility. Lots of boxes and crates, things under tarps. I found a spaceship."

Lex has been waiting for the punchline. Lian's a bit of a drama queen sometimes, but he knows how to tell a story, and he's been stringing this one along. The coffee slops in Lex's mug. "Dad's been secretly building a spaceship?"

"He didn't build it. He just found it. It landed here, in Smallville, during the meteor shower. I read some of the papers in the filing cabinets. But I didn't even have to read them to know. I just knew." Lian's eyes have gone hard, narrowed and glinting, angry. "It's mine."

Carefully, Lex sets his mug back on the table, not wanting it in his lap now. "Yours?"

"I'm an alien."

And there's the real punchline. "Lian... That's not possible." Lex stares at his brother, lounging gracefully on the sofa, leaning back now against the shiny leather, fork still in hand. Yes, Lian has always had these inexplicable abilities, and Lex has always known he's not exactly like everyone else, but he can't be an alien. He looks just like a human being, talks and moves and thinks like one. Lex isn't exactly normal himself, but he knows about evolution, and there's no way such a similar creature could come from another planet...

Lian just stares back at him, slowly twirling the fork between his fingers in a circular pattern. He uncrosses his legs, recrosses them the other way.

"Shit. Fuck. Then... That little story about your biological par- the meteor shower."

Eyes softening, Lian bites at his lip. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

Lex looks at him, startled. "What? Oh. No. No." He runs a hand over his bare scalp. "It had its benefits, as well." They gaze at each other for a moment more. "An alien. That does answer a lot of questions, though it also raises a whole new set of them. And... Does Dad know that you found out?"

Lian slumps down. For a second it looks as if he's about to stab the fork into the cushion of Lex's sofa, but then he sighs and drops it on the table instead. "He... um. He came over the PA in the place once I found it. Said I shouldn't have gone there. I didn't stick around to hear his explanations, I just left. Ran for a while. Came here."

"Why?"

Lian glances down, then up again. He looks lost, like a confused little kid, not like a teenager who could turn this entire castle into rubble in a matter of seconds. "I thought you might know what to do."

"And you just left the spaceship and all the files there. Stupid. They won't be there anymore. They're gone by now."

"I couldn't think! It... I... He has no fucking right to move them, no fucking right to keep them. No right to... to lie to me all these years. That's my stuff, mine, that's who and what I am..." Lian leans forward, and his fingers clutch the table, digging into the thin wood, threatening to snap it. He's still in control, but just barely, and it's slipping.

"If you're going to break something, break that." Lex points to a vase in the corner, a pink and gilt rose-covered Victorian confection. Not all the objects that came with the castle fit Lex's own personal decorating scheme. Lian jumps up, grabs the vase, and clenches his fists. Ceramic shards and dust rain to the floor. He stomps on some of the shards, then begins pacing, tracking out the length of the room. Lex throws the fork to him, and he catches it, twisting it back and forth into pretzel shapes.

The twisting is hypnotic as Lex watches, Lian's energy coiled tightly inside him, vibrating through his noisy boot stomps, sliding out of his fingers to disarray the metal. Even that isn't the extent of his strength. He moves like a tiger, a whole streak of tigers, muscles sleek and shifting, hair falling into his eyes and then being brushed away. He's just like he always is, always has been.

Lex shakes his head. "I'm going to call him." Lian glares, but his pacing softens slightly, and Lex reaches behind himself to pick up his cell phone from the glass-topped desk.

Speed dial number two, and one ring, and his father's voice answering gruffly. "Lex."

"Dad. Hi. How are things?" Lex leans the chair back as far as it will go, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Everything's fine. How are matters proceeding at the plant?"

"Still churning out the crap." He can almost hear his father's frown in response to that. "You sure everything's okay there?"

"Why do you ask?" The frown is deeper in those words. Lian stops pacing, waiting, but he's still twisting the metal of the ex-fork.

"Lian dropped by. He seemed upset."

"He's in a bit of a state right now. Lex, be careful. He may not be very stable."

"He told me about his little episode of, ah, self-discovery last night."

There's a pause. It grows longer. The metal snaps in Lian's fingers, and he twists the two shortened pieces together.

Finally, Lex continues. "I'm so glad you explained all this to me years ago. So's he."

Lionel's voice is harsh. "I didn't think it would do you any good to know. I was waiting until you were ready before I told you." Lex doesn't answer that yet, his throat tightening. "Is he there right now?"

"Yes."

"Lian, I know you can hear me. You saw some of the files. You saw I'd been doing some experiments. I had thought, once you were old enough, once you'd graduated, you could help out with them."

Lian laughs. "As what, Dad? The researcher, or the subject?"

"As a researcher or a subject, Dad?" Lex repeats for his father's benefit.

"Do you really think I'd stretch my son out across a lab table to be dissected? Lian?"

Lian blinks softly. "No. But you should have told me the truth."

"He says no. And that you should have told him the truth." Lex is beginning to wish that he'd used the speakerphone on the landline. At least he doesn't have to relay both sides of the conversation.

"I wanted you to grow up... without that complication."

"I don't give a fuck what you wanted." Suddenly, Lex is pressing his hand right against his ear, and Lian is holding the phone, talking roughly into it. "I'm staying out here for a while. This place is... I can go to the local high school. Lex can show me around the plant. Something. Whatever. I'm just not going home yet." Then he glances down at Lex, eyes large and worried. Lex nods. Lian nods back. "...Yeah. Fine." He hands Lex the phone again.

"Lex?" his father asks.

"Yeah."

"Keep him out of trouble." There's a click, and then the sound of empty air. Lex flicks the phone closed and sets it down. He's not sure what his father's up to, and he's not even quite sure what he's feeling himself.

But there's Lian, and despite everything, Lian came to him, Lian talked to him, Lian thinks he'll know what to do. Lian trusts him, or believes in him, or some shit like that. Lian's standing right there, just inches away, looking down at him. Lex reaches up and rests a hand on his brother's elbow. "We'll figure it out."

Part Two

On Wednesday, October 4th, 1989, there is a meteor shower over Smallville, Kansas, USA, which kills thirty people and destroys eighteen houses, a gas station, a coffee shop, a creamed corn factory, the public library, and most of that year's crop. A number of livestock and vehicles also meet their demise on that blue-skied early fall afternoon. The local medical center is kept very busy treating the resultant injured crowds.

A rich businessman from out of town is present that day, along with his young son. The man is inspecting the perimeter of the creamed corn factory's grounds, planning to buy it and convert it into a fertilizer plant, and his son has run off to play in a field, when the meteors arrive. It's as if the heavens tumble down, screaming in their ruin, and with a screech and a bang a great cloud of dust rises up to replace the sky.

The man rushes over and eventually finds his son lying face down in the dirt, asthma inhaler and wispy hanks of brilliant red hair spread around him, pale skin exposed. Across the son's legs is a beam of wood, a teenaged boy's dead body lashed to it, his skin flayed away. The man freezes, trembling, seeing his son there so pale, until the boy's chest rises and falls with a shallow breath. The man freezes there, struck by rare uncertainty, until he hears a rustling in the flattened corn around them, and turns to see a naked boy, just a toddler, walking toward him. The child smiles, wide and bright, and reaches out a hand to run across the son's bare head. Then the child lifts the beam of wood, corpse and all, and tosses it away like a twig.

The man stares at the large meteorite on the ground where the child came from, starts to see the shine on its smooth surface, the wrought and sculpted wings flaring out from its sides. He leaves the child crouched there, gazing curiously at his son, and runs to the road. The factory lies across the gravel stretch and a wide field, a smoking ruin. Somewhere on the other side of that ruin is the man's helicopter and pilot, hopefully intact. A truck comes along the road then, a battered old pickup truck, carrying a farmer and his wife. The man sends them off to get his pilot, turning away offers of any other help, the woman's red hair mocking his son's.

As quickly as possible, the helicopter is buzzing back to Metropolis, carrying the man, his son, the child, the spaceship, and a very confused pilot. It sets down on the roof of one of the man's special research facilities, emptying out two of its occupants into the waiting hands of trusted scientists. The son bobs in and out of consciousness, and the next stop is the hospital, where he receives the best care money can buy.

A few weeks later the pilot, who is a recovering alcoholic, begins drinking again, and a few days later passes out drunk and drowns in the bathtub.

And a few weeks after that, a prop plane flying between the islands of Maui and Molokai in Hawaii crashes into the ocean, killing seven of the ten people on board. Among the dead are Becky and Dale Reid, both employees of LuthorCorp, Metropolis's largest company. Their three-year-old son Julian, left behind in Metropolis at the house of a friend and co-worker, is orphaned. Neither Becky nor Dale had any close living relatives, and so the friend petitions for custody of the child. During the hearings, an inspection of her house turns up illegal drugs. Even though she swears they aren't hers and says she has no idea how they got there, she is sentenced to ten years in jail.

In an act of kindness (which many of Metropolis' more cynical residents claim is solely for PR purposes), Lionel and Lillian Luthor, owners of LuthorCorp, say that they will allow Julian Charles Reid to live in their mansion until a suitable family can be found for him, in order to keep the son of their loyal and mourned employees out of the often callous foster care system. After a time, they announce that they have become so attached to the boy that they will adopt him themselves, giving him all the benefits that being a Luthor brings.

***

Lex knows something is going on. He's nine, and he's smart, and he's a Luthor, which means there's always something going on. But this time, the something is creeping around his entire life. There's been an almost complete turnover in the staff at the mansion, all the old servants gone, replaced with new ones. Charlotte, who used to give him chocolates, is missing, and Lewis, who used to carry him on his shoulders, hasn't been in all week. The new servants all look at Lex funny. Everyone looks at him funny, now, since he lost his hair. When he tells that to his father, Lionel just says that the phrase "look at me funny" isn't grammatically correct. When he tells it to his mother, she informs him that he shouldn't care about such things. She would know.

Lionel tells everyone that Lex is sick, and doctors have been examining him constantly, but Lex knows he isn't sick. He used to be, before. There were times he couldn't breathe, and he coughed a lot, and blew his nose almost constantly. Sometimes his chest would get so tight, like something inside was crushing him, and his muscles would itch underneath his skin where he couldn't scratch, but not any more. That doesn't happen now, not since the meteors.

Lex is used to doctors. Doctors always used to come for his mother. His mother is better now, though, and she laughs again. Lex doesn't mind his bald head so much, because it looks like his mother's did, before, when the treatment for her disease made her hair fall out. Now that Lex isn't sick, he's bald, and now that his mother isn't sick, her hair is grown back. Lex thinks it's poetic irony, thinks it's like the things he reads in books.

He realizes what it was all for when Julian arrives.

Julian is three, short and a little stocky, his face round, his hair dark and floppy. His eyes are big and very green, flecked with brown and grey and gold, and Lex knows this because Julian stares. Julian stares a lot, opening his eyes as wide as they can go, and it makes Lex stare back. Julian also smiles, his mouth stretching, his teeth flashing, and entire rooms seem to become lighter. The thing Julian doesn't do is talk. He only knows a few words, and he almost never uses them. Sometimes he throws in random sounds, seeming to babble at himself. The sounds aren't like any language Lex has ever heard of, and Lex has heard of a lot of languages. It's almost a year before Julian really starts talking, and when he does, he's immediately using complete sentences.

But it's only a few hours after he arrives that he does something even stranger.

He's spent the entire time just sitting in the middle of the family room, staring around him. Lillian and Lex sit there watching him, Lex fascinated by Julian's calmness. Lionel wanders in and out, traipsing back and forth from his office, and servants come in every once in a while to dust or bring refreshments. Then Julian crawls across the floor to one of the unoccupied sofas and picks it up. Lex jumps in his seat, stares even harder. The maid who's pouring tea at the moment almost spills it. Lillian grins.

Lionel walks in. "Put it down, Julian. Down." His voice is calm. He gestures, lowering his hand slowly. Julian smiles up at him, but his eyes are darker somehow, his brow furrowed slightly. He sets down the sofa. Lillian claps softly, laughing. Lex just blinks. The maid finishes pouring the tea and leaves. Sitting down next to his wife, Lionel nods to Lex. "Julian is very fascinating, Lex, but you have to be careful around him. He's still a baby; he can't always control himself. And I don't have to tell you that no one outside this house can become aware of this."

Lex nods back. He's annoyed that his father would tell him something he doesn't have to tell him, but Lionel does that sometimes.

***

The strange things continue. Julian is stronger than a bodybuilder, and he breaks a few pieces of furniture each month. He can move faster than anyone should, almost too fast to see. He's clumsy, and one night at dinner he draws a steak knife right across his fingers. He isn't cut at all. When Lex stabs him in the arm with his fork, he barely notices. Lillian reproves Lex for rough-housing at the table. Both of his parents take all of Julian's qualities in stride, and Lex knows he's being left out of something. It's a reasonably familiar feeling. He's been left out of the office, the bedroom, his mother's sickroom, all the things his parents tell him are for adults. But Julian isn't an adult, and Lex doesn't feel that a child should be a grown-up secret. He says nothing, though, because he can be as silent as everyone else.

Julian is even more ignorant than Lex, and furniture isn't all that's broken. Lex's arm snaps under Julian's fingers one day. After he returns from the hospital, Lillian points the cast on his arm out to Julian.

"You have to be more careful, Julian. You have to keep from hurting people. You caused Lex a lot of pain."

Julian looks at Lex, looks at Lillian. "Puh?"

"It's like when you're sad or upset, when you hurt emotionally. You hurt Lex physically, in the body rather than the mind. That's what it is. That's bad."

Julian reaches out toward Lex's cast, and Lex flinches back. Julian's motion stops, his hand hovering in the air. "Buh. Mmm?" He blinks, and his eyelashes are damp and shimmering. His arm drops to his side.

Bending down, Lillian hugs him, her dark hair sweeping across his. "It's okay. Just don't do it again. You have to be in control of yourself." Julian carefully snuggles in, pressing against her. "Like that, yes." She smiles. Straightening up, she leaves her hand on Julian's shoulder. "Apologize to your brother now."

Smiling shyly, Julian reaches out a hand to Lex again. Lex doesn't move.

"Lex. You can't be afraid. You have to get right back on the horse. And what's more, you have to learn to be gracious in both defeat and triumph."

"Which is this, then?" Lex asks.

"You have a supplicant in front of you."

Lex holds out his good arm and he and Julian shake hands.

A week later, Lex's arm has stopped hurting, and when the doctor does a follow-up examination, he declares the break already healed, shockingly fast.

Lex hasn't had an asthma attack in months, and his injury healed faster than anyone's should, and Julian is too strong, and doesn't get hurt. Maybe this should all seem strange, but even though he can't explain any of it, Lex thinks it sounds just about right. It makes him proud, the way seeing his father's name on billboards does, or the admiring exclamations of guests as his mother shows off the mansion. Guests and doctors can act as if it's something strange and special, but Lex knows that special is his normal due.

His father says the same thing when Lian (as he's calling himself) starts to talk and asks why he's different, and why he lives with them.

"You're special, Julian. No, you're not like other children. Neither is Lex. That's a good thing. You're here because we found you, and we wanted you, and you're special enough to be a Luthor."

Lex knows it's not quite that simple, there must be something more to it. But he understands from his father's tone and dodges that neither he nor Lian will be given the answer, and it's best not to ask in that case. He knows not to give up that much for no return.

Even if his parents won't explain why Lian is like this, Lex figures he can at least learn some of how his little brother works. Now that Lian can talk, they can look into it together. And so Lex pulls out all his equipment and sets up a series of experiments. He learns that Lian can feel textures and sensations against his skin, almost more sensitively than Lex can, able to distinguish between things like subtle weaves in cloth that all seem identical to Lex. He isn't ticklish. He's able to tell the difference between an ice cube and a flame, but neither hurts or discomfits him, and he can't quite explain to Lex how they feel to him. The closest he can come is that warmth is soft and cold is hard. The fire apparently feels good, like velvet, and the ice feels like something soapy and annoying. He's aware of pressure, but his skin can't be cut or bruised, and it doesn't seem to callus. His hair and fingernails can be cut, though. He still doesn't really understand the concept of physical pain, and keeps asking Lex to explain it again. Lex doesn't know how strong Lian is, exactly, but he was able to lift the largest loose object Lex could find, one of the limos, without feeling exerted. Lian has very good control now, keeping himself from crushing everything with his every move. Lex thinks his reflexes must always operate on a slightly sped up level somewhere deep inside.

Lian tells Lex that when he seems to move faster than normal, to him it's as if the rest of the world slows down, almost to stopping.

"Everything gets slow. People look like statues. But I don't go fast. Picking up my toys still takes just as long. But sometimes the clock doesn't move and the toys don't like to go with me as easily. I have to push them more. My clothes, too." His face is very serious as he says this, his little eyebrows scrunched up, as if it makes perfect sense to him how he behaves and it's the rest of the world, the toys and clothes, that's recalcitrant.

"So your thoughts speed up, and you perceive time as if it flowed at the same rate always? You don't feel fast?"

"No, I never run faster than a little bit. But other things go slow around me."

"So five minutes always feels like five minutes to you, or at least you can do the same amount of stuff in it, except five minutes of you-time isn't really five minutes because- It's not five minutes of clock-time." Lex frowns. "All my books say time is relative. Not that you're going at light speed, or anything, so is the change in perception a result of the speed, or the other way around? Never mind. I can't make anything else go along as fast as you to measure it." He throws up his hands. "I don't know how you do anything."

Their parents let them spend hours on these experiments, but they never really comment. Their tutor tries to get them to stop, but the man is made nervous by any reminder of Lian's abilities.

At first Lian seems able to speed up only if he's moving. But with Lex's help he learns to concentrate on it more and speed his thoughts up with only minor physical motions, such as tapping a finger against his leg while sitting still. That physical motion seems to switch his entire body over, and that switches his mind over. He doesn't actually need to blink, though he's learning to do it in order to look more normal, and he can hold his breath for quite a while. So long as he sits there and doesn't blink or breathe (because those would be visibly sped up), he just looks like a normal seated boy to Lex's observing eye, the blurrily tapping finger hidden away under the desk. But when he comes out of it, minutes will have passed in Lian-time for a few seconds in clock-time.

***

When Lex is ten, his parents tell him and Lian that there will soon be a new baby, another little brother, or a sister. Then his mother gets sick again, and spends all her time in her room, just like the time before, when he was very small, and almost never got to see her. Lex hears people talking in hushed voices, and the doctors come back. They come and they come, but nothing changes, and Lex understands enough to know that his mother refuses to undergo the chemotherapy that could save her life again, but would (most likely) kill her baby.

At night sometimes he can hear her pacing the halls, and her footsteps stop in front of his door. Her soft sobs just barely filter through the heavy wood, but he can hear them. Even in his dreams.

When she goes into labor she's rushed to the hospital, and Lex isn't allowed in to see her. A few days later she comes home. There's no baby, just a funeral, a little marble headstone in the corner of the Luthor family plot, the words Lucas Adrian Luthor carved there (it would have been Elizabeth Anne for a girl). They leave the baby there with Lex's grandparents, who were originally buried in paupers' graves, and moved to this plot only years later when LuthorCorp became a success and Lionel had the resources to purchase the space in St. Augustine's Cemetery, Metropolis' most valued real estate for the dead.

Lex doesn't hear his mother's footsteps or sobs in the night anymore. She stays in her room.

Two months later she dies. Lex pushes past the nurses who try to keep him out, runs to her side. She looks almost the same, pale and fragile despite the strong features of her face, but her hands lie still on her unmoving chest. He reaches out and feels the strands of her dark, fire-streaked hair run across his fingers, heavy and cool.

There's another funeral, another headstone, this one larger, carved with Lillian Alexandra Lucas Luthor. Lex's uncle Isaiah, a minister, officiates the ceremony. Lex stands by the hollow grave, staring down at the sleek wood of the casket. Across the hole his father stands, blinking back tears from the sharp spring wind. Lian presses his face into Lex's side, drool and snot staining Lex's dress shirt, crying like he doesn't understand why everyone else is so sad, or why there's dirt being thrown slowly into a hole. Lex rests his hands on Lian's shoulders, wishing his mother were there instead to care for him, thinking that though Lian may or may not remember it now, his baby brother's been through this before.

That afternoon, once they're back at the mansion, he goes into her room and curls up in her bed. The mattress is lumpy, and he pulls it up. Underneath are dozens of full medicine bottles. Lex looks at chemotherapy drugs, antidepressants, anti-nausea and anti-anxiety pills, painkillers and sleep aids and multivitamins and herbal supplements, all the unopened containers.

He doesn't know how long he stares at them, thinking, before his father walks in, still in his black suit, dark hair trailing to his shoulders, just the first streaks of grey at his temples.

Lex throws the pills at him, screaming. "She didn't take them. She didn't take any of them!"

Lionel strides over to him, grips his shoulder. "Lex. Dignity. This scene is unbecoming."

"Did you know?"

"Lillian was in a lot of pain, Lex, but her decisions were still her own. I..." Lionel stops. Lex can see his father's mouth tighten behind the mask of beard, and his eyes go cold. "I advise you to remember that fact. Your mother was a very brave woman, and you would do well to emulate her." He shakes his head. "However, don't fall prey to the same excessive sentimentality. Now pull yourself together." His father releases him, exits the room with a fast walk. Lex flings more pill bottles after his retreating back, and they bounce off the walls and furniture.

He flings until all the bottles are gone, and then the pillows and bedding as well. Then he curls up and cries, cries for the first time in years, the last time in even more years.

"Lex?" Lian's soft, rough child-voice pushes through Lex's tears. "Don't cry. I'm here." The bed dips and creaks as Lian pulls himself onto it, and Lex turns to look at him. Lian is holding an armful of pill bottles. He drops them as he settles into the new curve of torso made by Lex's turn. Lex reaches up to scrub at his eyes, batting away Lian's hand when he tries to help. Lian pulls in closer, then begins to hum, picking up two of the bottles and shaking them in a tuneless rhythm. Lex lets him, knowing that Lian can't tell what the pills mean. He's learning to read, but words like cyclophosphamide, prednisone, sertraline, and carmustine are beyond his comprehension. He can do a is for apple, b is for balloon, c is for cat. Then he wrinkles up his nose and says they need to get a cat, because there are apples and balloons in the mansion, but no cats. Lian doesn't like to be told about things he doesn't or can't have.

So Lian, blissfully innocent, shakes the pill bottles and vibrates against Lex's chest. Lex lies there for a long time, holding on to his brother.

***

After Lillian's death, Lionel pulls away from the Lucas family. It's not quite blatant enough to be rude, but Lex and Lian hardly ever see their other relatives. After a while, they stop caring about it.

On his way to school one day, thirteen-year-old Lex is the victim of an attempted kidnapping. Merely attempted, as the bodyguard in the limo manages to foil it. After that, Lex starts to take self-defense classes and learns how to use a gun. He doesn't want to only rely on other people, and he suddenly realizes why his father spends all that time at the shooting range. Lex has been learning fencing for a few years now, but that's not at all practical in the same way.

At fourteen, Lex gets in trouble at his prestigious private school when he's caught in the middle of losing his virginity in the lightbooth during lunch to a girl who's considered the class slut. He's suspended, but not grounded, and so he manages to finish the job with her a few days later.

He doesn't have much else to do while he's suspended. The next day he's reading in the garden, on a wrought iron bench in the shade of a tree, Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius, when Lian runs up to him with a ball held in his gangly hands and begs him to play. Lex throws the ball off across the lawn, still reading. Lian runs over and catches it, runs back, all in a second. Lex glances up. "Slower, Lian. I'm not throwing it again so soon over and over." Lian pouts, lower lip sticking out so far his chin trembles. "Or you can go bug someone else." Still pouting, Lian agrees. Lex throws the ball again. He thinks 'fetch,' but doesn't actually say it.

At fifteen, almost sixteen, Lex is taught how to drive by one of the chauffeurs, on his father's orders. He loves it. Afterward, he shows Lian how to do it, letting his ten-year-old brother sit on his lap and hold the steering wheel while Lex works the pedals, and they go up and down, around and around on the big driveway to the mansion, going over the lawns and then coming back around to pull up at the servant's entrance.

Metropolis has a thriving social scene, fueled not just by the industrial wealth, but also by the sizable publishing, fashion, art, and theater sectors. Lex tends to agree with one famous wit's quip that they're all the people who left New York City and sputtered out before making it to Los Angeles, but their efforts to prove themselves better than that are consistently entertaining.

Among the children of the wealthy and the powerful, or the beautiful and the sophisticated, people, a casual decadence reigns. They all want to experience as much as possible without necessarily attaching any importance to the details of it. Lex doesn't see anything wrong with this, as it's the only milieu he's ever known, but his father often does. Lionel has little appreciation for wasted time, even elegantly wasted time.

He doesn't make a deal out of it until Lex first runs into trouble with the law, though. The incident never reaches the public, however, so his annoyance is slightly mollified. A party Lex is attending, mostly with children from his school, is busted by the cops. The parents of the kids include the CEO of the Daily Planet, the editor-in-chief of the Inquisitor, the district attorney, the chief of police, the mayor, a local mob boss, and a senator from Wyoming. Because of that, the information never makes it further than the officers on scene. The party is actually at the house of a music label exec, and the call to the police is made by a rival label exec, trying to get him in trouble. Her plan backfires, though, as her daughter is one of the kids caught actually holding drugs at the time the police arrive.

Lex himself is nearing the end of the blowjob he's giving his friend Tyrone. Neither of them stops their what they're doing when the police charge in with a loud announcement, not until forced to. Tyrone comes all over Lex's shoulder just as Lex is hauled off and handcuffed, and Lex grins cruelly at the police officer who wipes him up with a corner of the sheet. Lex has a reputation for intensity and follow-through, as his meticulous lab reports, black-eyed antagonists, and satisfied sexual partners can all attest to, and he doesn't feel like sacrificing it for this sort of insignificant interruption.

Eventually he's picked up by his father, and they sit across from each other in the back of the limo, coldly staring.

"You're a very lucky young man," Lionel says, shaking his hair around his face. "You should be more cautious, though. Your name is one of your greatest assets, but it can become one of your greatest liabilities, and damage to it should never be risked lightly. Do what you have to, but keep it from the public. These activities, however, are not things you have to do."

"Which activities, exactly?" Lex leans back in the seat, stroking the leather mockingly.

His father frowns again. "You know which ones I mean. In your amusements, never forget what's truly important." Light glints off his wedding ring as he folds his hands.

"Looking good for business. Leaving a legacy. I know."

"Then remember where your loyalties lie."

He sits up straight, leans forward, eyebrows raised seriously. "Dad... I know how to not get in trouble."

"Don't, then. Don't disappoint me. I expect discretion and dignity, and I know you can live up to those expectations."

When he's eighteen, Lex is allowed to move into the penthouse in the LuthorCorp office tower and have it as his own apartment. He enjoys the freedom and responsibility of it, even though it's not entirely out of his father's jurisdiction.

Lex learns to cook for the same reason he learned to use a gun and likes to drive his own cars. He practices in the penthouse's shiny black and stainless steel kitchen, among the spare, straight lines of the modernist furnishings, the walls made completely of glass.

"Why, Lex?" Lian asks him one time, propping his chin in his elbows at the dining table, eyebrows creasing.

"It's pathetic to always have to rely on someone else for something so basic. That's weakness."

"But you'll never need to do it. There will always be cooks, and restaurants, and take-out, and-"

Lex cuts in before his little brother can think of more items for the list. "What about in the post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear war?"

Frowning, even at the joke, Lian runs a hand along a lighter vein in the marble tabletop. "I think we'd be eating wild berries and insects then, not using electric stoves."

"Point. But still. It's the principle of the thing." He smirks. "It also impresses your date."

"I guess that's true. I saw that in a movie recently." Lian nods emphatically. Lex's smirk changes to a grin, and he turns away again so Lian can't see. His brother comes almost up to his shoulder now, but he still looks like a little kid, and Lex knows he doesn't really understand the concept of a date yet, anyway. "So what are you making?"

"All your favorites. Split pea soup, corn on the cob, apple pie..."

Lian's eyes widen in horror. "You're not. You aren't making those. Say you aren't." His tone is demanding.

Smirking again, Lex shakes his head. "Okay. Garlic bread, linguine with al fredo sauce, salad..."

"No peas?" Lian still looks sulky.

Lex gestures at the pile of ingredients on the counter. "Do you see any here?"

***

Lian's smart, he can think very quickly, calculate and figure. He has an amazing talent for memorization. But he doesn't enjoy thinking for its own sake, analysis and introspection, the way Lex does. They've always liked to blow stuff up together, though, with their science lab sets, Lex giving instructions on what to mix and Lian throwing stuff around and pouring, both laughing at the results. Lian gets bored easily in school, he hates sitting still for too long, needs something to do. He doodles and scribbles all over his papers, meaningless symbols and odd designs. He takes to making little sculptures, then bigger ones, carving wood with a knife and bending metals and plastics with his bare hands, creating abstract shapes. He generally doesn't keep them, but ends up taking them apart after a while and reusing the materials. Lex still has one that Lian gave him as a birthday present once. There are also two on display in the mansion's library, next to the case with all of Lex and Lian's various awards.

Like Lex, Lian is younger than the other kids in his grade. He was kept at home for lessons until he was ten, then he started sixth grade. The summer that he's thirteen he has a growth spurt, shooting up a foot in height. His body fills out with muscles, and the last of the baby fat melts away from his face, leaving him with a wide jaw and sculpted cheekbones. He no longer looks like the youngest kid in his class, the age gap melting away. If anything, he looks like one of the older students.

This does lead to a few interesting conversations when he comes to Lex with questions on what to do.

Lex sighs. "Much as it pains me to admit ignorance in anything, I don't think I'm the right person to ask about this. You should talk to Dad or someone." Lex himself had never developed any new hair at puberty.

"But he has a beard."

"He still knows more about shaving than I do." Lex reaches out and runs his fingertips along his brother's chin, feeling the light hairs he can see there. He would swear those weren't present last week, not a sign of them.

"It's embarrassing."

He shrugs. "Then ask anyone else. But, Lian... Don't grow a beard."

The normal changes aren't all Lian goes through, however. He also develops incredibly sensitive hearing and the ability to see through solid objects like an x-ray, and begins to set things on fire by looking at them. It takes a fair amount of time and property damage for him to gain control over these new abilities, but he eventually succeeds, with his family's help.

Lex is nineteen then, in his third and final year at Metropolis University by that point, majoring in biochemistry with a minor in political science. He's working part-time in the LuthorCorp human resources department, learning about the structure of the company, the details of all the positions, how to grease the wheels of personnel. In his spare time he contributes to the MetU social scene by mixing up drugs in the campus labs.

After Lian's new abilities show up, Lex does something he's put off for ten years, and actually asks his father about them. Lionel refuses to explain anything, telling him not to worry about it. Lex doesn't push the point, but he's furious. He doesn't know how Lian works, he doesn't even know how he himself works, and his dad has never let him find out. It's one of the few rules Lex hasn't tried to break (the others involve the press, police, and business rivals). He could take samples to the lab at school so easily... However, he knows that if he did find anything out, the consequences would have to change everything. He doesn't look into it further. He also doesn't tell Lian about the conversation.

Now that Lian's in high school, he starts spending weekends over at the penthouse with Lex, often inviting his friends. He scowls whenever Lex refuses so that he can have his own friends over instead, such as Janet.

Janet's this woman Lex has been sleeping with. He knows Lian can hear them, knows Lian's probably watching through the walls from the way he grins in the morning, but he's still not expecting to see this when he walks in the door. Not expecting to see his little brother stretched out on the couch, Janet splayed over him, her breasts bouncing as she rises and falls. Certainly not expecting the perky wave she gives him, the pleased, "Hi, Lex!" Not expecting Lian's head to loll sideways as he smiles at Lex, slow and sharp like a shark's tooth as his hips thrust upwards.

Lex stays outwardly calm as he nods back, dropping his jacket over a chair and walking across the room to the liquor collection he isn't supposed to have. He pours himself a glass of scotch and escapes into his bedroom. He drains the scotch and finds himself staring into the mirror as he loosens his tie.

He examines his own reflection. He used to be gawky and awkward when he first hit puberty, but he's moved past that. He doesn't exactly like the way he looks; his nose is a bit too round, and his upper lip is scarred in the center, and he's still bald and practically hairless, with an odd bump on the back of his head. He's gotten used to it, though. There are still people who consider the bald thing strange and unattractive, and there are others who find it interesting and exciting.

But Lex has learned to deal with what he can't change by focusing on what he can control. He's learned to modulate his walk, his posture and gestures, his vocal inflection. He's learned to look confident no matter what, sound sleek and firm, get people to focus on his eyes. He's come to believe that his features are well enough shaped to pull off being bald. He's learned to work out and keep up his physique, dress to impress.

He'll never be like Lian, though. Lian's tall (taller than Lex, still strange to have to look up at him) and buff, and his tan and muscles don't seem to need maintenance. Lex knows Lian would have to bench-press a house to get any kind of exertion; he can't achieve results by going to the gym. But still, no matter what he does or doesn't do, he stays built. He has that long, mildly curling brown hair, soft and shiny, full of highlights. His eyelashes are incredibly long and thick, framing his hazel-green eyes, and his cheekbones are sharp enough to cut yourself on. His face is the definition of beautiful, with full lips and a classical nose, and his smile can light up a room. His skin's never come within a mile of having a blemish. Lian is every cliché from every glowing description by every poet or makeup advertisement.

It doesn't seem like Lex could be any competition against that. He wanders back through the central living area to get himself another scotch, and some food, and to make sure that no one's burning down the furniture or ripping anyone to shreds accidentally. They've turned over so that Lian's on top now, and Janet is mumbling about chlorophyll and ATP, the way she always does when the sex is really good. Both of them ignore Lex this time. He pulls a pre-made sandwich out of the refrigerator, pours more scotch, sniffs for smoke, and goes back to his room.

After that, Lian disappears until the next morning. Lex sees him finally, then, rooting through the refrigerator as Lex pads out into the main area at the center of the penthouse. Lian ignores him until Lex walks right up behind him, leans into his personal space, whispers in his ear. "Good morning."

Lian turns around then, bottle of orange juice in hand, as Lex steps back. "Hey."

"Mm. So. That your first time?" There's no verbal response, but Lian nods as he pulls two glasses out of the cupboard. Lex leans back against the opposite counter. "Much other experience?"

"Lisa Parnell gave me a blowjob in the back of Derrick's car."

Lex smiles. "While it was moving or stationary?"

"Moving." Lian glances back over his shoulder for a second, then returns to pouring juice.

"How many other people were there at the time?"

"Three. She blew Derrick and Carlson, too."

Lex has to laugh. The social life of Metropolis' over-resourced youth never changes. "Hopefully not while Derrick was driving."

"Naw, he let Carlson take the wheel for a while." Lian hands Lex a glass, then winks over the rim as he takes a sip of his orange juice. "I got to touch Rebecca Winthrop-Pyle's breasts, too."

Lex cocks an eyebrow. "Susannah's little sister? Are they as nice-looking as hers?"

"Better."

"Congratulations." Lex raises his glass in a toast, then drains half of it. "If you ever have any questions about anything, you know you can ask me."

"...Are you mad at me?" Lian sounds nervous now.

"I was. But I'm not anymore." He notices Lian relax back against the counter, his fingers loosening slightly on his glass. "Just one thing, Lian."

"Yeah?"

"You have your own bedroom for a reason. Use it."

Lian just smirks at that.

***

When Lian's fifteen, he gets the same speech about discretion and consequences Lex got, only his is because he's gone on a spree of using his special abilities to break into LuthorCorp's research facilities, playing a game against their father's security systems. He's also knocked over a few ATMs and stolen a couple thousand dollars, not that he really needs the money for anything. Lionel doesn't take him up on his offer to break into the competitors' offices, although he's been using Lian to spy on them at parties and social functions for years now. Lian complains about that, saying he just wants to help more, and Lex tells him to leave it alone for the time being.

It's Lex who gets chewed out for Lian's drug and sex escapades, Lionel claiming that he's been a bad influence on his younger brother. Lex just laughs at him for that.

"I hardly think Lian's sleeping with guys just because he wants to emulate me. That's not quite enough incentive for such things. And don't worry about drugs. I've had to listen to far too many of his annoyed rants on how none of them affect him. You know, the ones where he stomps around and waves his arms too much."

Lionel taps his fingers together over his desk. "I know that. If I thought there were any chance of him losing control in public, I would put an immediate stop to all of it."

"So what's the harm of letting him get in good with a few other teenagers?"

"That's exactly the kind of attitude you always take, Lex, and you shouldn't. You don't just care what people think of you, you care what people feel. Reputation is important, but aimless socialization isn't. You and your brother both spend too much energy on frivolity, and I hate to see that time and effort wasted."

"Yet you give Lian free range with his time, and then complain about how he chooses to use it. If you don't like what he does, give him direction. I've always known what you expect of me, contradictory though it sometimes is, and you've always had something for me to do. What plans do you have for him?" This is treading near dangerous ground, Lex knows, but he wasn't the one to start this conversation, and he won't take the blame for it all. If Lionel wants to call Lex into the office and talk to him, then his father can deal with what's said.

"It's not your place to ask that." There's not a frown, exactly, just a tightening around his father's mouth as he considers something, his eyes drifting sideways.

"Then it's also not my place to enforce discipline for my brother. Whatever influence on him you think I had, it's had its effect already. If you want there to be rules, you lay them down."

Lionel stares at him for a long moment. Lex is fairly sure this is one of the times when his defiance is being respected, approved of as a sign of strength. It's always unpredictable. Finally his father waves a hand at him dismissively. "That I will. I regret to say that I have to terminate this conversation now, but I have another meeting."

Lex bows out quietly. He doesn't want to continue the conversation either.

He comes home that night to another of Lian's little parties. Two kids are playing some video game on the giant television wall screen, a game that seems to involve zagging through an endless, multi-colored tunnel while pounding techno music plays. Lian's sitting on the pushed-out couch bed with four other kids, all kissing and rubbing up against each other dreamily.

Lex walks over and runs his fingers through Lian's hair, pulling his brother's face up. Lian purrs and presses his cheek into Lex's palm. It's a put-on, all for show; Lian's never met a drug yet that wasn't defeated by his metabolism, but he can fake it.

"Dad's on a lecture rampage again. Watch out for him." Lian's eyes are sharp and bright, staring up at him. "I have a conference call tomorrow morning, so I want everyone gone by 8. You and I can talk after that." One girl slides her hand over Lian's head and onto Lex's arm, and he gently unpeels her grasp. She turns back to the rest of the kids and their tangled limbs. "And don't stain the carpet." Lian nods, smiling. Lex ruffles his hair one more time and then leaves.

As he's rounding the corner, he hears one of the kids mumble, "Your brother's so hot," the last word drawn out and breathy, and Lian chuckles.

The conference call lasts from 8:30 to 10:30 am, Lex speaking to the managers of the German office in a mish-mash of English, German, and French, the desk chair in his bedroom becoming less comfortable with each passing hour. The penthouse was originally mostly built for show, not actual use, and there aren't enough rooms for Lex to have a separate office there. After the call wraps up he stretches out perpendicular across his bed, leaning up against the wall, staring out the tall windows at the familiar Metropolis skyline. The Daily Planet (second-tallest building in the city) is on the other side of the LuthorCorp building, and so from this angle he can see out over the glinting glass and steel skyscrapers of the financial district to the river, wending its way through downtown, with the red and yellow lines of the railroad museum on the other side adding vibrant contrast.

There's a soft knock, and the door opens after Lex's nod. Lian slips in, hair utterly tousled, dressed in a pair of black silk pajamas. He tosses Lex an apple as he drops himself onto the bed, leaning against Lex's pillows, crossing his feet on Lex's lap. Lex catches the apple with a slight fumble.

"I just got up, and you sounded pissed. Bad call?"

"EU regulations. They make some things simpler, and others more difficult, and they still haven't finished altering the damn things every month." He rubs the apple against his shirt, smoothing its green skin, then bites in. They sit in silence until Lex has eaten almost half the apple, and Lian speaks.

"So what's Dad lecturing about now?"

"How my bad example led you to a life of drug-fueled homosexual orgies, or something. I told him not to blame me."

Lian laughs. "He should blame Jake. That guy keeps pushing every substance under the sun at me."

"You could always say no. Why do you do so much, considering?"

A shrug, and then Lian crosses his arms behind his head. "What else would I do with my time? Study?"

Lex snorts. "That takes you five minutes, clock-time. You don't need to always do it all in you-time, though."

"I know. But then I'd have to tell the truth on Mr. Johnson's assignments, where he always asks for time spent working. And stop cheating on my tests."

"Twice as long as everyone else to think, and still finishing first always. Good show. But then, you cheat at breathing sometimes, too." Lex knows that Lian also likes the privacy and lack of distractions in his sped-up state. It makes it easier for him to think.

"Breathing is overrated."

Lex fiddles with the hem of Lian's pajamas, twisting the silk across his fingers, and finishes his apple. He tosses the core toward the wastebasket, but it goes a bit astray, and Lian reaches out, catches it, drops it down into the goal, then wipes his hand on Lex's sheet. Lex scowls, but only a little. "How are things with Karen?"

"We're not seeing each other anymore. She got even more feminist, decided all heterosexual sex is rape. Something about men having violently active sex drives that require invading someone else's body." Lian grimaces, one corner of his mouth pulling up.

"I see. So she's gone lesbian?"

"No, just... crazy. I asked her what it meant if two men were having sex, and she said they would basically be raping each other."

"You're probably better off staying away from anyone whose logic is that non-rigorous."

"That's what I decided. How's business?"

"Dad still wants to acquire Channing's Market."

"Despite their low profits? They sell all our products anyway, we don't need to take on the burden of paying their exorbitant overhead, and it's not a key distribution loss if they go under."

Sighing, Lex shakes his head. "That's what I've been telling him. I think there must be some personal component to it that I'm missing. I don't remember Channing ever insulting Dad or anything. And meanwhile he's lecturing me about priorities and planning and not letting things get personal."

"Easier said than done, huh?"

"And easier to notice the speck in someone else's eye than the log in your own. See, I can practice hypocrisy too."

"Always easy to find something to dis dear old Dad for."

"Still, profits last quarter were higher than expected, and this quarter looks to be the same so far."

"Good. Maybe I'll get my car."

Laughing, Lex lightly smacks Lian's ankle. "First things first, huh?"

Lian smiles, eyes crinkling, teeth flashing like the sun coming out from behind clouds for the first time in the day, then it fades away and he bites his lip. "Hey, you've got yours. You don't know what it's like to watch you get everything first."

Lex stares at him. "Says the boy who gets things I never will have. So remember that next time you come complaining to me after some sober partying."

"I wasn't..."

"And it's not my fault if Dad decides to give you a curfew or something. I had one. He looked like he was considering it, last night."

"Aw, fuck." Lian's starting to knead Lex's pillow. Lex stares pointedly at his fingers, and Lian switches to fidgeting with one of his buttons. "Really?"

Lex relents, a little. "He probably won't."

"You wouldn't- actually- make me- would you?"

It's too enjoyable seeing Lian squirm to relent all the way, though. "I'd have to, right? I'm responsible and good."

"Very responsible and good. So good that you just know everyone else is equally responsible, and-" Lian's babbling, words spilling out too quickly.

"Just think, I could actually have my apartment to myself on weekends." He stares dreamily at the far wall as he says this, as if speaking to himself.

Lian scrambles up, kneeling beside him on the bed, clutching Lex's hand. "Lex, please! You wouldn't!"

Lowering his pitch, Lex mimics their father. "Well, I would obviously have to weigh all the possible costs and benefits of each option, and decide on a long-term investment strategy that was tailored to my ultimate goals. One wouldn't want to allow short-term concerns to overcome-"

"You suck." Lian shakes looses and retreats to the other end of the bed, frowning. "Just wait 'til you see what Jake did to the cushions."

"Lian, I've already been through the living room. No one did anything to it." Calm is the best defense to Lian's silly efforts at retaliation. Pouting even harder, Lian curls up among the pillows. Lex wonders how his brother can still sometimes seem so much like a child, given how he looks and talks, and shakes his head. "I'll tell Dad that he should get you the car."

Lian smiles again. "Hey, need anything broken into?"

"No thanks, not right now. But you're top of my list if I ever do."

"Good."

***

When Lex receives his MBA at twenty-one and starts working for LuthorCorp full-time, he begins to wear suits much more frequently. He stops using any illegal or uncodified drugs, replacing them solely with expensive liquor. He wants to seem like a responsible and sophisticated adult. He wants to impress his father. He wants to prove himself.

He spends months negotiating with the Matsugae family to form a joint partnership between their company and LuthorCorp, to help LuthorCorp's expansion into Japan and the rest of Asia. He plans on going to Japan and staying there for half a year, overseeing the new offices. It's what everyone expects.

He's very surprised and not a little confused when his father informs him that he's instead going to be sent to Smallville, to manage the fertilizer plant there. Lionel has a home in Smallville, a castle that he had shipped over from Scotland and reassembled, but they've never spent any time there. Lex has only vague and unpleasant memories of his one previous visit to the town, and has never understood the location or the lack of use of the strange castle. He's not particularly pleased with the sudden assignment, but he goes.

Over the next two weeks, he settles into his new role fairly well. And that's when Lian comes storming through his door and everything changes.