Where Loyalties Lie

by Christie
http://number14.org/precious


"We're fifteen minutes from landing, Mrs. Luthor."

Lana nodded absently at the voice that crackled over the loudspeaker of the twin-engine Learjet. She ran her finger around the rim of her wine glass, unsure as to whether or not it would be prudent to fill it up again. The glass she'd just finished had settled in her belly not as comfortably as she'd hoped it would. Another could make it a lot worse, or a lot better. Trips to Metropolis made her edgy, and wine was supposed to take the edge off. This time, it didn't seem to be working.

Even though they kept a penthouse there, Lana never felt comfortable in Metropolis. It wasn't the apartment itself; that was beautiful and sophisticated and everything she'd become used to. It was the city, which managed to be huge and oppressive at the same time. She stayed there as little as possible, so little in fact that she resented any reason she'd be forced to return. Business functions during which her husband required her attendance were the usual culprit, and she noticed that on those nights, they never made love, barely spoke because every nerve-ending in her body was coiled.

Her relationship with her husband was different in Metropolis. It was strained at best and Lana didn't like it. She lived most of her time at their beach house in Santa Monica. She'd never figured herself to be a California girl, but fell in love with the privacy their bluffed property afforded and the sound of the ocean when she woke up in the morning.

Lex was there whenever he could be. And when Lex was there, they were almost normal.

The reason for this trip to Metropolis, however, did not lie on her husband's shoulders. It was a cryptic note, delivered by messenger to the beach house. It said simply, 'Alexander's Caf, 8 p.m. Tuesday.' It was signed CK.

Lana had put the note on the table and let it sit there for two days. Every morning as she drank her coffee, she wondered. Every morning she decided the same thing.

On Tuesday she arranged to fly into Metropolis on a chartered plane. As it began its gradual descent from the sky, Lana avoided looking out the window at the sparkling cityscape, all dark glass and white lights twinkling, masquerading as a magical place. Liar, Lana thought bitterly. There was nothing magical about Metropolis for her anymore, nothing that would keep her from ever going back if it wasn't for Lex.

Smooth touch down on a small landing pad just to the north of Metropolis International, and Lana was glad she hadn't refilled her wine glass. She set it on the bar and stood, smoothing her skirt. An attendant was at her side the moment she stepped outside.

"Would you like me to inform Mr. Luthor you've arrived?" he asked.

Lana eyed the sleek black limo that skirted down the runway toward them.

"No," she said, shaking her head. She questioned whether or not she should have requested a car that was smaller, less...Luthor-like. It wasn't too late, she supposed, to tell them to come back with something more subtle. It was never too late for a Luthor to change their mind. But she lifted her chin and smiled resolutely when the car stopped in front of her.

The attendant opened the door, and as Lana climbed inside she remembered to say "thank you."

Little niceties left you after a while. Lana realized this long ago and made a pact with herself never to lose humility. It was difficult, almost impossible when there were people around twenty-four hours a day catering to your every need. But she tried, and damned if she didn't do a better job than most of Lex's colleagues and their wives.

Once settled into the limo, she told the driver "Alexander's Caf," surprised the words even spilled from her throat. What good, she thought, could come of meeting with Clark Kent? What could he possibly want to say to her, and what did she have to say back? Clark was the past. Someone she had loved once; someone she'd thought she'd love always.

But things didn't always work out the way she thought they would. Truthfully, things pretty much never worked out the way she'd expected. Lana had come to depend on a certain tumult in her life. It was what kept each day from blending seamlessly into the next. She'd decided at some point that this was a better way to live; perhaps around the time she'd agreed to marry Lex Luthor.

Clark was there when she entered, sitting at a small, private table in the back, looking just as earnest and unaffected as when she'd last seen him. As Clark Kent, at least. She'd seen him plenty as Superman, every time unable to keep feelings of betrayal and wonder from bubbling to the surface.

Years of practice kept her head high as she crossed the room, feeling eyes follow as she passed; a revelation she was unable to ignore no matter how many times it happened. She smiled at Clark and accepted his hug, simply because it was the right thing to do. She felt nothing as she touched him, nothing remotely resembling the warm squishies and flighty butterflies she used to feel whenever he was around.

"Lana, I need to talk to you about something."

He had no pretenses, wasted no time waiting for pleasantries to be exchanged. It was unexpected, to say the least, but welcome. Living with Lex for the last 8 years had changed Lana in ways she would have hardly imagined. She had no tolerance for affectation, no patience for incompetence.

"What is it, Clark?" Lana made no attempt to hide her curiosity. Her life was so far from Smallville, so far from Clark Kent, she wondered what he could possibly have to say that would interest her.

"Lex," Clark said, dropping his voice to a low tenor.

And her heart jumped. Straight into her throat so quickly that she nearly choked on a breath. Lana curled her purse strap around her finger; she still hadn't bothered to take it off since she'd sat down, and stumbled over words she was afraid to say.

"Is he...?"

It was stupid. How would Clark know of anything that had happened to Lex before Lana did? Rationally, she should know this. She was Lex's wife. Clark was...Superman. Lana swallowed with difficulty and waited for Clark to speak.

"Oh, nothing's happened to him," Clark said, finally realizing the gravity of Lana's reaction. He smiled half-heartedly, and Lana wanted to smack it off of him for making her worry. She shifted, now slipping her purse from her shoulder and cradling it in her lap. She had no intention of ordering anything, no intention of making this a friendly chat over dinner. As soon as Clark had said what he had to say, she fully intended to get into the limo, back to the airstrip, and onto the plane. She'd be in her own bed in Santa Monica before midnight.

That was the plan.

"I'm wondering -- do you know what -- "

Clark stumbled over words, so much like the Clark Lana used to know that she, for a second, thought she was back in Smallville, back at the Talon, waiting patiently for him to get his words out. She'd lost that patience somewhere over the last decade, and now shifted with irritation.

"What about Lex, Clark?"

They hadn't spoken since she and Lex married. They hadn't really spoken before that, so it wasn't like she owed Clark any explanation. She'd found out about Clark's abilities not from Clark himself, but from Pete. And against any rational fiber she had in her body, Lana had gone straight to Lex. It was that night their relationship begun, and two years later they had been married.

Lana often wondered how things would have been different. If Clark wasn't Superman, would she and Lex have ever seen each other again once their partnership at the Talon disintegrated? She guessed not. She wanted to think so, but realistically, she guessed not. Still, it didn't bode well to dwell on thoughts like these. Lana loved Lex, and she knew without any doubt, that Lex loved her. It may not have started out as love, but that's what it had grown into.

Neither she nor Lex ever said it, but their relationship started out as a big 'fuck you' to Clark. That thought, as Lana sat across from him, nearly made her laugh out loud.

"What do you know about his business?" Clark finally said, reaching out to take a sip of his water. "The experiments, the meteor rocks...?"

He let his last sentence hang between them and Lana raised an eyebrow. She could almost see it floating there, glowing green just like those damn rocks. She shrugged. The answer was that she didn't know and frankly, didn't care. She sponsored a youth center in the Los Angeles area for children who have lost their parents. She volunteered and raised funds for LexCorp charities around the world. That was what she did. Anything else was Lex's business.

"I don't know, Clark," she finally said, not bothering to hide the impatience in her voice. "Why?"

Again, Clark shifted nervously. Lana wanted to ask him why he was doing this if it was so damn difficult to get the questions out. What the hell did he really want to know and why did he think he could get any information from her? After all the years of deceit, why, Lana wondered, did Clark think she would tell him anything; especially about her husband?

"A reporter friend of mine is doing an expose on Lex and his interest in the meteor rocks. She says he's been researching them since he got to Smallville. The information that he's gained surpasses any other research on the meteor shower tenfold."

Lana shrugged. "Good for him," she said dryly. "What does this have to do with me, or you for that matter?"

It was a stupid question, Lana realized before it was fully out of her mouth. From the little Pete had told her, Clark was the reason for that meteor shower, or at least, that's when he...arrived. She shifted a little in her seat. The whole thing made her uncomfortable. Even though she'd witnessed just as everyone else had what Superman was capable of, it was hard to equate that guy with the guy sitting across from her, the guy she'd spent most of her high school years alternately rejecting and pining over.

"I need to know why," Clark was saying. "Lex says he has no concerns with me, yet he's been researching me, and my past, for almost 15 years. He knows more about me than I know about myself. I need to know why. If he talks to you about it..."

Lana shook her head quickly. "He doesn't. You should know that, Clark. He doesn't talk to me about it and I don't ask."

Clark's mouth set itself into a grim line. Lana sighed, and shooed the waiter away as he hesitantly approached their table again.

"Aren't I the reason you two got together?" Clark shot out, more anger bubbling to the surface than Lana had seen in all the time she'd known him. "Wasn't it you telling him my secret that started..." he paused. "Things?"

Lana's eyes flashed. "Things between myself and Lex are none of your business," she said evenly. "Things between myself and Lex are not based around you, Clark."

At this, he was silent. Lana bit her lip. She took a breath and willed herself calm. "If you want me to tell you he doesn't have any ill intentions, I can't," she said quietly. "If you want me to tell you that Lex would never do anything to hurt you, I can't. If you want me to tell Lex to lay off, I won't. If you want me to demand that Lex hand over all of his research findings to you, well, that's not going to happen."

Clark's mouth opened, and a puff of breath came out but nothing else. Lana watched his eyes go from annoyed to desperate and back to resigned. "I thought you would be willing to help me," he said.

Lana let this sit between them for a moment. She'd like to believe that she would be. She'd like to think she's the same girl she was in Smallville, and that she'd do anything for Clark, a man she once considered one of her best friends. But she wasn't that girl anymore. She'd grown into a totally different woman. A woman more strong, but less idealistic. A woman more confident, but less friendly. A woman who realized that the world wasn't always black and white, that people weren't always inherently good or inherently bad, a woman who stood by her convictions but refused to wear rose-colored glasses.

A woman, Lex had told her when he proposed, destined to become a Luthor.

Lana did what she could. Grieving children were her passion, and Lex's life enabled her to help in a capacity beyond her wildest dreams. This was her life now, and Clark's forlorn, puppy dog eyes weren't going to change that.

She leaned forward, and deliberately kept her voice down. "I'm Lex's wife," she said forcefully. "I will not do anything to jeopardize the trust in our relationship to help you. Or anyone."

Clark sat back, clearly surprised at her admonition. "You trust him?" he asked, a hint of amusement coming through his tone.

Lana felt her neck heat. She gripped her purse tighter. "I trust him a hell of a lot more than I trust you," she said coldly.

At this, Clark laughed. "Lex probably tells you more lies on a daily basis than I ever told you in all the years I've known you. All I'm asking you to do is get some information for me. It could keep people from getting hurt. It could keep me from getting hurt."

Now it was Lana's turn to sit back in her chair.

"What about me?" she asked dryly. "Will 'getting information' from my husband keep me from getting hurt?"

Clark only raised his eyebrow a fraction. Lana sighed. She hated when something or someone made her question her husband. She hated feeling traitorous, and doubtful, and afraid. Sometimes she was, but she hated it all the same.

"I don't have to justify my relationship with Lex to you," Lana said finally, annoyed that she'd even spent what little time she had justifying it to herself. "Pick up a newspaper and skip past that large picture of you on the cover. Read about all of the good things I've done since marrying Lex, how much money I've put back into the community, and then tell me that I have any obligation to help you because my husband is the big bad wolf."

She started to stand; thinking now was as good a time as any to get the hell out of Metropolis. Things like this always happened in Metropolis. Lana thought the city just gave off a bad vibe. She'd never understood it, but she'd never liked it. She wanted to get home to the ocean, where she was comfortable.

Clark held a hand out, gripping her wrist lightly. Lana had to choose, now. Be allowed to leave the restaurant and run back to the beach house to hide under the covers, or avoid a scene and sit back down.

What she wanted to do and what she had to do were two different things. A scene would mean reporters, and reporters meant the papers, and the papers meant a big, color picture of Lana Luthor and Clark Kent also known as Superman having dinner together at a cozy back table at Alexander's.

She sat back down. Clark was quiet for a moment, and Lana took a breath.

"Do you really think Lex is going to use the findings on the meteor shower to hurt you?"

Clark see-sawed his head side to side. "It's a possibility. His world would run a lot more smoothly if I weren't in it."

He probably meant to be facetious, but Lana knew this was the truth, and she didn't smile.

"And meteor rocks...they can hurt you?"

Clark didn't answer. He didn't flinch. He did a pretty damn good impression of Lex when he simply had nothing to say on the subject. Lana eyed him for a long while, wondering if he'd break. He didn't and she pushed her hair off of her shoulder. "You're Superman," she said finally. "You should be able to figure this out on your own."

At Clark's small smile, she offered one of her own. "We're not friends," she continued, turning completely serious again. "I made a commitment to Lex a long time ago, and that meant letting you go. I knew that then, and I chose it. So I don't want any more notes at my house requesting meetings, okay?"

Clark semi-nodded. He still looked confused, still a little hopeful. Lana looked around the restaurant. Lex had taught her to assess a room in five seconds flat, and she did just that. People were eating and having conversation, but every single one of them was well aware of who each of them were at the back table.

"I'll talk to Lex, since he's going to find out about this meeting anyway," Lana finally continued, holding up a hand at Clark's triumphant smile. "I'll ask him what he has, and what he's planning to do with it. He won't tell me, but I'll ask him."

Still, Clark was smiling. "Thanks, Lana."

She shook her head. "He's not going to give everything over to you."

Clark shrugged, and back was the optimistic boy from Smallville. "You never know. He might offer me something. Maybe we can strike a deal."

At this, Lana had to smile, too. If there was something her husband did most, it was make deals. Perhaps he and Clark could find mutual benefits in this whole thing. She didn't know, and honestly wanted to be back to not caring. She stood, this time casually, and squeezed his hand to let him know he didn't need to get up as well. "Good luck," she said simply, and walked away without looking back.


The very last thing Lana wanted to do was ask Lex about Clark Kent. The very last thing Lana wanted to do was admit she'd met him in Metropolis, and admit she now knew about the meteor research. She could look forward to a fight with her husband, one that would probably last the entire weekend he was supposed to spend at the beach house. The only weekend he was supposed to spend at the beach house in the foreseeable future.

So she waited until Sunday afternoon to bring it up. It was selfish, but she wanted him to herself. She wanted to drink coffee and read the paper on the porch in the morning with Lex at her side. She wanted to spend lazy afternoons in bed, and have candlelight dinners on the deck at sunset. She wanted to see him smile, to see him relaxed. It was the only environment in which he truly seemed himself, when he actually seemed happy.

Sure, he received the occasional urgent call. The kind that not even his tough-as-nails secretary could hold for him. They were usually from his father, and Lex usually ended up yelling a lot then slamming down the phone. But these bumps in an otherwise smooth weekend were easily fixed. Just a little kissing here, a little touching there, and Lana had her husband back, completely.

Until Sunday afternoon, when it was beginning to get too late to even call it afternoon. Lana looked at Lex as he sat on the deck, light cotton shirt draped over his shoulders but left unbuttoned, black trunks still on from their swim in the ocean a few hours earlier. His legs were crossed at the ankle and he was flipping idly through the paper. Not the business pages, but commentary. He was the picture of relaxation.

Lana bit her lip. She approached and set a glass of scotch down in front of him. At the beach house he drank it watered-down, on the rocks with a twist of lime. It was the only place she knew of that he didn't take his liquor straight. He smiled at her but it faltered quickly, and she knew she must look as apprehensive as she felt.

"What is it?"

Lana sighed and took the chair next to his, turning it slightly to face him. She leaned forward and touched his knee.

"I saw Clark on Tuesday in Metropolis," she said, words flowing more easily from her tongue than she expected.

Lex put the paper down, took another sip of his drink and leaned back in his chair. His eyes drifted from hers and settled on the ocean beyond. She saw the side of his face, his jaw harden just a little, and she felt her heart jump.

"I wondered when you were going to tell me," was his reply.

Now came the hard part. Damn him, Lana thought. If he knew, he should have just said something. Instead, now she had to explain why she'd kept it from him for this long. This was typical of Lex, so typical that Lana should have prepared before hand. But she didn't; she never did and always wished she had.

She pushed out a breath and removed her hand from his knee. Her eyes followed his to the ocean, waves gently lapping at the shore as the tide pulled out for the sunset.

"I didn't mean to keep it -- "

Lana stopped herself. Lex would view this as a lie. If she didn't mean to keep it from him, she wouldn't have. Instead, she backtracked, trying to organize her thoughts. "I didn't bring it up because I didn't want it to ruin our weekend," she said finally. Truth. Lex's jaw slackened a little. Lana knew he understood this. He too complained of how little they saw each other, often bringing the blame to rest on her for not living in Metropolis. But it didn't matter, she supposed, because they both wanted their time together to be time together, and fighting was something neither of them really had the desire to do any more often than absolutely necessary.

"But I told Clark I would talk to you," she continued.

At this, Lex's eyebrows rose fractionally and he turned away from the water, eyes settling directly on her. Lana forced herself to meet his gaze, and a small smile crooked Lex's lips.

"Talk to me about what?"

Lana breathed in. Breathed out. Lex was her husband. He shouldn't make her this nervous. But the way he was looking at her; it was open, but there was a subtle shift in his demeanor, one that she probably wouldn't have noticed except that she had been married to him for 8 years. A glint lay just behind his eyes, a challenge, maybe a threat, to tell him something he didn't want to hear. Just do it, the look said, and see what happens.

As strong as Lana thought she was, Lex made her weak. And she sometimes hated him for it. It didn't seem fair, she reasoned, to have changed so much to the world around her, only to go back to that meek little girl in Smallville whenever Lex was around. Something told her he liked it like that; Lex liked the girl he'd met in Smallville, with her nave innocence and trusting character. It was a girl he could control easily, influence deeply, and most of all, it was a girl he didn't have to worry about losing.

Lana knew she was being traitorous with her thoughts. She stayed with Lex because she loved him, not because he scared her. And she had as much power over him as he had over her. She just had to tap into it. He loved her, and that was vulnerability in itself. He loved her, and if she left him, he'd be alone. Lost. Defeated. She wouldn't leave him, but she could. And he knew that.

"Clark says you've been researching the meteor shower since you moved to Smallville. And that you have the most conclusive findings on it than...anybody."

Lex shrugged fractionally. He brought his drink to his lips, and squinted against the sinking sun in the horizon. "So?"

"Clark wants you to share that information with him," Lana said in a rush.

A small chuckle burbled from her husband's throat. When he looked away from the sunset and back at her, the glint was gone and amusement replaced it, crinkling his eyes around the corners.

"That's not going to happen, Lana."

Not a surprise. Lana wondered why she even promised Clark she'd even bring it up with Lex. It wasn't like she could make Lex do anything, and it wasn't like she was going to try really hard on behalf of someone who she didn't even consider a friend anymore. Her allegiance lay with Lex, and if Clark couldn't get that, it wasn't her problem. She stood and moved toward him, slipping an arm around his shoulders.

"I told Clark that."

She wanted the conversation to be over. Situation normal. They had one more night, and Lex had to be up at 5:30 in the morning to be on the helicopter back to Metropolis. She ran her fingers across his neck, dipping them into the back of the shirt that rustled softly in the breeze.

She should have known better than to think it would be that easy. Lex leaned forward, away from her touch. His elbows rested on his knees, hands cradling his drink.

"You shouldn't have gone to see him."

It surfaced as calmly and rationally as if he'd told her what the baseball scores were that day. But Lana felt her entire form stiffen, her hand falter and slip to the back of the chair where Lex no longer was. She closed her eyes slowly, counted to five and opened them again. Lex hadn't moved, and the sky was darkening to a dusky mauve as the sun sank lower and lower. Somewhere not so far away, a seagull cried, then left them in silence once more.

A hundred things rushed into her conscience. She wanted to tell him that it was her decision to make, and she could damn well see whomever she wanted. She wanted to tell him she was sorry, and that yes, maybe she should have told him first. She wanted to tell him what he wanted to hear, and wanted to defend herself at the same time. She came up with nothing and just stood there.

The ice clinked in Lex's glass as he finished off the drink and set it gently on the table next to him. He pushed a heavy breath out and the chair scraped backward as he stood. Lana swallowed hard as he turned around, leaning against the rail of the deck. He closed each button of his shirt slowly and deliberately, the remainder of the sun casting an eerie orangish-purple halo around his head.

Lana had the distinct feeling she was in trouble, and she didn't like it. Yet she stood there, numb, waiting like a child to be handed her punishment.

"Why did you?" Lex asked after the buttons were fastened and there was nothing else to do in the silence.

Lana shook her head. "I got a note, and I just -- "

Lex raised an eyebrow. "You got a note? Does Clark write you regularly?"

"No," Lana protested immediately. She bit her lip. "No, I haven't spoken to him since before we were married. I wanted to know what he suddenly had to say to me after all these years."

It seemed as if Lex were considering this. After a while, he inclined his head as if he understood the curiosity. Lana felt a slight weight release from her shoulders. Still, she felt tense, edgy. And she was mad at herself for feeling that way.

"And Clark decided to use the only link he has to me. He asked you, my wife, to get information from me about the meteor rocks."

Lana opened her mouth to deny that was exactly what happened, but realized yes, that was exactly what happened. She wasn't sure about the link part...she'd hardly call herself a link between Clark and Lex. Their friendship had been as solid as hers and Clarks had been until she found out Clark's secret. But it wasn't worth arguing, she figured. There were so many other things for her and her husband to fight about now.

"I told him I wouldn't. I told him I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize our relationship no matter what he thought you were going to do to him."

"But...?"

Lana shifted. She suddenly needed to support her weight against the chair, and her fingers gripped the back of it until her knuckles turned white. "Clark thinks you're going to use the meteor information to hurt him," she admitted quietly.

She saw Lex blink. "And you think he's right?"

This hurt Lana's heart. Of course she didn't want to think Clark was right, but it had crossed her mind that perhaps, just perhaps, some of the meteor rock research was done for the purpose of finding a way to stop Clark's powers. There was one man in Metropolis more powerful than Lex Luthor. Why wouldn't Lex want to find his Achilles' heel?

"No, I don't think he's right," she said finally. It didn't matter if Lex could tell she was lying. It was what she needed to say. As his wife, partner, lover and companion. Sometimes people said things out of sheer loyalty, and this was one of those times.

Silence settled around them once more. The sun was completely gone, and the automatic lights clicked on, illuminating the deck. It cast a half-light on Lex's face, and she watched him without abandon, the same way he was watching her.

"What does Clark want, exactly?" Lex finally asked.

Lana shrugged. "To make a deal...maybe? I don't know, Lex." I don't care, she wanted to add. She didn't want to be in this conversation. She didn't want to be in this situation. She shouldn't have gone to see Clark and she desperately wanted to turn back time until it was Tuesday morning. She'd not pick up the phone, and not make a reservation on the Cessna. She'd stay in Santa Monica and have coffee with Rachel next door. She'd call her husband and tell him she missed him. She'd check her email, she'd visit Laura's House, the center for grieving children she'd set up in memory of her mother. She'd get some takeout and eat it on the couch. She'd take a bath and go to bed.

She would not, under any circumstances, go to Metropolis to meet up with Clark.

"This is none of my business, Lex," she said finally, stepping toward him. "I don't want to fight, and I don't want to be involved in this." She'd reached him, and took a chance, slipping her arms around his waist. "I should have told you about the meeting. I'm sorry that I didn't." Her voice was muffled against his shirt. She wanted to add, "please don't be mad," but didn't.

Lex let her hug him, but didn't hug back. Not for a while. Lana wondered, was this really such a big deal? She wondered how to make it better. She couldn't do her rewind to Tuesday plan, and she wasn't sure exactly what he expected from her now. Finally, she heard him clear his throat. His fingers went to her waist and he stroked the small of her back through the fabric of her tank top.

"Clark had no right to contact you," he said, and to Lana it sounded almost absent, as if he wasn't speaking to her at all but voicing a thought aloud. She didn't respond. She had no idea what to say to that. "He had no right to ask you about my business."

At this, Lana nodded, but only slightly.

She felt his cheek brush against the top of her head, then the slight pressure of him resting it there. His hands tightened around her middle. "I ask you to stay out of certain things -- business things -- because it's the only way I know how to make our relationship work. To keep them separate." His voice was softer now, and she relaxed into him, the grumble in his chest soothing her. "You're the only thing I have that's not tainted."

He paused, and Lana pulled away enough to look up at him. Lex brought his thumb up, brushed her cheek softly with it. "I have to keep it separate," he said again, voice in a low whisper.

Lana nodded and tilted her head against his hand. He opened up his palm to caress her face. "I know," she said simply, and she did. It wasn't something they talked about often, or really at all, but she knew. There was business, and there wasn't, and she was the other times. And it worked like that. The only time they intermingled was at business functions, and even then, she kept such a distance from the conversations Lex had with this colleagues that to her they were just parties. Boring, stuffy, unnecessary parties with good champagne and little quiches.

Lex liked it like that. Lana liked it like that. It worked for them. It wasn't Clark's right to try to smash them together in what would inevitably become a cataclysmic explosion.

Lex smiled a little. He removed his hand from her face and leaned down, slanting his lips over hers. Lana let her eyes fall closed, and her whole self melt into him. There was one more night, she reminded herself. One more night and she wasn't going to let Clark take up another second of it. As the kiss deepened, and Lex's deft hands traveled under her shirt, Clark Kent and meteor rocks floated out of her mind completely.

END

A/N: It seems there needs to be a sequel. So let's just say for arguments sake that that's the plan.


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