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Songs in the Key of Longing - Chapter Four
A bright red Ferrari sped down the highway to Metropolis, techno music pounding wildly through five thousand-dollar speakers.
Alexander drove, sunglasses shielding his eyes from the low-setting sun. The top was down and Kal's dark hair whipped around his hardened, coldly beautiful features. He stared straight ahead, silently, looking all the more dangerous for it.
Alexander didn't seem to notice. He was too wrapped up in his glee and babbled away excitedly, like a kid getting ready to rob a candy store. "First stop is Sommerholt. They have some technology there that might be very useful to us."
"Like what?" Kal asked, still staring off into the rapidly passing distance.
"Mind-wiping, memory-enhancing, brainwashing ... all sorts of things that might come in handy, once I formulate my entire plan. Then we can hit Cadmus, Star Labs ... " Alexander paused, a wicked grin lining his face. "But first, we stop by the bank. For a withdrawal."
"Do billionaires really have to make withdrawals?" Kal asked. "I thought they just spouted money out their noses whenever they needed some."
"It's always good to have some cash," Alexander explained. "Besides, who said it was my money we were going to withdraw?"
At this, Kal looked interested. Very interested. "Are you suggesting we rob one of these fine monetary institutions?"
"Why not? A little diversion on the road to glory never hurt. Besides, I want to see you in action. For research purposes," Alexander said sweetly. He lowered his sunglasses an inch and looked at Kal meaningfully. "Think you can empty the vault before the police receive the alarm?"
A half-smile curved Kal's lips. "I think so."
Alexander turned off at the nearest exit. The sleek red car squealed to a stop in front of a tiny bank at the very edge of the highway. "I'm giving you thirty seconds. Everything in the vault and bonus points for emptying the tellers' drawers," he said, looking at his watch. "In one ... two ... GO!"
A rush of wind, a few loud bangs! and barely ten seconds had passed before Kal was back in the car, effortlessly tossing five, huge burlap bags in the back seat. "The light is green," he said, nodding at the traffic signal. "We wouldn't want to get a ticket now, would we?"
Automatically, Alexander hit the gas and the car took off, burning rubber before swinging back onto the highway. Practically glowing, he turned to Kal. "You're fucking amazing, my friend. Just amazing."
"That wasn't exactly a challenge," Kal shrugged. "If these are your big plans ..."
"Oh no," Alexander demurred passionately. "Trust me, my plans are bigger than any you could imagine."
Kal snickered darkly. "You have no idea the size of the plans I can imagine."
"World-sized plans, perhaps?"
Kal turned his eyes back to the passing road, his face set as if in stone. "Something like that ..."
In the wine cellar, an exhausted Clark slept curled up on the floor, with Lex's torn-off suit jacket folded beneath his head.
For Lex, as tired as he was, sleep refused to come. His mind kept moving in swift circles over recent events ... admissions ... the argument he had with Clark.
An alien. It was true, he hadn't dreamt of that as a possibility. The odds against it were astronomical but what Lex refused to learn was that in Smallville, odds meant nothing. Instinct meant more and maybe he should have followed his better ones, the ones that cautioned patience, the small voices that told him Clark might eventually open up if he waited and relaxed about the entire thing.
But Alexander, the impatient, insatiably curious part of Lex's soul refused to know reason. In hindsight, now clear of the psychotic impulsiveness of his dark half, Lex's actions over the past four years in regard to Clark seemed so out of line. That ridiculous "keepsake" room, the investigations, the skirting and flirting with disaster all in the name of finding out Clark's secret or else ... what the hell had he been thinking?
Alexander forced Lex to turn friendship into a game, one that he would win or die trying. Sort of like his relationship with his father, Lionel. Lex could see his father in a clearer light now -- all his machinations that would have been so much easier to deal with if Lex chose to ignore many of them. It would be easy not to let Lionel push Lex's buttons any more, because those buttons were gone.
God, if only he'd been free of his dark side since day one. How much different -- and better -- his life would have been.
If ... no ... when they escaped from this prison, maybe he would consider locking Alexander up somewhere. Somewhere where he couldn't wreck the endless havoc he'd been plying through Lex's life for all these years.
Where he couldn't hurt Clark ever again.
Lex heard a quiet moan from Clark. He edged over and saw that his friend was still asleep, his face locked in a grimace of pain.
Gently, Lex ran his hand over the warm forehead, pushing damp hair away from Clark's tightly shut eyes. The tiny Kryptonite shards still lingered just beneath the skin, weakening, maybe even poisoning him. If only he'd told Lex about his reaction to the rocks, but then again, maybe he'd been wise not to.
Back then, Lex wasn't the man he was at this moment. He honestly couldn't say how noble his intentions would have been toward Clark and his awesome abilities once the secret was known -- especially the secret of his one weakness. Maybe Lex would have tried, really tried to be a good friend, a protector, but Alexander had a way of screwing up the best of Lex's intentions.
Subconsciously ... consciously ... things could have turned out horribly and Lex wondered if he'd ever know the whole truth about himself. All those things going wrong, all those destructive "accidents" that might not have been accidents, all those "protective" lies ... maybe they were never what they seemed.
Maybe what Alexander told the Kents was true. Maybe he'd been the villain all along, except that he didn't know it.
Or refused to admit it.
Sighing deeply, Lex sprinkled some fresh water on the crumpled handkerchief and pressed it to Clark's fevered skin. It was time to concentrate on the present, at least until they escaped and Kal and Alexander were stopped. Because for all of Lex's uncertainties, this was one thing he was determined to do -- for himself and for Clark.
"What time is it?" Clark murmured tiredly, his eyes still closed.
Lex glanced at his wristwatch, which, thankfully, had survived the explosion. "Two a.m."
"You should get some sleep."
"Easier said than done. Speaking of sleep, did I wake you up? If so, I'm sorry. You looked feverish."
"I'm okay."
An obvious lie, but Lex didn't call him on it. "You mentioned that your parents were going to be in Metropolis until Monday at the hospital for your Dad's heart tests. Is there any chance of them getting suspicious about your absence from the farm before then?"
"Not really," Clark sighed. "If I'm not around for a while, they'll figure I turned into Kal, like I did a couple of times before. They'll probably end up searching for me in Metropolis, not knowing there are two of us. I've never split up into separate people before."
"But you've turned into Kal before?"
"Yeah, a few times. Red Kryptonite is what does it. Turns me into a mean piece of shit"
"I guess that explains a few things," Lex said, remembering instances of Clark's oddly aggressive behavior. "Okay, I guess we can count outside rescue out since everyone will be chasing 'us' through the city. We'll have to figure a way to free ourselves." A sigh as he examined the steel bolt holding their chains the floor. "Boy, we sure could use MacGyver right around now."
Clark laughed weakly. "MacGyver? Don't tell me you watched that."
"Why? Something wrong with MacGyver?" Lex smiled. "As a kid, I loved that show. That and Inspector Gadget reruns. Remember him? He arms that would stretch across the room and retractable stilts for legs."
"No. The only cartoon I'll admit to is the one with the turtles and if you tell anyone, I'll deny it."
"I'll bet you watched Underdog as well."
"Oh, yeah. A flying dog in a cape," Clark mocked. "That was so stupid."
"I suppose it was. But even stupid things can be enjoyable," Lex said, pulling the chains up, until most of the links were in his lap. "Okay, I'm going to go over these link by link first, while you go back to sleep. Maybe there's a chink in one of them or a weakness in the bolt here. If not, we'll go to Plan B."
"And Plan B is?"
"Praying that Underdog will come and rescue us."
"That's some alternate plan, Lex."
Reaching down, Lex ruffled Clark's hair. "When you get a better one, let me know. Now rest. And hope our 'other' halves haven't figured out how to blow up the planet yet."
And that we'll get to them before they do, Lex thought.
tbc ...
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