Holding On

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Holding On
Chapter 4.
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******Alt POV******

Lex was worried about his young friend.  He knew that Clark had his secrets, but never had these secrets hindered the young man's health.  Previously, he allowed them both the illusion of Clark's lying and his acceptance, but that was before Lex saw Clark throw up at the smell of coffee and fall asleep at the drop of a hat.  He had tried all he could to get his friend to confide in him but to no avail. Whatever Clark was hiding, Lex hoped that it was worth it.  

His first thought was that Clark was disheartened and unhappy about the hazing, but after multiple discussions on the topic with his young friend, Lex knew that wasn't it.  There was more going on than Clark was telling him, more than Clark was telling anybody.

He'd never had a friend like Clark and didn't think that they made them that way any more.  Lex was very aware of the way everyone looked at him, including his young friend's parents, and he also knew that they must have warned Clark off coming in contact with him, but Clark gladly defied them.  Lex wasn't sure if this was as a result of blind naivety or stupidity, but the boy seemed to like him.

Ever since Clark saved him from the crash, there was something that pulled Lex to his innocent farm boy and try as he might to give Clark his distance, the boy didn't want it and didn't accept it.  He was quite shocked to hear Clark call him his best friend.  Shocked because in his world, people didn't have best friends.  Best friends were in Clark's world; people like Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross.  People he'd known all his life and trusted with his life, but that wasn't the case with his farm boy.

He tore into Lex's life, breathed life back into it and refused to take anything material in return.  All the boy seemed to want was his friendship.  A different friendship from anything Lex had ever known.  It wasn't in Lex's nature to worry about someone the way he was worrying about Clark, but ever since he had seen the boy hanging on a cross and promised himself that he would do whatever he could to make sure the boy would never be in that position of weakness again, he worried.

There was something about that night that he was sure Clark wasn't telling anyone about.  All through their discussions, he knew that Clark suspected that he was aware of it, so they acknowledged that it was there, Lex accepted that he wasn't being told and moved on.  With anyone else, he would push to the limit to know all their secrets, but he found himself unable to push with Clark.  He would still like to know how the boy was able to save him, how Clark was able to accomplish the amazing feats that he seemed to do up and around Smallville, but he would wait, because he had the feeling that he would know it someday.  Lex just wasn't good at the waiting part, patience not being of his virtues, if he still had any left.

Was he ever fifteen?  Lex wondered to himself, and if he was, did he ever have that look of innocence in his eyes?  Lex thought to himself that probably before the meteor shower, he had been a child but after that, he was merely young.  People loose their childhood gradually as they grew into young people and then they eventually grew older from their youth, but he'd lost his childhood in the blink of an eye, under a rail of meteors, and became a young person who started growing older from that moment.

The same thing had happened to his friend; maybe that was what they had in common.  They weren't allowed to grow out of childhood; they'd had it taken away and the mantle of responsible thrust upon them. For him, it was living up to his father's expectations and not receiving any love or encouragement, and for his friend, it's saving the world, though he was unsure about who placed that particular mantle on the young boys head.

This all brought him back to Clark's recent bout of illness.  This wasn't the first time that the other boy had vomited in his presence and the random sleepiness also worried him. If it were any other person of another sex in another place, he would quickly deduce that they were pregnant and look for other symptoms, but this was his innocent farm boy who was still looking for the right way to tell Ms Lana Lang that he liked her. Why, Lex couldn't fathom, but each to his own, he tried not to get between a man and the object of his affections.  If they were in his way, he'd do his best to bring them closer so that they would clear the way for him to pass. And that was what he did for Clark.

An hour and a half later, he quickly went up to his friend's room.  'Clark's room', why did that sound so right to him?  'No more corruption of the innocents Lex', he admonished the voice in his mind.  It wasn't that he hadn't noticed Clark's good looks or the way his whole body was beautifully built and wonderfully apportioned, but Lex did his best to close his eyes to that and be the best friend that he could be to his teenage friend.  A lot of the times, Clark didn't make it easy for him to close his eyes.  The young boy's mannerisms, wit, convictions and sexy aura made Lex's task and not to mention certain body parts doubly hard, but he tried.  There was also one thing that he was sure of, and it was that Clark was hiding a lot under his many clothes, he just didn't know if he'd ever get to see them.

He spent the better part of five minutes when he got to the magnolia room studying his sleeping friend.  That overt innocence was multiplied when Clark didn't look like he was carrying the weight of the world.

"Clark. …Clark! … Clark!!"  Lex called the boy a few times to try and wake him.  This had no effect on said boy as he continued his sleep.  The next thing Lex tried was to shake him as he had done the last three times he'd woken the boy from sleep, but none of these worked.  He was determined not to worry and decided to give Clark some time off to continue sleeping.  

That afternoon, Lex had noticed how tired and knackered Clark had looked when he came out from the bathroom.  That was the reason he'd kept silent, not to push him, but to give him the space to come to him if he needed to and it had worked to some extent.  Clark had asked to accompany him to his study.

Sometimes, Lex worried about Clark's lack of trust, knowing that he was being contrary considering that he had his own secrets that he kept from Clark. But he excused himself by telling himself that he was older and was entitled; anyway, Clark didn't ask him difficult questions.  It was as though the teenager knew when to push him about his answers and when not to, he'd never had someone that attuned to him, and that was the reason he gave Clark the same space and consideration, knowing when to allow his falsehoods because when they were serious, Clark was honest with him.

This was why he was very baffled about Clark's illness because it seemed that Clark honestly didn't know what was going on, and refused to see a doctor, well his doctor anyway.  He was sure that Clark's parents knew about it, and Lex wondered what they were doing about it.

After another hour, Lex returned to the room and tried to wake the young man without success.  He was more worried now, sitting on a nearby chair, he watched the boy's breathing and considered how to go about waking him.  Nothing he tried worked, ice water, screaming in his ears, threatening him with the wrath of both of their parents, nothing.  And just when he thought his day could get no worse, his butler informed him that Martha Kent was on the phone for him.

"Lex Luthor."

"Lex, it's Martha, I'm sorry to bother you, but please have you seen Clark?  Lana said that he left school with you."

"Yes, Mrs.. Kent, he's here."

"Oh! Can you please send him home, it's already late and we've been expecting him."

He kept silent at that, because he didn't know how to explain to the mother on the line that he was unable to wake her son.

"Lex, … what is wrong?"

"Oh, there is nothing wrong, it's just that he is sleeping."

"Then wake him, he has to come home now," she told him exasperatedly.

"You see, Mrs.. Kent, that is where I am having the difficulty, I have been unable to wake him."  There was a noticeable quiet at the other end of the line.

"Mrs. Kent?"

"How long has he been asleep?" she asked him, not bothering to hide the worry in her voice.

"About four hours," Lex answered her after checking his watch.

"Is he okay? Did he say anything before he went to sleep?"

"No, Ma'am, he was just tired and dosed off.  Is there a problem?"

"No!  Of course not," she answered in a tone that was obviously false.  "Can you send him home if he wakes up in the next hour?  Please?  I'll be calling you in exactly one hour."

"Yes, Mrs. Kent."  He responded to the worrisome steel in her voice, hoping with all he was that Clark would wake up in that time.

While he often didn't have a lot of problems facing up to Jonathan Kent's disdain of him, he didn't like seeing the disapproval on Martha Kent's face.  Looking at his beautiful companion that was blissful in his repose, Lex returned to his library secure in the knowledge that he had barely an hour of peace.   Then, either Clark would wake up and put him out of his impasse or Martha Kent would storm his castle.

The one thing that counted in his favour was that Victoria was away from Smallville.  He never had any chance to be grateful for the wholesomeness of the small town as he did now.  Since the quiet life was somewhat abhorrent to someone with Victoria's social standing and needs, she took the opportunity to go to Metropolis whenever she could.  At the same time keeping on whatever hooks she had on him, to keep him interested in the deal they proposed to swindle their fathers.

The good thing was that their deal also gave Lex a better insight on how to obtain what Lionel needed to take over Sir Harry's company.  That was Lionel's aim after all, and it coincided with his, for the moment.  The time of confrontation between him and his father had not yet come and when it did, he would take it and be comfortable in the circumstances.

With that in mind, he finished the report he was going to use as his trap, and left his study to go back to his farm boy.

No sooner had Lex stepped into the room, he heard his doorbell in the distance.  Since Clark wasn't awake, he felt it safe to go to the door and meet Martha.  He had no doubt in his mind that the Kents were at his door.

"Good evening, Mr. Kent, Mrs. Kent."

"Where is my son, Lex?"  Jonathan asked him rudely.  

Lex ignored it because he could read on Jonathan's face, the man's worry for his son warring with his scorn for all things Luthor, especially him.  "If you would follow me?  He is in one of the guestrooms?"

"Guestrooms?  What is Clark doing in a guestroom?  I thought he was here to study?" Jonathan growled out from behind him as Lex led them to the room that Clark was sleeping in.  

Lex didn't answer the question, he just opened the door when they reached it and moved away to allow them access to their son.

"You haven't answered me, Luthor.  What have you been doing to my son?  He only came here to study," Jonathan asked again in anger.

"Mr. Kent, I haven't been doing anything with your son.  The last thing he was doing was his literature assignment."

"In a bedroom?"  The man was too suspicious for Lex's liking.  As if he was going to do anything and then invite them to view it, with Kansas's laws being what they were and Jonathan Kent being what he was.

"No.  In my study."  He ground out to the obstinate man.  While Martha moved closer to her son and sat at the edge of the bed to rub his forehead and check his temperature, Jonathan looked meaningfully around the room and said to Lex,  "Is that what they call this nowadays?"

"No! … We were in the study and he was tired.  He wanted to take a nap and I told him to use one of the bedrooms."

"Why didn't he come home?"  Jonathan was still suspicious.

"I don't know, Mr. Kent.  Why don't you ask him when he wakes up?"  He snapped at the man sarcastically.  "As far as I know, he just wanted to take a short nap, then finish his assignment and go home.  I didn't know he was going to sleep for four hours.  Anyway, I would have thought it would be easy enough to wake him."

There must have been something in his voice because Martha Kent piped up,  "Has he slept here before?"

"He's had a nap while he was using the library, that's all."

Jonathan grunted at this and stood looking down at his son for a while.  Lex moved further away to give them the privacy he felt they needed.

"We have the truck outside, I'm going to take him home," Jonathan said after a short non-verbal communication between the husband and wife.

"What?  You're not going to wait for him to wake up?"

Jonathan and Martha exchanged another glance before answering him "No."  They were not even going to give him the chance to argue.

"Why?  Is something wrong?"

"There's nothing for you to worry about, Luthor,"  Mr. Kent spat out to him and the first thing that crossed his mind was that the routine was getting tiresome.

"My name is Lex and he is my friend, alright," Lex hissed at the older man in anger.

"Friend,  … Right!!"

"What is the problem, Mr. Kent?"

"The problem …  Lex is that my son should be running around with friends his age and doing things that his age mates are doing, not hanging around someone six years older than him, doing god knows what and falling asleep in one of your bedrooms," he finished in a shout.

"Mr. Kent, you should know your son better than anyone.  What he is, is a friend of mine and that is what I am to him.  If he needed somewhere to sleep when he was tired, then I'd gladly let him use one of the many rooms in my house.  As you can see, he is fully clothed and his school bag is by the bed, what more do you want? If you are so worried, why don't you ask him what he does when he comes to visit me or when we meet at the Beanery?"

Their voices had gotten so loud that Martha had to stand between them.

"Stop it, both of you," she shouted above their voices.  "You're not helping Clark.  Jonathan, leave it alone till Clark wakes up.  Lex, … we're going to take our son home," she told them in a voice that brooked no argument.

"Is he okay?  Will he wake up?"  Lex asked her in a quieter voice.

"I'm sure he will," she answered him with some kind of resignation mixed with worry in her voice.

"This has happened before hasn't it?" he deduced.  "I thought you weren't being truthful when you told me he slept the school day away the other week."

Grunt, "Unlike you, Luthor, we make a habit of not lying," Jonathan put in. and before Lex could answer him, Martha put in, "That's enough, Jonathan, let's take Clark home."

The older man stooped low, and carefully lifted the sleeping boy into his arms and then stepped aside to give his wife access to the door.  She lifted Clark's bag and jacket and they made their way out the door and down the stairs.  Lex followed them quietly, worried.  The fact that they were not prepared to wait till Clark woke up told him that they suspected or knew what was wrong.

Lex was also worried about their moving him.  If it were within his power, he wouldn't do anything to move his friend till he woke up on his own.  This also meant that Clark really had slept the day way.  Clark told him so, but he hadn't really taken it in.

When they got to the car, Martha opened the door to let Jonathan in with his precious bundle, which he did with the minimum movement so as not to disturb Clark.  Before she got into the driver's seat, Lex asked her, "Can you tell Clark to call me when he wakes up, please?"

"Of course, Lex."  Martha got in and he closed the door behind her to allow them leave.  She put the key into the ignition and was silent for a while before looking at him, "Thank you, Lex."  

'For what?' he wondered to himself, but couldn't bring himself to ask her so he just responded,  "You're welcome, Mrs. Kent."

He stood there, watching them until he could no longer see the taillights of the truck, then he returned to his quiet and empty mansion.  It was funny, when Clark had been around, even though he had been sleeping, there had been some comfort in his company. Now he missed it even before he'd taken the time to get used to it.

The next day was a rush, because he had to make an emergency trip to Metropolis and since it was a weekend, he knew that if he wanted to get the deal with Victoria up and moving he had to keep her happy.  Strange as it was to him, he couldn't help worrying about Clark even when he was there.  Multiple phone calls to the Kent farm told him that Clark was still sleeping. How could someone start sleeping at around 5.00pm on Friday afternoon and still be asleep more than 40 hours later? Lex asked them when he called the Kents again at noon on Sunday.  

Lex also had to deal with a dubious visit from his father, who was trying to remind him that he had obligations to the Luthor Empire, and not to allow himself to be led around by his libido.  As if he would allow Victoria that privilege.  Lex knew that he had done a lot of wrong things in the name of sex and rebelliousness, but now, ever since he'd been exiled to Smallville, he'd taken the challenge of having his father as his 'silent' opponent and would not let a pretty face, Victoria's for instance deter him.

He suffered through the whole family talk and returned to Smallville.  Family, he scoffed, what family, the Luthor's had always been different, he knew, but ever since the Meteor shower and the death of his brother and mother, the name Luthor had become the mantle that they wore, and love, the equivalent of a four letter word.  This was where Lex envied his young friend Clark.  The teenager had a better sense of family with his parents even though he was adopted than Lex, who had blood-ties with his only remaining family.

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Smallville hadn't changed in the weekend he was away and Lex was glad to return.  A stroll through the main street brought home to him the togetherness and wholesomeness of Smallville.  Since it wasn't too late, he made his way to the Kent farm to see his friend.

"Good day, Mrs. Kent," he greeted her when she answered his knock at her door.

"Lex.  Come in." Lex noticed that she looked tired, as she led him to one of the seats on the dining table.

"I was about to get myself some coffee, do you want some?"

"Please, thank you."  Lex let her get on with the kettle and cups before asking;  "I thought I might see Clark while I was here, since he's not called me."  She stiffened for a moment,

"He's not awake, Lex," she answered, not looking his way.  When she finished, she brought him his coffee and sat with her hands round her cup as though seeking warmth from there.

"It's been over two days, Mrs. Kent," he pointed out to her, rather obviously, he thought after the words had left his mouth.

"Don't you think I know that?" she snapped at him in response, her voice thickening, letting him know that she either had been crying or was about to cry.

"I'm sorry. … Has this ever happened before?"

She offered him no response, looking deeply into her cup.

"I mean you and your family no harm, Mrs. Kent, but he is my friend."

"And he is my son."

"I know that, and we're both worried, I'm just trying to understand what is going on, and help if I can.

"There is nothing you can do, Lex, " she told him resignedly

"Why? Does this happen often?"

"No, it doesn't."

"So, what happened now?  What caused this?" he asked her rather impatiently

"We don't know."

"Has he seen a doctor?"  Lex asked again.  What was it about doctors that scared this family so much, Lex wondered after he saw the flicker of fear across her eyes at his question.

"No, he's just sleeping, Lex," she answered him looking out the window, probably waiting for her husband.

"Yes, but he's been throwing up."

"What?  What do you mean?"

"Oh! I thought you knew.  I've seen him throwing up recently."

"What happened, where?"  she asked him, slightly hysteric.

"Last week, we went to the Beanery to catch up and he threw up when our drinks were served, and on Friday, in my house, … he ran to the bathroom when we were served after dinner coffee after we'd eaten."

"You didn't tell us this."

"I apologise," he stated,  "It escaped me at the time. Does this help in any way?"

"Not really, he's still asleep.  What did he eat?"

"Pasta.  Does that affect him?"  She laughed slightly at that. "No, Clark eats anything, and everything."

"Can I see him?"

"Why?"  she looked at him suspiciously.

"Please, Mrs. Kent.  He is my best friend and I'm worried," Lex told her in entreaty.  Martha didn't answer him for a moment, studying him, before she took a deep breath and nodded.

"Come on."  She led him up their stairs to the young boy's room.  When Lex got there, he saw that he had been changed into a pair of pyjamas and was still sleeping the sleep of the innocent that started in one of the rooms in his mansion.

Lex really couldn't believe how long he stood there looking at his friend until the boy's mother pulled him away.  They went down the stairs quietly, there was nothing they could say to each other and when they got down to the kitchen.  The silence got slightly oppressive do he took his leave.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kent. Good night."

"Good night, Lex."

The next couple of days were busy for Lex, as Victoria returned, so he couldn't go out to the farm, but called them every evening.  He caught up with Lana Lang mid week and heard that Clark had been sent to his cousin's home in Topeka.  That was news to him; whenever he called the farm daily, he was told that Clark was still sleeping so when did Clark have the time to go to Topeka.  He barely took his leave of the cheerleader as he raced for the farm.

"Good evening, Mr. Kent," he greeted to Jonathan, whom he met outside the farm.

"Lex.  What brings you here?"

"Clark, Mr. Kent.  I just ran into Ms Lang and she was kind enough to inform me that Clark had been sent to some cousins.  I wasn't aware that he was awake and moving."

"He isn't."  It infuriated Lex how rude Jonathan Kent could be sometimes.  Couldn't he see that he just wanted to help his friend?

"Look, Mr. Kent.  Clark is my friend and while I'm aware that you have a problem with that, I will not hurt that young boy by pushing him away when he needs me.  Whatever your problems may be, take them up with your son.  I have been trying to accord you the respect due as his father and my elder, so please be courteous enough to offer me the same, or is that too much to expect from you?"

"Clark is my son, Lex.  I've always known what is going on in his life, but now he's lying up there as if in a coma, and the last person that was with him was you, so … excuse me for not wanting you anywhere near him."

"So he is not awake?"

"No. He isn't."   Jonathan's tone was moderately less rude.

"Then why am I hearing that he is in Topeka?" he asked he older man

"I don't want any of his friends nosing around my farm, asking awkward questions."

"That makes sense, I guess.  Can I see him?"   Lex asked Jonathan.

The other man didn't answer his request verbally but turned round and entered the house expecting Lex to follow, which he did.

He got to the room to see that nothing had changed.  Clark was still lying down on his bed, quiet, as though in a coma and Lex wondered what, if anything, he could do about it.  He knew that if it were within his power, he would have the best doctors flown in, to do whatever they could to awaken his friend.  Why the Kents didn't do this, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to let it go on for much longer.  Clark was the best thing that he'd ever had and he was going to help the boy that saved his life, no matter what his parents thought.

What he was seeing wasn't normal, whether they were in Smallville or not.  People didn't go to sleep and stay that way for the better part of one week if they wanted to remain healthy. He wanted things to go back to normal.  No, he needed things to go back to normal and he would do his best to make sure that they did.

"Why isn't he in a hospital?" he asked the older man harshly. Due to his worry, he didn't bother moderating his tone.  It must have surprised Jonathan because he started at the tone before answering.

"He doesn't need to be in a hospital.  He can sleep quite well here"

"What about getting him a doctor?  Has he seen one?"

"We don't need a doctor, Luthor, we're taking care of him."

"Taking care of him?" he asked both derisively and in amazement.  "With all due respect to you, Mr. Kent, what I am seeing is not taking care of him.  What I see you doing is negligence.  He needs professional care and folding your hands waiting for a miracle went out with the Stone Age."

He must have pushed a wrong button with Jonathan because the other man tightened his lips and took hold of Lex's arm to pull him bodily out of the teenager's room.  Lex shrugged off his arm and followed the other man down to the living room.

When they got there they faced each other like combatants, then Jonathan broke the stare contest, pointing at Lex.

"This is my home, Luthor; you have no business here and no right to make any decisions regarding my son.  I have always been wary of his friendship with you but I haven't shown it out of respect for him.  He is not here now and I can let you know how I really feel.  Keep away from my home, and keep away from my son."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kent, I can't do that.  Clark is my friend and will continue to be my friend until he tells me to stop.  For now, I don't see him doing that.  In fact, I don't see him doing anything at all and that worries me.  With all due respect to your care and what you feel is right as his parents, I really believe that he should see a doctor.  I can have the best doctors and specialists from Metropolis here with a single phone call."

"A single phone call, huh, and what do you think your so-called doctors would be doing for my son that hasn't been done already."  

"Whatever they do, it would help to have a second opinion.  I'm not going to keep my fingers crossed and wait for a miracle, Mr. Kent.  If Clark is not awake in two days, I will be bringing in a specialist."  Lex snarled at the man as he finished.

"That is just like you, Luthor, throwing your money to get what you want.  We don't need anything from you, so keep them away from my farm,… keep away from my home.  If I see any of your people here, I will shoot them, and that includes you."

"This isn't throwing money around, Mr. Kent. I haven't started doing that yet and believe me, you will know when I do.  Clark is my friend, Mr. Kent, I will keep coming here until he is awake."

After a derisive snort, Jonathan told him, "Not to my home, you wont."

"Oh yes, I will.  Mr. Kent, you've got to understand something.  My friend fell ill mysteriously, and then the next thing I know, he is in a coma.  For him to be healthy enough to wake up, he needs medical tests and drips, basically, professional care.  You say that he is sleeping, and for me, the jury is still out on that.  He is legally a minor in your care, and the courts can revoke your parental rights if they are being abused.  I'm giving you a notice now, if he isn't being treated properly, I will be bringing charges of child endangerment against you.  _Please do not doubt me on that, because that is when I start throwing money around,"  Lex stated with no inflection in his voice, and to Jonathan, this said more than it would have if he'd shouted. Jonathan blanched at the very real threat, giving Lex the satisfaction that his message had been received.

"I wasn't joking, Luthor, you take this as a serious warning, if I see you anywhere near here again, I will shoot you.  Why don't you just leave us alone? My son is dead to the world and I don't know the cause, I think that you have done enough already.  Now get."

With that, he opened the door, pointedly looking Lex in a way that could not be misinterpreted.  Throughout the conversation, Lex, who was very good are reading peoples expressions, could see that Jonathan was very serious in his threat and believed everything he said.  

The funny thing was that Lex was also serious about taking the decision out of their hands.  He didn't doubt that they loved their son, but love wasn't what Clark needed now, in his opinion.  He was giving them two days.  "Two days, Mr. Kent, and then, the choice will be taken from you."

Lex returned to his castle.  His only regret of the day was that he'd been banned from the farm.  He would have loved to be there when Clark woke up, so that he could make sure that the boy was fine.  As he sat up with his brandy in his study, he thought, 'fine' how fine could he be after sleeping for a week.

Waking up early the next day, he left Victoria in bed and set about getting ready for the plant.  At the back of his mind, Lex felt a weight and knew that it was due to Clark's absence.  It wasn't so much that he wasn't seeing the young boy, it was that he knew that there was something wrong with Clark and there was nothing he could do about it.  It went against his nature to let things happen, he _made_ things happen.

He went through the day quietly and went into the Beanery when he knew that school was out, about the time that he would meet Clark if he were here.  Lex felt a pang when he saw Pete and Chloe; at a brief glance, they looked oddly incomplete.

Lex's next port of call was Nell's flower shop to get Victoria some flowers in apology for his lack of attention the night before.  As he was paying for them, he saw Martha Kent walk by the shop, he ran out to catch up with her.

"Mrs. Kent!"  She heard him and stopped.

"Mr. Luthor."

"Lex, please, how are you?" he asked her, to keep up the pleasantries.

"I'm fine, Lex, but I don't think you called me for that."

"Well, it was partly that and to ask if Clark was awake."

"No he isn't, Lex and you know he'll call you when he wakes.  I heard that you were at the farm yesterday."

"Yes, Mrs. Kent.  I came to see Clark as usual."

"And threatened my husband.  Why, Lex?  Why do you think that we would give up on our son?"  He could feel the anger in her voice.  If he'd entertained the thought that she would be easier to deal with than her husband, he was having a rethink.  "I didn't threaten him, Ma'am. I'm just trying to understand what is going on."

"And what if we don't want you to understand?" she asked him uninterestedly.

"Why?  What is the big secret?  His life could be in danger or don't you think so?"

"What I think is that when my son is ready, he will wake up and there is nothing you and I can do about it."  They were calling attention to themselves, so Lex pulled her aside and they found a secluded corner to talk

"Mrs. Kent, lets not beat about the bush here.  Clark was ill and has fallen into a coma, the next thing to do is treat him for it, medically."

"Okay, talk to me, Lex.  Clark was ill, what do you know about it?"

Without meeting Martha's eyes, Lex answered, "I know just what he's told me, that there is nothing wrong."

"No.  It's more than that.  What did Clark tell you was wrong?"

"I didn't say I believed him, Mrs. Kent."

"What do you believe then?  What is wrong with my son, Lex?"

"I don't know.  I just thought he was depressed, but now, I'm not so sure anymore."

"Depressed.  Why is Clark depressed?  What does he have to be depressed about? Lex?"

From the surprise Lex saw, he knew that despite his many talks with the young boy, Clark hadn't told his parents about homecoming night.

"Lex?"

: Deep breath : "He is a teenager, Mrs. Kent."

"And that isn't an answer, neither is it what I asked you.  What is going on?"  This time, he could read suspicion in her voice and that angered him.  Why did they think he would cause Clark harm?

"I don't have an answer for you Mrs. Kent, because nothing is going on.  What I do have, is access to the best medical minds in the country.  … I can see you are worried, well so am I, and I wont stand by and do nothing.  I told your husband he had two days, I meant it."

"Under other circumstances, I would try and stay Jonathan's anger, but this time, you've gone too far, Lex.  Clark is our son and we are doing what is best for him."

"I hope so, Mrs. Kent.  I really do.  Can I come and see him?"

"You've already threatened us with taking him away, although you think that it's for his own good.  We have to deal with this as a family.  I'll stand by my husband's decision.  Don't come out to the farm, Lex."

This was very disappointing to Lex but he tried not to let it show. "Will you let him know that I was there?"

"Of course, Lex," she answered him as if by rote. And that made him doubt that she would adequately convey his worry to Clark.  Turning, he remembered what he was doing just before he saw her and asked her to wait.  He went back into Nell's and asked her to prepare a bouquet for an ill friend.  When she finished, he took the flowers out to where Martha Kent was waiting.

"Since I can't come out to the farm, would you mind putting these up in Clark's room?"

"Lex …" he interrupted her and put the flowers in her hand before she could refuse his request.  "I can't come and see him, so please just keep these for him, okay?"

"Why are you doing this, Lex?"  He heard her ask him with a hint of bafflement in her voice.

"I don't know," he answered her somewhat honestly.  "Good day, Mrs. Kent."

"Bye, Lex," she told him and they parted ways.

Lex finished with Nell and ran into Lana on his way out. "I saw you talking to Clark's mom, is he back?" she asked him, barely disguising her worry.

It didn't take him a moment to shift his thinking and give her the lie put out by the Kents.  "No, he hasn't returned, yet," he answered and walked away from her.  When he got to the Beanery, he found that he could not escape the teenagers that were Clark's friends.

Chloe walked up to him.  "Hi, Lex.  Have you seen Clark?"  She asked the question with an air of conspiracy surrounding it as though there was something that he could tell her.  Since he didn't want to, he affected a look of confusion as he answered

"No, I haven't.  His parents told me that he was at his cousin's, is he back?"

"No, Lex.  They told me the same thing, but isn't it surprising that he suddenly has these cousins that no one has heard about?  Especially after he's been ill and behaving funny?"

"You mean cousins that you haven't heard about?" he asked her looking at her pointedly.

"Okay, he hasn't told me about them, but he wouldn't suddenly take off.  It's not like Clark."

"Maybe, maybe not. But for now he's away and will probably tell us all about it when he comes back."

"Yeah.  When he comes back.  I wonder what he'll be telling us."

"Well, whatever it is, knowing Clark, it'll be sure to make a great tale," he told her as he made motions to leave her.  She let him take a few steps before she called to him,

"You know, Lex, the flowers, they were nice." She told him with a query in her eyes that he pointedly ignored

"Thank you."

"You know, you don't seem the type to buy Mrs. Kent flowers. What was it for?"

He refused to answer her and just looked piercingly at her and she blanched after a moment, raising her hands.  "I know, I know, none of my business."

"You're right, goodbye, Chloe."

Lex returned to the plant to finish up his paperwork.  Under other circumstances, he would have returned home but with Victoria there, he would need the distraction of mundane paperwork.

After a short time, he lost whatever concentration he had managed to attain, thinking about Clark.  There was no doubt in his mind that he was capable of making good on his threat to the Kents to bring in his specialists and a court order. But he had to weigh it with what would be good for his friend.  This was new territory for him, thinking about what would be good for someone else.  Usually, he got whatever he wanted, whenever he did, no matter how good/bad it was for the other party.  Clark was different though, and he had quickly deduced that dealing with Clark was also different.  He just wanted his friend to wake up again.  He put off making the phone calls to the doctors, giving the Kents the benefit of the doubt.

It would have been good if he still had access to see Clark, but that had been taken away from him, because he had pushed.  The truth was that it was not in his nature not to push.  But in this case, he would push until he saw Clark again.  He was also pragmatic enough to accept that Clark might die, so he would push until he had an answer, because any answer was better than the limbo he was now living in.

He returned home a few hours later to meet Victoria waiting for him.  As with the mundane reports in his office, she was good enough as a distraction but he was getting somehow uneasy about her stay in Smallville.  He knew that she already had what she was looking for, so there was no need for the continued pretence.  He just felt that it would be better if she took her leave and played the game to its conclusion, so that he could move on.

Friday was not so much of a difference, but Lex was on slight tenterhooks all day.  It was like a timetable to Clark's waking up.  Now that the gauntlet had been thrown to the Kents, he couldn't give in, so if Clark didn't wake up and take the decision out of his hands, then he was going to 'throw his money around it' as Mr. Kent liked to phrase it.

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