Fixing Things

Part Three of Five

... ... ...

A day later, Lex walked onto the busy factory floor and watched with satisfaction as repairmen swarmed all over the equipment. They were methodically going through each and every piece, cataloging problems, failures, and the very rare parts in good shape. By the time they were finished at a very late working hour this night, he would know exactly what needed to be fixed, what needed to be replaced, and what could hold on for awhile longer. Martin was overjoyed, supervising the workers with a barely constrained delight.

Tomorrow would be for repairing what they could. Lex would put the other things they needed on order and schedule another repair day in a month.

There was a pause in work at one end of the building that, while minor, caught Lex's attention as something abnormal. He strode quickly over, dodging around the work areas.

He got there just in time to see Lois and Clark starting to back out of the building. Lex laughed.

They stopped and turned to him. Lex shook his head. "Giving all the regular employees the day off, Leo, didn't mean that the factory would be empty. It's a maintenance repair day... that means we're doing maintenance."

A flush was creeping up Lois' face as she traded her glares between Lex and Clark.

Lex held his hand out to her, dropping his voice and putting on as much charm as he had. "It's a very great pleasure to meet you, miss."

Involuntarily, Lois returned his hand clasp and the meaning behind her blush changed as Lex turned her hand in his and brought it up to his lips. Beside her, Clark shifted his weight, looking uncomfortable.

Lex grinned at Clark, still with Lois' hand in his. "No fucking your girlfriend in my office today, sorry. Maybe tomorrow or the next day."

Within the instant, Lois had yanked her hand out of his, and Lex prepared himself for the slap.

When it came, however, it was Clark's head rocking to one side as the sound echoed through the factory, louder than all the machinery noise. Clark's hand quickly went up to his face to hide the fact that there was no red mark there, his eyes wide in shock.

Lex had to assume that Clark being slapped wasn't exactly an uncommon event; Clark had reacted so quickly and managed not to hurt Lois either. He smirked at Clark, giving a bow to Lois.

With a huff, Lois turned and strode out, swaying her hips as she went. Lex was sure she didn't normally walk like that, but apparently Sally did.

"What," Lex asked sardonically, "the belt wasn't enough?"

Clark flushed just as red as Lois had been.

"Right," Lex said, turning around. "Come on."

He wasn't sure if Clark would actually follow him or not, but when he paused for a moment to sign a form, Clark was, in fact, still there, shadowing silently.

None of the maintenance people they passed said a word, though Tim glared when he saw them. "I'll be back in a few minutes," Lex told Tim as they walked by.

After enough people had seen it in disarray the day before, Lex had cleaned up the office. It was the same as Clark had entered on any other day. Lex only imagined he remembered the non-sex on the desk.

He really hadn't been sure that Clark would come back, however there was still the investigation the reporters were working on. That was probably a more powerful draw than the desire to avoid Lex. Lex had been the one to run away before. He couldn't leave the plant, though, until his work was done. So they were stuck dealing with each other awhile longer.

"The maintenance will be ongoing through tonight, and probably through a great deal of tomorrow. The weekend, though, should be completely empty." Lex offered it with the voice of surety, though inside he was tentative.

"Normally there's somebody in on the weekends," Clark muttered, his head lowered in timid-reporter fashion, not out-going Leo manner. Clark hadn't been very timid the last few days. It was an interesting change to watch.

Lex shrugged. "We reserved four days for repairs, however I'm pretty sure that we'll need to order more parts than we have on hand. We'll run out before Saturday."

"Then... why did you schedule four days?"

Lex just looked at him.

Clark sighed. "Lex, I'm sorry." The timidity dropped away and Clark's shoulders straightened.

That was unexpected. Lex walked to his desk and sat down while he thought about it.

"Not accepted," he finally said.

"Um, what?" Clark blinked.

"I don't accept your apology," Lex repeated. "As hard as I'm sure it was for you to say the words – and I do acknowledge that it could not have been easy for you – it was much harder for me to live through it. It will be awhile, if ever, before I forgive you for it." This was, though, a step along that direction.

Clark wilted a little. "I know. I shouldn't ever have left you. I was just so scared. It doesn't make it right, it just means I've never been as brave as people said I was. How could I be when I've always been invulnerable? It's not as if I could be hurt, so why did I have to be brave?"

Fair was fair. "You've lost your powers more than once. You never stopped being brave."

Clark flipped his hand in the air, dismissing that argument. Lex smiled sadly, knowing that part would never change. Clark always thought less of himself than others did. It was, actually, reassuring to know that it hadn't changed over the years. Clark was still Clark, no matter what other names he wore.

"I have to admit," Lex said, "I half expected not to remember any of this. Again. If that had been in your arsenal, I presume it would have happened."

Wincing, Clark sat down in the guest chair. "I can. It's... I won't. Not unless it will save somebody's life."

Lex felt his eyebrows raising. "What about your own life?"

Using his hand again, Clark waffled on that one. Lex decided that it meant it depended on the situation and the person. He supposed he should be flattered that Clark didn't apparently think Lex would kill him.

"You won't," Clark said, exhibiting a heretofore unrevealed power of reading minds. "If you haven't done anything to me since... you won't." He swallowed. "I'm still scared, I admit it. But logic... I should have trusted you back then." His voice dropped, "You don't wear a ring."

Resisting the impulse to glance at his fingers, Lex sat back and studied Clark. He was still terrified, yet he was here. "Did you stay up the whole night?"

"Yeah," Clark's smile was a little wobbly. "Went back to Smallville and flew around the castle a lot."

The castle had never really been a home, and yet it was more of one than Lex had ever had before or since. What did that say about him, still wandering after all these years? The one thing the castle had, though, was a lot of memories of Clark.

"What have they done with it?" Lex asked, curious.

"Nothing," Clark shrugged. "It's still just sitting there, gathering dust. Like it had been before you moved in."

Lex idly wondered if he could make the castle into a home, like it hadn't been before. He could have a study, a laboratory, a computer center. He would still be too close to his father. Lex wasn't sure anymore about Clark. He didn't, at least, feel the need to stay a thousand miles away from him, though that could change still, as unsure as he was about anything about Clark. It was a very familiar feeling.

About his father, though, Lex was very sure. He wasn't going to risk a meeting with him until he was ready to bring him down. Regaining his memories meant that he now had, in vivid 3D, the memory of his father bending over him, uttering loving words while giving the order to send a thousand volts through Lex's body. Lex hated his father, hated him so much.

"You're not completely innocent in everything," Clark remarked, studying the carpet intently.

Ah, a spark of life. Lex quirked his lips. He liked this better than a completely groveling Clark; at the least, he believed it more. "No, I'm not. Nor have I ever been. Want to try and make me ask for forgiveness?"

Looking up again, Clark barked a laugh. "No. I think I know where that would be placed if I tried."

Lex grinned a devil's grin.

"I think I'll wait until you've accepted mine, and then I'll ask for yours." Clark turned serious. "I will need it, eventually. You've— I've hurt you, badly. I accept that. Yet it doesn't make all you've done right."

Starting with an investigation into Clark's family and extending onto a room of more secrets than Clark's. And those were only the ones that Clark knew of. Yes, Lex was not blameless. It had, however, been many years since he had needed Clark's approval so badly that he would beg him for forgiveness for anything, including the things that Lex had not done.

"Ask again at that point, and we'll see," Lex finally said. He didn't know if he could ever truly forgive Clark. It hurt, still. However, it hurt less than it had in the past.

They stared at each other for a minute as they evaluated each others' answers and offers. Lex knew that Clark was still running through all of his inner turmoil from the day before and he was willing to let him have the time.

Finally, Lex glanced at the clock and stood up. "I have to get back." He came around the desk and waited for Clark to stand.

Clark did so and they stood for a moment with their bodies close together. Then with a lopsided grin, Clark leaned in and kissed Lex.

Lex blinked and didn't move until Clark had stepped back. He hadn't expected that. Not with all they still had between them. Yes, the sexual tension was part of that, however, "Clark, do you know what you're doing?"

"No," Clark admitted. "I'm doing it anyhow." He put a hand between Lex's shoulder blades and urged him in for another long kiss.

Lex thought that he really should have more willpower, but he didn't want to.

"Any closer to forgiving me?" Clark whispered against Lex's lips.

Lex snorted. "No." With a swallow, he smoothed his shirt and dodged Clark's next reach to go through the door and back to work.

... ... ...
... ... ...

"What sort of an idiot tells the person they work with that the place will be empty, when it is actually full of people!" Lois fumed.

Clark winced. He deserved it. However.. he'd gotten another kiss. That was worth it, wasn't it? Clark still wanted to run, yet he wanted Lex. The conflict was tearing him apart.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Somehow, Clark didn't think, "no" would be an appropriate answer. He forced his mind off Lex and told Lois about Lex's maintenance schedule. That wasn't getting his mind off Lex very well.

"Lex says so." Lois tapped a stylus against the wall as she stood in the dining room with her eyes narrowed. "Do you trust him?"

How was Clark supposed to answer that? Clark didn't know himself. He should, he thought. Logic said that if Lex hadn't hurt him by now, knowing all that he did... but logic had failed Clark before. People didn't go by logic, they went by emotions and reflexes and he'd hurt Lex bad. But Lex had hurt others, and not just Chloe. Or had he? There had been Clark's mom in the hold-up, but... Clark pushed it all firmly away and concentrated on the current issue.

"I think Lex wants to explore too. I think he set this up so he'd have an opportunity." Lex hadn't said so, but Clark really didn't think the whole thing was staged for their benefit alone.

"There were rumors of a Yeti monster at the Alaskan town he was at last week."

Clark blinked at the segue.

"Nobody's seen it since he left."

"Lois..."

"I'm just saying," Lois twirled the stylus as if it was an old gun that needed cooling before holstering. "Strange things. Not at every factory or company he's been to, but... nearby. And then the strange things stop when he leaves."

"He's a Ghostbuster?" Clark joked weakly. Lex knew about kryptonite, and mutants, and he experimented with them. If Lois hadn't been in the room, Clark would have been out in an instant, flying circles around Metropolis again. Or maybe the whole Earth.

"We'll go," Lois decided. She pulled out her Palm and finally put the stylus to use writing on it. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I want to be there when it does."

Of course she did. Clark got a glass of milk and drank it down. He tried to remind himself that Lex didn't wear a ring, but it was hard.

... ... ...

On Saturday, Clark and Lois tried it again. This time, they checked the parking lot behind the factory first. No cars were there, so they proceeded in. The factory was dark and quiet. Even the machines that would normally be humming in stand-by mode in the background were shut down and quiet.

"Flashlights or building lights?" Clark questioned. It often depended on where they were as to which they used. Flashlights moving sometimes caught the outside eye more clearly than a steady office light. Flashlights also often missed things they needed to see. Building lights, however, were obvious as hell. They were normal, though, and sometimes overlooked because they were on so many other days.

"Lights," Lois decided after evaluating the situation.

With a nod, Clark flipped the switches. They stood tense for a minute, then relaxed as nothing happened.

In his time working at the factory, Clark had managed to go through most of the office areas in both break times and after hours. He had found some interesting things there, but nothing too incriminating, at least not for what they were looking for.

For this tour, Clark and Lois concentrated on trying to find the illegal machinery that had to be there. The illegal refrigerant had to get inside the chillers somehow, and there was nothing in the everyday workings that showed signs of doing it.

They prowled around for an hour without finding anything.

"Damn it," Lois said. "I know there has to be something here!"

"And so there is." A smooth voice behind them inserted in. "It's simply a matter of finding it."

Lois and Clark both jumped. They turned to see Lex, but a very different Lex than they were used to seeing.

The smirk was the same. So was the way he held himself, superior and relaxed, mocking them.

Lex wasn't, however, wearing his normal suit over his business casual clothes. No colors at all. All shades of black and grey, with floppy cargo pants and a puffy jacket with pockets all over it. The clothes were practical and not form-fitting, making him look 20 pounds heavier. What really grabbed Clark's attention though was the baseball cap he was wearing.

After they both gaped at him for a moment, Lois frowned. "Doesn't that itch?" She pointed at the cap.

"It's lined," Lex replied shortly. "Have you found it yet?"

"It?" Lois asked archly, "What is it? Is there something to be found?"

Lex's mouth quirked. "Why Level Three, of course." His eyes met Clark's. "There's always a Level Three."

Lois looked blank but Clark smiled. "Not yet. I was wondering if there were any blueprints of the building." He'd already x-rayed through most of the structure and couldn't find anything different, yet he also didn't trust his x-ray to pick everything up. Lionel knew Superman, and Clark couldn't count on finding hidden rooms in plain view anymore.

"Blueprints have all been altered," Lex replied briefly. "You won't see anything on them that's not here. On the other hand..." He pulled out a stone from one of the pockets on his jacket and then let it drop, dangling off a cord he held in his left hand.

"What's that?" Lois regarded it with both suspicion and curiosity.

"Dowsing stone." Lex laughed.

However, the stone was moving, swinging gently. Though that could have been from the drop.

"Come on," Lex said, eyeing the stone but obviously not satisfied. He strode off, walking the parameter of the factory.

Clark watched him for a long moment. Lex had also done something to his stride, not even a hint of a sway but direct and forward. If Clark didn't know it was Lex, he wouldn't necessarily have picked him out at a first glance. Lex had never been into hiding who he was when Clark had known him. This didn't so much seem like hiding, though, as... Clark didn't know. It wasn't just a disguise, though that's how it served.

"Coming?" Lois had also hung back, yet now tugged at Clark's arm to pull him along in Lex's wake.

Lex didn't look around, his attention on the dangling stone.

As they walked through the factory, the stone would move gently from side to side but it was hard to tell whether it was the movement of their walking or something the stone was doing. After that first exchange, both Clark and Lois were quiet, watching Lex, more interested in what he was doing than actively searching anymore. There was a palpable air of anticipation and curiosity coming from Lois, and Clark was sure he wasn't much better. He really hadn't expected Lex to join them, despite Lex's earlier hints and his own thoughts that Lex had staged the shutdown.

Didn't Lex know what was going on? He was here investigating, but at his father's request... It was the Smallville Fertilizer Factory all over again, now that Lex had brought it up. Lex's father, sending Lex off into things with little or no information and expecting Lex to deal with them on his own. However, it seemed that Lex had his own agenda. Also, this time it was obvious that Lex didn't trust his father, which was, if not precisely different than before, at least a reassuring thing. It still didn't explain what Lex was up to.

They moved past a corridor to the chemical rooms and the stone jerked left and stayed at a twenty-degree angle off the cord.

"Whoa," Lois breathed.

Clark had to agree. He hadn't expected that.

Lex glanced at the stone and ignored the humans. He walked about half-way down the corridor when the stone rotated and instead of angling into the hallway, it now angled towards the wall. It was at a ninety-degree angle and when Lex got closer, it flew out and clunked onto the wall with a faint 'clunk'.

"Humm," Lex said. He plucked off the stone and returned it to a case that he put in his pocket.

Lois eyed the case greedily, "So, what is that?"

"About six years ago," Lex started running his hands over the wall, "my father ordered a set of door coverings to be made out of lead. He also ordered more wall insulations made with lead shot, but I was interested in the doors."

Six years ago was when Superman had started flying in the sky. Well, six and a half, but it apparently had taken Lionel some time to figure out how to counteract some of Superman's abilities. Clark flipped into x-ray vision and scanned the wall. He technically couldn't see anything... but there was a very obvious rectangular nothing now that he knew where to look.

"Lead isn't magnetic, not like that," Lois spoke archly.

Lex found a depression on the side of the wall a little lower than his waist, and pressed it. There was a click but then nothing. Lex moved his hand up a foot and pressed in a second spot, then reached over another foot to the left and pressed a third time. This time, a section of the wall moved in and then over.

With a satisfied air, Lex dusted off his hands. "I got wind of what my father had been planning with the lead and... persuaded... a technician to add certain elements to the mix while they were casting the doors. As long as there's a lead covering from that mix, and I am close enough, I can find it."

Clark and Lois looked at each other with identical "did he just admit to doing something illegal" expressions. However, the wording was vague enough, and Lex did work for his father, so it may not have technically been illegal. Shady and underhanded, yes, but since it was against Lionel Luthor, they really couldn't object. Particularly with what they were doing right now.

"Nice," Lois finally said. "Can I have a sample of the rock?"

Lex laughed and didn't answer. He entered the dark chamber which turned out to be an unlit elevator as Clark and Lois followed. This really was reminding Clark a lot of the early Smallville days and Level Three. From what Lex had said, this was apparently standard for Lionel... yet how much had Lex done to know this was standard? Clark didn't really think that Lex was working for Lionel, yet there still remained a little bit of doubt as to what exactly Lex was doing.

With the aid of a small wrist light, Lex pressed the lower elevator button, then quickly pressed the top one, then the lower one again.

When Lois made an inquiring noise, Lex shrugged, a movement barely seen as the doors closed. "Turning off the security alarm. Providing that the code is similar to Father's other facilities. He really is quite unimaginative, for all his ambition."

Clark made a choking sound at the audacity of the statement, and Lois' ears perked up. "Can I quote you on that?"

It couldn't be seen in the dark, but Lex's shark grin was heard in his voice as he answered, "Why not? Out of context, I presume, but it will still give Father fits to read."

Under her breath, Lois mumbled Lex's words again, memorizing them for the newspaper. Both she and Clark had excellent recall, but when there wasn't writing paper or recording devices, it was best to make absolutely sure the wording was as accurate as could be. Lois had her Palm with her, but now probably wasn't the best time to pull it out.

The doors opened, revealing a dimly lit laboratory. It looked, in fact, very much like the mixing facility upstairs, yet this one was obviously not part of the regular factory.

Clark swayed, feeling a bit faint. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it pressing in upon him. There was kryptonite within the room.

This really sucked. Clark hated pretending to be sick for one reason or another while letting Lois do most of the investigative work, exposing her to the hazards while he cowered in a corner. Lionel's facilities didn't always have kryptonite, but when they did, Clark was screwed.

Pausing just inside the room, Lex looked at Clark with concern. He handed a slim metal gun that he'd been holding over to Lois with quiet instructions, "Watch the room." Lex must have pulled the gun out while they were in the dark elevator.

Lois took it and gave more of her attention to it than to the room. "What sort of a gun is this?"

Lex was unzipping and taking off his jacket. "Stun gun. Don't hesitate to use it, and keep your attention on the room. Illegal operations don't keep standard working hours."

"I thought you sent them on a wild goose chase," Lois remarked but obediently returned to watching the room. Clark thought that Lex would have a bit of a fight to get the gun back again.

There wasn't anybody else in the room, at least not that Clark could hear, and his hearing was still unaffected by the kryptonite as yet. Clark's attention was distracted, though, by what was under Lex's jacket. It seemed that most of the extra bulk was in the form of a kevlar vest. Lex was taking the vest off, and under it, he wasn't wearing anything but a very tight olive tank-top.

Clark's salivary glands were working overtime. If it hadn't been for the situation they were in, and Lois right there, jumping Lex seemed like a very good idea. Hell with the situation.

Clark was reaching for Lex when Lex shoved the vest into his hands.

"Here. Put this on."

Clark blinked. "Lex..." A bullet-proof vest wasn't exactly something he needed. He'd much rather Lex keep it. He tried to give it back.

Lex side-stepped the attempt and leaned in close to Clark's ear. "It's got lead woven throughout. It won't be full protection, but it covers the vital organs of your body and should help."

Clark blinked. Then blinked again. "You should keep it," he protested. The kryptonite wasn't that strong, and Lex without protection worried him. Never mind that he didn't know Lex had had it until now.

With a growl, Lex leaned in again, "I can heal, and I really don't think they're here. Now put it on." He bit Clark's ear for emphasis.

Beyond an instantly raging hard-on and a visceral need to throw Lex down on the floor right then and have his way with him, Clark was also stunned into obedience. He put the vest on.

It was a bit of a tight fit, but Lex fiddled with straps at the sides and adjusted it for Clark's extra mass. The lead, surprisingly, helped. As soon as the vest was over his body, Clark could feel the underlying pain and weakness easing up. Not completely gone, but he could easily function like this.

Clark captured Lex's hands as Lex finished and brought them to his mouth. "Thank you," he whispered as he kissed each finger.

"We're in the middle of something," Lex rumbled. Yet he didn't pull his hands away.

Lois cleared her throat. "If you two are done..."

Reluctantly, Clark let go of Lex. It was hard to keep his mind on business when there was a nearly naked Lex standing next to him. Well, tank-top clad Lex, showing every defined muscle and...

Lex put the jacket back on.

Clark sighed in disappointment, though he was also slightly relieved. A minute more and it would have been to heck with Lois' presence and their job. It occurred to him to wonder how heavy the vest he was wearing was. Kevlar was heavy. X-ray technician aprons were heavy – and also unwieldy. Experimentally Clark moved a bit and didn't see too much problem with the flexibility. Whatever Lex had done to the vest, it certainly wasn't anything standard. Still, though, it was probably heavy. A reason for all those muscles Lex had just covered.

Lex held a hand out to Lois for the gun but she didn't give it back.

"This isn't military or service grade," Lois said. "It's not a taser, it doesn't have electrical leads. What is it and where did you get it and how many people have it?"

"I made it," Lex said quietly, "and only me and mine have them. No, I'm not ready to go anywhere near public with them yet, especially since I currently still work for my father. It's also still in field testing. It works on a similar principle to the tasers, disrupting the nervous system of a body, so it's not completely safe, however it's better than a bullet. I'll give you the exclusive when I am ready to release. Now give it back."

Lois gave it a last longing look and then handed the gun over, keeping her grip on it as she asked, "Promise?"

"Exclusive. I promise," Lex assured her and then he finally had his gun back.

They prowled around the room first together, then separately when it was verified that nobody was there but them. Lois was taking pictures and notes and muttering to herself about bringing Jimmy on the next assignment – Lois could take pictures, but somehow they never came out quite as clear and showing just what they needed to as when Jimmy did it. Clark avoided the gas tubes and mixing areas and instead watched Lex. Lex was frowning.

"What's wrong, Lex?" Clark finally asked after the umpteenth round of circling through the room with the look getting blacker and blacker.

"This is where the refrigerant is refined and made before being placed into the systems produced above, yes. However, it's not where the kryptonite is stored." Lex said glumly, flicking a beaker with a finger and making it ring. "There is nothing here at all that contains base or liquid kryptonite. Only the residues from where it has been mixed in with the original refrigerants to make up the new working fluids within the chillers."

"Kryptonite?" Lois questioned.

Lex gave her a slightly disgusted look. "If you were here investigating the Jitters and mutations with some other hypothesis in mind, Ms. Lane, please let me know what it was."

Lois shrugged. "It was worth a try."

"I'm not an idiot," Lex said tightly.

"Nobody knows all that much about you," Lois pointed out. "You've been very careful to keep out of the public's eye, until now. One has to wonder just why you're here now at all, with a pair of reporters who are watching your every move."

The look Lex turned on Clark was heated and Clark tugged at his collar, but Lex turned the look away before any damage was done, like Clark jumping Lex in front of his partner.

"I didn't have much choice in the matter," Lex said instead, "with you and your partner here before me. I won't delay my investigation to wait you out, and it made more sense to combine instead of work separately."

"Uh huh," Lois nodded sagely, her eyes darting between the two of them accompanied by an elegantly arched eyebrow. "That explains the video of the steamed car."

Clark blushed.

Lex flicked a hand to one side, not even dismissing that so much as ignoring it for its irrelevancy. "Regardless. The kryptonite is brought in from somewhere else. I'm going to go back upstairs and see if there is another laboratory within the confines of the building."

"Is there likely to be one?" Clark asked, finally inserting himself into the conversation now that it was a little safer.

"Not in my experience," Lex admitted. "However, there's always a first time for anything."

It would have been prudent for them to have split up at that point, however Lois didn't want Lex exploring without one of them to watch him, and Lex didn't trust Clark not to distract Lex from searching, though that wasn't the way he put it. Clark was the logical one to stay, but Clark didn't think he could be down in the room with the residual kryptonite for as long as Lois wanted him to, not that that was how he worded it either and Lex supported him on that. So after much wrangling, they first got as much information out of the underground laboratory as they could, with information about the process and samples of the non-EPA-approved refrigerants. Proving it might be a slightly harder thing, but they had the samples from the ones in the working industries, and they were reporters breaking a story, not police looking to prove a conviction.

They went back upstairs and explored some more. Lois was trying to beg, borrow, or steal a sample of the dowsing rock that Lex was using, but Lex wouldn't budge, not even as much as to give her another exclusive.

In the three hours they walked around the factory, they covered four-fifths of the buildings and surroundings, and found nothing. They hadn't quite made the whole coverage, though, when they had to dodge security guards on shift change and evening walk-throughs, and it became more prudent to depart than to stay to finish the rest. They parted on a tentative 'tomorrow' if conditions were favorable.

Clark wanted to go back with Lex to his place, but he knew that Lois would skin him alive if he didn't help her with processing the information they'd gotten. So he reluctantly gave the vest back to Lex, drawing the giving out with fingers touching and sliding along as their hands exchanged the vest. Lois rolled her eyes as the finger touching became kissing, but she didn't turn her back and even raised her camera before Clark hurriedly broke it off. Lex, typically, didn't look bothered at the camera, but gave Clark a last lingering smoldering look before he turned and walked away from them.

"Of all the people you could have fallen for, Smallville," Lois watched Lex walking away with almost as much appreciation as Clark was, "why did it have to be Lex Luthor?"

"I don't know," Clark admitted.

... ... ...
... ... ...