Title: Fireplace Conversations (I)
Author: Christie
Archive: http://number14.org/precious
Email: tinamishi@yahoo.com
Genre: Smallville (Lex/Lana)
Rating: PG
Summary: Big issues in a small town; where would you go for help?  Set
during Lineage.
Spoilers: Lineage; small general references to S1 and S2
Disclaimer: Smallville and it's characters belong to Millar/Gough
Productions.  

*

Lana wasn't able to pinpoint one particular thing that brought her to
the Luthor estate.  A potential father that was alive and his
subsequent (and harsh) rejection were really only the proverbial straws
that broke the camel's back.  This was a long time coming.

The castle door was intimidating, as castle doors tended to be, but it
didn't take much screwing up of courage to pull the knocker and let it
bang back onto its led base.  She'd thought of going to Lex on a myriad
of occasions, simply because he wasn't from there and he didn't have
anything at stake when it came to her life.  Lex was distant enough to
be an impartial observer, but close enough that she knew she could
trust him to tell her the truth.

More often than not, Lana thought about Lex, what it was like to live
like him -- to *be* him.  She knew that money and power and prestige
were really only enablers when you were desperate to run away, and if
she were Lex Luthor, she'd be away right now -- so far away that her
issues couldn't possible find her.

Deep down, Lana knew problems always found you -- they never went away
until actually confronted -- but she wasn't ready for that -- not now,
not yet -- and Lex, if he'd have her, was going to be her confidant
rather than her savior.

A servant opened the door and smiled, and Lana recognized this one as
Margaret, who usually worked in the kitchen.  Margaret had snuck her
more than two glasses of champagne during her sixteenth birthday party,
and Lana knew she should remember exactly how many but after two she
was fuzzy enough not to care.  They had gotten her all the way through
the night without Clark, who had promised but didn't *again*, and Nell
hadn't noticed although Lana had her suspicions that Lex did, and of
course looked the other way.

It was then that the Lex as a confidant plan had begun to form in her
mind, although things had gotten so much worse so quickly that she'd
had no idea back then how much she'd desperately need a hiding place
now.

Margaret led her into Lex's study where he was circling the pool table,
plucking balls from each of the six pockets and racking them into the
triangle on the felt.  He paused in his methodical work and nodded a
thank you to Margaret as she left, then continued to rearrange the
balls in the triangle as Lana stood awkwardly watching him.

"I was surprised when they said you were here," Lex said finally,
scooting the full triangle to the mark on the table and slowly lifting
it from the felt.

It took a moment for Lana to realize that by 'they' he meant the
plethora of guards at the gate, who called up to the house and searched
her backpack before permitting her to step further onto the property. 
She'd been surprised at the newly implemented security measures; Lex
had been so lax the few other times she'd been to the castle.  She
supposed it was the imposition of Lionel Luthor's extended visit, but
thought it best not to cite the subject because it was probably a
sensitive one.

"They searched my backpack," she told him, and he raised his eyebrows
briefly before leaning down and executing the break.

As the balls scattered he stood, turned his back on the game now in
progress and stepped toward her.  "Sorry about that.  My father told
them to be more careful about who they let up here.  I guess they took
that to mean 16-year-old girls with purple backpacks."

It was impossible not to blush fiercely at his playful tease.  Lana's
backpack was an obscenely girlish shade of purple, along with a maroon
and gold pom tied to the top zipper and an old keychain dangling off
the bottom one that read "Smallville Crows Cheerleading" on one side
and "We R #1!" on the other.

"Well, my algebra book *is* pretty scary, but I doubt it'd be a threat
to you."

Lame.  She almost rolled her eyes at herself but Lex took a shot with
his pool cue and laughed a little; politeness saves the day -- or at
least the awkward moment.  She shrugged of the pack in question and let
it thump to the floor, then let her coat fall with it.  She idly
wondered if she'd just squished the Snickers bar she had at the bottom
of her bag as she watched Lex take a few more shots before he stood. 
He leaned the stick against the table then leaned himself next to it. 
Hands went smoothly into his pockets.

"What can I do for you, Lana?"

So many answers to such a loaded question, the simplest and most
straightforward one being, 'hide me until my life goes away.'  If
anyone had the power to do that, Lex did, but time or inclination was
another matter entirely.  Not to mention some of the problem was Clark,
and Clark and Lex were growing increasingly close with each passing
day.

Thinking too much about that though, made Lana start questioning just
how impartial Lex could be, and she *really* didn't want to go there
because scratch Lex's name off the list of options and there was no
list of options.

Well, except the town psychologist Mrs. Matthews, and Lana seriously
wasn't above that at this point.  She was beginning to get desperate.

On her birthday, Lex had told her that he'd hid in the coat closet for
the last 18 Luthor Christmases.  That small confidence was the main
reason Lana knew she could come here, that he'd understand.  It was
going to take a lot more than nerves to back her down now.

"Lana?"

She'd been quiet entirely too long, especially when there was a
question on the table.  What could he do.  For.  Her.  His body
unfolded, hands exiting his pockets as he pushed away from the pool
table and took a step forward.

Lana smiled at him -- attempt to reassure -- although she knew it must
look as fake as it felt.

"I came here because I was hoping to talk to you...about some stuff."

He seemed to take a moment to roll this over in his mind, but was
polite enough not to mention that they talked nearly every day at the
Talon.  Instinctually, he must have figured out by now that a home
visit meant the non-business kind, and she was grateful for his
diplomacy in the matter.  

"Okay," he said, bending to extract two blue bottles from his mini
fridge.  At her doubtful look he smirked.  "It's mineral water."

Lana took it, watched as he twisted the cap off of his own and moved
toward two chairs facing the fireplace.  He stood in front of one and
motioned for her to take the other.  

Like a robot on automatic pilot, Lana followed, sat where he told her
and screwed the cap off her water bottle.  She smiled when Lex sat, no
reason other than sheer nerves.

A million times or more, she'd gone over a conversation like this with
Lex.  What she'd tell him, what he'd suggest, how wonderfully relieved
and light she would feel.  In her diary, Lex was like the Wizard of Oz,
and he made every wish come true. She knew in real life that Lex wasn't
really inclined to grant wishes or fix everyone's problems, but he was
more equipped than anyone else and it couldn't hurt to ask.  Plus, he'd
never said no to her before.

Besides...desperate times, as they said.

She took a quick breath and pulled out the incriminating picture of Mr.
Small and her mom, the picture she was beginning to wish she'd never
found.  She held it out needlessly, sure that he remembered it but
desperate for something to do with her hands besides wring them around
the bottle of mineral water.

"You researched this guy...Mr. Small?"

Lex nodded imperceptibly, making no move to take the picture or do any
more than glance at it as she dangled it between her fingers.  His gaze
bore into her, but instead of making her uncomfortable, it reassured
her like the old teddy bear from her childhood that still sat at the
head of her bed.

"I went to talk to him, to ask about him and my mom -- "

The whole speech had been rehearsed, a concise, easy to understand
synopsis of what had happened between her and her potential father. 
But on the way to the Luthor mansion, there'd been no tears, and now
her throat swelled and made it hard to get the words out even though
they were all swimming in her head, practiced enough times that they
should come out in exactly the right order.  Lana blinked several times
and tried vainly to swallow the lump down, put it back into her stomach
in the form of a knot where it belonged.

A long sip of the water didn't help, and finally Lex leaned forward,
his hand covering hers in an unexpected gesture of compassion.  

"Take it easy, Lana," he said gently, more kindly than she'd ever heard
him speak in her entire life.  "What happened?"

She was sure he thought something awful happened, something horrific
and astonishing and impossible to talk about. She choked, and tears
spilled out of the corners of her eyes.  Lana screamed at her insides
to get a grip.  Lex's expression had gone from friendly sympathy to
genuine concern.  She was already past making a fool of herself but
desperate not to cross over into crawl in a hole and die territory.

Taking a deep breath, Lana physically forced herself to stop crying. 
Lex released her hand and leaned back, and Lana could practically see
the discomfort ease out of him.

"It didn't go well," he prompted.

The statement was both correct and vastly understated at the same time.
 Lana accepted the handkerchief he held out to her and nodded.

"He told me he had his own family now, and that I shouldn't bother him
again."

That was really all she'd meant to say in the first place, minus all
the sniffling and choking on tears.  She wiped her eyes with the
handkerchief, saw her mascara smudge the beautiful ivory silk and
wondered what idiot came up with the idea of using expensive fabric to
craft an item on which someone wiped their nose.

Lex had leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him, gazing at
her with that stare that seemed to penetrate her, the stare that made
her stomach flip and her heart flop.

"Maybe you caught him off guard," Lex offered diplomatically.

Lana appreciated the savoir-faire but he was supposed to be on her
side, wasn't he?  "I don't know, Lex.  He boycotts the Talon because
you're a silent partner and he told me I was basically guilty by
association."

Lex smiled crookedly and leaned back in his chair.  Though it was
identical to the one she was sitting in, Lex made the chair look like a
throne.  He didn't just sit in it, he occupied it.  Lana wouldn't have
so much as blinked if someone told her he was such a successful
businessman simply because of the way he sat.

"On the other hand," Lex said, a playful edge to his tone, "it's
possible that he's a complete jerk and I could have his bank accounts
frozen and his assets seized within the hour."

Lana chuckled at Lex's grin, but found herself somewhat terrified that
he could really do all that.  She shook her head, clearing the thought
and felt better than she had in days.

"I feel so stupid," she admitted softly.

Lex engaged her in that stare again, and tingles worked their way from
Lana's toes to the top of her head.

"If knowing this guy is important to you, try again," Lex offered
gently.  "Maybe write a letter; something he can sit down and think
about rather than putting him on the spot for an answer.  Put the ball
in his court then let him make the next move."

Lana considered, then nodded.  "Thanks Lex," she told him sincerely.

He smiled, and silence settled comfortably between them.  Unexpected
crying episode aside, Lana knew she'd made the right decision in going
to Lex, and felt like she'd connected with him more in the past ten
minutes than in the past six months of being business partners.

His voice was soft as he cut into her thoughts.  "Was there more?"

"Huh?"  

Lana had been feeling so content she'd forgotten that all of her
problems weren't solved, and probably never would be even if Lex
allowed her to permanently move into the big, comfy chair and live
under his counsel.

"More than just Mr. Small," Lex clarified.  "Like Clark, as a for
instance."

Lana felt the corners of her mouth tug downward into a frown.  Yeah,
there was Clark.  There was Nell's boyfriend, too.  Her test in
algebra, her lack of close friends, her incredibly absent social life
since she spent over 40 hours a week at the Talon would all be there
for her dissection another day.  She didn't want to let go of the
warmth in her belly at the moment.  Lana stood and shook her head.

"Nah, I'll save Clark for another day."

Lex nodded as if he understood perfectly the sweeping of problems under
the rug, and unfolded his body from his chair.  He walked toward her
and placed a hand on her shoulder.  It was warm, reassuring and not at
all uncomfortable.  In fact, it was the exact opposite of
uncomfortable, and Lana found herself wishing he touched her more
often.  It was as if self-confidence flowed through him and into her;
the ability to control your life was just a power transferred with a
simple touch.

"You can always talk to me about things, Lana.  I'll always do whatever
I can for you."

Though Lana had known this to be true for a while now, hearing him say
it, hearing him emphasize it with so much sincerity, touched her
deeply.  She felt tears prick her eyes once more and she nodded.

"I know, Lex.  I appreciate it so much, everything you've already done
for me."  She paused, then amended.  "I appreciate your friendship...I
appreciate you."

Lex said nothing but she heard his breath catch, and he drew her into a
hug that shocked her brain into freezing.  But it melted, and she
melted into him, and they held each other for much, much longer than
appropriate.  Lana registered this in the hazy din of her mind but
ignored it and concentrated on the warmth, and the strength, and the
amazing connection she felt to him.

Finally, Lex stepped away and leaned down to gather her backpack and
coat from the floor.  "Need a ride home?"

Lana only nodded minutely and was grateful her motor skills were still
functioning as she followed him from the room.

-end-
6 Nov 2002


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