Chapter Text
Silent White
Time is the longest distance between two places
Chapter 1
“No, Lex, no. I never lied to you! Not about my feelings… I love you, Lex. You have to believe me; I love you!” She’s clutching a huge traveling bag while her eyes are filling with tears; it makes her ugly. “Please, please believe me --”
“STOP LYING! You are a murderer’s daughter; how could I ever believe anything you say?!” His blood is boiling and for a second he can picture himself with his hands around her throat. “Your father killed my grandparents, he tried to kill me, and now he sent you to finish the job.”
“That’s not true! I could never hurt you, Lex. I love you so much. I --”
“SHUT UP! I wish I had never met you. GET OUT OF MY LIFE!”
She screams, bloodcurdling, and then… silence.
*
Lex woke up, breathing heavily. Yet again, his past was haunting him in his dreams, and it took him a moment or two to get rid of the image of an unconscious body lying at the foot of the stairs. Lex knew it was in vain. Never would he forget that day, the fight and the accident.
Chris, his wonderful, charming angel, was Morgan Edge’s birth daughter. She had told Lex because she trusted him and yet he flipped out. Initially, Lex had thought he'd pushed her. Chris said she'd lost her balance. Regardless what had been the final trigger, Chris fell down the stairs that night, getting badly hurt. She was better now, mostly recovered from both the injuries and their fight, but still, it haunted him.
Closing his eyes, Lex breathed in deeply and slowly, the aftermath of his dream was wearing off; he was able to get up. A smile flickered across his face as he spotted a pink-striped bra lying on the floor, accompanied by a single black sock.
Lex looked around until he found his shorts and slipped into them before he headed for the kitchen. He heard someone cursing quietly.
“Oh, c’mon! Don’t be so bitchy. Fare il caffè. Pronto!”
Chris stood in the middle of the kitchen, in front of the espresso machine, wearing nothing but Lex’s shirt and a deep frown between her brows; her hazelnut-brown hair still tousled from sleep. Likely, she would accuse him of being responsible for this; she always would tell him he tousled her hair while sleeping. Possibly, she was right. Lex liked to curl her hair around his fingers...
Chris didn’t notice him but kept talking to the machine, using different languages and various threats. She jiggled it, slapped it, and sighed frustrated.
“Stupid thing. You’re built to make coffee, now do it! Gee, do you think you’re better than an ordinary coffeemaker just because of your fancy steel design and that big name?”
Amused, Lex watched her for a while. She never tired of talking to the machine. This attitude was fascinating and disturbing at the same time. Talking to inanimate objects normally was a sign of insanity, yet was totally normal for Chris.
He smirked and finally moved closer, pressing a button at the espresso machine. A second later it started to brew coffee and Chris looked at him in awe.
“How’d you do that? Why is that stupid thing listening to you?”
“It’s not exactly rocket science, Angel.”
“But how did you do that? I was pressing buttons like a maniac and nothing happened!”
“That might be the reason.” Still smirking, Lex lifted her up and made her sit on the kitchen’s counter. He moved in between her legs, but when he spotted her crutch he pressed his lips. Immediately, his thoughts drifted away and again, he saw Chris lying unconscious at the foot of the stairs. Due to her fall she had broken a lumbar vertebra, and even though the fracture wasn’t fatal and had healed by now, Chris was dependent on a crutch ever since.
Briefly, Lex closed his eyes. He hated the sight of that crutch; it was a constant reminder of what he was capable when angered.
“… good wifey. Making breakfast and stuff.”
“Lucky me, I woke up in time," he mumbled absently, and turned to check on the coffee.
“Lex… look at me!”
He breathed in as he noticed Chris’ voice changing; it became demanding.
“You dreamt of it again, didn’t you? You dreamt of the accident again…”
Lex didn’t say anything but he knew that if he turned around now, he would see Chris shaking her head and maybe even rolling her eyes.
“At the risk of sounding like Ms. Broken Record, but… it wasn’t your fault!” Chris was about to slide down the counter when Lex turned around and stopped her, taking her hands in his.
“What if it was? What if I pushed you?”
“Then you’d be dead by now. Dad would’ve had some, uh, fun with you. I’ve told you about his book: 101 ways to remove your daughter’s boyfriend’s head.” She flashed him half a smile.
“Hey, you’ve seen the surveillance video, and so have Dad and I. You really --”
“It didn’t show that much…”
“I’m pretty sure I lost my balance. Besides, Dad ruled you hadn’t pushed me,” Chris replied firmly. “End of story!” Carefully, she placed her forearms on his shoulders and brushed her fingertips against the back of his head. Lex closed his eyes, leaning into her touch. There was a time when he had denied everyone to get this intimate, but now he began to enjoy it, he even loved it.
“We talked so many times about this, Lex. But the more we talk about it, the more I feel like a woman that is defending her abusive boyfriend... Let’s just move on. Please?!”
He took a deep breath and began to nod. It had been a rough time for both of them. Of course, the revelation of her birth father’s identity came as a shock, but Lex had yelled at her, slapped her, cursed her… she had hidden from him for almost two months and then she forgave him. Lex knew the General, her dad, had been the mainspring for their reconciliation and he was grateful. The General was a Marine, and Chris his daughter. Neither of them would ever give up without a fight, and for some odd reason they had decided to welcome him, a Luthor, in their little family, and that he was worth fighting for.
“I really don’t deserve you,” he whispered, causing Chris to smirk.
“You say that now… Wait till we’re married; then I’m gonna show my real face.”
Instantly, Lex’s mood brightened up, and he moved closer in between her legs, kissing the tip of her nose. Less than three weeks ago, he had proposed to her and after some days of trembling uncertainty Chris finally answered with a ‘Yes’.
“I can’t wait.”
Grinning, Chris pulled him closer, her thighs rubbing warm against his hips. “So, the dream’s forgotten?”
“Hm-hm, almost,” Lex nodded and got himself a kiss. She wrapped her legs around him and when he felt the heat between her legs he was getting hard.
“Uh, my coffee’s cold by now, huh?”
Lex blinked and stared at her for a second before he began to huff. “Coffee? You think of coffee? Now?”
“I haven’t had any yet. That thing refuses to cooperate.”
“Fine, I’ll make you a new one.” Shaking his head, he turned around.
“Show me how?”
“As long as you don’t know how to operate this machine, I can be sure you’ll stay with me,” he replied, grinning.
“It’s not as though I could easily run away. Besides, I’m not just with you because you know how to push the right buttons…” Lex cringed a little as he heard the foot of her crutch hitting the floor, but relaxed once Chris stopped behind him, kissing his shoulder. "Though, you are really talented when it comes to pushing buttons...”
“You’re really talented when it comes to making me feel cheap,” he retorted and handed her a mug. “What are your plans for today?”
Chris blew on her coffee before she took a sip and answered. “Two clients, physio therapy, lunch – hopefully with you – a hearing and another client.”
“Almost a holiday, hm? Unfortunately, I have to take a rain check on the lunch. I’m having a meeting in Smallville later today.”
“But… why did you come here last night, then? Wouldn’t it have been easier to stay at the mansion?”
Lex raised his brows, amused. “I wanted to spend some time with my wonderful fiancée.”
Chris eyed him puzzled as though she had never thought about this concept before, but then began to beam. “Hmm, you’re adorable.” She kissed his lips and when the kiss deepened, she set the mug on the counter, wrapping her arms around his neck. “We’re running late, though… I guess we have to take a shower together. To save time and water…”
Lex didn’t wait for her to finish a pseudo explanation but lifted her up, laughing, and walked into the bathroom.
Later that day, Lex arrived at the fertilizer plant in Smallville and headed directly downstairs to one of the laboratories. He was about to meet Dr. Sinclair to discuss their latest experiment and do a final test run. Lex sincerely hoped it would be a success. They could change the world today…
There was no sign of Dr. Sinclair as he entered the lab, yet the experiment was already set up in the middle of the room. Actually, it was nothing more but a huge glass tank, with a meteor rock suspended inside. Lex studied it for a while until someone behind him cleared his throat. It was Carlin, Dr. Sinclair’s assistant.
“Mr. Luthor… I didn’t expect you to be in time,” he mumbled, causing Lex to sigh quietly. Carlin was a hectic character and Lex never felt comfortable around this kind of people. They always acted as though they were in some kind of rush.
“Where’s Dr. Sinclair?”
“He called in sick this morning,” Carlin explained while moving around the tank, checking here and there. “But I know everything about this, and can do the test run.”
“So, you’ve corrected the previous problems?”
Carlin nodded eagerly. “We’re positive that increasing the thermal variations by 94% will eliminate the impurity.”
Raising his brows, Lex eyed him. “Six months of this and all you had to do was turn up the heat?”
Carlin moved his head back and forth, reminding Lex on a weaving horse. “To put it simply: yes.” He walked over to the computer. “Yet the composition of these meteor rocks is rather unusual. Calculating the exact temperature – and I mean exact – was a challenge. I mean, 0.1 °C could make a difference!”
Lex gave him a brief smile. “If this works, we’ll leave a mark on this world no one will ever forget.”
Again, the scientist nodded eagerly and pushed some buttons at the console, while Lex looked at the tank. It had to work this time, it had to…
“Mr. Luthor, please take these,” Carlin said as he nudged his shoulder, handing him a pair of protective glasses. Once he put them on, Carlin took a deep breath, flashed Lex a nervous smile and hit a key. “Initiating sequence!”
Spellbound, Lex stared at the tank as a narrow blue laser hit the center of the meteor rock. A computerized voice commented every stage of the experiment, and it seemed to work smoothly.
Hopeful, Lex moved closer to the tank, watching the green rock swirling slightly underneath the light of the laser. A satisfied smile flickered across his face when suddenly an alert shrilled.
“What’s happening?” Lex turned around to look at Carlin, but he had left his position and was now standing right next to him. Lex couldn’t help but frown. There was something different about him, and it certainly wasn’t because of the reddish light that came along with the audio alert. There was nothing fidgety about Carlin anymore, and he watched Lex coldly.
“That’s not of your concern anymore,” he said and placed his hand on Lex’s shoulder, grabbing it tight.
Lex opened his mouth to say something, but instantly, the room around him began to spin; faster and faster, brighter and brighter, louder and louder until there was nothing left but silent white.