Title: Making History
Author: Bagheera
Email: bagheera_86@yahoo.de
Rating:
PG
Challenge: Pete is a mutant.
Notes: Many thanks to my beta danceswithgary, who also suggested the title for this fic!
All remaining mistakes are mine. I don't own any of the characters or places
within this story, nor do I own "The Brave and The Bold."
Summary: Pete is a
mutant.
Transcript of "The
Brave and The Bold", issue 116, January 2028
The Brave and The
Bold: Hello listeners, this is Chloe Sullivan with another edition of 'The Brave
And The Bold', coming to you direct from the Watchtower! Tonight, we have some
special guests in our ongoing reporting on this year's election. At this point,
just let me make a little caveat: I usually try to keep as much professional
distance and neutrality towards my interviewees as is possible. 'The Brave and
The Bold' tells both sides of the story.
However, I can't promise the same objectivity for the people with me
today. I'm sure you could find out easily with a few clicks, we go way back.
I'll try to be as fair as possible; the rest is up to your judgment. With me now
is the presidential candidate and governor of
Ross:
Sure.
Brave & Bold:
Charming. Also with me is Pete's campaign manager and well-known and feared
industrialist Lex Luthor. If I get him to make more than glib statements, he
will undoubtedly talk about his own experiences as a metahuman and the question
of metahuman criminality. If not, our surprise guest is going to talk about it,
since he's also something of an expert. Welcome to the show,
Superman!
Superman: Uh,
hi.
Brave & Bold:
Studies say that 13 % of all Americans and 17 % of the world population believe
that you're actually a metahuman. Another 23 % think you're either the messiah
or a government hoax. Which is it, Superman?
Superman: Well, I'm
an alien. From the planet Krypton.
*
Pete glances through
the window in the door into the studio.
"This is what peace
negotiations in the
Chloe is leaning
against her desk, coffee in hand, and her eyes spark with curiosity. It makes
her look all of seventeen again. Pete guesses that you never entirely get over
your first crush, even when you're married with kids and approaching fifty with
seven-mile boots.
"I still can't
believe you're working with Lex Luthor."
"
Chloe rolls her
eyes. "When the survival of humanity is at stake, yes."
Pete grins. It's
nice to be with Chloe for a few moments before he has to project his public
image again. He feels at least ten years younger. "I am saving the world from
mutant-haters, didn't you know?"
"Seriously, Pete.
What the hell changed your mind? If he's got something on you, I'd like to know
before we go in there and start the interview."
Inside the studio,
Lex is laughing mirthlessly, the flashes of teeth sharp as daggers.
He considers Chloe's
question for a moment longer, then asks, "Do you remember Superman's
funeral?"
Chloe's eyes dull
with painful memory. Even a death that doesn't last leaves its scars. "Yeah,"
she says softly. "Who could forget?"
Who indeed? A year
without Superman. Chloe lost her best friend. Pete felt as if some part of
himself was irretrievably gone. And the rest of the world felt unprotected, as
if
Even though he came
back afterwards, things were never quite like before again. The shining knights
of the skies had lost some of their mystique, had proved to be fallible, human.
And people began to question whether it was right that they stood above the law,
or whether they were in fact just a different kind of criminal. Awe and
admiration is now always tinged with a hint of wariness. There is talk about
special laws for metahumans. Registration, restrictions. "How human are
metahumans?" Time magazine asked a couple of years back, with a picture of Clayface adorning the cover.
The hostile silence
when Lex spoke, a silence that softened with each word. Not a word of it had
been true, on the surface. Lex lied through his teeth, about a fruitful
partnership, about mutual admiration, about his grief at not having known this
exemplary man better. Even though their rivalry was well-documented in the
media, this single speech rewrote history. Suddenly everyone agreed that it had
been friendly competition, respectful criticism rather than slander.
Even Pete left that
church not knowing which side of the story was true. Because beneath the smiling
lies lay no contempt for
Pete smiles, making
a joke of it although he is perfectly serious, "Lex writes brilliant speeches. I
couldn't pass on that, could I?"
*
The Brave and the
Bold: Senator Ross, in your campaign you have repeatedly emphasized that
metahuman policy is only a small part of your platform.
Ross: I'm an
American first and a meta second. I went into politics long before there even
was such a thing as metahuman policy. The people of
B&B: Tonight,
though, I'd like you to talk about metahuman politics, because that's what most
of our audience will be interested in. Gentlemen, give us a brief history on
your mutantship. When did you first discover you had
an active metagene? When did you come out? What was
the impact on your life?
Luthor: I discovered
that I was a mutant long before the term metahuman was even
coined.
B&B: How
unusually modest of you, Lex. It was you who coined it, after all, wasn't
it?
Luthor: It was one
of the scientists in my employ, who does not wish to be named. However, I publicised it. Yes.
B&B: Mr. Luthor,
in a now historical interview of yours given to the Daily Planet in, 2011, was
it? 'On the danger of super-powered agents in our society'. Back then, you
claimed to have proof that an active metagene made the
bearer unstable and potentially criminal. Your own metagene remained unmentioned. That's quite a change of
mind.
Luthor: Back in
2011, and the preceding years, my company was the sole player in metahuman
research. The metahuman population was still much smaller then – and what little
of it there was remained highly uncooperative. The only mutants we had access to
were convicted criminals and people under psychiatric care, which colored our
view of the matter perhaps a bit unfortunately. My views changed since then, as
have the circumstances in which such research can take place. Those were the
Dark Ages of the so-called mutant question. Things we take for granted now, like
the existence of the metagene and the effects of
certain mutagenic substances, as well as the existence of people with
extraordinary abilities, were still new and frightening
then.
B&B: Is that how
you experienced it, too, Mr. Ross?
Ross: Well, I'm from
Smallville, one of the hotspots of meta activity back then
–
B&B: – where Mr.
Luthor and I also spent a significant portion of our lives –
Ross: – and mutants were a fact of life there,
more than anywhere else at that point in time. At least I didn't think I was
crazy when I first found out I was different. But I still was afraid it would
change me and I wasn't eager to tell anyone.
B&B: Were you
afraid of being rejected?
*
"Well," Pete says
nervously as he closes the door behind the leaving police officers. It's late,
although they have had later nights at the office since he came to work as an
intern with Senator
She is another person when she's Senator
Martha is busying
herself with the coffee machine. Actually, that's Pete's job, but he knows
Martha always liked to cook and bake when she was distressed. It's really weird
though, how this woman in the sharp costumes with the perfectly done hair and
precise manners suddenly becomes
"You can never
really escape Smallville, huh?" he asks when he accepts his.
She sighs, and sets
the coffee down on the beautiful walnut wood table, courtesy of Lionel Luthor.
Nothing in this office has been paid with
"Why didn't you ever
tell me?" she asks and Pete deflates in defeat. Yeah, okay, she knows. She'd be
stupid not to recognize what he is.
"It just… it kinda
seemed awkward," Pete mutters.
Again, she sighs.
"Pete. You know
Pete raises his eyes
to the ceiling and throws back his head, clenching his teeth in frustration.
"That's why!" He stalks a few steps to the fireplace, then to a bookcase. "I
shouldn't –"
"Are you ashamed of
your power, Pete?" she asks gently. If she only knew.
"You saw what I did.
I took away that guy's power when he attacked you. That's all I do, okay? I
de-power other mutants. Three guesses as to why I got <i>that</i>
power."
"You envy
"Yeah." That's how
great a friend he was. It had as much to do with Chloe as with
"There's no shame in
that, Pete. Do you think Jonathan or I never envied
He stares at her. It
never occurred to him that the
Martha's face
softens, and she draws him into a hug that Pete accepts, more or less
gracefully. He's still ashamed. He still envies
"Oh, Pete," she says
softly and pats his back. "It's okay."
*
Ross: Perhaps. We
were also – I was constantly afraid that if it became public, they would put me
into a laboratory, to study me. It may seem ridiculous to hearers now, but back
then it seemed very real to a sixteen-year-old from
B&B: But is it
ridiculous?
Ross: No,
unfortunately not. The high percentage of metahuman disappearances can not
solely be put down to runaways and freak accidents. We know, and our government
tries its best to keep that knowledge down, that a lot of them end up in
corporate labs and private armies. Metahumans have become a fact of life, but
sadly, that also means we have become a commodity for
some.
B&B: So did you
tell anyone?
Ross: Not at first.
I would have told my Mom if I had thought she'd believe
me.
B&B: What about
your best friends? No, don't answer that. Who did you tell
first?
Ross: That was in
2004, a year or so after I discovered my ability. I didn't plan on telling
anyone, but it was sort of a life or death situation and perhaps you know what
it's like when you think you might die –
B&B: You do
crazy stuff. Right. So who was the lucky guy or girl? I'm dying to find out, you
know, because if you say 2004, then that's a whole lot earlier than I thought it
would be.
Ross: It was
Lex.
B&B: … right.
Okay. You mean the guy who's currently giving me the 'no comment' look? You
weren't exactly friends back then, weren't you?
Ross: We lived in
the same town. I had talked to Lex a few times, but we weren't friends, no. It
was pure coincidence that we ended up in that basement together. We were trapped
in the rubble, waiting for help, he was injured –
*
It's really pretty
much irony that of all the usual suspects, Lex is no longer at the bottom of the
list of people Pete wants to get trapped in an enclosed space with. He would
prefer Lana, but he neither does he want it to be Clark nor Chloe, not after
he's confessed his crush on her. Besides,
"I don't suppose you
have a way to contact
"
"It is usually Clark
who shows up for an eleventh-hour rescue," Lex replies mildly, but with an edge
to his voice, an undercurrent of implications.
Pete swallows.
"Unless
Luthor says nothing.
Pete tries frantically to think of a way to distract him. The only strategy that
comes to mind is what he usually uses with Chloe, though. If you want to stop
her investigating something weird, you only have to come up with something even
weirder. He figures talking about the mutants responsible for them being trapped
here is the lesser evil – Lex has seen Chloe's Wall of Weird, and he lived in
Smallville for three years, during most of which he has been a prime target of
the Smallville psychos. No wonder – most of them probably think that it's the
pollution from Lex's damn plant that turned them into freaks. There's no way in
hell he doesn't already know about meteor freaks.
"Why's it that these
freaks always go evil?" he asks. "I mean, you'd think once in a while they'd use
their flame-spitting and wall-crawling powers for great good or something. You
think it's something about the freakiness that makes them go
crazy?"
"No," Lex says,
without doubt or hesitation. Either he's not as bad off as he looks, or he's
tough as bones, because he actually starts to lecture, "Sudden power, fear and
marginalization are perfectly good reasons to explain that phenomenon. Besides,
there are likely dozens of undiscovered mutants living peaceful, productive
lives."
Pete is baffled –
and scared shitless – for a moment. Then he realizes that Lex has spoken
hypothetically, calmly, without that hinting edge to his
voice.
"You sound mighty
sure about that," Pete mutters apprehensively. Chloe has the wildest theories
about meteor freaks and madness, and Lana seems to think of them as some
middle-thing between creepy stalkers and icky animals.
"Well, I consider
myself a productive member of society," Lex jokes weakly, then adds, "for the
most part."
Pete waits for more,
dumbfounded, until he gets it. "Van McNulty. The mutant shooter. So you're
really a - "
"Freak," Lex agrees.
"That was when I started researching it. The radiation from the meteors changed
my DNA."
It figures that Lex
would go and throw money at the problem. Pete feels vaguely angry, although he
can't really tell why. "So, are you going to share your amazing powers with the
class, or what? Anything that's going to get us out of
here?"
"Hardly, unless our
kidnappers discover a sudden fear of baldness. I have an elevated white-cell
count and heal very fast."
Okay, so Pete does
want to be chained up with Clark, after all, but only because
And, how typical is
it that no matter how lame Luthor's powers are, they're still better than
Pete's?
"Meaning you're like
Wolverine without adamantium claws.
Great."
"Or like Professor
Xavier without the telepathy," Lex agrees, and shifts with a small groan of
pain. His pupils are dilated, his lips white as bone. He doesn't look good. Pete
is starting to wonder if perhaps Lex hasn't passed out from pain because he
can't feel his legs.
"Hey, don't faint on
me."
Lex blinks and
winces when he tries to shake his head. "I'm fine. I consider this another
interesting test of my abilities. I haven't yet… had a lot of opportunities to
observe open fractures… healing."
Pete snorts. There's
something patently ridiculous about a guy in a lavender silk shirt playing
tough. The idea of Lex poking at his injuries with a couple of mad scientists is
also pretty disgusting. He tries to bridge the lull in their conversation,
because by now, he needs the distraction more than Lex. "Did
They went to see it
together, Clark, Chloe and Pete, back before Lex even came to Smallville. The
good old days. Chloe mocked the leather costumes of the X-Men, and so did Pete,
even though he secretly thought they were really cool. Too bad he ended up
having the one really sucky power of that movie.
"I have a
subscription to the comic books."
No way, part of Pete
says, and another part wants to laugh at the earnest confession. Luthor is a
geek on top of everything else. On the other hand, it makes him strangely
ordinary. Like Pete's brother Dan, who has a whole stack of boxes with old comic
books back in the basement at home. When they were kids, Pete used to sneak into
his room and read the Spiderman issues.
"Huh," Pete says,
because he isn't sure if he likes Lex being normal and approachable and sort of
lame. It makes it harder to hate him, and Pete has been pretty comfortable with
his hate for Luthor so far.
"It's pretty topical
literature, here in Smallville," Lex says, and it looks strained, but he smirks,
"Although I hardly ever find the time to catch up with it. What about
you?"
"Me?" Pete snorts
derisively, and then suddenly realizes that Lex isn't one of the guys. Isn't
even in high school. He doesn't have to score cool points with Lex. He has a
sudden epiphany, a suspicion that this is a major reason
They don't say
anything for a while. It's dark behind the cracked, dusty windows now, and
pitch-black inside the warehouse. Pete's feet have gone past the prickly stage
and are now numb, and it dawns on him that sooner or later, one of them will
have to piss. He won't start whining in front of Lex, though. Let the spoiled
billionaire break first. Although considering the fact that Luthor survived
months on a deserted island, the chances of that are pretty slim.
"If you're
researching meteor freaks, how come half of Smallville isn't in some lab
yet?"
It's a valid
question. Even Clark, prime defender of all things Luthor, is way more afraid of
Lex finding out about the big secret than he is of, say, Chloe finding out.
Which makes perfect sense to Pete. He wonders if
"What do you
suggest," Lex asks sarcastically, "that I start abducting random Smallville
residents at night and blame it on aliens? People aren't exactly lining up for
research in this town."
That alien quip so
wasn't an allusion to
His heartbeat
calming down again, he shrugs. "Can't blame them. Nobody likes the idea of being
dissected."
*
Brave&Bold: You confessed to Lex that you were a
mutant?
Ross: No. He went
first. It wasn't that much of a surprise, I mean, he was as hairless then as he
is now.
B&B: How did you
get out of that warehouse?
Ross: We were
rescued. By… um… an unknown savior with superhuman
abilities.
B&B: Another
denizen of Smallville, I presume.
Ross: Yeah,
probably.
B&B: An early
precursor of our present day costumed heroes, no doubt, what do you think,
Superman?
Superman: It's…
possible.
B&B: And then
you told him you were a meta, too?
*
"
Pete stares at him,
wishing that for once something could stop
"Lex is hurt,"
Luthor's probably
still bleeding, and
"Yeah, well, he's
going to ask questions when he wakes up! Do you want to be there
then?"
"Look, I'm going to
save your ass this time," Pete says, urgently, because the blue lights of the
ambulance are approaching in the distance. It's dark, but
And
As if on cue he
wakes with a frown and a flutter of lashes. His eyes are dark and cloudy as he
tries to lift his head from the gravel.
"Stay down," Pete
orders. "An ambulance is coming."
"How?"
Pete totally called it. Questions,
questions. Lex coughs painfully and wipes his mouth with a sluggish motion. "The
chains – "
Damn
The grey eyes
flicker from left to right, and Lex's lips part, searching for someone beyond
Pete, someone who left a moment ago. Pete's mouth tastes bitter with that old
familiar mix of envy and frustration. "You're dead if you tell anyone about me,"
he hisses.
Luthor tries to ask
a few more questions, but then there's blood on his lips when he coughs some
more, and finally they're carrying him away on a stretcher. Pete lies to the
police and the doctors. He pretends he's confused and scared. A sheriff takes
him home.
A couple of days
later, he runs across Luthor at the Talon. There's nothing to suggest he ever
was hurt, so it's true. Lex is a mutant, just like Pete. Lex asks him to stay
and have a coffee with him, stiff and polite, like they're grown-ups both,
businessmen from Metropolis perhaps, or billionaires. For a moment or two,
trapped under rubble, he stopped dissembling and seemed like an almost decent
guy. But, Pete's smarter than that. Being around Lex with
"Got homework to
do," he mumbles. "Maybe some other time." He can tell that Luthor knows a
brush-off when he sees one.
*
Ross: Yeah. It
wasn't exactly the start of a beautiful friendship. Just a shameful confession
between two people who didn't have much else to say to each other.
Luthor: We were both busy with other projects
back then. I didn't see Pete for a couple of years, he moved away from
Smallville shortly after that. By the time we met again, I had already advanced
the state of research quite a bit.
B&B: So how did
you meet again? Public records show that you didn't go back to Smallville or
Metropolis until… Superman's death, right, Pete? Did you meet at his funeral?
Ross: No, it was a
lot earlier.
*
For a moment, it
feels like the morning after blacking out from too much alcohol, and Pete has
gotten really experienced with that since going to college, but then things fall
into place. It's much worse. No hammering in his ears, no puke taste in his
mouth. Just the cold hum of neon lights and a smell of hospitals, of creeping
dread and pain.
With a groan, Pete
tries to hide his face in the pillow and suddenly there's the pull of restraints
around his wrists and ankles.
There's a scritch-scratch of a pen on paper, and a voice like
clipboards and wire-framed glasses says,
"Welcome to Level
33.1, Mr. Ross."
*
Ross: Lex… tried to
recruit me for one of his research projects. We had a bit of a clash, but
-
Luthor: I
appreciated Pete's willingness to discuss the matter openly. He answered a few
questions that helped forward my research considerably, simply by confirming a
few theories I already had. At that time, confirmation from a sane person was
invaluable…
*
The door to Pete's
room opens. He's pathetically grateful for it, considering that it's most likely
some doctor come to slice him up and pierce him with needles, but he's close to
crying from boredom. He's been in this room forever. There's no watch, no window
to tell him how much time has passed, just the walls, the bed and the cold neon
light. Two walls are steel, two are a warm red. The weird contrast of that mixed
message drives Pete mad.
It's not a doctor
who enters. It's Lex fucking Luthor in all his bald, be-suited glory.
"You!" Pete yells,
or rather, croaks.
Lex is frowning, but
it looks as if the frown has been there for a while and gotten settled in. He
closes the door and stalks over to Pete's bed, looking down his nose at him.
"What the hell is
going on?" Pete has gotten the gist of it, of course: mutants, scientists, lab.
"The restraints are
only a precaution as long as we don't know if your power is potentially
dangerous," Lex says. His voice makes something inside Pete go suddenly cold.
Luthor used to be weird, now he's nothing short of sinister. Pete starts to wonder if he should have
gotten off his ass and gave Clark or Mrs. Kent a call about that Dark Thursday
business. What if Luthor's gone seriously bad and is responsible for it? That
article by Chloe that Pete caught in the Daily Planet almost made it seem that
way.
"My power?" Pete
rails. "Bullshit! You're the one who abducted me! I never hurt anyone with
it."
Luthor pulls out the
uncomfortable chair by Pete's bedside – the contrast between coldness and
comfort is in evidence again, because Pete's bed, apart from the restraints, is
perfectly nice – and sits down. He's still frowning, and now it looks more like
a tension headache. "Pete," he says, sounding tired. "What is your
power?"
"What, are you gonna
torture me if I don't tell you?" Pete scoffs with more bravado than he really
feels. The word torture clings on his tongue with a bitter aftertaste.
"No. You'll be
brought back to the place you were taken and will wake up with no memory of this
incident. We'll watch you until we find out. Usually we do no more than tag the
mutants we pick up, but in the light of the fact that you are the only
Smallville resident who ever showed himself willing to discuss the topic with me
– " Lex makes a vague gesture towards the room, "I decided we should try and
talk civilly about it."
He really has gone
crazy. Shit. Are they in Smallville? Is
"So this is how you
repay it when people trust you?" Pete snarls. "You tag them like animals? And
you think it's any surprise no one else was ever stupid enough to tell you the
truth?"
Luthor stares at him
with impassive grey eyes. Something coils there, maybe anger, maybe guilt. He
turns away, glances at the TV set that makes the cell look almost like a
hospital room. His frown deepens. Then, shocking Pete, he starts undoing the
restraints – first the right wrist, then he walks around the bed and does the
left.
If Pete were an
action hero like
"I might have gotten
over-cautious," Luthor says stiffly, because apparently the man can't say sorry.
Pete doesn't deign
that with a reply. Instead, he glowers at the red wall for a while. "I take
people's powers away. I turn freaks normal again. Happy
now?"
Doesn't look like
it. Luthor sighs, looking exhausted as he sinks back down into his seat and rubs
the back of his neck. Being evil must be tough work. "That can't be how you got
us out of that basement." He looks up at Pete again. "So it wasn't you, was it?
You were protecting someone."
If Luthor were just guessing, Pete might
try and lie to him, but he's obviously not. He's just putting pieces together
that he must have had a long time ago. Back when Pete left Smallville, Lex
already knew something – with
"You gave up your
secret for
Pete says nothing.
Denials or defiance would only get him in deeper. He figures that if Luthor has
progressed to abducting people against their will, he won't be squeamish about
getting
"Pete, I respect
your loyalty. I'm not going to ask
you for
Pete squints at him.
Is that a jab at how Clark and Chloe sort of dropped him like a hot potato?
"Yeah, so?"
"Things have
happened in Smallville that change a lot of things." Lex leans forward. His eyes
have lit up with something feverish, like when Chloe used to hunt a story, or
when some of Pete's fellow politics students get all fanatic on some topic. "It
is no longer just meteor mutants we have to contend with."
The best Pete can do
is not move at all. But Luthor doesn't even mention
Lex stops the tape.
"A spaceship came with the second meteor shower. I encountered the aliens
myself, and they were hostile. I tried to build a weapon, in case more would
come, but a man called Milton Fine attacked me. I was possessed by a being
called Zod – according to Lana, he was some sort of alien invader who intended
to make himself overlord on Earth. He was brutal. He caused Dark Thursday. Then,
somehow, he vanished. I have more evidence, if you're in need of
convincing."
"Whoa." That's
really all Pete has to add.
"This is about
survival," Lex says grimly. "Of the human race."
Pete suddenly
remembers
But, reality check.
"So, uh, that Zod
guy just vanished? And the other aliens, too?"
Lex nods. "Their
current location is unknown. It's possible that they're dead, but so far I
haven't found anyone or anything with the power to defeat
them."
Could
"Lana says that Zod
tried to kill her. She blacked out – when she woke up, he was gone. Someone must
have saved her. I found myself at the hospital after Zod stopped possessing my
body."
If Lana didn't buy
the whole thing, Pete might have suspected that Lex had just been possessed by
the usual krypto-madness. But the way it sounded, it was pretty clear who had
saved them both. A look passed between Pete and Lex, and while Pete tried not to
give anything away, Lex seemed to find what he had been looking for, whatever
that was.
"Thank you," he
said. "Aside from Lana, there hasn't been anyone I could share this knowledge
with."
Does
"Continue my
research," Lex replies grimly, getting up. "And search for a weapon against
them."
Some hours later,
Pete wakes in his bed in his college dorm, with no proof that he was ever
abducted. But the memories are there, fuzzy around the edges but clear in the
centre. Even a long shower and hot coffee doesn't drive away the discomfort.
Pete stares at his computer. He doesn't have Clark's cell-phone number, but he
still knows the number to call the
But what if
So Pete keeps quiet.
He doesn't call them. There's a couple of stories in the Planet and the
Inquisitor that might be traces of something going on in Metropolis, but soon
the "Green Arrow" scare replaces Dark Thursday as the top news. Then it's Lex
and Lana's marriage that makes a few headlines.
And then Lana's
death almost drowns out the story about a broken dam near Smallville and a
couple of sightings of a monster that sounds suspiciously as if it has
Pete decides to go
to the funeral. It's his chance to find out what the hell is going on. Chloe and
Clark don't notice him during the service, but Pete notices things. Things like
Lionel Luthor sharing a pew with Clark, Chloe and Mrs
Kent. Things like the burning hatred that surrounds Lex's like a poisonous cloud
from all sides.
At first they talk
about Lex and Lana and what went wrong. Then Chloe suddenly breaks apart and
other things come spilling like driftwood out of a stormy sea: her mother, Level
33.1, and finally –
"I'm a meteor
freak."
It's really, really
insensitive that Pete laughs, and she glares through her tears. "Me
too."
"You –
what?"
"I'm a mutant. It's
a really stupid power. I make people normal again."
"You're – that's a
joke, right? A really mean joke."
"No."
Then, and in all the
years to come, Chloe never once asks Pete to take away her powers. Maybe it's
because she saved Lois's life with them, or maybe she likes being a freak a lot
more than she admits. They don't ever talk about why Pete got this power of all
powers, either. Just like Chloe never says, "I heal people because I wish I
could heal my Mom." They know. It doesn't have to be said.
But finally, Pete
asks, "What's going on with
Chloe hesitates, and
Pete feels the burn of these three seconds in the marrow of his bones. He's know
longer part of the inner circle.
"Chloe, you realize
that Lex Luthor thinks there's an alien invasion going on, right? And he's got
some pretty good evidence. That's what Level 33.1 is about. He's building an
army." Pete tells her about his abduction and Lex's little horror show about
aliens. She's obviously flabbergasted.
"You didn't
know?"
"No!" She shakes her
head. "We thought he was just – I dunno, making a bid
for world domination? He's a monster, what he did to me and my Mom and Lana –
"
"Do you really think
he killed her?" It sure looks like it, but it makes Pete wonder why Lex is still
alive.
Chloe hugs herself
on the couch and wipes her permanently reddened eyes. She shakes her head,
though. "No.
And
Chloe doesn't look
like she likes the idea of having anything to do with Lex at all. "You should
talk to Clark, Pete…" She catches his expression and makes an annoyed noise.
"Why do I always have to play messenger for you guys?"
*
B&B: Did Pete's
input to your research change things?
Luthor: Not at
first, it took some time. But it alleviated some of my more pressing concerns
and allowed me to concentrate on more fruitful projects.
Ross: I talked about
it to some friends of mine. The news about Lex's research eventually reached
some of our early costumed crime-fighters – it was all word-of-mouth back then,
since we didn't have any metahuman newspapers or forums or broadcasts.
Superman: Hearing
that Lex's research wasn't as big of a threat as we had thought, uh… alleviated
some of our more pressing concerns, too.
B&B: That must
have been very early in your career, Superman… you made your debut on the eve of
the invasion in Spring 2008…
*
"Luthor!"
Lex, and the dozens
of heavily armed guards surrounding him turn at
There's fear on
their faces, fear of the unknown, paired with stark disbelief at his flapping
red cape and colorful costume.
But Lex doesn't look
afraid. He carries the one weapon in the crowd that can harm
"I know who you
are," Lex says, and with a wave of his hand makes his Amazon step aside.
Lex's face is a
precise mirror. They're wearing the same mask, the same armor, and
"We need to talk,"
Lex cants his head,
just slightly, in the direction of the latest explosion. He gives
And yet he makes not
even the slightest move to leave until
Lex's eyes glitter
with the power to walk away, to ignore him. But another rush of dust and heat,
and the scream of steel bent like rubber warns them that neither of them has the
power to walk away right now. Unless it isn't true what Chloe said she had heard
from Pete, unless Lex was just after power all this time, and all his talk about
alien invasions just talk.
"Let's talk," Lex
drawls.
They walk, although
they should be running. The attack has reached the other side of the street, and
alien drones swarm around the globe of the Daily Planet, darkening the cloudy
skies. The lobby of LexCorp tower coats them in sudden, unexpected silence as
they make their way to the elevator.
"Meet me in the
office," Lex says to his henchwoman, and she turns on her heels with a tiny
salute. Doors slide shut noiselessly and then its just them in the elevator. One
wall is mirrored, and
Lex leans against
the other wall, his eyes traveling up and down
"The city is under
attack. From aliens."
Lex relaxes eyes
more, dangerously so, like a cat looking almost sleepy before it suddenly
pounces. "The question is, whose side are you on?"
"That's an
interesting… uniform you're wearing. Your military?"
"Lex – " There's no
moment, no thought between
"What are we
fighting against?"
Silence falls in
which
"Don't waste my time
with your antics," Lex says. "I'm willing to strike a temporary alliance.
Otherwise, leave."
In that moment,
Lex listens and
later they fight side by side. He is well-prepared, frighteningly so. All this,
He lives to read his
praise in all the papers. Only Lex is a single voice above the crowd, reminding
them that it was their savior who attracted danger in the first place. He warns
of costumed vigilantes and super-powered mutants, of aliens masquerading as men.
*
B&B: After your
little interlude with Lex's research, you finished your studies,
right?
Ross: Yeah. I got a
scholarship from a private foundation, and then a recommendation that allowed me
to work with Senator
B&B: Formative
years, I guess?
Ross: Oh,
definitely. Senator
B&B: I knew her,
she was an exceptional woman. In 2015, you outed yourself to Daily Planet
reporter
Ross: It was after
the first big wave of superheroes made their public debut. The papers were full
of people speculating about 'freaks' and 'monsters' and 'demigods' and then
LexCorp introduced the term 'metahuman' and it caught on. People started calling
it the 'metahuman question'. A lot of people were eager to see us all locked up
or at least registered. I knew only a couple of people with powers back then,
but they were all pretty nervous. So I decided to go public, to show the world
that were weren't some shady underground minority, but normal people who just
happened to have powers.
*
Pete has almost
forgotten that
He didn't quite
expect him to be standing in Pete's living room, in the dark, when Pete unlocks
the door. It seems
"Man. Did you get in
through the window?" Pete asks when he recovers from the shock, his heart still
beating a little too fast. "There's such a thing as calling before you drop
by!"
Pete laughs. It's a
mean laugh that carries all of Pete's pent up frustration and bitterness. All
the distance between them. "I would have if you had
asked."
But
Pete sighs. Shrugs.
"Forget it. You've asked now." And Pete was too damn glad about it. But,
whatever.
"Pete –
"
Pete is absolutely
not going to talk about their feelings. Not right now, and not ever if he can
distract
Pete grins back at
him. "You got a deal."
*
B&B: Were you
surprised by the reaction?
Ross: Yeah. Yeah… I
guess I was. I got a lot of e-mails and phone calls from metas who wanted me to use my powers on them to make them
normal again. I was approached by government representatives, too – I'm not
going to give names – who asked me if I would work for them. 'You are the
perfect solution for our problem, Mr. Ross' they said. It was shocking – I had
hidden my powers for years because I was ashamed of them. To me it felt as if
they were a product of envy because I grew up as a normal boy in a place with so
many people with powers. And suddenly everyone started treating me like a mutant
messiah, because I could take their powers away. There was this huge lack of
self-confidence. Everyone who didn't put on spandex behaved like… like anorexic
teenagers, you know?"
B&B: So that was
what prompted your famous
Ross: Yes. I hadn't
anticipated becoming the leader of any kind of movement. It was
overwhelming.
B&B: Did you
follow that speech, Lex?
Luthor: From a
hospital bed. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, ironically caused by the same
radiation that triggered my metagene. If not for my
mutation, I wouldn't have survived it, either. That speech put a lot of things
in perspective for me.
*
When
He switches off the
laptop so he doesn't have to look at himself. He feels like a liar and a coward,
more so today than usual. He settles in a plastic chair near Lex's bed. The room
is tinged grey-green now, the pallid color of the rainy twilight outside. Night
is falling quickly, obscuring the dark shadows under Lex's eyes, the pink hue of
his eyelids, and the fallen hollows of his cheeks. His hands are clawing at the
blanket as if he's in pain even while asleep, a needle stuck under paper-thin
skin.
Hours later, he
starts coughing, and
So when he fully
wakes, the sharpness of his eyes in the dark is startling. "Get
out."
"I wish someone had
told me the things Pete said today when I was fifteen,"
Lex's eyes glitter
darkly, little slivers of life in a skull-like face. "I'm not going to forgive
you," he rasps.
"I
know."
*
B&B: And you,
Superman?
Superman: I was
there, in
B&B: The other
side?
Superman: Before
that it was just us – I mean, heroes and villains. It didn't seem quite so…
real.
Luthor: A big game
of power-mad cops and robbers.
B&B: That sounds
pretty cynical, Lex, considering that you used to be one of the big players in
that game…
*
Lucas yelps and
dives behind the dinner table when Superman bursts into the room, seizes Lex by
the collar and slams him into the wall. A few expensive paintings rattle in
their frames.
"Woah," Lucas says,
his head rising from behind the table. He lowers his gun. "You two always
playing this rough?"
"I believe we will
have to post-pone our dinner," Lex says coolly, ignoring
The boss of
Metropolis's underworld throws up his hands and grins. "Aw, we won't play
catch-up tonight? Why don't you invite him some time?"
"Lucas."
"Right." Lucas downs
his martini, snatches the olive with his teeth and makes a quick exit. Somehow,
Clark's big entry wasn't very effective – it's why Lex invited Lucas tonight in
the first place, knowing that a visit from
"I won't let you use
Pete for whatever scheme it is you have,"
Lex raises his
brows. "My scheme is rather simple,
Lex raises his eyes
toward the ceiling. "Please,
"Yeah, I can see
that,"
"Exactly. At the
moment, Lucas isn't very good publicity. I'm discussing a new… business strategy
with him."
"You want me to
believe you're making him go legit?"
Lex laughs
Lex sighs and bends
his head.
"I get to make
history."
*
Ross: Don't mind
him, Chloe. He hasn't quite forgiven me yet for telling him that he's not
allowed to charm, blackmail, bribe, or trick anyone into voting for
us.
Luthor: We may be
super-powered, but that's not reason to cripple ourselves while others play
dirty. Of course, the idea of fighting an honorable fight is pretty
appealing…
*
"The
hell?!"
Pete storms into the
campaign office, slapping the paper down on Lex's desk. Lex's chair swivels
around slowly to face him, his lofty expression clearly saying, I'm not
impressed.
"Yes?" he asks
mildly.
"You did not just
have the governor of
Lex never resembles
his father more than when he does his shocked, 'What, me?' impression. He pokes
at the paper, raising his brows at the picture of Governor Cassidy, then cants
his head at Pete. "Whatever led you to that conclusion?" The bastard is enjoying
himself. Pete wants to choke him with his bare hands.
"Oh, perhaps the
fact that Cassidy called you a 'megalomaniac would-be dictator' right before he
boarded that plane?"
"He called you a
'misled idealistic puppet-candidate', which admittedly is a much more awkward
insult, but am I accusing you of murder? Besides, Cassidy isn't dead. He'll be
miraculously saved from the island where he is currently stranded about two or
three months after the election."
"Fuck," Pete says, and really hopes that their campaign headquarter isn't bugged. He r