Work Text:
Half
by xmarisolx
The soothing breeze coming off of the bay, the stunning crystal water before him and the green, green trees lining the shore all feel like Heaven itself has bestowed Lex with a gift of mercy. He’s completely alone on this yacht—not a staff person, not a bird, not even a phone is onboard—and the strawberries he found in the bar taste like ambrosia from the gods. He’s barely been here in Miami seven hours, and the ceremony isn’t until tomorrow, but in the early hours of a late summer morning—with the sun barely peeking over the horizon—Lex wonders if there is a place of peace for him in this world. There’s only a scab where his desire for normalcy used to be, but the tranquil anonymity of the moment is making him pick at the sore and see what humanity is left under there, unhealed. He wonders if he can forgive himself, even if the rest of them can’t, and give himself another chance at… whatever it is that others have. Lex is seduced by the idea of drifting out into the ocean never to be heard from again.
Although, he’s done that before and it was considerably less romantic that it sounds.
“Oh, we’re not going to do that again.”
A voice calls from behind him, and Lex is stunned when he turns around: Lionel is standing behind him. Lex is instantly flooded with a million questions, but really can only synthesize one:
What. The. Hell.
“Lionel?” he whispers. Wh—How? He’s… dead.
“Well, Lex you hardly thought I’d allow you to abandon everything I taught you. You’ve come so far. Have you forgotten so quickly where all that maudlin sentimentality of your 20s got you?”
Lex closes his eyes tightly, takes several deep breathes, and, without opening his eyes, takes a long sip of the bottle of water next to him. He swats at the beads of sweat he feels forming on his brow, struggling to regain his composure. “I’m not talking to you. You’re dead,” he chants to himself.
“Hardly the welcome I was hoping for,” Lionel replies. Lex’s eyes fly open, only to find his father still standing there. “And not the answer to my question either.”
“Am I dead?” Lex asks.
Lionel chuckles. “Hardly. Fit as a fiddle. I’m the one who is dead. You might recall, uh, murdering me.”
“Then how are we talking?” Lex says, finally rising from his chair.
“Oh Lex,” he sighs. “I am the visual manifestation of your internal desire for guidance. I’m not really here. And yet...here I am.”
“No, no, No, NO!” Lex says and backs up.
“Oh, and um, I’m less than pleased that you will be receiving my award tomorrow. I am the one that funded that research in the Keys.”
“Using money that you acquired from your Level Three captives.”
“But they were freaks, Lex. You know that. That money was put to much better use in agricultural studies than bankrolling psychotic murderers. You of all people should understand what it’s like to be targeted by kryptofreaks.”
“See, this is why I killed you, because…”
“Oh save it, Lex,” Lionel sighs. “Your righteous pontificating is so tiresome. Do you really think you are so different from me?”
“I have revolutionized LuthorCorp’s reputation since your…demise. It’s no longer the cooperate boogeyman of Metropolis. We even started a charter school for underprive—“
“You’re a whitewashed grave Lex.” Lionel yells. “You scramble to project purity when, in reality, the proverbial cemeteries are full of your hapless victims.” He slowly begins to draw closer. Lex backs up with each of Lionel’s advancing steps until he is pressed against the starboard wall of the vessel. Lionel stops only inches from a crouching Lex, grinning to himself, before delicately patting Lex’s cheek. “Dear son,” he begins, “I know everything. I know who you’ve killed. I know who you’ve bribed. I know when you piss and where. I even know who you’ve screwed…in more ways than one.”
Lex spits his face. “I hate you! Leave me ALONE!”
“Suit yourself,” Lionel replies. “Just know that the son is not greater than the father. You least of all.” He begins to walk away, then pauses. “I’ll be back when you need me.”
With that, he leaps into the water. Lex rushes to the end of the boat and peers into the blue abyss, but the water shows no sign that Lionel was ever even there.
Endnote: Feedback makes me giddy :)