picfor1000 | Perfect Son

Title: Perfect Son
Fandom: Smallville
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Where Lex was flawed, either through the meteor shower or Lillian’s pampering, his new son would be perfect.
Author's Notes: Thanks so much to

ahab99 for the beta, and to

svmadelyn for betaing the first version.

Lionel sat heavily on his desk chair, happy to be finished with the business of the day. Outside, the rain was falling fast on Metropolis, turning the sky a dull gray hue. It brought a welcome respite from the sweltering heat the citizens had endured through the past week. The hustle and bustle of thousands of people going through their daily lives far below didn’t reach up to his 60th floor office. This was his chance to relax and indulge himself before going home.

He wanted desperately to be happy about the baby. When Lillian had first told him that she was pregnant, he’d been overjoyed. But Lillian’s agitation, growing stronger every day, had put a damper on his enjoyment. He knew what she was afraid of. He’d heard it many times before. That didn’t make it true.

You don’t love him, Lionel.

Of course he loved Lex. Lex was his firstborn, and nothing would ever change that. But Lillian seemed to think that unless he coddled the boy and gave in to his every whim and desire that he saw him as something less. She couldn’t seem to realize that Lionel was giving him the skills he’d need when he grew up. Life was never going to be easy for his son. And now, with the new baby coming, she feared that he’d forget about Lex completely.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of these thoughts. This was a time for looking to the future. He had another chance now. Where Lex was flawed, either through the meteor shower or Lillian’s pampering, his new son would be perfect. But her fears that he would forget about Lex were simply ridiculous. Lex would never stop being his son.

He glanced for the first time since entering his office at the plain manila envelope propped on his desk. It was his final installment. He’d already ended the deal with the investigators. These surrogates to whom he had turned for solace many times within the last two years were no longer necessary.

He opened the envelope and upended it, spilling a stack of pictures haphazardly onto his desk. The first one he picked up showed all three of them. They were barefoot, playing in the stream from a sprinkler set up in the front yard of their little yellow farmhouse. Lionel smiled, imagining how good the cool water would have felt earlier in the week.

Setting the picture aside, he picked up another. This one was a close-up, very nicely shot, and he made a mental note to give the photographer a final bonus. The picture showed only the mother and son. The boy’s wavy dark hair contrasted beautifully with her red as he lay in her arms, and her face was full of devotion and love as she looked down at him.

Lillian and Lex had that kind of relationship. It was a relationship Lionel knew he would never have with his son. But it was also that type of relationship that was damaging the boy even further every day. It wasn’t that he didn’t want the two of them to be happy. Whatever Lillian or Lex might think now, he knew Lex would be thankful for his father’s lessons in the long run, even if he never admitted it.

It was just one more thing he would fix with his new son. This child would know from the very beginning that his father only had his best interests at heart. He would understand that Lionel was preparing him for greatness, and that with that greatness, sacrifices had to be made. He would be someone Lionel could be proud of, someone who could suitably rule his empire one day.

Lionel tucked the photo deep into his inside coat pocket. He thumbed through the rest of the pictures quickly before dropping them back into the envelope. He would shred the envelope at his secretary’s desk as he walked by.

It was time to go home and face the future.

**

It was raining, again, and Lionel was too tired and worn to laugh at the cliché. He felt Lex shiver beside him as they both stood under an umbrella together. The funeral had been packed with people from all over the world. The graveside service had been considerably smaller. Now, only Lex, Pamela, and Lionel were left standing in the cemetery.

Pamela would be gone by morning. That was first and foremost. The only way Lionel was ever going to have a suitable heir now would be to have complete control over Lex. He had to be the only one Lex could turn to. Lex wouldn’t like it or understand, but that was none of Lionel’s concern.

Julian’s death had nearly broken him. When Lillian’s health had deteriorated further, he’d spent weeks agonizing over the decision of whether or not to adopt Lucas, no matter the consequences. But Lucas was almost as old as Lex, and Lionel had decided the risks were too great. Lucas was infinitely more of a liability than his brother.

He couldn’t believe how fast everything had happened. In two short years, he’d lost a son and his wife, and was left with only this broken, freakish boy. A boy that was directly responsible for the death of one, and indirectly responsible, at least in Lionel’s mind, for the death of the other.

It would be difficult, if not impossible, to turn Lex into someone worthy now. But Lionel was up for the challenge. There would be no more turning to other sources to ease his grief, and there would be no more dwelling on the past. Because this was all he was ever going to have, and he’d have to make the most of it.

He turned away abruptly, and called Lex to follow him. Lex hesitated, then followed slowly, eyes turned down to the ground.

Whether he liked it or not, Lex was his future. And Lionel was never going to let him forget it.