Infected - Chapter 1

Title:    Infected
Rating:    T
Author:    SilverSnikle
Character:    Clark
Timeline:   Clark Luthor's Seventeenth Birthday
Warnings:   Luthor-verse
Disclaimer:   Borrowed characters and some dialogue... No affiliation to CW/WB, DC
Summary:   My take on Clark Luthor's descent into darkness.


Feedback:   Oh, yes please!
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- Chapter 1 -

Clark wakes with a start. His eyes are wide, his muscles taut, his breathing frantic. He shudders involuntarily and forces a deep breath. His head turns slowly toward the door of his room. As expected, Lionel is standing in the frame of the door. The smile on his face sends a surge of anger through Clark, but he holds back any noticeable reaction. His Father, as Lionel prefers to be referred to, has one hand on the door knob, and the other hidden behind his back.


''Still in bed son? Us Luthor men have to rise before the rest. He steps into the room and Clark hears a snapping sound. The source of his forced awakening vanishes from his senses. He feels his body relax, only a little, and his breathing slowly returns to normal.


"I hate to use such extreme measures with you, Son, but I fear you won't grasp the lesson completely otherwise.''


Clark moves, ready to get out of his bed, out of this room, out of this house if possible. But Lionel has other ideas. He sits on the edge of Clark's bed, keeping him there. He pulls around the hand that had been hidden, revealing a small lead box. Clark can't stop the look of abhorrence from forming over his features. He hates Lionel – hates that Lionel had been the one to find him as a child in that corn field.


Clark has spent many nights dreaming about what his life may have been like had someone else, anyone else found him out there.


He knew though, Lionel finding him had not been an accident. Lionel had spent years preparing  for him, the Traveler. Clark knew his end game was basically to use Clark to take over the world. It wasn't the end game that worried Clark. It was the journey; the thoughts of what he may have to endure in the process of Lionel's world domination.


''It's your birthday, Son." Lionel broke into a smile; Clark hated how genuine it looked on his lips. Lionel Luthor should not be allowed to smile.


Clark nodded, unable to speak for fear he may say something demanding punishment. He knows it isn't his actual birthday.


That seems to be the one thing Lionel doesn't know about Clark's heritage. He does however know within a few months how old Clark is, thanks to his scientists' experiments. This year, Clark is somewhere around seventeen. He chokes back the vile that gathers in the back of his throat at the realization he's been under the thumb of Lionel for fifteen whole years.


"I have a present for your" Clark forces a smile, fake as it might be, but Lionel doesn't seem to care. He reaches into his coat    pocket and pulls out a jewelry box. Clark wants to smack it across the room, it's lead.


He shifts his weight, moving to the other side of his bed, swinging his legs over the side. He stands, stretches, and turns back toward Lionel.


"I like surprises. I would rather receive my present at my party. There is going to be a party, right?” He raises an eyebrow in question, settling the stone look of indifference that regularly graces his face over his features. Lionel stands on the other side of the bed and Clark can see the proud look in his eyes. He loves when Clark stands up for himself, loves when Clark puts on his mask of pride. 


It's lose, lose with Lionel, ''Get dressed. We'll have breakfast as a family." He turns, slipping the jewelry box back into the same pocket, and strides out the door.


Clark takes two seconds before super-speeding to the door and slamming it shut. He knows his anger only feeds Lionel, but sometimes he can't help it.


Dressed in black slacks, a lavender button-up, and a pinstriped vest, Clark walks into the dining room. He's not the last to arrive for the meal. Lex is already seated, eager to please Lionel. Lutessa, however, is late. She tends to be the straggler and Lionel doesn't hide his disappointment in his daughter. He is upfront and brutally honest about his feelings for the middle child. He tells her and both his sons how weak she is. He likes to use her as an example of the type of people they are to overcome in life; Clark thinks that's the only reason Lionel keeps her around, as a bad example.


Clark sits opposite Lex and stars into his brother's eyes. Lex's eyes are deep wells, full of hate and envy. Clark finds this ironic, considering the source of Lex's hate is the same source as Clark's. They both hate that Lionel gives so much of his attention to Clark; Lex hates that Clark doesn't soak up Lionel's affections. Lex would do anything to have his father look at him with the loving eyes he saves only for Clark. That makes Clark sick. Like father like son.


Lutessa finally enter the dining hall and seats herself carefully as far away from Lionel as one could get. Clark worries about her.


She has the eyes of a troubled soul, empty. She keeps her head tilted forward, her auburn locks spread over her face, hiding her from the room.


''It's so wonderful to have the whole Family around the table, "Lionel's voice is genuine happiness laced with pride. Clark wants to choke the happiness out of him.


Lex's lips are pressed together tightly and Clark knows he's holding back a sardonic comment. Clark almost laughs, knowing he too has thoughts best kept within the confines of his own brain. No need to share with the class, it wouldn't be appreciated.


The rest of the day Clark spends avoiding Lex and Lionel. He and Lutessa take off to an abandoned farm somewhere in Smallville. They find a couple forgotten horses and go for a ride. Clark doesn't spend a lot of time with his sister. He goes to Excelsior during the school months, and she goes to a similar all-girl school somewhere in Star City. It's only during the summer breaks, like this one, that they spend any amount of time together. Even during the summer those moments are few and far between. Lionel keeps Clark busy most days, learning business, politics, and war. But any chance he gets he takes Lutessa away from the mansion.


She is no more his sister than Lionel is his father, or Lex is his brother, but Clark feels drawn to her. She is different from them   somehow, and it's not because she's weak. No, Clark thinks she's actually the strongest of them all. She's the only one with true Luthor blood who fights an internal battle with good and evil. Lex had fought when they were younger, but after years of being only second best to his father, Lex had embraced his true self. Clark remembered after they'd first found him, Lex had been hurt in the fields. Other children looked at him differently because all his hair had fallen out. Clark, however, had not been fazed by Lex's bald seven-year-old head. They     had played together, laughed together, even enjoyed each other's company 


As the sun began to set behind the hills, Clark sighed. He knew he and Lutessa needed to head back to the mansion soon. His party would be starting, and to disappoint Lionel by being late was to ask for punishment. He cringed at the memory of that morning. He didn't understand why Lionel hid the green rock from his sight. Clark knew it was there. Those green rocks were the only things that could cause him any pain. He would do mostly anything to avoid them. Mostly.


''We should be heading back Tess." He didn't know why, but he had never like the way Lutessa felt on his lips. He had started calling her Tess anytime they were alone after the age of ten. He much preferred the shortened endearment, as did she.


She doesn't reply to his words, only smiles sadly at him and turns her horse around.
   


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