COTW 52: Cat and Mouse

[serafina20]

Previous Parts



"No, Chloe, I'm not going over there," Pete said, mindlessly answering history questions while cradling his cell phone under his ear. He had to get a new one of those hands-free things since he lost the old ones.

"But Pete..." Chloe whined, but he cut her off.

"Look, girl, I went to his place yesterday. Clark's fine. Not one hundred percent, but fine. Besides, didn't you say that Whitney's going over there?"

"Yeah, but... Please? You're his best friend."

The tip of his pencil broke. "No, you're his best friend," Pete snapped. "And you got caught having sex with your girlfriend at home, so you're grounded. That's not my problem. Hell, I don't see how that's much of a problem for you anyway. Seems to me that you let your personal life suffer enough to take care of Clark, and that ain't right for any of you."

Long silence. Then quiet, "But..."

"Good-bye, Chloe. Have a good day in Metropolis." He hung up.

God, he was so sick of them. Okay, yeah, Clark was like his brother. And he had a mad-crush on Chloe. Lana, he didn't like so much, which wasn't fair to her, but, hey, she was with his girl (or, his girl if he had his way) so what could you do?

But he wasn't in their club. He wasn't the one who was let in on all the secrets, who got to do the cuddle-pile on the couch in the Torch office, or talk the secret language of The Gay, or hang out with teachers, or do whatever the hell they did when he wasn't around. He wasn't a part of all that, and it wasn't fair that he be asked to fill in for Chloe when he wasn't needed and probably wasn't wanted. Lex was staying over with Clark anyway; Pete definitely didn't need to be there.

He sighed in annoyance and grabbed another pencil. He wanted to get his stupid homework done.

His phone rang again. The number on the screen was unfamiliar.

"Hello?"

"Dude, it's Lucas. I'm bored. You wanna come over and hang?"

He blinked and put down his pencil. "You want to hang out with me?" Pete said. Lucas Luthor was two years older than him and a *Luthor*.

"You're the only person I know around here. Besides, you seemed cool yesterday. Come over."

"Well. Okay. I'll be there in a few."

"Cool."

Pete hung up. Lucas had seemed pretty cool yesterday to him, too. A little intense, and pretty angry, but he had a right to be, right? Pete hadn't thought his opinion of Lionel Luthor could get any lower, but knowingly keeping your son in the system was harsh.

"I'm going out, Mom!" Pete called as he made his way to the front door.

"Where are you going?" she called from the living room.

"Friend's. I'll call if I'm going to be back late."

"Be safe."

He snorted. Not that Smallville didn't have its share of craziness and all, but seriously, Mom had no idea how bad it could get. She, like most of the adults in town, remained pointedly oblivious to everything.

It felt really weird to be driving to Lex Luthor's house when Clark wasn't there. It always felt weird, of course, because he still didn't like Lex, no matter how much Clark did, but he put up with him because Clark was crazy-stupid about him. And, yeah, he did appreciate Lex putting up with him, and he tried to see what Clark saw in Lex, but he just couldn't. The man was responsible for taking his best friend away from him. It was hard to be fair.

So, yeah. This felt weird. It was weird driving up the road, and then up to the gate to talk with the security guard. And then be let in.

Lucas answered the door himself. "Hey, man."

"Hey." They clasped hands briefly, and then Pete followed Lucas inside.

"This place is ridiculous, I know," Lucas said with a roll of his eyes. "I keep expecting to run into a ghost or something."

"It's had it's share," Pete replied. He fell into step besides Lucas, walking across the polished floor. He wondered if he should elaborate, reveal some of Smallville's secrets, but Lucas dismissed the comment.

"Yeah, well. I half expect to find Lex skulking in some room I don't know about. This seems like it should have secrets passages and rooms and stuff. Ever get a chance to explore it?"

Pete shook his head. "I'm really not friends with Lex. I've come over a few times when he's invited Clark and his friends, but mostly, he does his thing and I do mine, you know?"

"What is his deal with Clark, anyway? They're totally together, right?"

"Lucas..."

The other boy rolled his eyes and led Pete into the entertainment room. "Look, it's not like I'm going to run to the papers or anything. Why would I care if my big brother takes it up the ass or not?" He threw himself on the couch.

"For someone who doesn't care, you keep harping on it," he said, lowering himself into another chair. "And belligerent."

"Maybe if you'd been kept in the darkness about your family, you'd be a little belligerent, too." Lucas picked up a video game controller and tossed it to Pete. "I mean," he continued, picking up a controller for himself, "isn't homosexuality genetic or something? What if I'm gay?"

"Do you want to fuck guys?" Pete asked bluntly.

"Gross."

"Then you're not gay. Period. And being near Lex won't make you gay, either, so you don't need to worry about that."

A thundercloud crossed Lucas's face. He flipped the game on. "I'm not stupid, you know."

Pete sighed. "Sorry. It's just... I may not like Lex, but Clark's my friend. I've known him since we were kids. He's had a really hard year."

"Oh, big deal. The papers printed his picture. They didn't even use his name."

"That's not the half of it. Your stupid father molested him, did you know that?" It was hard to concentrate on the game, talking like this, but he did his best.

Lucas shook his head. "I didn't know that."

"That just hit the papers, too. That, and Clark's private journal entries about it." He swore under his breath when his figure was killed in the game.

"Really? Must have missed that." Lucas bit his lip. "So you like Clark, huh? He seemed kind of, I don't know. Intense or something to me."

"He was having a bad day."

"And what was up with that Latin crap? What a prick."

"You'd just called him gay and told him that you were superior because you didn't grow up with parents, and therefore were your own man."

"You didn't take offense."

"You weren't trying to get a rise out of me. You know Clark's adopted, right?"

Lucas shot him a look.

Right. New kid. "His mother died when he was a kid. He doesn't remember them. Just the Kents."

"Funny. I remember something like fifteen different sets of parents in between all the group homes. I feel so sorry for the kid with the set of loving and devote parents. And the rich boyfriend, cool best friend, idyllic little town, blah, blah, blah. Such a hard life."

He sighed. He was getting nowhere with this guy. "Look, all I'm saying is cut the guy some slack. When he met you yesterday, he was in a bad mood. And, uh, well. You look a lot like your dad, which he didn't need yesterday. You two should get together again. Talk. Maybe you'd like each other."

"Don't see much point. It's not like I'll be sticking around here too long anyway."

"Where you going?" he asked.

Lucas shrugged and threw down his controller. "My dear father," he practically spat, "has suggested I take my money and go within the next few days."

"Your money?"

He nodded. "Dad promised ten million dollars in exchange for screwing Lex over. That is, if I sign over my corporate shares." Lucas punched a nearby pillow. "He's known where I was since I was twelve, but I've never spoken to him before a month ago." He laughed. "I actually thought for a second.... But all this was about Lex. Getting Lex back or something. Apparently, he's not the perfect Lionel-clone that Lionel wanted."

"You should stay in Smallville. Our motto is, 'Lionel Luthor is a scum sucking bastard'"

Lucas snorted. "Oh, yeah, I could live with that motto." He rolled his head and looked at Pete. "Never lived in a small town before. Is there anything to do?"

Pete shrugged. "I'm still in high school, so I've got football, the paper, debate club, and, you know. School work. And girls."

"Yeah, about the girls. Are farm girls really all about the sex?"

"Uh, I don't know about that. No more or less than anywhere else, I guess."

"If you don't know, I'll take that as a no, then."

He could feel his face warm. "I could be dating the wrong girls."

"How many you bagged."

"One."

"Dude!" Lucas burst out laughing. "You're sixteen, right? We need to get you some action. You free to go to Metropolis tonight? I'm sure there's got to be some play, there."

"Yeah, I'm pretty much confined to Smallville unless I've got an itinerary stamped and approved well in advance by my parents. No way they're going to let me go with someone they don't know, either. Sorry."

Lucas shrugged. "No big. We can find someone around here, I'm sure. Hit a few high school parties or whatever. Or isn't there a college around?"

"In Grandville."

"College girls, man. Love to fuck. I bet we could both get laid tonight."

Pete squirmed uncomfortably. "I don't know. It's really... I'm really more of a relationship guy, you know? I like that whole dating thing, the build up."

Lucas leaned forward and looked at him seriously. "You said you've had sex one time, right?"

"Technically, I said I'd bagged one girl, but, yeah," he conceded.

"How was it?"

"Any sex, man."

Lucas nodded in agreement. "Although, my first time did leave something to be desired. The chick was more experienced than I was, but she sweated like hella whoa and reeked of beer. And tasted like garlic. And we couldn't get the right rhythm going."

"Ever see her again?"

"Naw. I just picked her up in some bar."

Pete sighed and fell back on his chair. "Mine was kind of the same. Only I was still dating her after, so I had to see her again. Still do, even though we've broken up. It's awkward." It felt good to talk about it. Yeah, he just had with Clark, but Clark's first time had been perfect or whatever. Even with the Lex being sick. And Chloe... Chloe had gotten to sleep with *Sydney* the first time, and that girl had been fucking gorgeous.

"See? That's the problem." Lucas got up and moved closer to Pete. "The relationship killed it. Or, really, the sex killed the relationship. What you need to do is go out, get a lot of practice, and*then* try it with a girl you really care about."

"You ever done it with a girl you really cared about?"

"We're not talking about me." Lucas smiled at Pete and, for the first time, Pete could see the resemblance to Lex. "So, what do you say? Want to hit the college parties tonight?"

"Lucas! We need to talk!" Lionel Luthor suddenly bellowed, appearing in the doorway. He strode across the room, cane firmly in hand. Somehow, though, he managed to bump into the pool table anyway.

Lucas rolled his eyes at Pete, shaking his head. "Sure, Dad," he said. He picked up the controller and started the game up again. "What's up?"

Lionel didn't say anything for a moment. He seemed to be taking in the room. His head was cocked to one side, body still. There was something close to uncertainty on his face.

"Dad?" Lucas finally prompted.

"What's 'up'," Lionel finally said. His blind gaze swung almost to Pete, then abruptly stopped and went back to Lucas. "What's 'up' is that you have yet to sign over your shares to me as we'd agreed." He frowned. "Please, turn that off."

Lucas rolled his eyes again and continued to play.

"Lucas, please turn that off. Now!"

Pete didn't know much about Lionel Luthor. He wasn't Chloe, he wasn't Clark. But he knew enough. He knew that Lex had showed up to the Kent farm a year ago with injuries bad enough to land him in the hospital emergency room the next day. He knew that Lex had gotten a broken hand while with Lionel recently. He knew that, somehow, Lionel Luthor had managed to freeze an alien gifted with human strength with just the force of his personality. This man destroyed lives like they were nothing and had no problems breaking his kid if he got angry.

"Dude," he hissed.

Lucas glanced at him. His face twisted, but he turned the game off. "Let's see," Lucas said, rising and, again, Pete could see the relation to Lex. The slinky movement of his hips, and the elegance in the way he moved his arms. Weird; Pete never would have thought that was genetic. "What's wrong with this picture," he continued. "Hmm? I trick Lex, I play along with your little game, and you offer me, what, 10 million dollars to walk away?"

Lionel smiled, obviously pleased that Lucas had fallen in line. " I'd say it's a little more lucrative than your card scams."

"Well, you know," Lucas said, walking past Lionel and through the doors that led to Lex's office, "the deal sounded a lot better before I knew what a Luthor went for." He came back into the entertainment room with a file folder. "You see, I went through the LuthorCorp financials, and it turns out I'm worth five times what you're offering me, and that only takes into account what you report to Uncle Sam."

Pete inhaled sharply, imagining that much money. Christ. The Luthor's definitely had more than their share.

"Don't be getting delusions of grandeur, my boy," Lionel said with a laugh.

"Tell me something, Dad."

"What?"

"Why didn't you ever try to find me before I was twelve." Lucas's voice shook minutely.

And that, really, was why Pete was here. Yesterday after they'd left Clark's, Pete and Lucas had gone for coffee. They'd talked and Lucas had seemed cool. Normal. Jaded, yeah, and hella angry, but he deserved it. And, underneath all that bluster and anger and stuff, Pete could see the pain. The vulnerability. And Pete kind of liked that.

Clark had made Lex his project and turned him into a human being. Maybe Pete could do the same. Only, of course, without the sex.

Lionel's answer was typical: Because you're mother lied to me. She told me you died as a baby."

Lucas didn't buy it an more than Pete did. He snorted, then said, "But I'm still not worth your time."

"I took care of you the best way I knew how, Lucas."

He went to the wall and grabbed a pool cue. "Huh. At arm's length, with a checkbook."

"There were scenarios..."

"Whatever, *Dad*, I don't care."

"Lucas, now it's your turn to live up to our agreement." He crossed to the pool table and put the papers on the pool table. "Please. Just sign. Please, son."

Ass, Pete thought.

Lucas looked at Lionel for a moment, then sighed. "Okay. Okay, Dad." He took the pen and signed.

Lionel's face changed. He looked furious. Dangerous.

Crap. He was going to kill Lucas. Pete had to stop it. He had to...

Lucas smiled at Lionel, very sweetly and said, "You might want to, uh, have your lawyers look over that."

Lionel's had was tight on his cane, white-knuckled. Through gritted teeth he answered stiffly, "No, I trust that everything is in order." He turned and started walking for the door.

The tightness in Pete's chest eased. He could breathe easier. Not much, but a little.

And then...

"Hey, Dad."

Lionel turned.

Lucas picked up a pool ball and threw it at Lionel's head.

Lionel ducked.

"Shit!" Pete shouted, jumping to his feet. So much for vulnerable and human. In fact....

His brain caught up with him.

Lionel ducked. He fucking ducked.

"You saw that!" Pete couldn't help gasping out.

Lionel threw a look at Pete, then back at his son. He took his sunglasses off. "What do you want, Lucas?" he asked.

For someone who'd just gotten a pool ball thrown at his head at skull-crushing speed, he was pretty calm. Pete, though. Pete was a mess.

"Lex is your past. I'm your future."

Lionel cocked his head. "Is that so. You think I'm going to replace my genius, college educated son with a thug raised on the streets?"

"You think I don't have the Luthor-brains, Dad? Give me a chance. I might surprise you."

Lionel smiled. "Send the whelp home. We'll talk."

Lucas turned to Pete. "I'll call you later, okay? We'll hang."

Completely normal. Like he hadn't just almost killed his father. Like none of that had happened. Like they were best friends or something.

"Uh, yeah. Sounds good." He rose and started for the door.

"Oh, and Mr. Ross," Lionel said.

Ice ran down Pete's spine. He hadn't known Lionel knew his name. "Yeah?"

"Make sure to keep your mouth shut. I'd hate for any more misfortune to fall upon your delectable friend, Mr. Kent."

Pete nodded, feeling sick. "Yes, sir." Then, before he got involved anymore in any of this, he left. "Dad was right," he said, once he was safely in his car and speeding away. "Luthors are bad news."

Comments

[winter-winds.livejournal.com]

Omg tell me he's going to say something to someone... tell me Pete is going to be the man he's always bragging about and tell someone that Lionel can see.

UGH... if i could shake another chapter out of you i would... but to prove i'm a repsectable young lady i'll just stand here adn glare until a new one appears. Great Chapter and nice to see from Pete as we haven't.

[lastscorpion.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow! What a wonderful scene! I so want Pete to be the stand-up guy here! I love it!

"You should stay in Smallville. Our motto is, 'Lionel Luthor is a scum sucking bastard'"

LOL! Hear, hear!

[andera.livejournal.com]

Oh Pete, run to Clark and Lex and tell them, now!

Poor Pete being the only one not gay. It's a hardship. ;-)

[soft-princess.livejournal.com]

Wow. Absolutely wow.

I shouldn't be reading this at work, but then I got curious, and I had to look and it's *Pete*. YES! (We don't see nearly enough of him in this series. lol) This was a really awesome part. I just love the whole exchange between Lucas and Pete, and I even *almost* liked Lucas in here.

Clark had made Lex his project and turned him into a human being. Maybe Pete could do the same. Only, of course, without the sex.

Awesome. I just love Pete, I love how he's making parallels between Lucas and Lex, and he wants to help Lucas just like Clark helped Lex. Without the sex, of course. *g*

I can't help but think that Pete is going to get burnt here, and I think he was starting to realize it by the end. Lucas is probably manipulating him, but it doesn't make Pete any less awesome. I just hope he will tell someone about Lionel. Cause so very important! It could tip the balance and everything.

*hugs you tight* Love you!

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

It's nice to see Pete in this chapter. I really feel sorry for him, he doesn't fit in with the rest of the group and I think that must feel lonely for him. Good use of him befriending Lucas.

[digitalwave]

Lionel is always just so seriously creepy...

Great chapter, sweetie.

[capnzebbie.livejournal.com]

Please tell me Pete isn't going to keep his mouth shut about this! He can't keep his mouth shut about anything! Eeek!

Love the interaction between Pete and Lucas.

Only, of course, without the sex. Hee!

And the billiard ball. Damn! Too bad Lionel isn't really blind at this point. That billiard ball would've solved a lot of future problems.