Title: Place Setting (Nourishment: Second Helpings 24)
Author: Janet F. Caires-Lesgold
Feedback to: jfc@freeshell.org
Archive: Mailing list archives only--others please ask permission!
Category: Vignette, Lionel POV
Spoilers: None ever anymore
Rating: T (Teens and up due to imagery)
Pairing: Clark/Lex/Chloe established relationship
Summary: Preparations

DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me. Smallville is the property of Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tollin-Robbins Productions, and Warner Bros. Television, and based upon characters originally created by Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster. This story is just for the entertainment of my online friends and myself, not for any profit.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: All parts of "The Nourishment Series" and "Second Helpings", which precede this story, can be found elsewhere on this archive - Enjoy!

AUTHOR'S ADDENDUM: The show as we knew it no longer exists--we've gotta write it ourselves now.

DEDICATION: For the people in that movie, who didn't do it right, either.

COPYRIGHT: (C) Janet F. Caires-Lesgold, July 5, 2006, jfc@freeshell.org

Please don't redistribute or alter this story in any way without the express permission of the author. Thank you very much.

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Lex got his picture in the paper. There he was in the Daily Planet, posing happily with his bride-to-be, and I'm sure his immensely-talented "friend" wasn't far away when the photo was taken.

When I first saw it, I was surprised to see my former spy at his side. Chloe Sullivan is Lex's friend, but nothing more, as far as I knew.

Then I sent my current spy to learn more. She is remarkably charming and can coax information out of anyone. Gabe Sullivan only saw her as a job applicant, but gladly chattered on about his daughter's impending nuptials, including details not merely about her pregnancy, but the parentage of said fetus.

At least it's not any descendant of mine.

However, I could not stand idly by and allow this bastard freak child to luxuriate in my fortune, which, thanks to Lex, I can no longer touch. Once I realized this, I put the gears in motion that had just been idling since my incarceration.

Luckily for me, the promise of access to that fortune was sufficient to grease the exact wheels that made everything fall into place, so that the bars of my cell open and I am released with absolutely no fanfare, exactly as it should be.

Oh, the wardens might not realize that I am escaping. The transfer was signed by very highly-placed government officials, and no one checked the records of the uniformed officer who brought the car to receive me. It is nice to see my loyal son again.

Lucas only smiles with his eyes as he opens the car door for me, then takes his place behind the wheel and escorts me away from that Godforsaken prison. I am eager to get to the safe house I'd been promised and to exchange my old suit for one that better fit my disease-ridden frame. Breathing free air is a jot more difficult than I had anticipated, but there is no reason to confront Lex and his kept woman looking less than impeccable.

As we drive, I allow myself the luxury of thinking up some genetic experiments to perform on the progeny of one Clark Kent. It's sure to be a fascinating specimen.

We arrive, and I find my accommodations quite comfortable, with a spectacular view of the monument to my betraying son's empire. My lovely spy is waiting by a desk before the best window in the space. I greet her with a warm embrace.

"Miss Hardwicke," I address her, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

She returns my smile and kiss. "Please, Mr. Luthor. After everything we've done for one another, call me Victoria."

Chuckling, I nod my agreement. "Very well, Victoria. Then you shouldn't call me 'Mr. Luthor'."

"What would you rather I called you?" she asks with a sultry blink.

I sweep her into my arms and take her onto my lap (with complete disregard for any physical discomfort) as I sit in the leather desk chair. "Why don't you call me 'Daddy'?"

My team is in place, and I am somewhere that I can make things happen. Life is good, maybe not for my son and his fiancee, but for the people that matter.

Lex got his picture in the paper. Somehow I think there will be another one of him in there soon...

THE END