Title:  Lionel - posted August 7, 2005
Series:  Beginnings (Shadows and Stone)
Author: Lacey McBain
Rating:  G.   Lionel, Lex.
Summary:  Lionel delivers Lex to Excelsior Prep so he can begin his education.
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of them, but I can appreciate what a truly Magnificent Bastard Lionel Luthor is.
***

Beginnings:  Lionel

“Lex, we’re almost there.  Put your jacket on,” Lionel said firmly, the frustration of the ride from Metropolis starting to seep into his voice.

He watched Lex wrestle his way into his new Excelsior Prep navy blazer and cross his arms over his chest.  Lionel rubbed his temples trying to soothe the migraine throbbing behind his eyes.  He made a mental note to take the helicopter next time he had to bring Lex to school–Lex had to get over that ridiculous fear of flying sometime.  No son of his was going to be afraid to fly.  Better yet, maybe he’d let Lillian bring him if she was feeling better.  The long trips were hard on her, but Lionel wasn’t sure that he and Lex should be in a confined space for long periods of time either.

Lionel reached out and tried to run a hand over Lex’s red hair.  The boy jerked aside and ducked further into the corner of the limousine’s wide back seat.

“And try to do something with your hair.”

“It won’t help,” Lex said, trying without much luck to calm the thick red locks.

“With that attitude, it certainly won’t.”  Lionel turned back to his newspaper, and tried to ignore his headache.

***

Lionel’s cellular phone rang sharply.  He pulled it from his suit jacket.  “Yes.”

Lex leaned against the window of the limousine, looking bored.  Lionel didn’t know why his son refused to show at least some excitement and gratitude about this new school.  It was one of the best boys’ boarding schools in the country, and it hadn’t been easy getting Lex in.  He’d had to make a rather generous donation on top of the extravagant tuition.

But Lex was his only son, and his education was worth it.  He was going to need the right sort of connections, the right kind of background if he was going to be accepted in the business world.  Lionel didn’t want Lex to have to claw his way up the ladder of success the way he’d had to.  He wanted things to be easier for Lex.  Still, the boy was going to have to fight twice as hard as anyone else to be accepted in a world of old money and older names.  Unfortunately, the name Luthor didn’t open a lot of doors.  Yet.

“When?  All right, I’ll be home as soon as I can.”  Lionel snapped the phone shut.

“What?”  Lex sat up, instantly alert..  His face was pale against his red hair.  Lionel was reminded how much Lex looked like Lillian.  Same hair, same pale skin and blue eyes.  Same smattering of freckles across his shoulders.

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

They’d had this conversation, or one like it, a hundred times since Lillian had been ill.  Sometimes it seemed she’d always been ill.  Lionel could barely remember the vibrant woman he’d married.  Now she was pale and fragile.  Sometimes he felt she might break if he held her too tightly.

He looked over to see Lex staring at him, his nine-year-old face flooded with worry.

“Is it Mom?  Something’s happened to Mom?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t tell me it’s nothing.  She’s going to die, isn’t she?”  Lex’s voice was shaking.

Lionel didn’t have the patience for this today.  He had a sick wife at home and an overly-attached psychiatrist; he didn’t need Lex over-reacting as well.  The boy was going to have to learn how to cope with life better than this.  Maybe Excelsior was exactly what Lex needed.  No more relying on his mother and Pamela and the household staff who doted on him.  No more of the emotional influences of women.

God knows Lionel had tried to teach him the things men needed to know to survive–business, war, economy.  He’d taught him fencing and Latin, schooled him in history and philosophy, tried to push him to be as strong as he could be.  Now Lionel looked across at the stricken face and it was with immense dismay he realized his son was on the brink of tears.

This had to stop.  Now.

“Lex, for heaven’s sake, stop being dramatic.  Your mother is not going to die.  She’s just having a difficult day.  Pamela’s with her now, the doctor is going to check on her, and everything will be fine.”

And Pamela was going to be advised never to call him like that again.  Not when he was with his son.  She was undermining everything he was trying to do with Lex–teaching him to be strong, to be a man.  If Pamela wasn’t so close to Lillian, he would get rid of her immediately.  Maybe he should encourage Lillian to reconsider the wisdom of being treated by someone she considered a friend.  Could she really be getting the best care for her ... insecurities?

“I want to go home.”

Lionel couldn’t help the anger in his voice.  “Don’t be ridiculous, Lex.  You’re starting at a new school, and I won’t have you missing the beginning of term.  This school is costing us a lot of money.”

“I don’t care about the money.  I want to go home.  Mom needs me.”

“Lex.”  Lionel paused, took a breath, and decided to try a different tactic.  He laid a soothing hand on Lex’s arm, and squeezed gently.  “Everything will be fine.  I’ll take care of your mother.”

Lex wouldn’t be mollified.  “But she needs me.  She likes the way I make her tea–with just the right amount of milk and sugar.”

Lionel shook his head with frustration.  “We have servants for that.  I’m sure she’s told them how she likes her tea.”

“Marie never puts in enough sugar.  I make it specially for her–”

The limousine started to slow down, pulling into the long curved drive of Excelsior Prep.  Lionel glanced at his watch.  It was going to be dark by the time he made it home, and it looked like a storm was blowing in.  He should’ve taken the helicopter.

“Lex, I’m going back to Metropolis, and you are staying here.”

“That’s not fair.”

If Lionel had a dime for every time he’d heard that from his son, he would’ve been an even richer man than he already was.  Life’s not fair, he thought, but knew there was no point in saying it.  Lex was going to learn that sooner or later.  Better he get a dose of reality now and stop relying on other people.  He had to learn life was only as fair as you made it.  You had to fight for everything along the way.  Lionel certainly had.

The limousine pulled to a stop in front of the stone steps of the school.  Lionel had been here before when he’d checked out the facilities and met with the Headmaster–and written his cheque, of course.  The place had a reputation for turning out top-notch scholars and businessmen, well-disciplined and well-prepared for the challenges of a competitive market.

“We’re here, Lex.  Time to get you settled.”

The driver opened the door and a gust of wind lifted Lex’s hair.  He glanced outside sullenly, but didn’t seem in any hurry to get out.  Lionel had hoped a glimpse of the ivy-covered buildings, the stone austerity might strike something in the boy’s heart.  He’d always liked medieval stories, and Excelsior looked like nothing so much as a castle.

“Get out of the car, Lex.”  Lionel gave his son a gentle push as he stepped out past him.  Lex followed reluctantly.  The driver was already unloading Lex’s bags onto the stone walkway.

“I don’t want to stay here.  I want to go home.”

Lex was standing beside the car looking at Lionel defiantly.  There were dozens of people milling about, other cars coming and going, depositing boys and luggage all around them.  Lionel recognized a few faces looking over at them.

He smiled and nodded, and put a hand on Lex’s shoulder.  Lionel was not about to be embarrassed by his nine-year-old son in front of some of the country’s wealthiest families.  He kept his voice even and his smile in place.

“Lex, I’m not going to argue about this with you, and particularly not standing on the front steps of your school.”

“I want to go home!”

“Lex, you’re behaving like a child.  You have to go to school.  Your mother wants you to be here.”

“I want to go home!” Lex said even louder, shifting his shoulder so that Lionel was forced to move his hand.

This was not the place for this behaviour.  He wondered if he could herd Lex back into the limousine to discuss it there.  Too many eyes and ears were paying attention.  If he couldn’t control his own son, they would think he couldn’t control his business either.  He looked at Lex’s clenched fists, his fiery hair, the set of his jaw.  No, Lex wasn’t going to cooperate.  It was written all over his face.

“Lex,” Lionel said quietly.  There was no reason to yell, no reason to even raise his voice.  Lex could tell he was angry, and that there would be consequences.

Lex rattled off a phrase in Latin.  Lionel forced himself to keep his smile in place as he placed both his hands on his son’s shoulders.  He leaned in close and whispered in his ear.

“If you ever say anything like that to me again, you will be staying at this school for every holiday and every weekend from now until you graduate.  You will not be returning to see your mother.  Do I make myself clear?”

“You taught me Latin.”

Lex cocked his head and stared at Lionel, daring him to contradict him.  There was a pride in his son’s face, but it couldn’t conceal the genuine fear Lionel saw behind it.  Lex adored his mother, was even closer to her since the illness.  Lex wouldn’t risk a punishment that meant being deprived of his mother.

“I didn’t teach you that.”

Lionel continued to smile.  He took Lex by the arm, holding him with a grip that guaranteed the boy wasn’t going to cause an even bigger scene.  Lionel ignored the tears he saw spring to Lex’s eyes, the stumble as he pulled him towards the building.  Maybe he should’ve put Lex in military school.

As they marched towards the front of the building, the driver hurrying along behind with the bags, Lionel heard the first roll of thunder.  He leaned towards Lex and was pleased when the boy flinched away.  Now maybe he would learn not to disobey his father.

“Make me proud, son,” Lionel said with genuine feeling.  He squeezed Lex’s arm a little tighter.  “Make me proud.”

Lex didn’t say another word.  Even when Lionel registered him and introduced him to the Headmaster, Lex was silent.

“He’s had a long day,” Lionel explained.  “The boy’s mother has been ill.”

Headmaster Reynolds nodded.  “We’ll make sure Alexander gets settled in right away.  I believe his roommate has already arrived.”

Ah, the roommate.  Lillian’s idea, although Lionel hadn’t argued once he’d realized it could be an excellent way for Lex to make friends with the leaders of the future.  It was never too soon to start getting to know the right people.

“I’d like to go to my room now,” Lex said, showing the first spark of interest since they’d arrived.

Lionel stared at him.  He’d either convinced the boy of the futility of arguing, or Lex was simply waiting to try another strategy.  Such as phoning his mother the instant Lionel was out of sight.  He sighed.  There was nothing more he could do here, and time was wasting while he and Lex played games.  The boy should know he had no chance of winning, but it was good that he still tried.  He had spirit, and that was important.

“Certainly, son.”  Lionel bent down to give Lex an awkward hug, settled for patting him on the shoulder when he caught the uncomfortable look on Lex’s face.  The last thing he wanted was a scene.  “Your mother and I will miss you.”

“But I can come home the next long weekend and see her?”  Lex made sure the Headmaster was there to hear it.  Lionel smiled and looked his clever son in the eye.  How much alike they were in some ways.  How very much alike.

“Provided everything is going well, Lex.  You know that.”

Lex nodded grimly.  Yes, the boy understood.  Such outbursts would not be tolerated again.  He was a Luthor, and it was time he started acting like one.

Lionel watched as Lex followed headed up the stairs to Room 312, the driver carrying the luggage.  Lionel said his farewells to the headmaster, and returned to the limo, stopping to chat with a number of people on the way.  The Miltons, the Prescotts, the Hausers.  Yes, Lex was going to succeed here.  Lionel would make sure of it.

As they left the curved driveway and turned towards Metropolis, Lionel thought about Lex and Lillian and what he wanted for his family, what high hopes he had for all of them.  He didn’t like to think about the possibility they might disappoint him.  Lillian had never been a strong woman, and Lex had too much of his mother in him.  It was going to be up to Lionel to keep them both on track, keep the family strong.

Well, he could do that.  It was what he was best at, after all.  Making plans.  Holding things together.  Doing the things that had to be done.  The things no one else wanted to do.

“Storm’s coming in, Mr. Luthor.”

Lionel glanced at the darkening sky as he opened his paper, turning to the financial section.

“Yes, I know,” he said.


THE END

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