Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.

Note: So why did I skip twenty-five years into the future? Because I'm done writing this story and thought people might appreciate a snapshot of the changes in the timeline.

"Do we really have to wait for Clark?" Pete asked, looking at his menu wistfully. The waiter who had just refilled their drinks quickly left their private room.

"Yes," Lana said firmly. "It would be rude to order without him."

"But he's half an hour late!" Pete pointed out.

"Well, he is Superman," Chloe said tolerantly.

Lex wouldn't have been okay with her speaking so openly about it if it weren't for the fact that he'd had this place swept for bugs before they arrived and he'd used this place before so the staff were under strict orders to knock before entering.

"Could we at least get an appetizer?" Pete begged.

"We're waiting for Clark," Lana insisted.

"If you're that hungry then you should have eaten before we came," Chloe told him.

"But we're here for lunch," Pete protested. "Who in their right mind would eat before going off to lunch?"

"Presumably somebody who has to wait on Superman to arrive," Lex said wryly. "But have faith; I just checked my phone and there's no big Superman sighting going on so whatever it is he should be here shortly."

"If he got held up at the Planet then I will kill him myself," Pete declared.

Chloe snorted. "You and what army?"

"Hey, Clark's kept Bruce waiting, too," Pete replied. "He'll understand."

"Bruce has never kept Clark waiting?" Lex asked, intrigued.

Pete shook his head. "Apparently not. He says that whenever he's late Clark insists on helping out and you know how territorial superheroes can be."

"Clark's not territorial," Lana defended.

Pete raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"He's not!" Lana insisted. "He just, you know…by this point the people who are willing to attack Metropolis know full well what they're going to have to deal with and so tend to be a bit more than the other heroes can handle."

"Twenty-five years and you still defend him," Pete said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm amazed at your fortitude."

Yes, it had been twenty-five years since the day that Clark had revealed to them that he had come back from the future. Twenty-five years into the future. Lex was concerned that he would need to face a past-Clark one day soon in order to ensure that his own timeline happened. There was the possibility that his timeline was secure no matter what and him not encountering a past Clark would just mean that an alternate dimension would have a different fate but there was really no way to know that for certain and he would rather not risk it.

Another problem was the fact that apparently he had changed history when he (near future and possibly alternate dimension him) told Clark what lay in his future. Unless, of course, he had been lying to Clark which had always been a possibility. Maybe things had always worked out just the way that they had now in some sort of stable time-loop but he had to lie about some things in the process. If that was the case then he didn't know why he had been warned about some people or situations but maybe that wasn't important. Just in case he should meet a confused past-Clark one day, he had had Clark's memory of his every conversation with future-him analyzed and a transcript printed out and kept at his office (where they had first encountered each other) at all times. If anything happened, he would be ready. He wasn't about to destroy his own – very nice – presence.

Some things he outright knew were different. Zod had never been released, for instance. Lana had found the ship his disciples had come in and taken the matter straight to him as Clark had been off building his arctic Fortress of Solitude. That had been a difference that they caused but Lex hadn't noticed Oliver or his cronies anywhere near the ship. Had they inadvertently changed something or had that not been strictly true? He'd probably never know and there was really no need to worry Clark about something like that.

As it was, Clark – predictably – thought he was being overly paranoid but then Clark never did like putting the time and effort into preparations. It came from all the power he had and the fact that he could often deal with problems as they came up, Lex supposed. That was, after all, why he needed Lex and the others.

"Well he needed defending a lot less once he finally just up and told us about himself," Lana replied. "If he hadn't then I might have gotten burned out, I'll admit."

"And I would have moved with my mother to New Jersey. No one takes New Jersey seriously," Pete complained. "I know I don't. So thank God that Clark finally told everyone if only for that."

"Your ability to see the big picture is truly remarkable, Pete," Chloe said dryly.

" 'Big picture'?" Clark repeated as he entered the room and made his way towards their table. "Don't tell me we're talking about this kind of thing."

"Well you're the one who let us spend time unsupervised with Lex," Chloe retorted. "And I wasn't aware that 'we' were talking about anything since you just got here."

"Sorry I'm late," Clark apologized. "I was on my way here when I saw this woman about to get run over by a car and then she wanted an autograph and a picture so it took me awhile to get out of there."

"You don't have to give your fans memorabilia," Pete told him. "You'd think just saving their lives would be enough."

"Clark's never been very good at saying no to people," Lana reminded them. "At least when it's not his secret being involved."

"It's no surprise you think that," Chloe said, rolling her eyes.

"What else detained you?" Lex inquired.

"She…might have had pie," Clark admitted.

Pete threw up his hands. "Clark! After we waited for you and everything!"

"Well I'm sorry but it was homemade and it was apple and it was delicious," Clark said, not sounding very sorry at all.

"What can you do, Pete?" Chloe asked. "You can't get more American than apple pie."

"I should have ordered an appetizer," Pete muttered. "Why were you even flying to the restaurant anyway?"

"I might have gotten held up at the Planet a little," Clark admitted.

Pete reached for his knife.

"Down, boy," Chloe told him, removing it from his reach.

"It's not my fault Jimmy's decided that I'm Superman again," Clark protested.

"Again?" Lana asked in disbelief. "I really wish that he would just make up his mind one way or another."

"And by 'one way or another', of course, you mean 'stop thinking that Clark is Superman', right?" Lex asked pointedly.

Lana rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course."

"This could all be avoided if I just told him," Clark mused. "And I know him well enough by now to know that he'd keep my secret. It's just that…well, frankly I don't want to."

The four non-Kryptonians exchanged a glance.

"We know," they chorused.

"Hey, I told you all years ago!" Clark defended himself.

"And it took almost divine intervention to do so," Lex countered.

"Well I can promise you that if I should wake up one morning and be sixty-five and you tell me to tell Jimmy and why then I'll do it," Clark declared.

"You shouldn't make those promises lightly," Lex warned. "This is Metropolis, after all."

"I still find it kind of odd that both brothers go by Jimmy," Chloe said, biting her lower lip.

"Regretting not dating dear Henry when you had the chance?" Lex asked sardonically.

Chloe shook her head. "He's cute, I'll admit it, but I just feel that if you can avoid a relationship with someone who will one day tell you that marrying you was the worst decision that they ever made then you should. It will just work out better for all of you."

"Or avoiding dating a zombie or someone who goes crazy at the drop of a hat," Lana added.

Clark beamed. "See? That convent wasn't necessary after all."

"A shame," Lex said sadly.

"You're still missing the point," Lana told him.

"No, you are," Lex disagreed.

Clark snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah. Apparently Oliver's in Metropolis right now. I ran into him and Tess earlier. He said he met with Lex this morning, actually. How come you didn't mention it?"

"I've actually been trying to suppress the memory," Lex explained. "Your insistence on talking about it really isn't helping."

"If you had really suppressed the memory then Clark could wax poetic about it and it would make no difference," Pete pointed out.

"It was a work in progress and now it must begin again," Lex replied smoothly.

"Do you always have to have an answer for everything?" Pete demanded.

"Does the fact that I do say more about me or about you?" Lex returned.

"Can't you two ever get along?" Clark asked, rolling his eyes.

Pete and Lex exchanged a glance.

"We are getting along," Pete explained.

"Men," Lana said, shaking her head.

"I'm a man and I don't get it," Clark objected.

"Human men," Lana amended.

"Hey!"

"Why don't you and Oliver just let things go, anyway?" Chloe wanted to know. "I mean, you're both on the same side here with the saving the world and all. Whatever happened when you were in school was decades ago."

"Well we are business rivals," Lex pointed out. "Not everything has to come back to schoolboy grudges."

"And so are you and Bruce and Bruce and Oliver," Chloe continued undeterred. "That doesn't mean anything."

"I will let it go when Oliver lets it go," Lex said stiffly.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "And he'll let it go when you let it go. I know the drill."

"Since he was the one to make my school years…less than idyllic I don't see what he needs to let go of at all," Lex retorted.

"Well, your father did kill his parents," Clark pointed out. "And Bruce agrees with him that that's not the kind of thing someone should be expected to get over."

"Of course he does," Lex said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "But it's hardly rational to hold the actions' of one's father against them."

"Grief is rarely rational," Clark said wisely.

"I didn't hold it against you when your father erased your memories and sent you out to conquer Earth," Lex replied.

"That was one time!" Clark protested. "And he said he was just trying to help me to grow as a hero."

"You really are trusting," Lex marveled.

"A little sniping isn't all that bad, all things considering," Lana pointed out. "As long as he and Oliver continue to manage to work together then it's really their business how they choose to interact."

"I guess so," Clark said reluctantly. "It's just always really awkward because I'm friends with both."

"You can't ask them not to say anything bad in front of you?" Pete asked, surprised.

Lex figured that it was a testament to how far they had come over the years that he didn't automatically assume that Lex wouldn't listen.

"No, I have and they don't," Clark clarified.

"Then what's the problem?" Chloe asked, confused.

"I can just tell that they're thinking it," Clark explained.

Lex rolled his eyes. "Now you're trying to control our thoughts? A little 'alien menace' of you, don't you think?"

Clark made a face. "Oh, that's not fair."

There were two loud knocks on the door just then. The waiter came back in and politely asked if they were ready to order.

"Finally!" Pete cried out, near tears.

Maybe Lex didn't know whether or not Clark's visit to the future had changed anything or whether he would meet past Clark. Maybe he didn't know what the old future was like or if this one was better. But really, all things being equal, he was pretty satisfied with where he was right now and so he could almost let the rest of it go.

Almost being the operative word of course because he was Lex Luthor and if there was one thing that had always defined him it was his need to know.

Clark would never really understand it but he trusted him and Lex rather thought that might be the best part.

The trust, respect, and friendship of the most powerful man in the world…who could ask for more?

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