Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters.
Chapter 4
Andrew was a bit concerned about the football coach, he whispered to Buffy about it and she nodded, he seemed driven to win.
“Yeah,” Buffy whispered, “I heard some of the team’s in trouble for cheating and because of that he’s pissed off.”
“Well,” Andrew said, “I don’t care as long as he leaves me alone, I never liked the coach of Sunnydale, especially the swim coach; I heard some rumours about him.
Buffy shuddered remembering him, “Yeah, those rumours Andrew, they’re true, all of them.”
“You mean he tried to rape a member of the swim team?” Andrew asked his eyes wide with fear.
“What? Oh no, not that,” Buffy muttered, “To help the swim team win he was mutating them into fish creatures, though I suppose that could be a kind of rape.”
Andrew looked ill and said, “Fish creature? Honestly, winning isn’t everything though I hate to lose like everyone else but I won’t win at others expense.”
“Well anyways,” Andrew said, “We should head back to the mansion, and I want to talk to Lex about things, especially about our father.”
Andrew and Buffy walked out towards the exit when Chloe jumped in front of him and grinned, “Hey guys, what’s the rush? You aren’t even letting me show you the town.”
Buffy smiled, “Sorry, we have to get home homework and such, maybe some other time?”
Chloe sighed, “Wish you guys could hang out, I’m being punished for running the article on Coach Arnold.”
Andrew thought to himself and decided, “Sure, why don’t we go out for coffee or something like that so you aren’t alone.”
They drove in Andrew’s car to the coffee house that Chloe pointed out for them and Andrew was listening to her talk about, except for Clark and Pete, the football team and some others were treating her like a pariah.
“Oh,” Andrew muttered, “It isn’t fair, you just told the truth and frankly the truth isn’t always pretty, so tell them to piss off.”
“Well that’s a pretty grim outlook,” their waitress said with a smile.
“Oh, that’s right,” Chloe said, “You didn’t meet everyone today. Guys, this is Lana Lang; she’s the head cheerleader.”
“Cool,” Andrew smiled, “I’m Andrew Wells and this is Anne Winterbourne.”
“So you’re the new kids?” Lana said with a smile, “Welcome to Smallville, I wish I could give you a freebie but I can’t.”
“And also, I quit cheerleading,” Lana smiled, “You can’t always be a cheerleader, right?”
“Nope,” Buffy said, “And I know that to be the truth because I used to be a cheerleader in LA.”
“God, LA?” Lana said, “I’d love to be there as Smallville seems to be a bit limited.”
They were chatting for a couple of minutes when Lex came in and saw Andrew talking to Chloe and Lana, he shook his head and walked over to Andrew and smiled, “Buttering the press already?”
Andrew turned pink and said, “No, Chloe and I were just talking.”
Lex chuckled and gestured for Andrew to sit down next to him and whispered, “You might be talking right now Andrew but one day you will be cultivating a relationship with the press as a Luthor.”
Andrew nodded and Lex smiled, “But also, please remember that it never hurts to have friends in the press and come back to the mansion, I’ve some books for you to read.”
“Yes Lex,” Andrew said softly as he sat back down with Chloe and Buffy.
Chloe shook her head and said, “You know Lex Luthor? How? The only one he’s talked to in Smallville is Clark.”
“Oh,” Andrew nodded, knowing full well why Lex was talking to him.
Lana left to get some coffee for more customers and Chloe looked at Andrew and said, “So, you got a crush on her already?”
“No,” Andrew shook his head, “Should I have a crush on her? I mean she’s pretty but I don’t like her that way.”
Chloe looked surprised and grinned brighter, “Most men like her, I mean Clark’s had a crush on her for years.”
Andrew listened and nodded, when Clark came in he saw Lana and went over and started to talk to her.
Lex looked up and saw Clark and waved him over as he needed his help with something.
“Hey Lex,” Clark said his smile bright, “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” Lex said, “So, did you meet Andrew today?”
“You mean the new kid?” Clark asked, “Yeah, I met him, he seems nice.”
“Good,” Lex said, “Good, very good,” and lowered his voice to a whisper, “I trust you Clark: Andrew’s my baby brother, well half brother.”
Clark looked wide eyed and whispered, “No way!! He doesn’t look anything like you Lex.”
“Perhaps that’s the good thing,” Lex said, “Until a day ago he didn’t know he was part of the family and I didn’t know about him either, so we’ve decided to keep his lineage a secret from all but a couple of people I trust and that’s you and your parents and now I have a favour to ask of you.”
“Alright,” Clark said, “But what can we do for you?”
“This,” Lex said, “My lifestyle has advantages and disadvantages, one advantage is that I’ve never wanted for anything but with that I became a spoiled rich kid, the one you love to hate and read about in the gossip rags.”
“Okay,” Clark said, “But what do you want us to do for him?”
“Easy,” Lex smiled, “Andrew is to work for you, to make sure he doesn’t forget about the common man and to make sure he doesn’t turn completely into me.”
Clark froze, he wasn’t sure about that as his dad hated the Luthors and then there was his secret; that could be discovered and who knows what would happen then.
“I’ll see Lex,” Clark mumbled, “But what about your father? Would he tolerate his son doing farmhand work?”
“That’s just it,” Lex whispered, “My father has no knowledge of Andrew which, right now, works to my advantage.
“Please tell me,” Clark whispered, “That you aren’t using him in a scheme against your father?”
“Not at all Clark,” Lex said, “Fact is that I’m delighted to have a little brother and I mean to make sure he keeps what I like about him intact but don’t have him do any heavy lifting.”
Clark nodded and said, “Bring him by in a bit; we can talk about it when you bring him over.”
“Good, I’m going to bring him over now,” Lex said, “Him and Anne if that’s alright? You want a ride too?”
“Sure,” Clark said, “But shouldn’t I warn my dad that we’re coming?”
“Nope, keep your opponent on his toes,” Lex said with a smile, “Now let’s get ready.”
Lex grabbed Andrew and Buffy and they went into his car and Lex said that he’d send someone back for the car Andrew was driving.
As they drove to the Kent farm Andrew was feeling uneasy; why were they going to this farm? Lex explained that they were going to tell the Kent’s the truth about him. He was really uneasy, he wasn’t sure what would happen but he was sure that he was going to be despised or worse.
Buffy held Andrew’s hand reassuringly, he was uneasy about this idea and she was too, hopefully these Kent’s would be nice, after all, their son seemed nice and that was a good indication about them.
Andrew looked at the farm as it came up to them, it seemed nice but for all he knew Clark or his father could be an axe murderer and take out what frustrations they had on the Luthors out on him.
“Dad,” Clark called as they parked, “Lex wants to talk to you.”
Jonathon came out and Andrew looked him over and shrugged, he looked nice but, then again, you can never tell.
He walked down to Lex and said, “Hello Lex, how can I help you?”
“I’d like to talk about this in private,” Lex said, “If we can?”
Jonathon nodded and gave a little nod to Andrew and Buffy, who followed him into the Kent home.
Martha walked over and gave her welcome to Lex and looked at Andrew and Buffy and said, “Hi, I’m Martha Kent.”
“So Lex,” Jonathon pressed, “What do you want to talk to me about?”
“This,” Lex said, “First, you should know that Andrew here is my half brother, he lived in Sunnydale until I took custody of him from his mother.”
“Why?” Jonathon growled, “What gave you the right to take him from his mother?”
Lex smiled a bit, “Because if my father found him he wouldn’t have been as nice to him as I am being.”
Andrew moved closer to Buffy as he felt the tension in the area go up quite a bit and he looked at Jonathon a bit more nervously.
“I guess that could be true, Lionel Luthor isn’t a man to trust but does he know of Andrew?” Jonathon asked while looking Andrew over.
“No, he doesn’t know about Andrew,” Lex shook his head, “And I want to keep it that way for now. As it is, Andrew doesn’t have the hardness to be a Luthor.”
“Hmmph,” Jonathon snorted, “I don’t consider that a fault and you know that. But why are you telling us this?”
“Because you two wouldn’t tell my father and I trust Clark,” Lex smiled slightly.
“And,” Lex continued, “I want you to put Andrew to work, he needs to learn to keep his humility that which makes him different from me and my father and, knowing my father, when he finds out about Andrew he’d spoil him the same way he did to me and look what it created? I was on every gossip rag in the country.”
Jonathon thought it over and smiled a bit, he kind of approved of what Lex wanted to do for Andrew to make sure he didn’t get the attitude that he and Lionel had seemed to have.
“So Andrew,” Jonathon said, “Do you know much about farm work?”
Andrew shook his head and Jonathon smiled, “You’re going to learn a lot here.”
Lex ushered Andrew and Buffy out and said, “He’ll be by tomorrow afternoon,” and looked at Jonathon and said, “I know what you think of the Luthors, just don’t let your dislike of me and my father colour your opinion of Andrew.”
TBC
A/N: They will be facing the coach tomorrow.
Poll question: What do you think of Lex’s plan for Andrew to make sure he doesn’t turn into a true Luthor?