Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters.
Chapter 5
Andrew looked a bit nervously at Lex and asked, “Why did you want me to go to the Kent farm to work?”
“To make sure you avoid the mistakes that I made Andrew,” Lex said.
At Andrew’s confused look Lex sighed and said, “I was a bit wild, especially after my mom died. My father didn’t spend time with me so I became callous and self destructive, our father lavished me with gifts and sent me to expensive boarding schools rather than spend time with me, which didn’t help me.”
“Ouch,” Buffy winced with sympathy, she felt horrible; she know how that worked and listened to him.
“Now at Excelsior Academy,” Lex said, “You can imagine how I was treated as a bald teenager by the other students and one stands in my mind, Oliver Queen: he bullied me and a friend of mine, Duncan and to try to get his acceptance I bullied my friend Duncan and beat him badly, he ran out onto the street and got ran over.”
Andrew looked a bit cross and shook his head, “I got bullied a lot too, at Sunnydale. Me and my friend, Jonathon both got bullied by the girls and the jocks.”
Lex nodded, “Well anyways; I partied, I got into fights and was, in general, a source of embarrassment for our father, at times the attitude we showed each other wasn’t fun.”
As they drove to the mansion Lex frowned at the limo in front of the mansion, he looked at Andrew and said, “Please prepare yourself, you’re going to meet Lionel Luthor.”
“No!!” Andrew shook his head, “I don’t want to meet him.”
Buffy smiled, “Andrew it’s going to be alright, if he tries anything we can handle him.”
“Actually,” Lex said, “This could work out; he probably knows about you staying here anyways but not who you are.”
Andrew breathed in and prayed desperately that was what was happening.
They stopped in front of the mansion and Lex looked at Andrew and said, “Remember, you and your friend are new live in servants.”
“Alright,” Buffy smiled a bit nervously as she wasn’t sure Lionel Luthor would believe Lex’s story.
Lex went in and said, “Hello father, so nice to see you.”
Lionel nodded and looked at Lex and said, “I understand that you have some guests, I was hoping to find out why they are staying here.”
“They are friends of a friend, they helped me out in LA and I decided to hire them as servants for the mansion.”
“Really?” Lionel said, “That seems very generous of you, a bit too generous but nonetheless generous.”
Lex gestured for Andrew and Buffy to come in and smiled, “Dad, this is Andrew Wells and Anne Winterbourne.”
Lionel nodded, “A pleasure to meet you both,” and focused on Andrew for a moment as there was something familiar about him but no, Lionel couldn’t put his finger on it. He stared at Andrew’s eyes and wondered where he saw eyes like that before he nodded, “Nice to meet you Mr Wells,” and held out his hand to Andrew to shake it.
Andrew sighed and took the offered hand; he shook it and said, “Hello Mr Luthor.”
“Now Lex,” Lionel said, “Remember what you have to do,” and left.
After he left Andrew started to breathe again, deeply gulping the air around him. Lex patted him on the back and said, “You alright Andrew?”
“Yeah,” Andrew coughed, “He didn’t suspect anything but I’m not sure about that.”
“Good eye,” Lex nodded, “He suspects but he doesn’t know.”
After they calmed down a bit Lex had the cook prepare dinner while Andrew and Buffy began to work on their homework, Andrew looked up and said, “So what did he want you to do?”
Lex sighed, “He wants me to fire about twenty percent of the employees at the plant to make it cost effective.”
“God!!” Buffy groaned, “He doesn’t have the guts to do it himself so he makes you do it and you take the heat!”
“No, he’s doing it as a lesson. In a bold move I hired more people to attempt to put our competitors on the run,” Lex growled, “He disagreed with it.”
Andrew nodded as he finished his homework and asked, “You had some books for me to read?”
Lex nodded and dropped a copy of Sun Tzu’s art of war and said, “Read that, you are going to have to learn how big business works quickly and when you aren’t studying I want you to train in martial arts and learn how to use a gun.”
Andrew looked a bit pale, a gun? He hated those things but if Lex said he needed a lesson in how to use guns he would learn and just hope he wouldn’t have to use it.
Buffy frowned at the thought of guns; she never liked them and she wasn’t sure about Andrew learning how to use guns but they would be a good thing if he needed it but still, guns?
After dinner Andrew was reading the book in the study and he sighed, the book was interesting and the room was nice as there were a lot of books here,
Buffy watched Andrew read and she walked over to where he was reading and smiled, “You’ve been reading for hours, why don’t you sneak down with me and see if there’s some cheesecake or something like that?”
Andrew nodded and walked downstairs behind her and made sure they were quiet so they wouldn’t disturb Lex.
Meanwhile Lex was still thinking about how he could get out of firing so many people when he heard laughing, ‘It sounds like Andrew but then again I could be wrong,’ he thought, when he walked down and saw Andrew and Buffy in the kitchen, making something to eat.
He walked in and said, “Wasn’t dinner enough?”
Buffy shook her head and said, “Sorry, we aren’t used to eating that fancy stuff just yet, I mean it was good, just not what…”
“You’re used to eating?” Lex finished and saw Andrew frying something in the pan and it smelled good, “What are you making?”
“Oh, umm, grilled cheese with bacon in it but there was no cheddar cheese in the fridge, so,” Andrew said, “I found some Swiss cheese and we’re using that.”
Lex nodded and was about to walk away when Andrew smiled, “Do you want a sandwich too Lex?”
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try,” Lex said as he took a plate and bit into it and thought, ‘It’s good.’ He looked at Andrew and said, “You like to cook?”
“Umm, yeah,” Andrew nodded, “Mom insisted that we know how to cook; Tucker hated it and I was a bit clumsy at first but she didn’t give up on me, even after I set fire to the kitchen that one time while trying to make cupcakes.”
Lex looked at him amused and said, “Will I come home to the mansion burning down one day?”
“No,” Andrew said, “I learned my lesson the last time and they were more worried for me than the kitchen anyways but there wasn’t much damage anyways.”
Lex laughed and said, “Just be careful.”
Andrew nodded, “Yes Lex, I’ll be careful.”
Buffy looked at her watch and said, “Umm, did you do whatever you did to cause my death?”
“Ah yes,” Lex said, “I’ve done that and did you want to talk to your friend in Sunnydale?”
“Yeah,” Buffy nodded, she rushed towards the phone and looked at Lex, who nodded. She dialled the phone, praying that Giles was alone.
She heard the phone ring two times before being picked up and she sighed with relief when she heard his voice.
“Umm, hi Giles, it’s Buffy.”
“Good Lord!!” Giles exclaimed over the phone, “Buffy? We heard you were dead and your mother is quite upset. Where are you?”
Buffy explained everything that happened and Giles looked down at his feet, he wanted to make sure Buffy was safe and decided that he’d have to visit Smallville soon.
“Please Buffy,” Giles begged, “Why did you run away? The charges were dropped, you know that, right? But anyways, may I come and see if you’re alright?”
“Sure but Giles, just you alright?” Buffy pleaded, “And we can talk then.”
She ran back into the kitchen and saw Andrew leave for bed and sighed, “Umm, he’s coming over to see if I’m being well treated.”
Lex nodded, “He’s welcome to stay here if he wants, who is he anyways?”
“Oh, he’s the one who taught me how to fight,” Buffy said looking a bit relieved that he was still alright.
“Really?” Lex said, “If he taught you to be this skilled already, I wouldn’t mind hiring him for lessons for both you and Andrew.”
“Oh really?” Buffy said, “Not sure if he would stay here. After all, he has things he has to do in Sunnydale, I think.”
“Maybe,” Lex smiled, “But I might be able to get him to work for me. Good night Ms Summers.”
She nodded and headed to bed herself sighing, would Giles actually move here? It’d be really cool if he did move here but she wasn’t sure he would as he had a lot of things to do in Sunnydale.
The next morning Andrew woke up early, as he didn’t want to disappoint his brother, he got dressed and walked out to the kitchen and saw the staff already cooking breakfast.
The head chef nodded, “Mr Wells please, if you’re hungry you can wait in the dining room, breakfast will be served soon.”
“Umm, I can make my own,” Andrew said with a smile.
The chef smiled it’s my job, “Mr Wells, relax and stay in the dining room.”
Andrew walked out and saw Lex and Buffy talking, Lex waved him over and said, “Good morning Andrew, I’m glad to see you woke up earlier today.”
He nodded and sat down; Lex shook his head and said, “So Andrew, what’s up for you and Buffy today?”
“Umm, I got work at the Kent’s farm, remember?” Andrew said.
“Yes and remember,” Lex said, “If Jonathon Kent gives you some problems about your parentage you stand your ground.”
“Come on Buffy,” Andrew smiled, “It’s time to get to school,” and they ran out of the mansion.
“So, we’re taking the bus?” Buffy asked.
“Yeah,” Andrew nodded, “I don’t want to have to drive in a place that still kind of freaks me out.”
Buffy shrugged and said, “If someone trips you I’m going to break his shin.”
Andrew nodded, “Sounds alright to me, just don’t link me to any of the savage beatings.”
“Sure thing boss,” Buffy laughed.
“That’s right, I forgot that I’m basically your boss,” Andrew replied jokingly, “But I’d never misuse my powers.”
As the bus stopped in front of them Andrew smiled, “Best foot forward,” and they walked in and Andrew saw Chloe and Clark.
Chloe waved Andrew over and he sat next to Clark, who looked at Andrew and said, “You didn’t meet Pete Ross yet, did you Andrew?”
Andrew smiled and shook Pete’s hand, he looked at Chloe and said, “Umm, you look a bit frazzled, did something happen?”
“Yeah, something happened last night,” Chloe said still shocked, “There was a fire in the Torch office.”
“Oh god!!” Andrew said, “Are you alright?”
“Fine,” Chloe said, “And I’m sure I’ll be better soon Andrew, thanks.”
Clark shook his head and said, “She blames the coach for it; he’s gotten angry about her article on the paper about some of the football team players caught cheating.”
“Yeah, we heard,” Andrew said, “Sorry to hear that.”
“And don’t forget, Principal Kwan was nearly roasted in his car too.”
“Umm,” Andrew said, “Do you think the coach could be a mage? It might make sense.”
“Yeah,” Chloe laughed, “I’m not a believer in magic, the weird things in Smallville, yeah. I’ll show you my wall of weird: it’s my list of the weird things that happened in Smallville since the meteor shower.”
When they got to school Chloe looked at Buffy, who walked next to Andrew, and said, “Clark, what is Andrew’s story?”
“Oh,” Clark said, “I not sure but he’s going to be helping around the farm, which dad is glad to hear,” knowing full well that his father intended to try and make sure Andrew wasn’t too corrupted by the Luthors and put some, as he told him and his mom, some proper values into Andrew.
“Well,” Chloe smiled anyways I like Andrew; he’s friendly enough and so is Anne, I’m thinking of asking them to join the Torch’s staff.”
Clark looked a bit surprised and shook his head; Chloe had a good eye for judging people and if she liked Andrew then maybe he wasn’t too bad.
As Andrew handed in his homework and sat down next to Buffy he sighed, that was easy.
“Hey again,” Lana said, “You guys left pretty early last night.”
“Oh, hello Ms Lang,” Andrew smiled, “Yeah, we had some stuff to do.”
She smiled and walked off; Andrew looked at Buffy and said, “She seems nice.”
“Yeah,” Buffy said, “But anyways, you got to go to the Kent’s after school, Lex said he’ll pick you up at seven.”
After school Andrew got ready to get to the Kent farm when he saw Jonathon Kent come to the door.
Jonathon looked at Andrew and said, “Sorry, forgot you were coming over today son, we might have to start tomorrow because Clark has a football game,” and smiled, “Why don’t you watch it and then come back with me to the farm? I think we can get you to do a couple of chores before Lex comes back.”
“Okay Mr Kent,” Andrew said in his most respectful voice.
Buffy whispered, “You want me to stay with you?”
Andrew nodded, “I have a bad feeling about something,” and followed Jonathon out to the field, he heard Jonathon asked where Clark was and he heard the Coach say that he was looking for him too.
‘Hmm,’ Andrew remembered a student saying that he saw Clark going to the Coach’s office and he ran in and towards the office and stopped in front of the sauna. ‘They gave this guy his own sauna? Wow,’ he thought until he looked into the glass part of the door and saw Clark gasping for the air.
‘What the hell!!?’ Andrew thought, ‘Can’t he open the door?’ He tried to open the door and muttered, “Damn, it’s locked,” he saw Buffy run in, he looked at her and asked, “Buffy, can you kick the door in?”
“Sure thing,” Buffy grinned and kicked the door in and Andrew pulled Clark out
Andrew shook Clark awake and said, “You alright?”
Clark shook his head clear then nodded and said, “Can you tell me where the coach is?”
Coach Arnold snarled, “Right behind your new friends Kent.”
Buffy got into a fighting position and Coach Arnold looked at Andrew with a bit of disgust and said, “Do you two know how many kids I helped!!? How many scholarships I helped my boys get!!?”
‘Uh oh,’ Buffy thought, ‘This is starting to sound familiar,’ as she was remembering Coach Martin.
Coach Arnold growled and caused a fire to suddenly ignite around them.
Andrew yelled out, “So, this is your legacy? A legacy of hurting them until they do what you want or helping them to cheat!? What kind of message are you going to leave them: that cheating and being abusive to others is the way to go!!?”
The Coach wheeled on Andrew and looked ready to cause some more fires when Buffy tapped him on his shoulder and said, “Sorry, did you forget about me?” and suddenly kicked Coach Arnold where it counted as hard as she could, causing him to double over in pain and collapse. She then picked him up and carried him out of the burning office.
Clark got up and looked at Andrew and said, “Thanks for pulling me out of there.”
“Why couldn’t you get yourself out?” Andrew asked, “I mean you’re a big, strong guy, right?”
Before Clark could say anything Jonathon came in the office and Clark told him what happened, Jonathon looked at Andrew and Buffy and said, “Thank you for saving Clark, we’ll meet you out by the truck and take you back to the farm and don’t worry about the coach, I’ll call the police.”
TBC
Poll questions: How did you like the way Buffy handled the coach? If Giles comes to see Buffy do you want any of the other Scoobies to follow him? What other Smallville episodes should I touch on?
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