High Speeds, Cryptic Thoughts High Speeds, Cryptic Thoughts by Gary Thanks to Ruby for the title! Lex was PILOTING his newest Ferrari through the back roads of Kansas, taking the long back way from Metropolis and ignoring the speed limits, as usual. After a week of mind-CRUSHing meetings involving LexCorp, LuthorCorp, two private investigators, and his therapist, he needed time to think... As the highway straightened in front of him, Lex smirked, listening to the DRONE of the V-12 for a spit-second before dropping his foot to the floor. Viewed from a distance (or the 6 cars he passed), the black Enzo SHIMMERed in the HEAT, a ROGUE cruise missile in a low-altitude flight across the Kansas cornfields, leaving dust, care, and worry in its wake. Now cruising at 165 MPH, the roar of twelve cylinders the only music necessary, complete concentration on the road was required, leaving Lex's subconscious mind to sort out all of his troubles and concerns without effort. Clark was quickly becoming his favorite puzzle, claiming way too much attention without even asking for it. His recent attempts at METAMORPHOSIS, temporary as they were, into super-COOL-leather-boy had left Lex with a nearly-FEVERish desire to kidnap him for a night of frenzied and highly illegal sex in the back rooms of Club ZERO. The first time it had happened, Lex had been afraid that Clark had gotten dosed from a stray NICODEMUS flower. The second time this strange VISITOR came out to play left Lex bruised from the shove, and suddenly aware of a need to spank Clark till his ass glowed RED... Oh well, thank God for small miracles: The woman who had questioned their LINEAGE was in fact wrong: Clark was in fact NOT the PRODIGAL Luthor child, no matter that his obvious talent for DUPLICITY is a definite Luthor genetic marker. Hmmm, at least with Clark NOT being related, the back-room sex at ZERO wouldn't be quite as illegal... That STRAY kid, RYAN, left him with a serious case of JITTERS (Not that Luthors GET jitters), however. It was almost as if the kid had X-RAY vision into his head! Sadly, Ryan had died, although in this case, maybe the REAPER was being kind: the poor boy had been unable to stop the INSURGENCE of foreign thoughts from overwhelming his psyche. Ryan had confided to him that his only relief from the riot of thoughts in his head came from being near Clark, and that HUGGING him was the only way to truly silence the storm. As the Enzo RUSHED into the S-curves, Lex suddenly became aware of an old Pontiac TEMPEST stalled in the curve ahead. With three snicks of the paddle-controlled gear shift, he quickly dropped it from 6th to 3rd gear. Deliberately swinging wide around the stalled classic, sideways-sliding tires scrubbing KINETIC energy away while maintaining a perfectly-controlled drift around the curve, Lex hit the gas again, leaving the stalled car behind. The driver of the older car was left staring at the dustcloud that followed behind, OBSCURING the license plates in a VORTEX of dust and sand, enough to fill an HOURGLASS. Lex smirks as the car rockets past 100 again. He'll be passing the castle AND Kent Farms in less than 20 minutes at this rate, in time to meet Clark when the bell rings at school. Clark is definitely not like the LEECHES who called themselves "friends of Lex" in the past. Clark, who accepts him for what he is at any given time. Heh. Clark accepts ANYBODY - even Kyla, that strange girl from the SkinWalker tribe. Slowing to 80 past Kent Farms, he blips the engine in greeting when Johnathon waves at him and motions to slow down. Even the HOTHEADED senior Kent is warming up to him these days. Of course, Lex will corner the market for space heaters in Hell before Johnathon will ever admit it... Slowing through town, Lex pulls the gleaming black Enzo to a stop in front of the high school. Taking 4 parking spaces for himself as the bell rings, he gets out and waits for Clark, his own personal Rosetta stone. As a crowd of drooling teenage boys starts to form around the single-most exotic car in Lex's collection, he sees the reason for his mad dash across Kansas: A 6'3" Junior with a stunned look on his face. "You BOUGHT IT?" is the question that the entire crowd hears. "I can't BELIEVE you did this!" Clark continued as he came through the crowd to gaze at the custom-painted Black Ferrari with the deep-purple leather interior. "Believe this!" The single key, attached to a silver prancing stallion, came sailing through the air, to be caught right before it hit Clark between the eyes. "You're driving." Speechless. Everyone was speechless. Even Chloe, who Lex SUSPECTED could out-talk Lionel. The walking mega-watt-smile that is Clark lit up the parking lot as they got into the car. As students began to step away from the car, Clark revved the engine, and Lex leaned over to tell him something. Suddenly, Clark flushed, smirked, and hit the gas - the scream of tortured rubber on pavement being drowned out by the wail of 12 cylinders at maximum RPM as the screaming monster left at near-triple-digit speeds.... Of course, anyone that had actually heard Lex would understand: "you have to drive, Clark! You know I can't blow you when I'm driving!" If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Gary Also, why not join Level Three, the Smallville all-fic list? Back Level Three Records Room