#danny doesnt know lex is a villian

[enigmaris]

Lex Luthor's cover of 'I've grown accustomed to her face':

There were certain rules that you as a villain have to follow if you want to be successful. Lex Luthor knew these rules well. The first, one which he’d kept for a very very long time, was to avoid attachment. More specifically to avoid becoming attached to anyone. You should encourage others to like you, if they liked you, if they owed you, then they would do what you wanted and what you needed. But caring for others only led to weaknesses.

Lex had no one that he cared for or trusted. No living family, no lover to warm his bed. Not that that had ever been a priority for him. The closest Lex had to a ‘friend’ was his android Mercy, an android he created. Lex supposed that the closest relationship he had was with Superman. Their antagonistic relationship where he tried to kill Superman and Superman tried to have him arrested was the most socializing outside of work Lex did per month.

A lonely life perhaps but one that Lex reveled in. He had what he wanted and what he didn’t have he could get with his power. Lex was able to follow that first rule of villainy up until one raining evening just outside Metropolis. His car was going towards his home when something crashed through the glass roof window. Something being a glowing teenager. He had white hair and bright green eyes and he was wearing what appeared to be some sort of jumpsuit.

He landed right in Lex’s lap, covered in wounds and emaciated. Three moments after he landed a bright halo of light appeared around his torso before spreading out. Suddenly, laying there on his lap was a human teenager, bleeding red blood and reaching unconsciousness.

“Sorry.” He said right before passing out.

Mercy had stopped the car, as she’d been programmed to do. Lex looked down at the meta teenager with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Mercy, continue home and contact Dr. Matthews. He has a new patient in serious condition.”

“Yes sir.”

It took a full day of rest for the unnamed meta to wake up. When he did Lex was there, introducing himself and offering comfort and safety. The boy introduced himself as ‘Adam’, a fake name obviously but Lex didn’t call him out on it. Lex made no reference to the boy’s meta-abilities. Instead, he offered a place to rest and recuperate and all of the food the boy could consume (which was a lot). Through his security cameras he saw the boy’s uncontrollable powers, new he guessed.

It took only a week for the boy to break down and use his powers in front of Lex. Once that happened the flood gates opened. Danny was his real name, and his parents had tried to kill him once they found out about his powers. Lex learnt about the source of the powers and Danny’s lack of control. His plan was going along perfectly.

Lex didn’t know much about powers, but from those he talked to with them, the key to control was practice. So, Lex built a training room for the half-ghost to practice. Then, when he destroyed that, Lex built a stronger one. (He used plans from an old ‘trap Superman’ room. Lex always appreciated being able to recycle things.) Soon, really once Danny recovered completely, a schedule arose. In the mornings, Danny and Lex would have breakfast together. Lex would quiz the boy on different things. Anything from strategy to science to history to literature. Then Lex would go to work. Danny would stay in the home and spend the morning studying. Lex wasn’t going to have a stupid tool, so the boy had an online coursework to learn what he needed to know.

Then Lex would usually receive a message from Danny around lunch time. The boy would let him know how his lessons were going and ask how his work was. Lex didn’t tell Danny to message him, he also didn’t tell him to stop. Something inside of him enjoyed the unsolicited attention. Danny was asking not because he had to but because he wanted to. He was curious, he cared about Lex.

After lunch the boy would use Lex’s computer simulations to train with his powers. He worked his muscles and his reflexes against training simulators and pushed his abilities to their limit. When Lex got home around dinner Danny would be waiting for him eagerly to talk about how his training was going. They would have dinner together. At first those dinners were solely focused on the boy’s abilities and health. But they expanded.

Danny would ask about Lex and Lex would indulge him, telling him stories from his life. Danny would reciprocate. Lex found that, beyond having very useful powers, Danny also possessed intelligence, curiosity, and eagerness in spades. Without realizing it Lex started to feel rather fond of the boy. He reminded him of Lex’s younger years before the trials that had shaped him into the man he was. Young and full of passion.

The months passed and they grew closer. Lex learnt about Danny’s two best friends that knew about his accident and with whom he had kept in contact. Danny met Mercy and even visited Lex’s office a few times to see him at work. Since the boy could turn invisible Lex had no way of knowing how often that actually was. He started to try and teach the boy strategy. How to defeat his enemies and how to control and manipulate. He didn’t teach Danny too much, he wouldn’t want to make a tool more powerful than Lex himself.

Daniel was an apt pupil up until the point that Lex suggested using his powers for personal gain. The teen’s vehement denial of using his powers that way was peculiar. Didn’t Danny see what his powers could do? What that sort of power and control could mean for him, for them both? With Lex’s tutelage and guidance, they would be unstoppable. Lex tried everything he could think of.

Every evening for dinner it became a test to see if he could shake Danny of his morals, of his will. But Danny remained resolute. Every time he argued for the right thing. He wanted to be kind. He wanted to help. Not to abuse and harm. Lex realized a little too late that he had accidentally taken in a hero and nothing about that would change. There were some heroes who could be convinced of the error of their ways but then there were those like Superman, like Danny.

Abruptly he saw his future. Danny would soon put on a suit and try and fight evil. Lex wouldn't be able to stop him from doing it. Unless Lex started to torture him and break him down piece by piece. Lex recoiled from the idea of harming Danny. The idea of anyone harming him was wrong. It was then that he realized what had happened.

Lex had been sitting in his office, planning out his next ‘kill Superman plan’ when it hit him right in the face.

“I’ve become accustomed to him.”

He’d grown used to Danny. Grown to like his presence in his life. Meals were no longer necessities for him but rather something to enjoy and savor. Conversations and laughter filled his life where there had been silence. He had loved the silence, reveled in being untouched and untouchable. But now? Now he’d adapted to Danny, and he did not wish to return to how things were previously.

“Damn. Damn. Damn."