Cherry Wine {lex luthor}

chapter thirteen

"What happened in the east?" I asked quietly. "Who died?"

Lex shook his head, refusing to make eye contact.

"Nothing for you to worry about, darling. It was a terror attack, nothing more."

Lex pulled away from my hand, and headed up the stairs. I followed, my mind racing.

"A terror attack against who? And why was Superman there?"

Lex stopped, and looked skywards in clear exasperation.

"Ruth, I said it was nothing. Don't ask me again."

I felt my mouth droop, but I dropped the subject.

Lex led me into my bedroom, and shut the door behind us. Fresh air wafted through the half-open window, scented lightly with flowers and the clean smell of the rain hitting rich earth. I inhaled deeply, trying to soothe my frayed nerves. Lex had an uncanny ability to make himself seem much larger than he was, to make any little disagreement feel like I was stabbing him through the back. It was, I supposed, one of the reasons he was so powerful so young-he could manipulate the hell out of anyone and everyone.

Lex sank onto the sofa, head in his hands. His left foot was shaking against the ground. He seemed like he was about to explode from anger.

"Hey." I said softly. "Lex, what's going on?"

Lex looked up at me, a smile stretched across his face. So not anger, then. Excitement? Giddiness?

"Nothing's going on, Ruth, my love. Nothing. I'm just very happy at the way the events of tonight are playing out." His voice was high and fast, and he gestured wildly in the air.

"If you need to talk to someone...." I trailed off, unsure of what to say. Lex shook his head emphatically, then stood up, taking my hands.

"You're mistaking my relief for me being upset, darling. Don't do that." He said. I bit my lip, still wary of the intensity of emotion coming off him. Lex gently used his thumb to pull my lip from between my teeth, his eyes laser-focused.

"Don't bite your lip." He said sternly. "The last thing we need is for you to require yet another bandage."

He left his hand under my chin, his thumb resting gently on my lower lip. I half expected him to kiss me again, but instead he pulled away.

"I have to make some calls. Why don't you take a bath before bed?"

I looked at him, confused. "Lex, its late. Who do you need to call?"

He hummed as he went through to the bathroom, pulling out soft, white towels from under the sink. "Late here, early there. The world of business never sleeps." He said. "Let me take off the dressing on your leg. We can rewrap it before you sleep."

I sat of the marble edge of the bathtub. Lex had turned the taps on, and the steam rushing up warmed my back. It smelled sweet-lavender and honey and roses, all at once.

"Bath salts." Lex explained, when he saw my face. "I read somewhere that they help you relax."

I smiled, and tensed as Lex ripped the tape off my leg. I was sure I had no hair left on my leg now, judging by the amount of times it had been ripped out by the medical tape.

My thigh was healing over, the stitches beginning to dissolve, the bruising at the farthest edges fading to yellow. It hardly bothered me now, unless I pushed myself too far. Even the stairs presented less of a challenge day to day. I was proud of the progress I had made, prouder still that I had done it all by myself.

Lex balled up the tape and gauze and threw it in the garbage can, turning to wash his hands.

"I'll come up and help you redo it when I'm done making my calls." He said. "Don't do it yourself, hm?"

I nodded, fingers brushing the mountainous scabs and scars that covered the surface of my thigh. A long-fingered hand reached out and covered mine, stilling the motion.

"It will heal, dearest. Don't play with it, or it will scar." Lex said, and squeezed my hand. I looked up at him, feeling undressed in my shorts and shirt while he was wearing a full suit. He straightened up, tugging the lapels of his jacket back into place.

"I'll be back." He promised, and left the room.

The door wouldn't lock; none of mine did, but I closed it behind him and shoved a towel underneath so it wouldn't open unexpectedly.

The water was hot, almost to the point of burning, but I relished the way my skin went pink, and my breathing grew shallow as I rested my back on the coolness of the marble. I was relaxed-more relaxed than I had been for weeks. The tension leached out of my shoulders, and I rolled my neck, feeling my tendons slide over each other easily.

I was unsure of what to make of my situation. I hadn't had time to think over what had happened, not properly.

Everyone I knew and loved were dead. My extended family hadn't had anything to do with me, even before I was born, and I could only assume they thought I had died in the fight as well. The thought that my friends and classmates expected me to be dead hurt my chest-but they had no reason to believe otherwise, and I had no way of telling them I was alright.

I was well and truly stuck. Stuck in an ornate cage, with a doting and devoted owner and everything I could ever want, but stuck nonetheless.

I didn't want to escape.

There was nothing for me beyond Lex's reach. Truly nothing. Without him I would be on my own, too old even to become a ward of the government. My cage was safe, and though it trapped me, it saved me, too.

I must have drifted off, at some point, because I awoke to a rapping at the door.

"Ruth?" Lex called. "Please tell me you haven't drowned."

I sat up, and reached for a bathrobe.

"I'm alive." I said sleepily. "I just fell asleep."

I slid into the robe, and opened the door. Lex looked harried, and he pushed my wet hair away from my face.

"You fell asleep?" He asked quietly. I nodded, and he smiled, kissing my damp forehead. "Let's get you to bed quickly, then. Maybe we've found the cure for these nightmares."