Son of the Storm

Party on

"Loki?"Loki paused and turned, his collection of little ducklings stopping with him. The young man who had called for him was recognisable for two reasons. One, very few teenagers were bald. Two, he was one of the few humans who Loki considered a potential intellectual equal."Lex, I'm a little busy," Loki said.

"I know, I can see," Lex Luthor, seventeen years old, genius, occasional party animal and heir to the Luthor fortune, said. "You're looking for J.J. and Marla, right?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Loki said. "Have you seen them?"Lex hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "They're talking to Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, and all three are probably being bored stiff by Hank," he said dryly. "Just because I find his work with Doctor Storm and Doctor Richards on extradimensional physics fascinating doesn't mean everyone else does."

"That is because you are one of the few people with the intellect to understand it, unlike the Jameson's," Loki murmured, and Lex smiled slightly. Compliments from Loki were fairly sparing. The secondborn Prince of Asgard glanced at Mattie. "I mean no insult to your family, Miss Franklin. But there are some things that most people cannot do. Understanding conceptual extradimensional physics is one of them."

"I'm guessing that you're not most people," the dark haired boy said, eyeing Lex curiously. He was thin, but not unhealthy – a recent development, if Lex was any judge. The boy looked like he'd recently been fairly maltreated. Ah... so this was Thor's son."Not by a long shot," Lex said, smirking. "And neither are you."

The boy gave him a surprisingly dry crooked smile that made him look about three years older. "What gave me away?""The fact that you look exactly your dad's alternate appearance helped," Lex said casually. "But there's something about you two that marks you out as different.""Hello to you too, Lex," Carol said, looking amused but a little wary.

"They actually use their brains, unlike many," Loki said, watching Jonah clamp his mouth shut, having been on the point of saying something undiplomatic, as his wife, smiling sweetly, leaned her stiletto heel on it with a smooth, practised grace that Loki admired. Previously, he had only ever seen Pepper manage such a thing. "So that may be it."Lex inclined his head. "Probably,"

"Lex, this is my nephew, Harry," Loki said. "I think I had better return this little one to her guardians," he added, indicating Mattie, sticking close by Carol, who seemed to have adopted her as a little sister. "And rescue them from the enthusiasm of Henry Pym before Mister Jameson suffers permanent perforations to his feet. Come, Mattie."Mattie, after a moment of wavering by Carol, follow him over.The three were left in silence.

"Um..."Harry provided this auspicious start to the conversation.Lex raised an eyebrow. "I know. I have no hair," he said, amused.Harry chuckled weakly. "I bet you get asked that a lot, huh?""A bit," Lex said, tilting his head to the side slightly."And you just want to say, my face is down here, right?" Harry continued."Generally, I end up wanting to say my face is up here," Carol muttered.Lex's lips twitched, then he eyed Harry. "You know what it's like." It wasn't a question.Harry silently raised his fringe, revealing the famous scar.Lex winced. "How did you get that?"

"Trade you."Lex grinned. Quick witted, non-judgemental – or maybe he just had no idea who the Luthor's were – and willing to speak his mind. He could like this kid. "Okay. Well, about ten years back, I was with my dad in a little Kansas town called Smallville," he said. "And there was a meteor shower. And I was right in the middle of it."Harry's eyes widened. "Whoa."