Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: With Friends like These …

Gentle FoLC's, please take note of this tale. Reaching the proper health facilities immediately following a stroke can make all the difference to the patient and their family.

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Y'know, this is perhaps the first fic I've ever seen where Lex is taken down, not by police or rival crime-lords or anything related to his activities, but by a medical thing that could happen to just about anybody. It's a sharp reminder than the cunning Mr. Luthor is, after all, only a human being. That by itself is pretty cool, I must say.

You might want to get somebody to check over this one; there's a couple of grammar slips that Spell-check wouldn't pick up on. For example:
But neat idea for an AU, and I gather that since Lex was already married, he wasn't there to get between Lois and Clark? And perhaps Arianna is the reason they haven't nailed him yet? I'm a bit surprised, though, that Lex is so shocked to learn that a life of crime and evilness has left him with no friends. But then, I guess he's just used to having everything.

ETA: Oh, and I wanted to ask, but please don't take this the wrong way; it's just that your description of Lex's thoughts and experiences made me wonder: is this based on personal experience with a stroke?

Interesting on how you change Lois and Clark from main characters into minor ones, observing the action this time, instead of involved in it... other than Superman's kindness to Lex by getting him to the hospital quickly.

I'm not surprised that Lex has no true friends, the way he treats people, nor am I surprised that Arianna and Nigel are plotting against him. It is very fitting. I believe you've captured their personalities well. It is sad for Arianna that remaining to be married to the man she loves didn't make her continue to love him. Very ironic that she loves him more in canon because they divorced. People admire Lex, want to know him, want to be in his social circle, and be able to work with him, but I doubt anyone would call on him (as they oft seem to do on "Smallville") in their time of need.

The dark humorist in me would have preferred that they succeeded and Lex was unable to fight against them, but know all about it. Have him want to change his life for the better and want to succeed at thwarting them, but still lose. <<Very Twilight Zoneish or Hitchcockian>> Then have an epilogue of Lois and Clark investigating and uncovering the truth about Ari and Nigel after his death, proving that they didn't really get away with it after all.

One of the things I was disappointed about in S1 was that when Cat learns in ASU that she doesn't really have any close friends and ends up alone in the confessional (which I believe made her into quite a sympathetic character in my mind), that the event didn't turn into a turning point for her character. The next week, she's back to the same ol' antics. You show here with Lex, that said revelation would change even the coldest of hearts.

At first, when Lex was having his stroke, I thought, 'oh, dear, time to send that Clone back to training.' That it was really him, was quite surprising.

I do believe that Lois and Clark's engagement is quite clear in the story, and you don't need to announce it in the description, making Lois's news "old" by the time we hear of Clark's comment about Lois looking at her ring shine. I suggest changing the description to "working together for four years, and having dated for X number of years", leaving the announcement for her to tell instead of you.

An entertaining read. It's always fun to see someone plotting against Lex, and makes me wonder if Ari had a hand in his stroke poison-wise.

Queen of Capes: in SQD's story "The Way It Should have Been" Lex is dying of something (I forget) and Lois is (ghost) writing his memoir, and I believe in "The Pub" by Bobbart that Lex gets defeated by natural causes as well.

It always surprised me that Lex ever had any loyal supporters, given the way he usually treated them, so this works pretty well for me.

Nice idea.

My first response was that you were looking to "beat up" Lex just to make him suffer. (Sort of like what I did in Lex\'s Best Day ) but you went a different direction.

By the time we reach end of this short, I think I see an opportunity for a redemption here. That concept seems familiar... Oh, yeah. There was this little story called Stranger In Our Midst where a medical take-down leads to a Lex redemption.

I did like the idea that you opened with Lois and Clark safely engaged. It parks them nicely on the sidelines without leaving them out altogether.

Bob

As I know I've mentioned to you before, I really do love Lex Luthor. And I love the way this is a very Lex-centric story, with a nice little twist. (Also loved the brief interaction of L&C at the start). I wonder if there's more to the story coming though...

Hi Morgana,

I think I'll answer Queen's comment for you.

Yes, Morgana has personal experience, however it was not herself, it was her brother. I did what little I could to help with this story because Morgana's intent was to bring the awareness of Stroke to everyone on the boards.

Personally, I think she did a marvelous job with this story.

Feedback!

Sorry these answers did not come sooner. So without further ado ...

Queen of Capes Uh ... no this is actually the third time (as far as I know) that the man we all love to hate is taken down by being human. The other stories are mentioned elsewhere by VirginiaR and Bobbart.

To answer your last question; no I am not a stroke victim, but sadly I have had more than my fair share of surgeries. My younger brother suffered from a brain aneurysm last year. He described in full detail his return to wakefulness. Happily he is well on his way to recovery.

VirginiaR Originally they were not to appear at all. But KenJ suggested how to insert them into the story. Thank you sir!

Marcus Yes, that always surprised me as well! Why work for such a man? But we never know what motivates some people. It could be power, fear or ... pleasure. Lex knew how to push the right buttons. After all, isn't that one of his strengths?

Bob Yup, this is one of those rare times when The Hottest Team in Town had to sit down.

Thanks ever so for mentioning Stranger!

Mouserocks I love him too! John Shea took a rather flat character and made him delicously fun to watch.

All of your comments were very much appreciated and I hope to write more soon! Please, remember what I said at the outset. Be aware of the signs for stroke. It can save someone's life. Dr. Kiri Morro is a composite of some really great nurses! They are REAL Superwomen.

Hi Morgana,

I read that story. I liked it a lot. It was interesting to see Lex's reaction to his condition and to hearing his wife and second-in-command plotting his demise. I saw a few of the comments on the boards about the story and as someone else said seeing Luthor laid low by something within himself, something that could affect any of us, was poetic justice, at least it was to me. I guess this is another short story that is begging for a more in depth treatment someday, but not for a while.

Ray

Someday I will expand on this tale, but for now there are other stories to be woven. Thank you for the kind words, you are a mentor to many of us FoLC's, we are fortunate to have you!

Please delete - Accidental post.

Very interesting tale, Morgana! I think it perfectly illustrates the 'you reap what you sow' lesson. It sure doesn't look like Luthor has much hope of surviving Arianna and Nigel's schemes, but he is like a cockroach in always finding a way to survive.

The descriptions were very well done throughout! I know I, at least, always have problems describing things when a character is coming out of unconsciousness or is only half-conscious, but your descriptions were very flowing and smooth!

Great thought-provoking story!

Thanks for the earlier comment Ken. My brother is gaining strength each day and he is determined to do some work in his garden. We are all eagerly awaiting that day. The flowers he gave his fiance last year were glorious!

Now to answer Anti-K:

I almost fell out of my chair when I read this! Yeah, Lex does have survivor instincts!

Indeed he did reap what he sowed. Can you image how different Arianna would have behaved if he treated her with love and respect? Something to think about.

Thanks again for your great comments!