Fic: Shall Not Fade (3/3)
Mar. 28th, 2007 08:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fandomcornerTitle: Shall Not Fade
Author: Hils
Rating: M for sexual references
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Summary: Lois loves Superman and ignores Clark. Lex misses Clark and hates Superman. Clark is caught in the middle
Written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
10_hurt_comfort. The prompt was ‘love’. A million thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
romanyg for the beta!
Clark wasn’t sure what to expect when he and Lois were ushered into Lex’s office the next day. Now that they’d kissed he somehow expected Lex to look different, or at least to act different around him.
But he’d greeted them both warmly, shaken their hands and was now in the process of explaining what they’d be seeing on their tour of LuthorCorp. It was as though nothing had happened between them. Not that he expected Lex to broadcast from the top of the LuthorCorp Tower about how he’d kissed Clark Kent, but he didn’t know how Lex could be so cool and professional when all Clark wanted to do right now was kiss him again.
Lois was a different matter entirely. She’d barely spoken all day, muttering something about how she hadn’t slept very well the night before. Clark could feel the guilt eating away at him. He’d always told himself that the Superman costume was enabled him to save people freely and now he was using it to work through his personal issues. He still didn’t know why he’d kissed Lois, other than to be sure he was making the right decision about Lex. Which, quite frankly, was a lame excuse. Superman was going to have to do some serious groveling and explaining that night. Although he wasn’t sure what he was going to say that could fix this. Yet again he wondered how his life had come to be so complicated and messed up.
“If there are any specific files you want to look at,” Lex said as he finished his explanation of the tour, “we can come back here afterwards and I’ll have them brought up. Would you like any refreshments before we start?”
“No,” Lois replied, almost snapping. “Let’s just get on with it.”
Lex simply smiled as though her tone had been entirely polite. “All right, let’s go.”
* * *
Clark had often wondered why Lex always felt the need to put his secret labs in the basement of the building. It wasn’t as though Superman would never find them down there. He did so on a frequent basis and, more recently, it was the first place he looked.
He had to swallow back a chuckle as they came to a stop outside a door concealed in the shadows on the lowest floor of LuthorCorp.
“Very few people have access to this room,” Lex informed them. “And you probably won’t approve of what’s inside, but I promised Clark the truth about everything I do.”
Clark frowned as Lex punched in a series of numbers onto a small keypad, causing the door to swing open. Cautiously he followed Lex and Lois into the room, wary of what he might find inside. He’d barely taken more than a couple of steps when the sickness hit him, causing him to stumble.
“Are you all right, Clark?” Lex asked, not doing a very good job of keeping the concern out of his voice.
Clark forced a smile, although now he could see just how much kryptonite, in various states, was in the room. This was obviously where Lex conducted all his anti-Superman experiments.
“I skipped breakfast this morning,” he managed to say weakly. “I’m just feeling a bit light-headed. I guess I should have had those refreshments you offered.”
“We can go back if you’d like,” Lex offered, placing a hand on Clark’s arm to steady him. “This room isn’t going anywhere.”
“No,” Lois replied before Clark could answer. “He’ll be fine. Right, Clark?”
She dipped her head and hissed in his ear. “Suck it up, Smallville. You can eat when we’re done in here.”
Clark tried to respond but all that came from his lips was a weak croak. His vision was fading now, his whole body felt on fire. The last thing he saw as he faded into the blissfully painless world of unconsciousness was a frown crossing Lois’s face. He thought he heard Lex calling his name too, but he couldn’t be sure
* * *
When he opened his eyes again, Lois’s face was still hovering above him but she wasn’t frowning any more. She just stared at him.
Vaguely aware that the pain and sickness were gone, he attempted to sit up. A quick glance showed him that he was back in Lex’s office, lying on the couch Lex used for his less formal meetings. He flopped back, still feeling weak.
“Here,” Lois said, handing him his glasses. “They fell off when you collapsed.”
Clark looked at the glasses in his hands and then back at Lois. She was staring at him again.
Not good.
“Are you mad?” he asked softly. They were past the point where he could lie his way out. All he could do was try and explain and hope she understood.
Lois sighed. “I should be mad. I feel like a world-class idiot, being around you every day and not noticing. Hell, I knew you back in Smallville when you didn’t have the glasses and I still didn’t work it out. Some investigative journalist I am.”
Clark closed his eyes. This wasn’t how he anticipated his secret being revealed and he was starting to get a headache. “Sorry.”
Lois shrugged. “It’s not like I can kick your ass for lying to me or anything.”
Clark winced. “Actually, you probably could right now.”
Lois raised an eyebrow. “Really not what you should be saying to me right now.”
“Sorry.” Apparently he couldn’t apologize enough.
She shook her head. “Look, I get why you kept it a secret, and I promise no one will hear anything about it from me, but at some point we need to talk about what happened last night. Maybe when we’re alone.”
“Don’t stop on my behalf.”
Clark’s head shot up. How could he have forgotten about Lex? He saw him now, sitting in his office chair at the far end of the room and facing the window. Even from the side, he could see Lex’s face was a blank mask and he winced again. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Lex looking so distant and cold before. It was worse than when Lex had been hell-bent on destroying him, and so much more painful.
“I think I’m going to leave you two alone for a bit,” Lois announced in her usual blunt manner. “Don’t forget about me though.”
Clark simply nodded, unable to take his eyes from Lex’s face, hoping to see some flicker of emotion and finding none. Lex’s eyes didn’t even move when Lois left the room and closed the door quietly behind her.
“Lex, say something, please.”
“Get out.” His voice was as cold as his eyes were, and Clark couldn’t stop the shiver running through his body.
“Lex…”
“I said get out.”
Clark hauled himself into a sitting position and slowly climbed to his feet, wobbling a little before he righted himself. “Lex, please, I tried to tell you last night but…”
“But you preferred kissing me to being honest with me?”
Lex sounded like Lana used to back in Smallville, and he was damned if he was going to lose someone else because of his secret.
“I was going to tell you but I knew how you felt about Superman. I was hoping that in time I could convince you that he’s not the monster you think he is. Lex, you know me, you know I would never do anything to hurt anyone. Can you honestly see me trying to take over the world?
Lex spun his chair around so that he was facing Clark. His eyes blazed with anger now. “I don’t know, Clark. I don’t know who you are. Our whole friendship, from the moment we met, has been a lie. I gave you my secrets, I gave you everything! I would have given myself to you, but you would never do the same, would you?”
“Yes! I wanted to. Dozens of times but I was…afraid.”
Lex laughed. A dry, humorless laugh that chilled Clark. “Well, I suppose it’s good to hear that the mighty Superman is afraid of something else other than Kryptonite. If I’d known rejection was the key, I’d have done this a lot sooner.”
“Lex, I love you.” As soon as the words left his lips, Clark knew they were true, and his heart ached with the knowledge that it was too late. He’d already lost Lex.
“Love?” Lex repeated with a sneer. “I don’t think you even know what the word means. Did you really think we had any sort of future together? We’re not even the same species.”
As his feelings were thrown back in his face, Clark suddenly felt the rage flood into him. He stormed over to Lex’s chair and yanked him to his feet by the front of his shirt. “You thought we had a future together up until now. What’s wrong, Luthor? Feeling inadequate all of a sudden because you’re not the strong one any more? That I’m more than just a dumb, hick farmboy that you can impress with your knowledge and power?”
“I never tried to impress you,” Lex said, his voice dangerously soft now. “You were always above all that. It was one of the things I loved about you.”
Clark gave a small smile and released his grip of Lex’s shirt. “So what now? You go back to trying to kill me, I resume thwarting your plans, and we forget about us? Is that what you want?”
Lex sagged and, for a moment, Clark worried he was going to collapse. He reached out a hand and let it rest gently on Lex’s waist, offering support if it was needed.
Lex looked at the hand, then he looked at Clark, then he kissed him.
It was different to from the first kiss they had shared. This one actually hurt, and not just because of the bruising force Lex was putting behind it.
Lex wanted to be in control, to prove to himself that he still had some power. Clark understood and gave Lex what he wanted, letting him dictate what they did.
He felt himself being pushed backwards until he tripped over the edge of the couch and toppled onto it with a soft grunt. Lex was on top of him immediately, his lips and tongue still doing battle with Clark’s as he straddled him.
He was hard and Clark could feel it rubbing against him through their clothes. It was enough to bring his own cock springing to life. Then the kissing stopped and Lex began frantically working at undoing Clark’s tie. His hands were shaking, but Clark knew better than to try and help him.
The tie undone, Lex found the buttons of Clark’s shirt easier to manage and soon had the shirt open. Then he froze.
“Lex?” Clark asked, wondering for a moment if Lex had either come to his senses or changed his mind about this. Then he looked down. His Superman uniform was exposed beneath his clothes. Oh.
Lex was staring now and Clark sat deathly still, waiting to see how he would react. Slowly Lex reached out and traced his fingers over the Kryptonian symbol emblazoned on Clark’s chest.
“You really are Superman,” he finally whispered in a voice so soft that, if it hadn’t been for his superhearing, Clark wasn’t sure he’d have picked it up.
“Yeah,” Clark replied gently. Understandably, Lex was still trying to process all of this and Clark wanted to help him. If he could just make Lex see that the uniform wasn’t who he was, that Clark Kent wasn’t Superman’s secret identity, it was the other way around.
“I have to wear it all the time,” he explained. “In case I’m needed.”
The faintest hint of a smile flickered across Lex’s lips. “Always prepared. I’ve said before you were a big boy scout.”
Clark smiled at that. “I just want to help people, Lex. And Superman was the only way I could do it without putting the people I care about in danger.”
“I understand that. I suppose in a way I’m responsible for this. I put your family in danger because I wanted to find out your secrets. I pushed you into this decision.”
Clark shook his head. “It wasn’t just you. It was my Mom’s idea at first, she helped me make the uniform.”
Lex ran his fingers over the symbol again and chuckled. “The most recognized costume in the world made by a Kansas farmer. Incredible.”
“I’ll tell her you think so next time I talk to her.”
Lex apparently then realized he was still straddling Clark and climbed to his feet, walking back over to the window and staring out at the city of Metropolis. Clark rose and moved to stand beside him.
“I love this city, Clark.”
“So do I.”
Lex turned to face him. “I think I feel better knowing that it’s you keeping it safe.”
“Thanks, Lex. That means a lot coming from you.”
They fell into silence again.
“Does this mean you’re going to stop trying to kill me?” Clark finally asked.
“Well, it would make our new relationship rather difficult if you were dead.”
Relationship? Clark felt his heart jump in his chest. That was the last thing he’d expected Lex to say. Especially now.
“I guess it would. Are you sure about this?”
Lex took Clark’s hand in his. “I love you, Clark. I’ve loved you since you gave me my life that day on the river and I will love you until the day that I die.”
“Even if I’m an alien?”
“All that means is the rest of the world now knows that you’re the extraordinary person I’ve always known you are.”
Clark kissed him, long and hard. He never wanted to let go in fact. He’d never once imagined he’d get acceptance for who he really was, least of all from Lex. It was probably impossible for him to feel happier than he did right now.
“Well,” Lex said when he finally had to pull back for air. “I don’t know what you want to do but I propose we go back to my penthouse and finish what we started here.”
Clark grinned. “That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.”
The End
Author: Hils
Rating: M for sexual references
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Summary: Lois loves Superman and ignores Clark. Lex misses Clark and hates Superman. Clark is caught in the middle
Written for
10_hurt_comfort. The prompt was ‘love’. A million thanks to romanyg for the beta!Clark wasn’t sure what to expect when he and Lois were ushered into Lex’s office the next day. Now that they’d kissed he somehow expected Lex to look different, or at least to act different around him.
But he’d greeted them both warmly, shaken their hands and was now in the process of explaining what they’d be seeing on their tour of LuthorCorp. It was as though nothing had happened between them. Not that he expected Lex to broadcast from the top of the LuthorCorp Tower about how he’d kissed Clark Kent, but he didn’t know how Lex could be so cool and professional when all Clark wanted to do right now was kiss him again.
Lois was a different matter entirely. She’d barely spoken all day, muttering something about how she hadn’t slept very well the night before. Clark could feel the guilt eating away at him. He’d always told himself that the Superman costume was enabled him to save people freely and now he was using it to work through his personal issues. He still didn’t know why he’d kissed Lois, other than to be sure he was making the right decision about Lex. Which, quite frankly, was a lame excuse. Superman was going to have to do some serious groveling and explaining that night. Although he wasn’t sure what he was going to say that could fix this. Yet again he wondered how his life had come to be so complicated and messed up.
“If there are any specific files you want to look at,” Lex said as he finished his explanation of the tour, “we can come back here afterwards and I’ll have them brought up. Would you like any refreshments before we start?”
“No,” Lois replied, almost snapping. “Let’s just get on with it.”
Lex simply smiled as though her tone had been entirely polite. “All right, let’s go.”
* * *
Clark had often wondered why Lex always felt the need to put his secret labs in the basement of the building. It wasn’t as though Superman would never find them down there. He did so on a frequent basis and, more recently, it was the first place he looked.
He had to swallow back a chuckle as they came to a stop outside a door concealed in the shadows on the lowest floor of LuthorCorp.
“Very few people have access to this room,” Lex informed them. “And you probably won’t approve of what’s inside, but I promised Clark the truth about everything I do.”
Clark frowned as Lex punched in a series of numbers onto a small keypad, causing the door to swing open. Cautiously he followed Lex and Lois into the room, wary of what he might find inside. He’d barely taken more than a couple of steps when the sickness hit him, causing him to stumble.
“Are you all right, Clark?” Lex asked, not doing a very good job of keeping the concern out of his voice.
Clark forced a smile, although now he could see just how much kryptonite, in various states, was in the room. This was obviously where Lex conducted all his anti-Superman experiments.
“I skipped breakfast this morning,” he managed to say weakly. “I’m just feeling a bit light-headed. I guess I should have had those refreshments you offered.”
“We can go back if you’d like,” Lex offered, placing a hand on Clark’s arm to steady him. “This room isn’t going anywhere.”
“No,” Lois replied before Clark could answer. “He’ll be fine. Right, Clark?”
She dipped her head and hissed in his ear. “Suck it up, Smallville. You can eat when we’re done in here.”
Clark tried to respond but all that came from his lips was a weak croak. His vision was fading now, his whole body felt on fire. The last thing he saw as he faded into the blissfully painless world of unconsciousness was a frown crossing Lois’s face. He thought he heard Lex calling his name too, but he couldn’t be sure
* * *
When he opened his eyes again, Lois’s face was still hovering above him but she wasn’t frowning any more. She just stared at him.
Vaguely aware that the pain and sickness were gone, he attempted to sit up. A quick glance showed him that he was back in Lex’s office, lying on the couch Lex used for his less formal meetings. He flopped back, still feeling weak.
“Here,” Lois said, handing him his glasses. “They fell off when you collapsed.”
Clark looked at the glasses in his hands and then back at Lois. She was staring at him again.
Not good.
“Are you mad?” he asked softly. They were past the point where he could lie his way out. All he could do was try and explain and hope she understood.
Lois sighed. “I should be mad. I feel like a world-class idiot, being around you every day and not noticing. Hell, I knew you back in Smallville when you didn’t have the glasses and I still didn’t work it out. Some investigative journalist I am.”
Clark closed his eyes. This wasn’t how he anticipated his secret being revealed and he was starting to get a headache. “Sorry.”
Lois shrugged. “It’s not like I can kick your ass for lying to me or anything.”
Clark winced. “Actually, you probably could right now.”
Lois raised an eyebrow. “Really not what you should be saying to me right now.”
“Sorry.” Apparently he couldn’t apologize enough.
She shook her head. “Look, I get why you kept it a secret, and I promise no one will hear anything about it from me, but at some point we need to talk about what happened last night. Maybe when we’re alone.”
“Don’t stop on my behalf.”
Clark’s head shot up. How could he have forgotten about Lex? He saw him now, sitting in his office chair at the far end of the room and facing the window. Even from the side, he could see Lex’s face was a blank mask and he winced again. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Lex looking so distant and cold before. It was worse than when Lex had been hell-bent on destroying him, and so much more painful.
“I think I’m going to leave you two alone for a bit,” Lois announced in her usual blunt manner. “Don’t forget about me though.”
Clark simply nodded, unable to take his eyes from Lex’s face, hoping to see some flicker of emotion and finding none. Lex’s eyes didn’t even move when Lois left the room and closed the door quietly behind her.
“Lex, say something, please.”
“Get out.” His voice was as cold as his eyes were, and Clark couldn’t stop the shiver running through his body.
“Lex…”
“I said get out.”
Clark hauled himself into a sitting position and slowly climbed to his feet, wobbling a little before he righted himself. “Lex, please, I tried to tell you last night but…”
“But you preferred kissing me to being honest with me?”
Lex sounded like Lana used to back in Smallville, and he was damned if he was going to lose someone else because of his secret.
“I was going to tell you but I knew how you felt about Superman. I was hoping that in time I could convince you that he’s not the monster you think he is. Lex, you know me, you know I would never do anything to hurt anyone. Can you honestly see me trying to take over the world?
Lex spun his chair around so that he was facing Clark. His eyes blazed with anger now. “I don’t know, Clark. I don’t know who you are. Our whole friendship, from the moment we met, has been a lie. I gave you my secrets, I gave you everything! I would have given myself to you, but you would never do the same, would you?”
“Yes! I wanted to. Dozens of times but I was…afraid.”
Lex laughed. A dry, humorless laugh that chilled Clark. “Well, I suppose it’s good to hear that the mighty Superman is afraid of something else other than Kryptonite. If I’d known rejection was the key, I’d have done this a lot sooner.”
“Lex, I love you.” As soon as the words left his lips, Clark knew they were true, and his heart ached with the knowledge that it was too late. He’d already lost Lex.
“Love?” Lex repeated with a sneer. “I don’t think you even know what the word means. Did you really think we had any sort of future together? We’re not even the same species.”
As his feelings were thrown back in his face, Clark suddenly felt the rage flood into him. He stormed over to Lex’s chair and yanked him to his feet by the front of his shirt. “You thought we had a future together up until now. What’s wrong, Luthor? Feeling inadequate all of a sudden because you’re not the strong one any more? That I’m more than just a dumb, hick farmboy that you can impress with your knowledge and power?”
“I never tried to impress you,” Lex said, his voice dangerously soft now. “You were always above all that. It was one of the things I loved about you.”
Clark gave a small smile and released his grip of Lex’s shirt. “So what now? You go back to trying to kill me, I resume thwarting your plans, and we forget about us? Is that what you want?”
Lex sagged and, for a moment, Clark worried he was going to collapse. He reached out a hand and let it rest gently on Lex’s waist, offering support if it was needed.
Lex looked at the hand, then he looked at Clark, then he kissed him.
It was different to from the first kiss they had shared. This one actually hurt, and not just because of the bruising force Lex was putting behind it.
Lex wanted to be in control, to prove to himself that he still had some power. Clark understood and gave Lex what he wanted, letting him dictate what they did.
He felt himself being pushed backwards until he tripped over the edge of the couch and toppled onto it with a soft grunt. Lex was on top of him immediately, his lips and tongue still doing battle with Clark’s as he straddled him.
He was hard and Clark could feel it rubbing against him through their clothes. It was enough to bring his own cock springing to life. Then the kissing stopped and Lex began frantically working at undoing Clark’s tie. His hands were shaking, but Clark knew better than to try and help him.
The tie undone, Lex found the buttons of Clark’s shirt easier to manage and soon had the shirt open. Then he froze.
“Lex?” Clark asked, wondering for a moment if Lex had either come to his senses or changed his mind about this. Then he looked down. His Superman uniform was exposed beneath his clothes. Oh.
Lex was staring now and Clark sat deathly still, waiting to see how he would react. Slowly Lex reached out and traced his fingers over the Kryptonian symbol emblazoned on Clark’s chest.
“You really are Superman,” he finally whispered in a voice so soft that, if it hadn’t been for his superhearing, Clark wasn’t sure he’d have picked it up.
“Yeah,” Clark replied gently. Understandably, Lex was still trying to process all of this and Clark wanted to help him. If he could just make Lex see that the uniform wasn’t who he was, that Clark Kent wasn’t Superman’s secret identity, it was the other way around.
“I have to wear it all the time,” he explained. “In case I’m needed.”
The faintest hint of a smile flickered across Lex’s lips. “Always prepared. I’ve said before you were a big boy scout.”
Clark smiled at that. “I just want to help people, Lex. And Superman was the only way I could do it without putting the people I care about in danger.”
“I understand that. I suppose in a way I’m responsible for this. I put your family in danger because I wanted to find out your secrets. I pushed you into this decision.”
Clark shook his head. “It wasn’t just you. It was my Mom’s idea at first, she helped me make the uniform.”
Lex ran his fingers over the symbol again and chuckled. “The most recognized costume in the world made by a Kansas farmer. Incredible.”
“I’ll tell her you think so next time I talk to her.”
Lex apparently then realized he was still straddling Clark and climbed to his feet, walking back over to the window and staring out at the city of Metropolis. Clark rose and moved to stand beside him.
“I love this city, Clark.”
“So do I.”
Lex turned to face him. “I think I feel better knowing that it’s you keeping it safe.”
“Thanks, Lex. That means a lot coming from you.”
They fell into silence again.
“Does this mean you’re going to stop trying to kill me?” Clark finally asked.
“Well, it would make our new relationship rather difficult if you were dead.”
Relationship? Clark felt his heart jump in his chest. That was the last thing he’d expected Lex to say. Especially now.
“I guess it would. Are you sure about this?”
Lex took Clark’s hand in his. “I love you, Clark. I’ve loved you since you gave me my life that day on the river and I will love you until the day that I die.”
“Even if I’m an alien?”
“All that means is the rest of the world now knows that you’re the extraordinary person I’ve always known you are.”
Clark kissed him, long and hard. He never wanted to let go in fact. He’d never once imagined he’d get acceptance for who he really was, least of all from Lex. It was probably impossible for him to feel happier than he did right now.
“Well,” Lex said when he finally had to pull back for air. “I don’t know what you want to do but I propose we go back to my penthouse and finish what we started here.”
Clark grinned. “That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.”
The End
