Fic: His Hero
Apr. 22nd, 2008 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fandomcornerTitle: His Hero
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hils and lexalicious70
Rating: G
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Summary: Lex finds out the truth about what's really happeing to Smallville
Inspired bybagheera_san's idea to write a missing scene ficlet for each new episode. This is our offering for Descent.
WARNING: There may have been some crack involved when we wrote this ;)
Thanks todanceswithgary for the beta
Lex let himself into the empty silence of his study, his heart heavy. His spirit felt lighter in the light of Lionel's death, his father's menacing presence no longer hovering over him. His heart, however, ached for what had happened at the cemetery. Clark's accusing stare, the green eyes no longer filled with affection for him, as they used to be.
"Why can't you remember, Clark?" Lex asked aloud, his words echoing off the study walls. "Why can't you remember what he did to me?"
He poured a drink and took it back to his desk, and it was then that he saw the highly reflective silver box on his desk. He flinched away from it at first, thinking it to be some kind of explosive device, but then he was taken by the engraved marking on the top. It appeared to be a highly stylized feather. Lex reached out and brushed a finger across it, and suddenly, a bright beam of silver light flared from its surface, illuminating the room.
He squinted as the brilliance assaulted his eyes, blinding him for a moment until it dimmed to a suitable level. As his sight adjusted, he let out a small gasp when a voice started speaking to him.
“Lex Luthor. There are outside forces at work to destroy your world and you must prevent it. Bring together the Keys of Continuity and everything you desire will become yours. Hurry, Lex. There is not much time.”
"I don't understand!" Lex shouted. "Who are you?"
The light faded into nothingness, and he was left alone.
"The Keys of Continuity...." Lex approached the wall and pushed a hidden button that slid aside a panel. Inside was the key he had taken from Chloe's desk, and he picked it up.
As he stared at it, his lightning--quick mind began to fit things together. Outside forces, the voice had said. Everyone, including Clark, was trying to keep these keys apart.
"I'm the only one that can save us all...." he whispered.
"Clark's fractured memory, the keys…outside forces." Lex's eyes widened. "My God."
He slipped the key into his pocket and ran from the office. No matter what it took, he had to get Clark to talk to him.
* * *
He marched into the barn without a moment's hesitation. If Clark could wander into the mansion whenever he felt like it, then Lex didn't see why he couldn't return the favor. Clark was there, still dressed in his suit from the funeral and staring out of the window. "Clark, I need to speak to you."
Clark turned at the sound of Lex's voice, his green eyes blazing with anger. "How dare you come here!"
"I could say the same thing about the numerous times you've broken into my house, Clark, but I didn't come here to fight. This is more important than our petty differences."
"What is? Listening to more of your lies? I'm done listening to you, Lex."
Lex laughed bitterly. "Of course you are. Did it ever occur to you that maybe my father was the one who had been lying to you, Clark?"
"Is that what you came here to tell me? You murdered him, Lex! And for what?" His eyes narrowed. "Get out."
He should have expected this reaction. Clark was never going to listen to him again, but he had to try. "Clark, don't you think it's strange that my father has suddenly become a saint in your eyes? Have you honestly forgotten the things he did to me in the past, or the things he did to you for that matter? Remember when I had to rescue you from Summerholt?"
"That was your doing!" Clark shouted. "You were allowing Dr. Garner to experiment on you, and I paid the price for trying to help you!"
"No, Clark, you paid the price of my father trading me for you."
"I'm done arguing with you, Lex. I said get out." Clark took a step forward and towered over him menacingly.
This was useless. He really was on his own in this. "Goodbye, Clark," he said curtly before turning and leaving, his mind already calculating what his next move should be and wishing that the mysterious message had been a little less cryptic.
Clark watched him go, his heart aching. A part of him deep inside longed to cry out to Lex, to beg him to come back but, in the end, he simply wasn't able to. He hung his head as tears dripped from his eyes and splashed onto the wooden planks of the loft floor
Back in his office, Lex replayed the message over and over, trying to find something that he might have missed the first time. It was something to do with the keys, that much was obvious, but what? Maybe the answer lay in Zurich, in the box his father and Alexander had insisted would destroy him.
"Threats of destruction are often the best way to deter a man from his purpose," Lex said softly. "But I can't let it stop me this time." He turned the key over in his hand. "Continuity…outside forces."
He took a sip of scotch and continued turning the key with his other hand. Everyone was fighting to keep the keys from being brought together. But if outside forces were controlling Clark, perhaps those same forces were at work in everyone he knew…to keep Lex from bringing the keys together.
*Later, in Zurich*
Lex's heart was pounding in his chest as the plane landed. He was sure he was doing the right thing, but still there was that voice, the one he thought he'd silenced for good, telling him that this was a mistake.
"Get out of my head." Lex hissed softly as he massaged his temples. He took a deep breath and refocused on his goal. If the message was right, there were forces at work that were twisting his world, and it was up to him to set it right.
Both keys were now hanging around his neck, and they were starting to feel heavy as he transferred from the jet into the car that would take him to the bank. In a short while, he would have the answers he had been craving for so long.
As the heavy feeling grew, and Lex began to feel as if he were being restrained, he closed his eyes and remembered the words he'd said to his father.
I was trained to never accept defeat.
The car pulled up outside the bank, and the driver opened Lex's door for him. "We've arrived, sir."
Lex stepped out of the vehicle, almost stumbling as his feet hit the sidewalk. He was so close now.
"Sir, are you all right?" the driver asked.
Lex simply nodded, taking a moment to catch his breath before walking inside. The woman behind the desk greeted him with a nervous smile as he informed her, "My name is Alexander Luthor. I have the keys to safe deposit box 179372," he informed her. "I wish to open it. Immediately."
"Right away, sir." The woman led him over to the box, and then produced some paperwork. "Sign here, please, Mr. Luthor."
He scribbled his signature on the paper and handed it back. "I'd like to be left alone for this."
"Yes, sir." She hurried away, leaving Lex alone.
This was it. This was what he'd spent the last seven years of his life working towards. Finally, he was going to learn the answers he'd spent so much time seeking. His hands trembled as he slipped one key into the lock, and then the other. He turned them both with a sharp twist and opened the box.
Instantly, a circular disk with gilded edges began to spin. Lex watched, hypnotized. It spun faster and faster, creating a vortex. Lex tried to back away, but the huge vacuum quickly grew out of control. It sucked him up with a keening sound, and Lex had no time to scream before the silver disc absorbed him…and then vanished.
When he woke up, he was cold and rain was splashing onto his face. His head ached as he sat up, glad that he was still alive but alarmed to find himself lying on concrete outside what looked to be an office building. Wherever he was, it wasn't Zurich, and it wasn't Metropolis, either. "What the hell...."
He scrambled to his feet and shook the fog from his mind as he allowed himself a moment to get used to his surroundings. Something glittered at his feet. It was the disk from the box, no long spinning…simply lying there. Lex picked it up and studied it for a moment before slipping it into his pocket.
He heard voices, and backed off into the shadows as two men passed him. One of them slipped a key card through the slot in the locked door of the building. They were laughing.
"…killed the little Alexander. Kal-El will never forgive Lex now. Our mission here is nearly complete."
Lex's eyes widened. They were talking about him...and someone called Kal-El. Could they be the forces the message had warned about? He caught the door before it closed and slipped through, following the two men through the building. They walked down a long hallway and through a door labelled 'Writer's Room.' Lex flattened himself against the hallway as they rounded the corner, and then carefully slid closer as they vanished into the room.
The door was still open a crack, and Lex strained to listen to what was being said inside.
"Now that Kal-El is fully estranged from Lex, should we restore Lana to her former self? If Kal-El is reunited with her, he will truly forget about Lex forever."
"There are some humans who understand that Kal-El's universe is not as it should be, but they are powerless to stop us," the second writer declared. "Ever since we escaped the Phantom Zone and took over these bodies, we have orchestrated the destruction of Kal-El's destiny! We will tear him from Lex Luthor forever, and his future as a hero will never be!"
Lex didn't fully understand what he was hearing, but it was enough to know that these people were working to destroy his life. He had to stop them, if he could figure out how.
"If we can bring Lana Lang back into Kal-El's life, he will never become a hero. He will be content to be the simple-minded farm boy he once was. After that is accomplished, we can force him to destroy Lex Luthor as well!" The second writer chuckled in an almost serpentine manner. "All that will be left is Clark Kent and Lana Lang, and no one will be able to stop us!"
Lex gasped. Kal-El was...Clark? Suddenly it all made a frightening amount of sense. The secrets, the lies, the way his father had wormed his way into Clark's life. Clark was the traveller! And these people were looking to destroy him...somehow. Well, not while Lex still had breath in his body.
The writers left the room again, and Lex made sure they were gone before slipping inside. There were sheaves of papers all over the table, and a large white dry-erase board that took up nearly all of one wall. Lex walked over to it, his eyes eating up what was written there.
"Clark sees Lionel as his savior . . . finds out the Veritas keys can bring Lana out of her coma, but first he must…" Lex's eyes widened in dismay. "…he must kill Lex to obtain the keys."
He stumbled backwards, his eyes landing on one of the stacks of paper on the desk. He picked it up the top page, his stomach roiling as he read.
Lex: "Let's talk about something you can't deny. After years of pleading with my father to show me some compassion...he turned to you, with open arms. Now what would a worldly billionaire have in common with a simple farm boy?"
Clark: "Maybe he just knew he could trust me."
It was his life, his world, as a script.
"My God," Lex whispered. "My God, they're controlling our world somehow…shaping it to suit their goals…twisting our destinies!"
His eyes fell on another sheet of paper titled 'Descent.' It was another page of script, with hand-written notes scribbled on it.
Lex takes the final step to drive Clark away and murders his father in cold blood just to obtain the key to Clark's secrets.
Lex: "I was raised in your shadow. Now you're going to die in mine. No one will even remember your name."
"They're controlling us all. The box was right, the keys were meant to be brought together! Continuity! That's why Clark doesn't remember the way my father really was! They're controlling his every thought, every memory." Lex gathered up the papers. "I have to stop them. But how?"
As he turned to leave with the evidence he had gathered, he found his exit blocked by one of the 'writers.' "You don't belong here. We didn't write this."
"I'm not one of your puppets!" Lex held the papers close to his chest. "I found out the truth about the keys. You've taken control of everyone in Smallville, and twisted our lives!"
"We have simply made things the way we feel they should be," the writer replied calmly. "Kal-El will live on the farm with Lana Lang and you...will be nothing but a loathed memory."
"Clark belongs with me! I never understood why he turned his back so easily on me three years ago, even when I begged him not to! Now I see why!"
"Yes, that was when we first intervened," the writer agreed. "It's just unfortunate that your presence here ruins our plans to have Kal-El kill you to save his true love. Now we will have to write an off-screen death for you. Not a very satisfactory ending for your story, but it will have to do."
"I don't belong here, but neither do you. And I'm not going to let you destroy what Clark and I were destined to create together!" Lex took the silver disk from inside his pocket. He held it up, and the vortex began to spin. The writers shrieked in agony and fell to the floor. As Lex watched, their true forms, snaggle-toothed and scaly, were sucked from the bodies of the helpless human writers and were torn apart by the maelstrom. Lex hung on to the papers as he felt himself being sucked into the vortex again, but the last thing he saw before he vanished was what appeared to be a mirror image of himself, wearing sneakers, jeans, and a black tee shirt with some kind of band logo on the front. Then, everything broke apart into a shower of sparkles, and Lex was gone again.
Michael blinked at the bright flash of light that greeted him as he rounded the corner, with what had looked a hell of a lot like his character's image floating in the middle of it. Before he could blink again, it was gone. Michael cocked his head, blinked, and then grinned as he rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Nahhh," he muttered, and then continued on his way.
He was resolved already, but had agreed to meet with the writers one last time as they attempted to get him to stay on for one more season. He knew he couldn't do it, no matter what they said to him. This show had lost everything over the last couple of years, and he'd had to stand there and watch as characterisation, continuity and plot all went out the window. There was nothing these guys were going to be able to say that would convince him to stay.
Just as Michael came into the room, the writers who had been been possessed by the Zoners were just coming to. One of them groaned and rubbed his head. "God…what hit me?"
"Whoa," Michael said, rushing forward and helping one of them to his feet. "What happened? Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah…." The writer blinked and rubbed his eyes. As they slowly focused, he realized what was written on the storyboard and he stared. "What the hell…who wrote--" He jumped to his feet. "All right, real funny! Who wrote Lana back into the show? We shipped her off to Paris, remember?"
"Uh…guys? That was like, three years ago. Remember?" Michael's brows lifted in consternation.
"Three years?" The writer gaped at Michael, and then at his partner. Michael nodded, and the man rubbed his eyes. "All right…something has gone terribly wrong here, but before we figure that out…." He turned to Michael. "You can't leave here without us telling you our plans for Lex." He pulled a chair out for Michael.
The second writer chimed in. "Since this is a retelling of the Superman myth, Michael, what we've come up with is Lex Luthor being the keeper of Clark's secret, and shaping his destiny as Superman. They become partners, instead of enemies."
Michael thought that over for a moment, and then grinned as he sat down. "All right, guys…you've got my attention."
* * *
Going back hurt worse than leaving. When he woke up his head was pounding and he thought for a moment that he was going to vomit. He groaned and tried to sit up, but found he lacked the energy to even open his eyes, much less do anything else.
"Lex?"
Okay, that wasn't a voice he'd been expecting to hear. "Clark?" he moaned.
"Yeah, babe. It's me…come on, snap out of it."
Babe? Had Clark Kent just called him…babe? That forced Lex to blink his eyes open. Clark was kneeling over him, his green eyes full of tears.
"Wha...what are you doing here, Clark?" He wasn't even sure where 'here' was. "What happened?"
Clark touched Lex's cheek gently. "I don't know. There was this bright flash of light over the whole town, and from what it looks like everyone kind of passed out. Are you all right?" He stroked Lex's bare scalp in a gentle, loving manner, and Lex managed a smile. "Clark…you don't-- you're not angry with me?"
"I was," Clark admitted. "But as soon as I thought something had happened to you it kind of went away."
"It did?" Lex finally managed to struggle into a sitting position. The papers he'd stolen were still clutched to his chest, and they slid into his lap. Everything suddenly came back to him-- the vortex, the Zoners, the keys, their destiny.
"Clark...aren't you angry about what I did to my father?" Lex asked curiously. He had no idea what banishing the Zoners had done. Clark was different, that much was obvious.
"I thought I was." Clark slipped an arm around Lex's shoulders and pulled him close. "But then I remembered everything he'd done to you. And not just to you. To me, to Chloe, to the whole town! Maybe it wasn't your decision to make, but you made it anyway. All that matters is that you're free of him."
He could feel the tears burning in his eyes as Clark held him. He really was free, they all were. Not just from his father, but from the Zoners, too. "Clark...I need you to know that if there had been another way...."
"I know. I know. Shhh." Clark kissed his lips gently, and then stroked his cheek. "God…I feel like I've been living in this fog for the past three years…as if I wasn't in control of my own actions or decisions. Lex…please…say that you forgive me?"
Now he couldn't stop the tears from falling. He'd dreamed of this moment, even when every waking thought was taken up with how much he hated Clark. At night, when he was unguarded and his subconscious could roam free, his mind was filled with images like this one. Only now it was real. "I...I forgive you, Clark. If you can bring yourself to forgive me too."
"God, yeah." Clark grinned widely and cupped Lex's face with his big hands. "I do. I want to start over with you, Lex. I want us to have what we used to have. No more secrets or lying or fear. I want to share everything with you."
Lex's heart fluttered in his chest. "Everything? Clark, are you sure?"
"I'm sure. Even if you probably won't believe a lot of it," Clark chuckled. "It's going to sound crazy."
Lex laughed. "Oh, Clark, I'm the expert on crazy."
Clark helped him to his feet. "If you ask me, this whole town is nuts. But things feel different now, Lex." He gazed down at his friend, the man he hoped, that with a bit of coaxing, would eventually be his lover and partner in every aspect of his life.
"I think I can explain that," Lex said with a small smile. "But maybe we should go inside and talk privately."
"All right." Clark smiled, and then cocked his head curiously as Lex paused and looked down at his feet. "Lex? What is it?"
"Hmm?" Lex blinked and glanced up, and then shrugged a shoulder. "Nothing. Come on." As Lex took Clark's arm, however, he continued to ponder the question on his own.
Would he really look that good in a pair of sneakers?
* * *
Lex and Clark talked until the sun came up. As Clark revealed secret after secret and unburdened himself to Lex, Lex's heart only grew lighter in return. Clark's secrets, his ultimate trust, were something to treasure, and Lex knew that he would never again dwell in that personal hell he'd been living in since Clark had turned away from him.
Finally, as Clark ran out of secrets and the two of them sat curled up on the big leather couch in the mansion's study, Lex took his turn and told Clark his story. The alternate universe he'd been sucked into, the Zoners taking over the writer's bodies, and even the strange mirror image he'd seen of himself just before he'd been brought back to this world. Clark accepted everything with the same trust and understanding Lex had visited upon him, and held him close.
"You freed us all, Lex. You're a hero."
A hero. No one had ever called him that before, and he'd certainly never thought of himself in those terms. "I'm not a hero, Clark. I was just looking for the truth, and I killed a lot of people to get it."
"But you knew something was wrong, and believed in yourself even when everyone else thought you were crazy." Clark looked down at the silver box that sat on the table in front of them. "Who do you think sent it?"
"I wish I knew," Lex sighed. "So I could thank them."
Clark reached over and entwined the fingers of his right hand with those of Lex's left as he leaned forward and peered down at the box. He frowned. "Lex? You said this engraving was a feather?"
"Yes. What else could it be?"
Clark peered closer, and then cocked his head curiously. "Actually, I think it's a writing quill." He reached out and traced his finger over the engraving. The box suddenly turned on the table and burst open again, emitting a beam of bright light. Through that light, the same harmonious voice spoke out.
"Lex Luthor…you have done well. Everything is now as at should be, and everything you have ever dreamed of will be yours. Treasure your traveller well, and he will treasure you always in return. Your trust and love in each other will keep the balance in Smallville, and turn your world neatly on its axis. You are both loved more than you will ever know. Farewell."
The beam of light folded in on itself then, and vanished back into the box, which closed up tightly and then spun faster and faster, until it winked out of sight completely.
"Wow," Clark exclaimed as the message ended. "That was weird. Who was that?"
"I'm not sure." Lex turned and put his arms around Clark's neck. "But she was right about one thing. It looks like I'm about to have everything I've ever dreamed of." He leaned forward and captured Clark's lips with his in a long, deep kiss.
* * *
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you see that?" Hils said, gesturing wildly at the screen. "They kissed! Finally! After all these years!"
"Yes!" Lexi grinned and sat back on the couch as she pumped one fist into the air in triumph, and then she turned to her friend. "I still can't believe you came up with the computer program that got that box to Lex!"
Hils grinned. "Well, my job had to be useful for something. I knew Lex would figure it out. Thankfully the writers didn't make him too stupid."
Lexi smiled as she watched Clark and Lex on the screen until the credits rolled, and the trailer for next week episode showed Clark taking Lex to the fortress, where Lex would help Clark continue with his training with Lex as his guide and mentor. Finally, she turned off the TV and sighed. "After all this time, we finally figured out what it takes for Clark Kent to be a hero."
"Yeah," Hils agreed. "All he needed was a hero of his own."
The End
Author:
hils and lexalicious70Rating: G
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Summary: Lex finds out the truth about what's really happeing to Smallville
Inspired by
bagheera_san's idea to write a missing scene ficlet for each new episode. This is our offering for Descent.WARNING: There may have been some crack involved when we wrote this ;)
Thanks to
danceswithgary for the betaLex let himself into the empty silence of his study, his heart heavy. His spirit felt lighter in the light of Lionel's death, his father's menacing presence no longer hovering over him. His heart, however, ached for what had happened at the cemetery. Clark's accusing stare, the green eyes no longer filled with affection for him, as they used to be.
"Why can't you remember, Clark?" Lex asked aloud, his words echoing off the study walls. "Why can't you remember what he did to me?"
He poured a drink and took it back to his desk, and it was then that he saw the highly reflective silver box on his desk. He flinched away from it at first, thinking it to be some kind of explosive device, but then he was taken by the engraved marking on the top. It appeared to be a highly stylized feather. Lex reached out and brushed a finger across it, and suddenly, a bright beam of silver light flared from its surface, illuminating the room.
He squinted as the brilliance assaulted his eyes, blinding him for a moment until it dimmed to a suitable level. As his sight adjusted, he let out a small gasp when a voice started speaking to him.
“Lex Luthor. There are outside forces at work to destroy your world and you must prevent it. Bring together the Keys of Continuity and everything you desire will become yours. Hurry, Lex. There is not much time.”
"I don't understand!" Lex shouted. "Who are you?"
The light faded into nothingness, and he was left alone.
"The Keys of Continuity...." Lex approached the wall and pushed a hidden button that slid aside a panel. Inside was the key he had taken from Chloe's desk, and he picked it up.
As he stared at it, his lightning--quick mind began to fit things together. Outside forces, the voice had said. Everyone, including Clark, was trying to keep these keys apart.
"I'm the only one that can save us all...." he whispered.
"Clark's fractured memory, the keys…outside forces." Lex's eyes widened. "My God."
He slipped the key into his pocket and ran from the office. No matter what it took, he had to get Clark to talk to him.
* * *
He marched into the barn without a moment's hesitation. If Clark could wander into the mansion whenever he felt like it, then Lex didn't see why he couldn't return the favor. Clark was there, still dressed in his suit from the funeral and staring out of the window. "Clark, I need to speak to you."
Clark turned at the sound of Lex's voice, his green eyes blazing with anger. "How dare you come here!"
"I could say the same thing about the numerous times you've broken into my house, Clark, but I didn't come here to fight. This is more important than our petty differences."
"What is? Listening to more of your lies? I'm done listening to you, Lex."
Lex laughed bitterly. "Of course you are. Did it ever occur to you that maybe my father was the one who had been lying to you, Clark?"
"Is that what you came here to tell me? You murdered him, Lex! And for what?" His eyes narrowed. "Get out."
He should have expected this reaction. Clark was never going to listen to him again, but he had to try. "Clark, don't you think it's strange that my father has suddenly become a saint in your eyes? Have you honestly forgotten the things he did to me in the past, or the things he did to you for that matter? Remember when I had to rescue you from Summerholt?"
"That was your doing!" Clark shouted. "You were allowing Dr. Garner to experiment on you, and I paid the price for trying to help you!"
"No, Clark, you paid the price of my father trading me for you."
"I'm done arguing with you, Lex. I said get out." Clark took a step forward and towered over him menacingly.
This was useless. He really was on his own in this. "Goodbye, Clark," he said curtly before turning and leaving, his mind already calculating what his next move should be and wishing that the mysterious message had been a little less cryptic.
Clark watched him go, his heart aching. A part of him deep inside longed to cry out to Lex, to beg him to come back but, in the end, he simply wasn't able to. He hung his head as tears dripped from his eyes and splashed onto the wooden planks of the loft floor
Back in his office, Lex replayed the message over and over, trying to find something that he might have missed the first time. It was something to do with the keys, that much was obvious, but what? Maybe the answer lay in Zurich, in the box his father and Alexander had insisted would destroy him.
"Threats of destruction are often the best way to deter a man from his purpose," Lex said softly. "But I can't let it stop me this time." He turned the key over in his hand. "Continuity…outside forces."
He took a sip of scotch and continued turning the key with his other hand. Everyone was fighting to keep the keys from being brought together. But if outside forces were controlling Clark, perhaps those same forces were at work in everyone he knew…to keep Lex from bringing the keys together.
*Later, in Zurich*
Lex's heart was pounding in his chest as the plane landed. He was sure he was doing the right thing, but still there was that voice, the one he thought he'd silenced for good, telling him that this was a mistake.
"Get out of my head." Lex hissed softly as he massaged his temples. He took a deep breath and refocused on his goal. If the message was right, there were forces at work that were twisting his world, and it was up to him to set it right.
Both keys were now hanging around his neck, and they were starting to feel heavy as he transferred from the jet into the car that would take him to the bank. In a short while, he would have the answers he had been craving for so long.
As the heavy feeling grew, and Lex began to feel as if he were being restrained, he closed his eyes and remembered the words he'd said to his father.
I was trained to never accept defeat.
The car pulled up outside the bank, and the driver opened Lex's door for him. "We've arrived, sir."
Lex stepped out of the vehicle, almost stumbling as his feet hit the sidewalk. He was so close now.
"Sir, are you all right?" the driver asked.
Lex simply nodded, taking a moment to catch his breath before walking inside. The woman behind the desk greeted him with a nervous smile as he informed her, "My name is Alexander Luthor. I have the keys to safe deposit box 179372," he informed her. "I wish to open it. Immediately."
"Right away, sir." The woman led him over to the box, and then produced some paperwork. "Sign here, please, Mr. Luthor."
He scribbled his signature on the paper and handed it back. "I'd like to be left alone for this."
"Yes, sir." She hurried away, leaving Lex alone.
This was it. This was what he'd spent the last seven years of his life working towards. Finally, he was going to learn the answers he'd spent so much time seeking. His hands trembled as he slipped one key into the lock, and then the other. He turned them both with a sharp twist and opened the box.
Instantly, a circular disk with gilded edges began to spin. Lex watched, hypnotized. It spun faster and faster, creating a vortex. Lex tried to back away, but the huge vacuum quickly grew out of control. It sucked him up with a keening sound, and Lex had no time to scream before the silver disc absorbed him…and then vanished.
When he woke up, he was cold and rain was splashing onto his face. His head ached as he sat up, glad that he was still alive but alarmed to find himself lying on concrete outside what looked to be an office building. Wherever he was, it wasn't Zurich, and it wasn't Metropolis, either. "What the hell...."
He scrambled to his feet and shook the fog from his mind as he allowed himself a moment to get used to his surroundings. Something glittered at his feet. It was the disk from the box, no long spinning…simply lying there. Lex picked it up and studied it for a moment before slipping it into his pocket.
He heard voices, and backed off into the shadows as two men passed him. One of them slipped a key card through the slot in the locked door of the building. They were laughing.
"…killed the little Alexander. Kal-El will never forgive Lex now. Our mission here is nearly complete."
Lex's eyes widened. They were talking about him...and someone called Kal-El. Could they be the forces the message had warned about? He caught the door before it closed and slipped through, following the two men through the building. They walked down a long hallway and through a door labelled 'Writer's Room.' Lex flattened himself against the hallway as they rounded the corner, and then carefully slid closer as they vanished into the room.
The door was still open a crack, and Lex strained to listen to what was being said inside.
"Now that Kal-El is fully estranged from Lex, should we restore Lana to her former self? If Kal-El is reunited with her, he will truly forget about Lex forever."
"There are some humans who understand that Kal-El's universe is not as it should be, but they are powerless to stop us," the second writer declared. "Ever since we escaped the Phantom Zone and took over these bodies, we have orchestrated the destruction of Kal-El's destiny! We will tear him from Lex Luthor forever, and his future as a hero will never be!"
Lex didn't fully understand what he was hearing, but it was enough to know that these people were working to destroy his life. He had to stop them, if he could figure out how.
"If we can bring Lana Lang back into Kal-El's life, he will never become a hero. He will be content to be the simple-minded farm boy he once was. After that is accomplished, we can force him to destroy Lex Luthor as well!" The second writer chuckled in an almost serpentine manner. "All that will be left is Clark Kent and Lana Lang, and no one will be able to stop us!"
Lex gasped. Kal-El was...Clark? Suddenly it all made a frightening amount of sense. The secrets, the lies, the way his father had wormed his way into Clark's life. Clark was the traveller! And these people were looking to destroy him...somehow. Well, not while Lex still had breath in his body.
The writers left the room again, and Lex made sure they were gone before slipping inside. There were sheaves of papers all over the table, and a large white dry-erase board that took up nearly all of one wall. Lex walked over to it, his eyes eating up what was written there.
"Clark sees Lionel as his savior . . . finds out the Veritas keys can bring Lana out of her coma, but first he must…" Lex's eyes widened in dismay. "…he must kill Lex to obtain the keys."
He stumbled backwards, his eyes landing on one of the stacks of paper on the desk. He picked it up the top page, his stomach roiling as he read.
Lex: "Let's talk about something you can't deny. After years of pleading with my father to show me some compassion...he turned to you, with open arms. Now what would a worldly billionaire have in common with a simple farm boy?"
Clark: "Maybe he just knew he could trust me."
It was his life, his world, as a script.
"My God," Lex whispered. "My God, they're controlling our world somehow…shaping it to suit their goals…twisting our destinies!"
His eyes fell on another sheet of paper titled 'Descent.' It was another page of script, with hand-written notes scribbled on it.
Lex takes the final step to drive Clark away and murders his father in cold blood just to obtain the key to Clark's secrets.
Lex: "I was raised in your shadow. Now you're going to die in mine. No one will even remember your name."
"They're controlling us all. The box was right, the keys were meant to be brought together! Continuity! That's why Clark doesn't remember the way my father really was! They're controlling his every thought, every memory." Lex gathered up the papers. "I have to stop them. But how?"
As he turned to leave with the evidence he had gathered, he found his exit blocked by one of the 'writers.' "You don't belong here. We didn't write this."
"I'm not one of your puppets!" Lex held the papers close to his chest. "I found out the truth about the keys. You've taken control of everyone in Smallville, and twisted our lives!"
"We have simply made things the way we feel they should be," the writer replied calmly. "Kal-El will live on the farm with Lana Lang and you...will be nothing but a loathed memory."
"Clark belongs with me! I never understood why he turned his back so easily on me three years ago, even when I begged him not to! Now I see why!"
"Yes, that was when we first intervened," the writer agreed. "It's just unfortunate that your presence here ruins our plans to have Kal-El kill you to save his true love. Now we will have to write an off-screen death for you. Not a very satisfactory ending for your story, but it will have to do."
"I don't belong here, but neither do you. And I'm not going to let you destroy what Clark and I were destined to create together!" Lex took the silver disk from inside his pocket. He held it up, and the vortex began to spin. The writers shrieked in agony and fell to the floor. As Lex watched, their true forms, snaggle-toothed and scaly, were sucked from the bodies of the helpless human writers and were torn apart by the maelstrom. Lex hung on to the papers as he felt himself being sucked into the vortex again, but the last thing he saw before he vanished was what appeared to be a mirror image of himself, wearing sneakers, jeans, and a black tee shirt with some kind of band logo on the front. Then, everything broke apart into a shower of sparkles, and Lex was gone again.
Michael blinked at the bright flash of light that greeted him as he rounded the corner, with what had looked a hell of a lot like his character's image floating in the middle of it. Before he could blink again, it was gone. Michael cocked his head, blinked, and then grinned as he rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Nahhh," he muttered, and then continued on his way.
He was resolved already, but had agreed to meet with the writers one last time as they attempted to get him to stay on for one more season. He knew he couldn't do it, no matter what they said to him. This show had lost everything over the last couple of years, and he'd had to stand there and watch as characterisation, continuity and plot all went out the window. There was nothing these guys were going to be able to say that would convince him to stay.
Just as Michael came into the room, the writers who had been been possessed by the Zoners were just coming to. One of them groaned and rubbed his head. "God…what hit me?"
"Whoa," Michael said, rushing forward and helping one of them to his feet. "What happened? Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah…." The writer blinked and rubbed his eyes. As they slowly focused, he realized what was written on the storyboard and he stared. "What the hell…who wrote--" He jumped to his feet. "All right, real funny! Who wrote Lana back into the show? We shipped her off to Paris, remember?"
"Uh…guys? That was like, three years ago. Remember?" Michael's brows lifted in consternation.
"Three years?" The writer gaped at Michael, and then at his partner. Michael nodded, and the man rubbed his eyes. "All right…something has gone terribly wrong here, but before we figure that out…." He turned to Michael. "You can't leave here without us telling you our plans for Lex." He pulled a chair out for Michael.
The second writer chimed in. "Since this is a retelling of the Superman myth, Michael, what we've come up with is Lex Luthor being the keeper of Clark's secret, and shaping his destiny as Superman. They become partners, instead of enemies."
Michael thought that over for a moment, and then grinned as he sat down. "All right, guys…you've got my attention."
* * *
Going back hurt worse than leaving. When he woke up his head was pounding and he thought for a moment that he was going to vomit. He groaned and tried to sit up, but found he lacked the energy to even open his eyes, much less do anything else.
"Lex?"
Okay, that wasn't a voice he'd been expecting to hear. "Clark?" he moaned.
"Yeah, babe. It's me…come on, snap out of it."
Babe? Had Clark Kent just called him…babe? That forced Lex to blink his eyes open. Clark was kneeling over him, his green eyes full of tears.
"Wha...what are you doing here, Clark?" He wasn't even sure where 'here' was. "What happened?"
Clark touched Lex's cheek gently. "I don't know. There was this bright flash of light over the whole town, and from what it looks like everyone kind of passed out. Are you all right?" He stroked Lex's bare scalp in a gentle, loving manner, and Lex managed a smile. "Clark…you don't-- you're not angry with me?"
"I was," Clark admitted. "But as soon as I thought something had happened to you it kind of went away."
"It did?" Lex finally managed to struggle into a sitting position. The papers he'd stolen were still clutched to his chest, and they slid into his lap. Everything suddenly came back to him-- the vortex, the Zoners, the keys, their destiny.
"Clark...aren't you angry about what I did to my father?" Lex asked curiously. He had no idea what banishing the Zoners had done. Clark was different, that much was obvious.
"I thought I was." Clark slipped an arm around Lex's shoulders and pulled him close. "But then I remembered everything he'd done to you. And not just to you. To me, to Chloe, to the whole town! Maybe it wasn't your decision to make, but you made it anyway. All that matters is that you're free of him."
He could feel the tears burning in his eyes as Clark held him. He really was free, they all were. Not just from his father, but from the Zoners, too. "Clark...I need you to know that if there had been another way...."
"I know. I know. Shhh." Clark kissed his lips gently, and then stroked his cheek. "God…I feel like I've been living in this fog for the past three years…as if I wasn't in control of my own actions or decisions. Lex…please…say that you forgive me?"
Now he couldn't stop the tears from falling. He'd dreamed of this moment, even when every waking thought was taken up with how much he hated Clark. At night, when he was unguarded and his subconscious could roam free, his mind was filled with images like this one. Only now it was real. "I...I forgive you, Clark. If you can bring yourself to forgive me too."
"God, yeah." Clark grinned widely and cupped Lex's face with his big hands. "I do. I want to start over with you, Lex. I want us to have what we used to have. No more secrets or lying or fear. I want to share everything with you."
Lex's heart fluttered in his chest. "Everything? Clark, are you sure?"
"I'm sure. Even if you probably won't believe a lot of it," Clark chuckled. "It's going to sound crazy."
Lex laughed. "Oh, Clark, I'm the expert on crazy."
Clark helped him to his feet. "If you ask me, this whole town is nuts. But things feel different now, Lex." He gazed down at his friend, the man he hoped, that with a bit of coaxing, would eventually be his lover and partner in every aspect of his life.
"I think I can explain that," Lex said with a small smile. "But maybe we should go inside and talk privately."
"All right." Clark smiled, and then cocked his head curiously as Lex paused and looked down at his feet. "Lex? What is it?"
"Hmm?" Lex blinked and glanced up, and then shrugged a shoulder. "Nothing. Come on." As Lex took Clark's arm, however, he continued to ponder the question on his own.
Would he really look that good in a pair of sneakers?
* * *
Lex and Clark talked until the sun came up. As Clark revealed secret after secret and unburdened himself to Lex, Lex's heart only grew lighter in return. Clark's secrets, his ultimate trust, were something to treasure, and Lex knew that he would never again dwell in that personal hell he'd been living in since Clark had turned away from him.
Finally, as Clark ran out of secrets and the two of them sat curled up on the big leather couch in the mansion's study, Lex took his turn and told Clark his story. The alternate universe he'd been sucked into, the Zoners taking over the writer's bodies, and even the strange mirror image he'd seen of himself just before he'd been brought back to this world. Clark accepted everything with the same trust and understanding Lex had visited upon him, and held him close.
"You freed us all, Lex. You're a hero."
A hero. No one had ever called him that before, and he'd certainly never thought of himself in those terms. "I'm not a hero, Clark. I was just looking for the truth, and I killed a lot of people to get it."
"But you knew something was wrong, and believed in yourself even when everyone else thought you were crazy." Clark looked down at the silver box that sat on the table in front of them. "Who do you think sent it?"
"I wish I knew," Lex sighed. "So I could thank them."
Clark reached over and entwined the fingers of his right hand with those of Lex's left as he leaned forward and peered down at the box. He frowned. "Lex? You said this engraving was a feather?"
"Yes. What else could it be?"
Clark peered closer, and then cocked his head curiously. "Actually, I think it's a writing quill." He reached out and traced his finger over the engraving. The box suddenly turned on the table and burst open again, emitting a beam of bright light. Through that light, the same harmonious voice spoke out.
"Lex Luthor…you have done well. Everything is now as at should be, and everything you have ever dreamed of will be yours. Treasure your traveller well, and he will treasure you always in return. Your trust and love in each other will keep the balance in Smallville, and turn your world neatly on its axis. You are both loved more than you will ever know. Farewell."
The beam of light folded in on itself then, and vanished back into the box, which closed up tightly and then spun faster and faster, until it winked out of sight completely.
"Wow," Clark exclaimed as the message ended. "That was weird. Who was that?"
"I'm not sure." Lex turned and put his arms around Clark's neck. "But she was right about one thing. It looks like I'm about to have everything I've ever dreamed of." He leaned forward and captured Clark's lips with his in a long, deep kiss.
* * *
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you see that?" Hils said, gesturing wildly at the screen. "They kissed! Finally! After all these years!"
"Yes!" Lexi grinned and sat back on the couch as she pumped one fist into the air in triumph, and then she turned to her friend. "I still can't believe you came up with the computer program that got that box to Lex!"
Hils grinned. "Well, my job had to be useful for something. I knew Lex would figure it out. Thankfully the writers didn't make him too stupid."
Lexi smiled as she watched Clark and Lex on the screen until the credits rolled, and the trailer for next week episode showed Clark taking Lex to the fortress, where Lex would help Clark continue with his training with Lex as his guide and mentor. Finally, she turned off the TV and sighed. "After all this time, we finally figured out what it takes for Clark Kent to be a hero."
"Yeah," Hils agreed. "All he needed was a hero of his own."
The End
