Fic for tallihensia (part two)
For: tallihensia
From: to be announced
Type: Fic
Request: the boys out in the snow, fire-side cuddling with hot chocolate (after rescuing) Rating: PG
Title: And the Mome Lex Outgrabe, or Baby It's Cold Outside
Warnings: underage romance
Summary:Clark visits Centennial Park in Metropolis with his family and his friend Chloe to see the winter lights, and while there he meets a young man in need.
Gifter's Notes: This is an AU set roughly in what would be season one. Changes should become apparent as we dance along.
It was hard to stay awake. Clark’s soft voice was his one tether to the world, and Lex held on with everything he had. Or did Clark hold him? He couldn’t be sure.
Wherever they were, it was cold, but not as cold as it was before. Lex opened his eyes and looked around. He knew this place. Didn’t he? But that was silly.
How many people had ever been in a castle?
But he had. He’d been here precisely once, when he was small and it was not entirely put together yet. There were people around them building the castle, putting it together stone by stone, not unlike Egyptian slaves that dragged in the stones for the Pharaoh's mighty tomb.
“Is this to be my tomb?” Lex whispered to himself, looking down at the stone floor on which he was sitting.
“Not if I can help it,” Clark answered.
When Lex turned his head, he saw Clark enter with a ridiculous amount of firewood, which he set down by the fireplace as easily as if it had been a giant wad of cotton and began chucking the wood inside.
“How can you carry all of that?” Lex asked, watching as Clark poked the fire.
“It’s not that much heavier than carrying bales of hay. And I do that every day.” Clark shrugged. “Do you remember me?”
“I... Yes, I do. I’m sorry, if sometimes I don’t-”
“Don’t apologize. You can’t help it.” Clark put the screen in place then came up to Lex’s side. “Let me see.”
Lex looked down as Clark lifted his sweater up. Someone had changed his clothes from the dirty rags he’d been wearing since the hospital jammies had been stripped off. He wasn’t sure how long ago that was. “You bandaged it up already. I don’t remember that.”
“You’ve lost a lot of blood. You were in and out there for a little while. I thought I was gonna lose you. You bled and bled and bled. I mean, no one can lose that much blood, that fast, and keep going.” Clark pressed his warm hands to Lex’s abdomen and smiled. “But you did. I’m proud of you.”
“The barest survival seems to be a talent of mine,” Lex joked softly. “Where are we? I know this place.”
“I doubt it. Maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s the Luthor Castle, the ancestral home, I guess. I remember them carrying it in, stone by stone, when I was little,” Clark replied, narrowing his eyes as he remembered. He let Lex’s sweater drop, then stood and walked a few feet away where a basket was sitting.
“I’ve heard of it,” Lex whispered.
“No one’s ever lived here. I doubt anyone ever will. The man who owned it and the local plant died a month or two ago in a car crash.”
“Yeah. A car crash. What happened to the plant? And the company?”
“I don’t really know much about what happened in the big city. I know that some of the locals pitched in to buy the plant for themselves, and they’re struggling along, trying to keep it afloat.” Clark returned with a thermos in hand. “My mom’s hot chocolate is the best in the world.”
Lex chuckled very softly. When he laughed, it pulled at his wound, which still throbbed ominously, as if warning him that even Luthors were mortal. “Is it?”
“You’ll see.” Clark set the thermos in front of them, then wrapped a blanket around both of their shoulders before pouring some into the cap of the thermos. He took a sip. “It’s good. Try it. Like the chicken soup.”
“Chicken soup?” Lex raised a brow as Clark brought the cap to his lips. Silky, hot liquid chocolate with a hint of cinnamon slid down his throat. “Oh, that’s divine.”
“I wish you could remember more. Or that I’d remember there are things you can’t remember. My friend told me, though, that it would start to get better. The remembering, I mean. It already has.” Clark took another sip and poured some more.
“Your friend?” Lex asked. He lifted an anxious brow. The last thing he wanted was for one of Clark’s friends to be killed for being associated with Lex.
“She won’t tell. She doesn’t even know who you are. Anyway she’s nice. She gave you a twenty, when we first met.”
Lex felt the delicious warmth around him, from the fireplace, in the cocoa, emanating from Clark. “It’s strange, because... I remember you. Even when I don’t. You’re there, in my heart, even if I can’t find you in my mind.”
Clark laughed, grinning brightly.
“That’s it, you know. What brings me home when I’m lost,” Lex whispered. He looked into Clark’s eyes and watched their soft green merriment dancing as Lex’s fingers rose to Clark’s lips. They brushed against his full bottom lip, rosy with excitement. “Your smile.”
“My smile? Is that what helps the mome Lex find his way?” Clark teased.
“You say the craziest things,” Lex mused, shaking his head slightly.
So much warmth, and yet it grew even warmer as Clark turned his head slightly to kiss Lex’s fingertips. Lex dipped his chin slightly and smiled. Somehow he’d known, sensed maybe, hoped even, that there was a reason Clark kept coming back for him. Something beyond an inborn sense of goodwill toward his fellow man.
Lex leaned in first, pressing their chocolately lips together. Clark didn’t seem to mind at all, and his hand moved to cup the back of Lex’s head. They were both alive, together, and warm. Between Morgan Edge’s men and his own Swiss cheese memory, all Lex could believe they had was in fact this moment. He’d worry about regrets later, if he could remember them.
***
Clark liked to play house. This was something Clark had never told Pete when they were growing up, but it was very true.
His parents didn’t know that he’d moved his red sofa from the loft into the castle so that Lex would have a place off the floor to sleep. He’d spotted other furniture by the road and snatched it for their little nest. He made sure that Lex was taken care of while he was healing, because Clark could tell now that Lex’s mind was improving by the day.
He knelt by the side of the sofa, watching Lex sleep and listening to his heart beating (a favorite past time of his, since he’d realized he could do that), and smiled at him fondly. Somehow it felt as though Lex belonged to him. He wouldn’t say that- because it was crazy, and also a little weird and maybe controlling- but he did feel a connection between them. Something he couldn’t shake. Something he believed would never break.
He wondered if it was just because he’d spent so many weeks worrying about Lex’s life, calling him that silly nickname, but mostly he knew it wasn’t that.
Clark’s fingers trailed along the side of Lex’s temple, then the edge of Lex’s face, and then his jaw. The burn marks on the sides of Lex’s head had faded since he’d first seen them, and Clark took that as a good sign. It should have taken the burns longer to heal, should have taken longer for the bruises to fade, but Lex’s body stubbornly repaired itself no matter what the obstacles.
When he saw Lex’s eyes opening slowly, Clark grinned and leaned over to give him a kiss. It was a good day, because Lex made a soft, pleased noise and kissed him back instead of freaking out.
“I’m sure I have morning breath,” Lex muttered.
“I brought you a toothbrush and toothpaste anyway.” Clark tilted his head to the side.
Lex pushed himself up a little and looked around himself. “Oh. The castle.”
“Yep.” Clark took Lex’s hand and helped him up. He liked the way Lex leaned on him and how comfortable Lex was with him. Clark was certain that no one else in the world had that particular privilege.
He deposited Lex into one of the mismatched chairs around a table he’d built with his own two hands in a matter of minutes. Then, after meeting Lex’s eye, he disappeared for a moment and returned with two plates.
When they ate, Lex would always reach over, intertwine their fingers, and smile at Clark. He would kiss Clark’s knuckles, and they would talk, in quiet voices. They weren’t supposed to be here. No one was. But Lex couldn’t be found, and Clark couldn’t think of a better place to hide him.
Once breakfast was over and teeth were brushed, Clark was content to sit with Lex for a little while on the red sofa. It seemed less dire to snuggle with one another when they had a fire, warmth, and food, all readily available.
“This could be our home,” Lex murmured. “You and I. How many years do you think it would be, before someone thought to come here to look for us?”
Clark shrugged. “My parents would come look for me. I don’t know if they’d come here. It’s winter break, though. People don’t expect to see me all the time.”
“Good.”
Clark had no means of comparison, but as far as he was concerned, Lex was the best kisser in the world. It had been strange at first, kissing with his mouth opened, but Lex knew when to lick, when to suck, and when to just press their mouths together. He knew how to tease the skin of Clark’s neck and caress the back of his head. If he spent his entire winter break making out in front of the crackling fire, that would be okay with Clark.
***
“You are one of the hardest guys to find in the world,” Chloe announced as she snuck up from behind Clark. “Pete hasn’t seen you since school ended. Even your parents haven’t been able to keep track of you.” Clark turned around, pinching his lips together.
“I won’t tell them I found you,” Chloe told him. She sat beside Clark and put her hand on his shoulder. “I found something on your foundling. Do your parents know you’re home right now?”
“No. And you can’t tell them, Chloe, because I have to get back to him soon. He got hurt.”
“Yeah, I know-”
“He got shot.”
Chloe straightened her back and looked at Clark seriously. “Shot? Gun shot? With bullets?”
“Well, it wasn’t paintballs,” Clark retorted. “He got shot, and he’s gonna be okay, but I’ve been looking after him.”
“All the way from Smallville?”
Clark shrugged. “Maybe he’s not so far away.”
Chloe’s brows reached up to her hairline and disappeared under chunky, blond bangs.
“Clark,” she whispered. “You need to let me talk to him. You’re dating a dead man.”
“I- No! Chloe, he’s going to be fine,” Clark insisted. “We got the bullet out. He sleeps a lot, but he’s healing and he remembers me most of the time now.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Chloe looked back to see if Clark’s parents were anywhere near, then pulled a newspaper out of her backpack. “Is this your guy?”
Clark licked his lips and took the newspaper. That was Lex, all right, grinning lopsidedly and all cleaned up. He was wearing a suit! He could hardly imagine his Lex in a suit.
“Lex Luthor reported dead this morning,” Clark read slowly, in a troubled voice, “at Belle Reve where he has been staying for the past four months the under close watch of his father and the doctors. The head doctor stated that he suffered a freak heart attack during a routine electroshock treatment, which he had been undergoing for the past several weeks. ‘Young Mr. Luthor was hardly a model patient, and he had tried to escape a number of times. I believe the high stress didn’t help him in the end,’ Dr. Street stated. Combined with the recent death of his father, the doctors were unsurprised with the younger Luthor’s deteriorating health...”
Clark paled and set the paper down on his knees. The thought of Lex being dead was a little much for him.
“But you’ve seen him, right? He must not have-”
“Oh, I believe he had a heart attack, and that they fried his brain. He was weak as a kitten when I first started looking after him.” Clark continued to scan the newspaper. “They said he died... but Lex... Lex is strong. He comes back from whatever you throw at him.”
“He must have gotten out, somehow,” Chloe surmised. “This story was printed not long before we found Lex in the park. But you know who he is, right?”
“He’s my- He’s Lex. He told me that.”
“Lex Luthor. As in the Luthor plant, LuthorCorp, Luthor everything?”
“He’s... Lionel Luthor’s son?”
“Yes.” Chloe bobbed her head. “The mogul kicked off, and then suddenly the asylum “accidentally” kills the son.”
“I knew he was in trouble,” Clark whispered. He looked up toward the door for a moment. “I need to get back... Want to come with me? Lex is mending now. He can remember things a little better, so he doesn’t get startled as easily.”
“Maybe if we put our heads together, we can suss this all out,” Chloe agreed, rising to her feet. “It’s not every day you meet the crown prince of Metropolis in disguise.”
“Whatever really happened, it can’t be good.” Clark picked up the bag he was going to take with him and put his arm around Chloe’s shoulders, hurrying her out into the hall and then down the stairs. “They locked him up in an asylum, and Lex isn’t crazy, Chloe. Not at all.”
“The papers said he had a breakdown. That would be a pretty convenient excuse to get Lex out of the way,” Chloe surmised as Clark escorted her out the back way. Clark held them back as his parents came out of the truck and into the house. Once they’d passed, Clark motioned for her to go forward again, and they escaped into her car.
***
By the fire, Lex was a shadowed figured, huddled up in his blankets, but somehow the image was nowhere near as pathetic and broken as he had been huddled against that public restroom roughly a month ago, singing nonsense and shaking, hidden under his clothes.
With his head exposed, although it made him look terribly young- but not as young as Clark had imagined- Lex was strikingly regal. He looked as though he belonged in the castle, like he owned it, and everything he surveyed.
Clark realized as he approached his friend that it did belong to him, technically, and he could, probably own everything he surveyed, if he wanted to. He wasn’t used to seeing Lex like that, though. He might always think of him as his sweet but vulnerable Cheshire cat. Wise but insane, in the best possible way.
“Hey, Lex,” Clark whispered, waiting for Lex to look at them. He could tell that Lex didn’t recognize Chloe at all from the expression on his face, and the way he was taking her form apart with his eyes. After a moment, Lex relaxed, and Clark wasn’t sure what made him think that Chloe was safe, other than the fact that she was tiny and young.
“Your friend?” Lex nodded to her. “Thanks for the twenty.”
“No problem. I would have blown it anyway,” Chloe murmured in a moment of uncharacteristic shyness. She straightened her shoulders. “You’re Lex Luthor, right?”
“Yes. I suppose there’s no mistaking me from myself.” Lex sat up and met her eye.
Chloe drew closer. “How are you feeling?”
“Shot. But better.” Lex shrugged, then looked up to Clark, who came to his side. “She told you, hm?”
“She told me what the papers said. News is kind of Chloe’s specialty.” Clark slipped his arm around Lex’s shoulders.
“I doubt the newspapers have it all sorted out. They don’t have the contacts to find out the real story.” Lex touched his head lightly. “And I haven’t had the wherewithal.”
Chloe sat on the sofa by Lex. “There has to be a way to clear this up, though. You aren’t dead. The company is being sold off piece by piece-”
“You’d be surprised by how little I care about inheriting my father’s kingdom. He was a tyrant, and a bully. He treated his workers unfairly and kept them from forming a union. That is not the legacy I want.” Lex thinned his lips and shook his head. “That’s how this all started. I found out things he didn’t want me to know. Things he’d done. Worse than the poor environmental controls, worse than harassing and blackmailing the union leaders until they quit.”
Clark wrapped his arms around Lex’s shoulders.
“He didn’t want to kill his only heir, so he found a way to shut me up,” Lex continued in a whisper. “It’s hard to remember what happened during that time. I just know that at some point, a nurse dropped me off in the middle of the city and told me to make sure not to let anyone see me.”
Clark exchanged a glance with Chloe, then took Lex’s hand. “The newspaper said you died of a heart attack during electroshock.”
“They did electroshock me.” Lex nodded slowly. “I may have had a heart attack. I don’t remember. If I did, they revived me and dumped me on the street. I suppose they thought it was a better chance than I had if I’d stay there.”
“With your father dead,” Chloe speculated, “someone else must have been after you, though.”
“Same person who killed him and covered it with a car crash. My dad’s old buddy, king of the Metropolis underworld, Morgan Edge. I imagine if you tracked down the roots of all those companies buying up bits and pieces of LuthorCorp, you’d find that they all lead back to Edge. He’ll own that town before long.” Lex looked at his hands. “I failed to stop what they were doing before. Now it’ll only get worse.”
“What will get worse?” Chloe prodded.
Lex shook his head. “I don’t remember. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. You’re a kid. You’re both kids, aren’t you? I’m not putting you in any more danger than you’ve already put yourselves in for helping me.”
“Lex, let me help,” Clark pleaded. “You know I can. I’ll protect you.”
“Clark, you’re not invincible,” Chloe argued. “No matter how much of a Mr. Hardbody you are.”
Lex studied Clark’s face, watching him for a long, tense moment.
“You remember that, don’t you? We don’t talk about it, but-”
“You saved me, Clark,” Lex told him gravely. “In all the ways a person could be saved. I don’t want to throw away both of our lives.”
“Are people being hurt because of this thing your father was doing?”
Lex shrugged. “He was doing a lot of things.”
“If you return, the keys to the kingdom are yours. You can find out what it was-”
“Edge and his men-”
“And I’ll protect you.”
“I’m more worried about what they’d want to do with you.”
“I’ve never felt more right and normal than I did in that alley. I’ve never felt like I fit in before what happened with you. You, me, and Chloe, whatever this is? We can stop it. She’s good with research and computers. You know what I can do, and you...” Clark dipped his head. “I think you’re kind of a genius or something.”
“Read that in the papers, did you?”
“No.” Clark lifted his head again slightly.
“Because that’s what they say. Deviant, yes. But genius, too. It’s hard to think of myself that way after I’ve barely been able to remember my own name for a month. It’s still not all there,” Lex explained.
“We could do this. I’m always down for a little conspiracy theory,” Chloe proclaimed.
“You’re both kids,” Lex argued.
“You’re twenty-one, according to your records,” Clark shot back. “You’re not all that old yourself.”
Lex brushed his hand against Clark’s cheek. “I can’t see you hurt.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m unbreakable.” Clark leaned in close.
“Ahem, you are not unbreakable!” Chloe pointed out. Her eyes were wide as she looked between the two young men, obviously curious. “I’ve seen you broke.”
“That was a special case. I know what causes that, and I can avoid it.” Clark frowned and took a deep breath for a moment. He’d not talked openly about this with Lex, since he’d never commented on it, other than to say that Clark was amazing. Clark knew him well enough now to guess that Lex had been quiet on the subject because he’d been to tired from his wounds to be properly curious.
And Chloe, well. She was already suspicious about him. He was afraid, of course, but more afraid that she wouldn’t let him help if people came after her. Knowing his intrepid reporter, if they kept her out of this, she’d find herself right underneath Morgan Edge’s boots.
Clark looked around, picked up the iron poker, and handed it to Chloe for her to feel. “Check it out.”
She gave him a look as she felt it in her hands. She shrugged then passed it to Lex, who had already surmised what was going to happen. He gave it a squeeze, then looked to Clark. “You sure about this?”
“Well, my parents aren’t talking, so I’m having to figure this one out on my own.” Clark took the poker from Lex, then bent it into a U. He caught Chloe’s wide eyes, and bent it back before handing it back to Lex. “Hit me with it. As hard as you can.”
“Hey!” Chloe exclaimed.
Lex looked to her for just a moment as he pushed himself up. He still was hardly at full strength, but he raised the poker anyway, and brought it down with all of his might.
The iron shattered on Clark and scattered around the room. Even Lex, who had reason to expect the result, seemed awed by the display. Clark unbuttoned his shirt to show them.
“You...” Chloe shook her head and rushed up to him, touching his chest gently. “How? Were you affected by the meteors?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had the urge to kill anybody. And I’ve always been this way. Only I’ve gotten stronger, as I’ve gotten older,” Clark explained. He creased a brow at her worriedly.
“This is so cool,” Chloe whispered reverently. “I knew there was something special about you, Clark!”
“That’s not hard to determine,” Lex said quietly. He walked up to Clark, shooing Chloe away, and touched his chest thoughtfully. “There were bruises from the bullets.”
“Bullets!” Chloe said.
“There were. But they went away that day. Like I said, I’ve gotten stronger, as I get older. My parents want me to be normal, but I’m just not. I’m pretty sure that soon nothing will leave a mark,” Clark told Lex. “See? I can help you. We can do this.”
Lex moved his hand over Clark’s chest. “You’re hard as tempered steel, but you’re still warm and soft to the touch.”
“Well. Not that soft.”
“Hm. Pleasantly so.”
Clark touched Lex’s chin. “Do you trust me?”
“I trust you. Even when I can’t remember you, I trust you. You obviously trust us.” Lex turned his head. “I suppose that’s reason enough to include her in our merry band of idiots.”
“So, we can do this?” Clark urged.
“I’m not entirely sure what we’ll be doing, but... once I can remember things a little more reliably,” Lex agreed. “We can storm the castle.”
A Year Later
It was a surprise, and a delight, to most of the media when Luthor Junior ‘came back to life.’ The tale of how he’d been accidentally (for the purpose of evading punishment for whoever had likely saved his life by getting him out of the asylum) ended up on the street while recovering from electroshock ran over all the news stations for weeks, to the point that there could be no one who followed the ongoings of the world without knowing that Lex Luthor was back, he was cogent, and he was a force to be reckoned with.
Very quickly, once Lex had the reigns again, he was able to spot what had troubled him so, and with a little computer work from Chloe and help of the super kind from Clark, Lex was able to find the hidden locations where his father had been keeping mutants captive for experimentation. People involved started going to jail. Lex gave his first willing interview to Chloe so she could tell the citizens of Metropolis what his father had been doing. From there, Lex and Clark worked together to keep the mob from getting too much of an upper hand in this mess.
Clearly, Edge had an interest in taking over the city, as well as in using the mutants that Lionel had been keeping. The ones who were still lucid and functioning, that was. Lex knew it would only be a matter of time before the three of them were able to pin Edge with evidence for his role. It was too late for the legal system to punish Lex’s father, but in a way, Lex was grateful to be relieved of that duty. It would have been hard for him to have pursued justice when his father was a large part of it.
The people didn’t fail to notice a rescue here or there by a camera shy young hero, either, and that was a complication that Lex did fear. He didn’t want exposure for Clark, but did his best to keep Clark out of the spotlight. Regardless, Clark’s parents weren’t dense, and Lex knew it. He imagined at some point, he would be pulled into a face to face with Clark’s father. Whatever confrontation occurred with that, however, Lex knew there was no force in this world that would keep Clark from using his abilities to help people, and he hoped that one day Clark would be safe to openly do so.
“Good God, it’s cold out here,” Lex grumbled as he trudged through the field.
“That’s hilarious coming from someone I met huddled in the snow,” Clark teased. He pulled his arms around Lex so he could feel Clark’s body heat, which was considerable, despite the weather.
Lex had a theory about that.
“I don’t huddle in the show if I have a choice about it.” Lex looked around them, wondering how he’d been convinced to come away from his work to go for a walk in the snowy mountains. Well, a hike, but as far as Lex was concerned, hiking was walking for sport, and he didn’t know why one would do it if they weren’t hiding out.
Clark laughed. “Keep whining. We’ll have hot chocolate when we get to the cabin.”
“Is it any surprise that I hate the cold?”
“No, but it’s adorable. And I know you hated it before.” Clark pressed a warm kiss to Lex’s cheek and pulled him along.
“Your mother made us hot chocolate?” Lex asked with interest. “Where does she think we are?”
“I told her I was going out with a friend.”
“She’s going to catch on.”
“I think she already has.”
Lex sighed and leaned into Clark. He narrowed his eyes to see how much farther the cabin was. Clark could just speed them up there, if he felt like it, but sometimes teasing Lex was too much fun. Lex also suspected that Clark planned this because he knew after being exposed to the cold, Lex would cuddle on him for the rest of the day and most of the night.
“Lex, we can get back to saving the world tomorrow,” Clark declared. He squeezed Lex’s hand. “I’m just sort of glad to see another winter with you. A better one, where you’re healthy, and your cheeks are all pink...”
“How long do you plan to stay with me at this cabin?” Lex asked suspiciously.
“Hm. The weekend.”
“You have permission for that?”
“I’m with a friend.” Clark evaded further questions by picking Lex up, as easily as Clark lifted most anything else, and cuddling him close. He kissed Lex’s neck, and in a moment, they were inside a cozy wooden cabin.
“I can’t help but love out of the way places like this. It reminds me of the good part of last year, when it was just you and me at the castle.”
“I suppose I can’t fault you for that.”
When Clark set Lex down on the sofa, Lex reached up and pulled him down for a kiss. “Why don’t you start us a fire,” Lex teased. Clark had developed a new ability over the summer upon seeing Lex naked and almost set his apartment on fire. “And you and I can put the world aside, for just a little while, and try to get warm.”
“I’m glad you don’t mind going away from home for this,” Clark murmured. He shot fire at the wood already in the fireplace, then kicked off his snow covered boots and climbed on top of Lex.
“I’m always home,” Lex told him seriously, running his hands over Clark’s neck and chest. “Mm...”
“Always home? How can you be?” Clark pressed their cheeks together.
Depositing several kisses along Clark’s neck, Lex sighed and then looked into Clark’s eyes. “I have you and your smile. I’ll never be lost again, with that smile to hold onto.”
“You’re a sap.” Clark grinned from ear to ear, bursting with happiness at Lex.
“Guess I am.”
Sometimes, when warmth is the goal, less clothes is more, and soon the two of them were relieved of bulky outer clothes and cuddling under heavy blankets. The fire crackled merrily as they kissed and appreciated one another, more at home and comfortable with one another, no matter where they were, than with anyone else in the world.
From: to be announced
Type: Fic
Request: the boys out in the snow, fire-side cuddling with hot chocolate (after rescuing) Rating: PG
Title: And the Mome Lex Outgrabe, or Baby It's Cold Outside
Warnings: underage romance
Summary:Clark visits Centennial Park in Metropolis with his family and his friend Chloe to see the winter lights, and while there he meets a young man in need.
Gifter's Notes: This is an AU set roughly in what would be season one. Changes should become apparent as we dance along.
It was hard to stay awake. Clark’s soft voice was his one tether to the world, and Lex held on with everything he had. Or did Clark hold him? He couldn’t be sure.
Wherever they were, it was cold, but not as cold as it was before. Lex opened his eyes and looked around. He knew this place. Didn’t he? But that was silly.
How many people had ever been in a castle?
But he had. He’d been here precisely once, when he was small and it was not entirely put together yet. There were people around them building the castle, putting it together stone by stone, not unlike Egyptian slaves that dragged in the stones for the Pharaoh's mighty tomb.
“Is this to be my tomb?” Lex whispered to himself, looking down at the stone floor on which he was sitting.
“Not if I can help it,” Clark answered.
When Lex turned his head, he saw Clark enter with a ridiculous amount of firewood, which he set down by the fireplace as easily as if it had been a giant wad of cotton and began chucking the wood inside.
“How can you carry all of that?” Lex asked, watching as Clark poked the fire.
“It’s not that much heavier than carrying bales of hay. And I do that every day.” Clark shrugged. “Do you remember me?”
“I... Yes, I do. I’m sorry, if sometimes I don’t-”
“Don’t apologize. You can’t help it.” Clark put the screen in place then came up to Lex’s side. “Let me see.”
Lex looked down as Clark lifted his sweater up. Someone had changed his clothes from the dirty rags he’d been wearing since the hospital jammies had been stripped off. He wasn’t sure how long ago that was. “You bandaged it up already. I don’t remember that.”
“You’ve lost a lot of blood. You were in and out there for a little while. I thought I was gonna lose you. You bled and bled and bled. I mean, no one can lose that much blood, that fast, and keep going.” Clark pressed his warm hands to Lex’s abdomen and smiled. “But you did. I’m proud of you.”
“The barest survival seems to be a talent of mine,” Lex joked softly. “Where are we? I know this place.”
“I doubt it. Maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s the Luthor Castle, the ancestral home, I guess. I remember them carrying it in, stone by stone, when I was little,” Clark replied, narrowing his eyes as he remembered. He let Lex’s sweater drop, then stood and walked a few feet away where a basket was sitting.
“I’ve heard of it,” Lex whispered.
“No one’s ever lived here. I doubt anyone ever will. The man who owned it and the local plant died a month or two ago in a car crash.”
“Yeah. A car crash. What happened to the plant? And the company?”
“I don’t really know much about what happened in the big city. I know that some of the locals pitched in to buy the plant for themselves, and they’re struggling along, trying to keep it afloat.” Clark returned with a thermos in hand. “My mom’s hot chocolate is the best in the world.”
Lex chuckled very softly. When he laughed, it pulled at his wound, which still throbbed ominously, as if warning him that even Luthors were mortal. “Is it?”
“You’ll see.” Clark set the thermos in front of them, then wrapped a blanket around both of their shoulders before pouring some into the cap of the thermos. He took a sip. “It’s good. Try it. Like the chicken soup.”
“Chicken soup?” Lex raised a brow as Clark brought the cap to his lips. Silky, hot liquid chocolate with a hint of cinnamon slid down his throat. “Oh, that’s divine.”
“I wish you could remember more. Or that I’d remember there are things you can’t remember. My friend told me, though, that it would start to get better. The remembering, I mean. It already has.” Clark took another sip and poured some more.
“Your friend?” Lex asked. He lifted an anxious brow. The last thing he wanted was for one of Clark’s friends to be killed for being associated with Lex.
“She won’t tell. She doesn’t even know who you are. Anyway she’s nice. She gave you a twenty, when we first met.”
Lex felt the delicious warmth around him, from the fireplace, in the cocoa, emanating from Clark. “It’s strange, because... I remember you. Even when I don’t. You’re there, in my heart, even if I can’t find you in my mind.”
Clark laughed, grinning brightly.
“That’s it, you know. What brings me home when I’m lost,” Lex whispered. He looked into Clark’s eyes and watched their soft green merriment dancing as Lex’s fingers rose to Clark’s lips. They brushed against his full bottom lip, rosy with excitement. “Your smile.”
“My smile? Is that what helps the mome Lex find his way?” Clark teased.
“You say the craziest things,” Lex mused, shaking his head slightly.
So much warmth, and yet it grew even warmer as Clark turned his head slightly to kiss Lex’s fingertips. Lex dipped his chin slightly and smiled. Somehow he’d known, sensed maybe, hoped even, that there was a reason Clark kept coming back for him. Something beyond an inborn sense of goodwill toward his fellow man.
Lex leaned in first, pressing their chocolately lips together. Clark didn’t seem to mind at all, and his hand moved to cup the back of Lex’s head. They were both alive, together, and warm. Between Morgan Edge’s men and his own Swiss cheese memory, all Lex could believe they had was in fact this moment. He’d worry about regrets later, if he could remember them.
***
Clark liked to play house. This was something Clark had never told Pete when they were growing up, but it was very true.
His parents didn’t know that he’d moved his red sofa from the loft into the castle so that Lex would have a place off the floor to sleep. He’d spotted other furniture by the road and snatched it for their little nest. He made sure that Lex was taken care of while he was healing, because Clark could tell now that Lex’s mind was improving by the day.
He knelt by the side of the sofa, watching Lex sleep and listening to his heart beating (a favorite past time of his, since he’d realized he could do that), and smiled at him fondly. Somehow it felt as though Lex belonged to him. He wouldn’t say that- because it was crazy, and also a little weird and maybe controlling- but he did feel a connection between them. Something he couldn’t shake. Something he believed would never break.
He wondered if it was just because he’d spent so many weeks worrying about Lex’s life, calling him that silly nickname, but mostly he knew it wasn’t that.
Clark’s fingers trailed along the side of Lex’s temple, then the edge of Lex’s face, and then his jaw. The burn marks on the sides of Lex’s head had faded since he’d first seen them, and Clark took that as a good sign. It should have taken the burns longer to heal, should have taken longer for the bruises to fade, but Lex’s body stubbornly repaired itself no matter what the obstacles.
When he saw Lex’s eyes opening slowly, Clark grinned and leaned over to give him a kiss. It was a good day, because Lex made a soft, pleased noise and kissed him back instead of freaking out.
“I’m sure I have morning breath,” Lex muttered.
“I brought you a toothbrush and toothpaste anyway.” Clark tilted his head to the side.
Lex pushed himself up a little and looked around himself. “Oh. The castle.”
“Yep.” Clark took Lex’s hand and helped him up. He liked the way Lex leaned on him and how comfortable Lex was with him. Clark was certain that no one else in the world had that particular privilege.
He deposited Lex into one of the mismatched chairs around a table he’d built with his own two hands in a matter of minutes. Then, after meeting Lex’s eye, he disappeared for a moment and returned with two plates.
When they ate, Lex would always reach over, intertwine their fingers, and smile at Clark. He would kiss Clark’s knuckles, and they would talk, in quiet voices. They weren’t supposed to be here. No one was. But Lex couldn’t be found, and Clark couldn’t think of a better place to hide him.
Once breakfast was over and teeth were brushed, Clark was content to sit with Lex for a little while on the red sofa. It seemed less dire to snuggle with one another when they had a fire, warmth, and food, all readily available.
“This could be our home,” Lex murmured. “You and I. How many years do you think it would be, before someone thought to come here to look for us?”
Clark shrugged. “My parents would come look for me. I don’t know if they’d come here. It’s winter break, though. People don’t expect to see me all the time.”
“Good.”
Clark had no means of comparison, but as far as he was concerned, Lex was the best kisser in the world. It had been strange at first, kissing with his mouth opened, but Lex knew when to lick, when to suck, and when to just press their mouths together. He knew how to tease the skin of Clark’s neck and caress the back of his head. If he spent his entire winter break making out in front of the crackling fire, that would be okay with Clark.
***
“You are one of the hardest guys to find in the world,” Chloe announced as she snuck up from behind Clark. “Pete hasn’t seen you since school ended. Even your parents haven’t been able to keep track of you.” Clark turned around, pinching his lips together.
“I won’t tell them I found you,” Chloe told him. She sat beside Clark and put her hand on his shoulder. “I found something on your foundling. Do your parents know you’re home right now?”
“No. And you can’t tell them, Chloe, because I have to get back to him soon. He got hurt.”
“Yeah, I know-”
“He got shot.”
Chloe straightened her back and looked at Clark seriously. “Shot? Gun shot? With bullets?”
“Well, it wasn’t paintballs,” Clark retorted. “He got shot, and he’s gonna be okay, but I’ve been looking after him.”
“All the way from Smallville?”
Clark shrugged. “Maybe he’s not so far away.”
Chloe’s brows reached up to her hairline and disappeared under chunky, blond bangs.
“Clark,” she whispered. “You need to let me talk to him. You’re dating a dead man.”
“I- No! Chloe, he’s going to be fine,” Clark insisted. “We got the bullet out. He sleeps a lot, but he’s healing and he remembers me most of the time now.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Chloe looked back to see if Clark’s parents were anywhere near, then pulled a newspaper out of her backpack. “Is this your guy?”
Clark licked his lips and took the newspaper. That was Lex, all right, grinning lopsidedly and all cleaned up. He was wearing a suit! He could hardly imagine his Lex in a suit.
“Lex Luthor reported dead this morning,” Clark read slowly, in a troubled voice, “at Belle Reve where he has been staying for the past four months the under close watch of his father and the doctors. The head doctor stated that he suffered a freak heart attack during a routine electroshock treatment, which he had been undergoing for the past several weeks. ‘Young Mr. Luthor was hardly a model patient, and he had tried to escape a number of times. I believe the high stress didn’t help him in the end,’ Dr. Street stated. Combined with the recent death of his father, the doctors were unsurprised with the younger Luthor’s deteriorating health...”
Clark paled and set the paper down on his knees. The thought of Lex being dead was a little much for him.
“But you’ve seen him, right? He must not have-”
“Oh, I believe he had a heart attack, and that they fried his brain. He was weak as a kitten when I first started looking after him.” Clark continued to scan the newspaper. “They said he died... but Lex... Lex is strong. He comes back from whatever you throw at him.”
“He must have gotten out, somehow,” Chloe surmised. “This story was printed not long before we found Lex in the park. But you know who he is, right?”
“He’s my- He’s Lex. He told me that.”
“Lex Luthor. As in the Luthor plant, LuthorCorp, Luthor everything?”
“He’s... Lionel Luthor’s son?”
“Yes.” Chloe bobbed her head. “The mogul kicked off, and then suddenly the asylum “accidentally” kills the son.”
“I knew he was in trouble,” Clark whispered. He looked up toward the door for a moment. “I need to get back... Want to come with me? Lex is mending now. He can remember things a little better, so he doesn’t get startled as easily.”
“Maybe if we put our heads together, we can suss this all out,” Chloe agreed, rising to her feet. “It’s not every day you meet the crown prince of Metropolis in disguise.”
“Whatever really happened, it can’t be good.” Clark picked up the bag he was going to take with him and put his arm around Chloe’s shoulders, hurrying her out into the hall and then down the stairs. “They locked him up in an asylum, and Lex isn’t crazy, Chloe. Not at all.”
“The papers said he had a breakdown. That would be a pretty convenient excuse to get Lex out of the way,” Chloe surmised as Clark escorted her out the back way. Clark held them back as his parents came out of the truck and into the house. Once they’d passed, Clark motioned for her to go forward again, and they escaped into her car.
***
By the fire, Lex was a shadowed figured, huddled up in his blankets, but somehow the image was nowhere near as pathetic and broken as he had been huddled against that public restroom roughly a month ago, singing nonsense and shaking, hidden under his clothes.
With his head exposed, although it made him look terribly young- but not as young as Clark had imagined- Lex was strikingly regal. He looked as though he belonged in the castle, like he owned it, and everything he surveyed.
Clark realized as he approached his friend that it did belong to him, technically, and he could, probably own everything he surveyed, if he wanted to. He wasn’t used to seeing Lex like that, though. He might always think of him as his sweet but vulnerable Cheshire cat. Wise but insane, in the best possible way.
“Hey, Lex,” Clark whispered, waiting for Lex to look at them. He could tell that Lex didn’t recognize Chloe at all from the expression on his face, and the way he was taking her form apart with his eyes. After a moment, Lex relaxed, and Clark wasn’t sure what made him think that Chloe was safe, other than the fact that she was tiny and young.
“Your friend?” Lex nodded to her. “Thanks for the twenty.”
“No problem. I would have blown it anyway,” Chloe murmured in a moment of uncharacteristic shyness. She straightened her shoulders. “You’re Lex Luthor, right?”
“Yes. I suppose there’s no mistaking me from myself.” Lex sat up and met her eye.
Chloe drew closer. “How are you feeling?”
“Shot. But better.” Lex shrugged, then looked up to Clark, who came to his side. “She told you, hm?”
“She told me what the papers said. News is kind of Chloe’s specialty.” Clark slipped his arm around Lex’s shoulders.
“I doubt the newspapers have it all sorted out. They don’t have the contacts to find out the real story.” Lex touched his head lightly. “And I haven’t had the wherewithal.”
Chloe sat on the sofa by Lex. “There has to be a way to clear this up, though. You aren’t dead. The company is being sold off piece by piece-”
“You’d be surprised by how little I care about inheriting my father’s kingdom. He was a tyrant, and a bully. He treated his workers unfairly and kept them from forming a union. That is not the legacy I want.” Lex thinned his lips and shook his head. “That’s how this all started. I found out things he didn’t want me to know. Things he’d done. Worse than the poor environmental controls, worse than harassing and blackmailing the union leaders until they quit.”
Clark wrapped his arms around Lex’s shoulders.
“He didn’t want to kill his only heir, so he found a way to shut me up,” Lex continued in a whisper. “It’s hard to remember what happened during that time. I just know that at some point, a nurse dropped me off in the middle of the city and told me to make sure not to let anyone see me.”
Clark exchanged a glance with Chloe, then took Lex’s hand. “The newspaper said you died of a heart attack during electroshock.”
“They did electroshock me.” Lex nodded slowly. “I may have had a heart attack. I don’t remember. If I did, they revived me and dumped me on the street. I suppose they thought it was a better chance than I had if I’d stay there.”
“With your father dead,” Chloe speculated, “someone else must have been after you, though.”
“Same person who killed him and covered it with a car crash. My dad’s old buddy, king of the Metropolis underworld, Morgan Edge. I imagine if you tracked down the roots of all those companies buying up bits and pieces of LuthorCorp, you’d find that they all lead back to Edge. He’ll own that town before long.” Lex looked at his hands. “I failed to stop what they were doing before. Now it’ll only get worse.”
“What will get worse?” Chloe prodded.
Lex shook his head. “I don’t remember. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. You’re a kid. You’re both kids, aren’t you? I’m not putting you in any more danger than you’ve already put yourselves in for helping me.”
“Lex, let me help,” Clark pleaded. “You know I can. I’ll protect you.”
“Clark, you’re not invincible,” Chloe argued. “No matter how much of a Mr. Hardbody you are.”
Lex studied Clark’s face, watching him for a long, tense moment.
“You remember that, don’t you? We don’t talk about it, but-”
“You saved me, Clark,” Lex told him gravely. “In all the ways a person could be saved. I don’t want to throw away both of our lives.”
“Are people being hurt because of this thing your father was doing?”
Lex shrugged. “He was doing a lot of things.”
“If you return, the keys to the kingdom are yours. You can find out what it was-”
“Edge and his men-”
“And I’ll protect you.”
“I’m more worried about what they’d want to do with you.”
“I’ve never felt more right and normal than I did in that alley. I’ve never felt like I fit in before what happened with you. You, me, and Chloe, whatever this is? We can stop it. She’s good with research and computers. You know what I can do, and you...” Clark dipped his head. “I think you’re kind of a genius or something.”
“Read that in the papers, did you?”
“No.” Clark lifted his head again slightly.
“Because that’s what they say. Deviant, yes. But genius, too. It’s hard to think of myself that way after I’ve barely been able to remember my own name for a month. It’s still not all there,” Lex explained.
“We could do this. I’m always down for a little conspiracy theory,” Chloe proclaimed.
“You’re both kids,” Lex argued.
“You’re twenty-one, according to your records,” Clark shot back. “You’re not all that old yourself.”
Lex brushed his hand against Clark’s cheek. “I can’t see you hurt.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m unbreakable.” Clark leaned in close.
“Ahem, you are not unbreakable!” Chloe pointed out. Her eyes were wide as she looked between the two young men, obviously curious. “I’ve seen you broke.”
“That was a special case. I know what causes that, and I can avoid it.” Clark frowned and took a deep breath for a moment. He’d not talked openly about this with Lex, since he’d never commented on it, other than to say that Clark was amazing. Clark knew him well enough now to guess that Lex had been quiet on the subject because he’d been to tired from his wounds to be properly curious.
And Chloe, well. She was already suspicious about him. He was afraid, of course, but more afraid that she wouldn’t let him help if people came after her. Knowing his intrepid reporter, if they kept her out of this, she’d find herself right underneath Morgan Edge’s boots.
Clark looked around, picked up the iron poker, and handed it to Chloe for her to feel. “Check it out.”
She gave him a look as she felt it in her hands. She shrugged then passed it to Lex, who had already surmised what was going to happen. He gave it a squeeze, then looked to Clark. “You sure about this?”
“Well, my parents aren’t talking, so I’m having to figure this one out on my own.” Clark took the poker from Lex, then bent it into a U. He caught Chloe’s wide eyes, and bent it back before handing it back to Lex. “Hit me with it. As hard as you can.”
“Hey!” Chloe exclaimed.
Lex looked to her for just a moment as he pushed himself up. He still was hardly at full strength, but he raised the poker anyway, and brought it down with all of his might.
The iron shattered on Clark and scattered around the room. Even Lex, who had reason to expect the result, seemed awed by the display. Clark unbuttoned his shirt to show them.
“You...” Chloe shook her head and rushed up to him, touching his chest gently. “How? Were you affected by the meteors?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had the urge to kill anybody. And I’ve always been this way. Only I’ve gotten stronger, as I’ve gotten older,” Clark explained. He creased a brow at her worriedly.
“This is so cool,” Chloe whispered reverently. “I knew there was something special about you, Clark!”
“That’s not hard to determine,” Lex said quietly. He walked up to Clark, shooing Chloe away, and touched his chest thoughtfully. “There were bruises from the bullets.”
“Bullets!” Chloe said.
“There were. But they went away that day. Like I said, I’ve gotten stronger, as I get older. My parents want me to be normal, but I’m just not. I’m pretty sure that soon nothing will leave a mark,” Clark told Lex. “See? I can help you. We can do this.”
Lex moved his hand over Clark’s chest. “You’re hard as tempered steel, but you’re still warm and soft to the touch.”
“Well. Not that soft.”
“Hm. Pleasantly so.”
Clark touched Lex’s chin. “Do you trust me?”
“I trust you. Even when I can’t remember you, I trust you. You obviously trust us.” Lex turned his head. “I suppose that’s reason enough to include her in our merry band of idiots.”
“So, we can do this?” Clark urged.
“I’m not entirely sure what we’ll be doing, but... once I can remember things a little more reliably,” Lex agreed. “We can storm the castle.”
A Year Later
It was a surprise, and a delight, to most of the media when Luthor Junior ‘came back to life.’ The tale of how he’d been accidentally (for the purpose of evading punishment for whoever had likely saved his life by getting him out of the asylum) ended up on the street while recovering from electroshock ran over all the news stations for weeks, to the point that there could be no one who followed the ongoings of the world without knowing that Lex Luthor was back, he was cogent, and he was a force to be reckoned with.
Very quickly, once Lex had the reigns again, he was able to spot what had troubled him so, and with a little computer work from Chloe and help of the super kind from Clark, Lex was able to find the hidden locations where his father had been keeping mutants captive for experimentation. People involved started going to jail. Lex gave his first willing interview to Chloe so she could tell the citizens of Metropolis what his father had been doing. From there, Lex and Clark worked together to keep the mob from getting too much of an upper hand in this mess.
Clearly, Edge had an interest in taking over the city, as well as in using the mutants that Lionel had been keeping. The ones who were still lucid and functioning, that was. Lex knew it would only be a matter of time before the three of them were able to pin Edge with evidence for his role. It was too late for the legal system to punish Lex’s father, but in a way, Lex was grateful to be relieved of that duty. It would have been hard for him to have pursued justice when his father was a large part of it.
The people didn’t fail to notice a rescue here or there by a camera shy young hero, either, and that was a complication that Lex did fear. He didn’t want exposure for Clark, but did his best to keep Clark out of the spotlight. Regardless, Clark’s parents weren’t dense, and Lex knew it. He imagined at some point, he would be pulled into a face to face with Clark’s father. Whatever confrontation occurred with that, however, Lex knew there was no force in this world that would keep Clark from using his abilities to help people, and he hoped that one day Clark would be safe to openly do so.
“Good God, it’s cold out here,” Lex grumbled as he trudged through the field.
“That’s hilarious coming from someone I met huddled in the snow,” Clark teased. He pulled his arms around Lex so he could feel Clark’s body heat, which was considerable, despite the weather.
Lex had a theory about that.
“I don’t huddle in the show if I have a choice about it.” Lex looked around them, wondering how he’d been convinced to come away from his work to go for a walk in the snowy mountains. Well, a hike, but as far as Lex was concerned, hiking was walking for sport, and he didn’t know why one would do it if they weren’t hiding out.
Clark laughed. “Keep whining. We’ll have hot chocolate when we get to the cabin.”
“Is it any surprise that I hate the cold?”
“No, but it’s adorable. And I know you hated it before.” Clark pressed a warm kiss to Lex’s cheek and pulled him along.
“Your mother made us hot chocolate?” Lex asked with interest. “Where does she think we are?”
“I told her I was going out with a friend.”
“She’s going to catch on.”
“I think she already has.”
Lex sighed and leaned into Clark. He narrowed his eyes to see how much farther the cabin was. Clark could just speed them up there, if he felt like it, but sometimes teasing Lex was too much fun. Lex also suspected that Clark planned this because he knew after being exposed to the cold, Lex would cuddle on him for the rest of the day and most of the night.
“Lex, we can get back to saving the world tomorrow,” Clark declared. He squeezed Lex’s hand. “I’m just sort of glad to see another winter with you. A better one, where you’re healthy, and your cheeks are all pink...”
“How long do you plan to stay with me at this cabin?” Lex asked suspiciously.
“Hm. The weekend.”
“You have permission for that?”
“I’m with a friend.” Clark evaded further questions by picking Lex up, as easily as Clark lifted most anything else, and cuddling him close. He kissed Lex’s neck, and in a moment, they were inside a cozy wooden cabin.
“I can’t help but love out of the way places like this. It reminds me of the good part of last year, when it was just you and me at the castle.”
“I suppose I can’t fault you for that.”
When Clark set Lex down on the sofa, Lex reached up and pulled him down for a kiss. “Why don’t you start us a fire,” Lex teased. Clark had developed a new ability over the summer upon seeing Lex naked and almost set his apartment on fire. “And you and I can put the world aside, for just a little while, and try to get warm.”
“I’m glad you don’t mind going away from home for this,” Clark murmured. He shot fire at the wood already in the fireplace, then kicked off his snow covered boots and climbed on top of Lex.
“I’m always home,” Lex told him seriously, running his hands over Clark’s neck and chest. “Mm...”
“Always home? How can you be?” Clark pressed their cheeks together.
Depositing several kisses along Clark’s neck, Lex sighed and then looked into Clark’s eyes. “I have you and your smile. I’ll never be lost again, with that smile to hold onto.”
“You’re a sap.” Clark grinned from ear to ear, bursting with happiness at Lex.
“Guess I am.”
Sometimes, when warmth is the goal, less clothes is more, and soon the two of them were relieved of bulky outer clothes and cuddling under heavy blankets. The fire crackled merrily as they kissed and appreciated one another, more at home and comfortable with one another, no matter where they were, than with anyone else in the world.