Superman for Sale - Chapter 15 B
Title: Superman for Sale
Author: D.M. Wyatt
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Rating: Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17
Warnings: Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift
Spoilers: None
Word Count this chapter: 5,091, for Part B (8,067 for Chapter 15, )
Short summary of this chapter: Lex has trouble dealing with Clark's injuries and Clark wakes up more confused than ever...
Previous updates HERE.
Part B of a two part Chapter 15 of 15... (epilogue is done)...
When Clark woke the next morning, he felt a lot better, but there still were no phantom caresses from Lex. They'd been a source of unwanted sensation, at times even cause for embarrassment, but they'd also been a comfort to him too.
He missed them, missed Lex.
Chloe had told him what Lex had done, rushing up to find him and Mercy putting the tourniquet on his leg that had likely saved his life. His mother wouldn't say more than she had, that Lex had said he could go see him once he's better but that Lex wouldn't come back to see him at the hospital. She explained that Lex thought it was Clark's turn to decide what to do.
Frustrated, Clark asked her to call him for him, but she refused.
"Why not, Mom? He can't just leave, not now."
"I thought you had wanted out of your deal with him. Why aren't you happy that he's let you go?"
Clark could only frown at that. He was very confused. His feelings were all mixed-up. "I need to talk to him. He should know I'm going to be okay..."
"He knows sweetheart. Lex calls to check up on you. He's actually very concerned."
"Why'd he just leave then if he's so concerned? Something's wrong..."
"I'm not sure anything's wrong, Clark, but he's being as stubborn as you. I've asked him to reconsider and talk to you, but he's resolved. He said you know how to find him and that it's up to you to take the next step."
Clark could only scowl at his mother as he let his body soak up the morning rays of the warm yellow sunshine.
He knew it'd be at least another day until he was strong enough to walk out of the hospital. Still too weak to fly, it was the only way he could go and see Lex.
His mother frowned at him and offered reassuringly, "Lex will come around, Clark. I think it's clear that he does sincerely love you. He thinks that this is the best thing to do, for whatever reason."
Clark felt a confusing mix of emotions and he didn't know how he felt, but his mother somehow knew what to do. She got in the bed next to him and pulled him into a hug. Clark cuddled with his mother and felt comforted.
He fell asleep in warm sunlight while held in his mother's comforting arms.
~:::~
It took another day of resting in the sun before he felt recovered enough to walk out under his own power, even though it was against doctor's orders. They wanted him to stay another day, but he had to go talk to Lex.
Perhaps ironically, he felt hurt that Lex had left. He'd been asking Lex to let him out of their deal for almost the entire time he'd been staying with him, so it just figured just when he decided that he loves Lex the other man leaves without saying a word. Clark had finally seen the light and understood his own feelings better and that's just when Lex decides to turn tail and leave.
Clark had to talk to Lex.
Straining his weak physical resources close to their currently very low limits, he'd used his hearing to hone in on Lex's location. Clark looked at the clock on the wall. Unexpectedly, since it was just before lunch time, Lex was in the apartment.
Why was Lex in his penthouse in the middle of a business day?
His mother had given Clark some of his clothes, a spare pair of glasses and his old red backpack that she'd retrieved from the Farm.
Tired, he dressed very slowly into an outfit that was similar to what he would have worn all those years ago when he and Lex had still been friends: a faded t-shirt, a plaid flannel shirt worn like a jacket, well-worn jeans and a pair of scuffed up leather work boots. The only thing he did differently from then to now was that he also wore glasses.
He was dressed like Clark, a geeky farmboy from Kansas; not like Superman, a strange visitor from another planet.
He didn't want to wear a suit, either one actually, but he needed to go get the suit he'd been wearing the day that thing had attacked.
That suit had his wallet. He needed that since that was where he'd kept his card key to the penthouse elevator.
If he had been stronger, Clark could have sped up the steps or flown and landed on the balcony, but he figured it was probably just as well. He felt that he should have this talk with Lex dressed as himself, not as 'Superman', so 'Clark' wouldn't have gone to see Lex by adjusting his personal gravitational field or running up steps faster than was humanly possible.
With no cash since his wallet was with his suit, his mother lent him money so he could take a taxi to the building where he'd left it. He kissed her goodbye before climbing into the cab.
After he'd retrieved his wallet from the roof of a downtown office tower, which still had the card key in it (he checked), he threw everything else into his red backpack. He slowly walked the six blocks to Lex's building and used his card key to access the penthouse elevator for possibly the last time. He had half expected it to not work, that Lex had deactivated his cardkey, but it allowed him to call the private elevator like normal.
He stepped into the car, the tension rising, and waited for the doors to close before he pushed the button for the top floor. Inexplicably, sadness was mixed with other emotions, some he couldn't really identify. Resignation? Anxiety? Hope?
Confused, he watched the indicator change until it stopped on the top floor. The door opened with an elegantly soft ding. Oddly, he now felt fear mixed in with all the other emotions...
He wanted to stop and sit down somewhere until he could figure out what it was he was feeling. He didn't want to talk to Lex without being completely clear on his feelings and resolved on what he wanted to say, but Mercy sitting at her usual post made him showing any weakness inadvisable.
He frowned at her as he exited the elevator and crossed to the front door of the penthouse. To say that Clark was surprised when she spoke nicely to him was a bit of an understatement.
"Are you feeling better, sir?"
He hoped he hadn't gaped at her, he never would have expected her to ever address him as 'sir' (that implied a certain measure of respect that he didn't think she would ever feel toward him), but he suspected he might have been gaping since his mouth hung open. He closed it and tried to straighten a tie that wasn't there. He felt a blush rise in his cheeks as he lamely tried to cover that mistake by turning the motion into him adjusting the backpack on his shoulder.
"Yes, I'm a little tired, but I'll be fine." He was about to enter the apartment when he remembered his manners, "Thank you so much for asking, Miss Graves, and thank you for helping me when I got hurt."
"I'm glad you're better, sir, and I was happy to help." She smiled and politely shook her head, "But, please call me Mercy, sir."
Confused by her sudden formal address of him, Clark wasn't sure what to say. He attempted humor, but he was probably too tired to pull it off. It came off lame. "Okay, Mercy, but anyone who saves my life can call me Clark..."
She smiled, despite the failed attempt at humor, "Of course, sir."
Clark noted that she still didn't call him by his name, but was confused by the whole conversation. Uncomfortable with this nice version of Mercy Graves, a woman who'd only before shown him contempt and her surprisingly strong right hook, Clark simply said, "Okay, I guess I'll see you later."
She smiled at him as he opened the door to the apartment. He closed it softly and listened, Lex was the only person in the penthouse and he was in Clark's room.
Suddenly nervous, he hesitated before walking down the hallway toward his room. Or, rather, walked toward his 'old' room. He wasn't sure it was his anymore.
He opened the door to find Lex standing at the picture window facing out toward the balcony. Clark wasn't all that surprised to see his stuff packed in boxes, but that hurt for reasons he wasn't sure he knew.
Clark walked in and stood by the bed. Unsure how to start this conversation, Clark lamely said, "You packed everything up." He had hoped to keep the hurt from his voice, but didn't think that he had succeeded.
Lex didn't turn around, he simply sighed and nodded his head. He stuck his hands into his pockets and spoke quietly, "I told your mother that I'd have everything back in your apartment before you left the hospital, but you left early. Even so, I hadn't expected you to come back here."
The hurt was definitely in his voice when he spoke again, "If you hadn't wanted me to return, didn't want my calls, why is my key working?"
Clark felt a sudden rush of sadness rise up and he wasn't sure where it was coming from.
Lex finally turned to Clark and softly replied, his voice regretful, "It had to be your choice, Clark. As for the key, I guess I was being optimistic, but I wanted you to come back. You shouldn't ever think differently."
"You wanted me to come back? Why did you leave then? I asked for you while I lay helpless in that bed, but Mom told me that you didn't want to see me, that you wouldn't even take my calls. You claim to love me, but you left when I was hurt. You say it had to be my decision, but it wasn't my idea for you to leave. People who love other people don't just walk out when they're still needed..."
Expecting to get a rise from Lex, Clark was surprised when he instead sounded hopeful. "You had told me almost every day that you wanted to leave, that I had put you into a situation you didn't want. Was I supposed to know you needed me?"
Clark was confused by that. "But you can feel what I'm feeling, right? Couldn't you feel that I needed you? Couldn't you feel it when I realized that I loved you during the fight?"
Lex turned around to look directly at Clark. "Yes, I do and I could, but I doubted it had meant anything had changed. You had felt that before for me and still pushed me away. I felt that whatever happened next had to be because you wanted it, not because I did."
"But you thought leaving without saying a word to me was good idea?" Clark felt a confusing tide of emotions rise up in him. Lex had basically had him under house arrest for nearly the past month yet he felt hurt that he was going to apparently let him go, send his things back to his apartment, because he was going to do it without speaking a word to him about it. He couldn't make sense of what he was feeling.
Lex looked at him with a very hard to read expression on his face. "I can feel you're confused..."
Clark replied almost petulantly, "I think anyone with eyes could probably realize that."
He smirked and ordered, "Come with me."
Lex walked past him and headed out to the hall. Clark's confusion increased, he didn't know what Lex was up to, but, curious, he followed. Lex led him through the apartment and into the hallway that led to his bedroom.
Clark followed Lex into the bedroom, and hesitated. "What are we doing here?"
"I wanted to show you..." He opened the door to the closet and looked back at Clark. "Aren't you curious to see how it turned out?"
He was curious, so he followed Lex into the closet that was nearly as big as his bedroom in his apartment. He stopped and gaped in awe. Although Clark was faintly surprised to see that his clothes hung there, it was possibly the most beautiful closet he had ever seen.
The rich mahogany cabinets and paneling perfectly matched the burgundy carpeting and the brass accents of the pull knobs and handles gave everything a richer appearance (if that was possible). The backs of the closets were paneled with unvarnished cedar planks, which gave the space an inviting scent as it protected his wool sweaters and jackets from moths, not that even a moth would have the guts to enter Lex Luthor's closet when it wasn't welcome.
He dropped his back pack to the floor and pushed aside his clothes to see if he could find the secret compartment he'd seen roughed out before. Clark couldn't tell how to open the door he knew was there. He concentrated and focused his x-ray vision on the cedar lined panel, although using his powers tired him further and made his head swim. He found the catch and reached forward to open it, but he had to place his other hand against the wall for stability.
Lex sounded concerned behind him, "You okay, Clark?"
Clark opened the door and nodded, and lied. "I'm fine, just tired."
He heard a small skeptical sound behind him, Lex didn't believe him, but Clark ignored him. The interior of the secret closet within the larger one was perfect. His suits and capes hung neatly inside and his boots were lined up on a shelf underneath them. Hooks held his trunks and belts.
Lex spoke from behind him, "So, what do you think?"
Another confusing tide of emotions rose up in Clark and he wasn't sure what to say, exactly. "I'm not sure, but it's perfect, Lex."
"Why aren't you sure?"
Clark frowned and closed the door. He looked at Lex. "I don't know, but I guess I'm confused. Why'd you finish the closet with its secret compartment if you weren't sure I would stay? Why'd you move my clothes in here if you were planning on sending them all back to my apartment tomorrow?"
He looked at Clark's clothes as he talked, "I was being optimistic, but I wanted to see how it looked with your clothes hanging there. I couldn't let you go just yet. It's why your boxes are still in the guest bedroom. Sending everything back seemed to be the final nail in the coffin of the possibilities between us." Lex sighed and then looked back at Clark. "I still want to know why it's hard for you to say what you think. Don't you know how you feel?"
Clark shrugged and, exhausted, he leaned against the chest that held his underwear, pajamas and socks. "I guess I'm just tired and my brain is all jumbled... I don't know, maybe it's a side-effect from my injuries. Ever since I woke up in the hospital, my feelings don't make sense..."
"Why? What are you feeling?"
He thought for several moments and tried to take stock: "I feel sad, confused, touched you made the closet perfect for me, but there's something else..." He thought for another moment and avoided saying 'love' and instead only said, "Elation? Why would I feel that?"
"You don't know why?"
"No, but I know something's changed." He looked at Lex, "I don't feel the fingers anymore."
"What fingers?"
"I called them the 'phantom fingers'; I always felt them before, now I don't." Feeling a bit faint, and worried he was about to fall flat on his face, Clark sat down heavily on the small bench on his side of the closet. Oddly, he felt a wave of concern wash over him.
Clark shook his head, in a vain attempt to clear it, and sighed. "With the witch, the sensation felt more like bugs crawling all over my skin, but with you they felt like fingers. I figured that the physical sensation reflected the general mood of the person who had control of the stone. She hated me, hated men, so the sensation was uncomfortable. With you, it was more like hundreds of hands touching me all at once. At times it would feel more erotic, other times it'd feel more comforting." Clark shrugged, "You said you loved me, maybe that's why they were fingers instead of bugs, but they're gone now."
Clark looked at Lex, who had a small smile on his face and he felt a wave of warm amusement hit him. Confused, he frowned. "You know why they're gone don't you?"
Lex nodded and took the small gray stone out of his pocket. Clark's feelings became even more confusing, the hint of anxiety he felt was tinged by sadness and regret. "Yeah, I know why." He held the stone out to Clark, "Here, you should probably have this."
"Why would I want to? I can't touch that, it hurt when it'd been on my chest during that spell..."
"It won't hurt now."
Clark looked at Lex, even more confused.
"Don't you realize? The thirty days are up, Clark. The last day was today. You've met your part of the bargain and I didn't end up seducing you, which you had probably guessed had been my real goal behind manipulating you into our deal. Becoming friends again was just bullshit, because that wasn't what I really wanted..."
"What did you really want?"
"It doesn't matter now." Lex held the stone out and turned it over in his hand. "Can't you feel it? No fingers means that the spell has been broken." Lex again held out the stone for Clark.
He took it from Lex's fingers, it felt cool to him. Clark looked closer at the stone, the dried blood that had covered it before was gone. There was no pain. It was now just another stone.
"But the fingers have been gone for several days. I haven't felt them since I woke up..."
Lex shrugged and smirked, "I figured you wouldn't be up to doing my evil bidding until after you got better, but by then the thirty days would have been up anyway. Besides, you probably deserved a couple of days off for risking your life to save mine."
"I was only returning the favor since you'd risked yours to save mine." Clark looked up at Lex in confusion. "How'd you do break the spell? You talk to the witch?"
"No, I talked to a wizard and told him about what I remembered of the spell and what had happened since. He said the original spell the witch had cast over you was a more extensive binding spell than most. Our blood mixed together magically bound us both to the stone, but he said that magic can be canceled out by running water."
"Water?"
Lex nodded. "All I had to do was wash the blood off to break the spell..."
Clark looked up to Lex. He had an odd expression on his face, "That isn't all he told you, is it?"
"No, not all, but you're tired. I think you should lie down and I'll explain the rest."
Clark wobbled a bit as he stood, so he leaned on Lex as he took him back out to his bed and pulled back the covers. Clark looked at Lex warily. He sighed, "There will be no sex between us, Clark, unless you want it. The stone has no power over you now so I can't force you to do anything."
He crossed over to the windows and pulled open the drapes. The early afternoon sun flooded the room with light and bathed the bed in golden, warm sunshine. "I'd take you back to the guest room, but this room has a better western exposure. You need sunlight and rest, Clark, not sex."
Clark sat on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes as he enjoyed feeling the warmth of the sunshine on his face. Desire flared up unexpectedly and he opened his eyes to look at Lex, whose eyes were dark with desire.
He was confused, no way should he feel desire with how tired he was, not without the fingers anyway. "So why am I feeling what I'm feeling?"
Lex reached for Clark's glasses and pulled them off. "I think you need more sun on your skin." Clark looked up at him, still confused, "I'll explain what the guy from Chicago told me while I get you undressed."
He knelt down at Clark's feet and untied his boots and pulled them off. He pulled off the heavy white socks Clark wore and then pull off Clark's shirt. He laid it on the bed.
Clark surprised himself, but he just let Lex undress him. He was tired and his head hurt, but it felt good having someone take care of him.
"Before the witch performed her spell, she'd created a series of magic circles around you. So even before she closed the circles to contain you, and to focus the magic for the spell, there was a lot of power in the room. That's why it happened." Lex pulled off Clark's his t-shirt and spoke softly, "Lay down."
Tired, Clark obeyed. "What happened?"
Lex started to unbuckle Clark's belt. "You were asleep, so you wouldn't remember, but before she performed the main spell, I had to mix some of my blood with yours, both on the stone and on your forehead. A drop fell from my thumb into your mouth and you swallowed it. There was so much magic in the room you ingesting the blood became a spell all by itself. That's why I can sense what you're feeling and why you're confused now." He unzipped Clark's jeans and pushed them down. Clark lifted his hips so Lex could pull the his pants off, leaving him in just his blue cotton boxers. Lex picked up Clark's clothes and draped them across the back a nearby chair.
"I don't understand, Lex..."
"The confusing feelings you're having aren't happening because they're your feelings, it's because they're mine."
Confused, Clark gaped at Lex. "What?"
"You're feeling what I'm feeling, but it's clearer now since you don't have the physical sensations from the stone spell added into the mix. I didn't recognize that was what I was feeling until something bigger happened. When you were fighting to save all those people from the tsunami your emotions were so far apart from what I was feeling at the time that it was only then I finally figured it out. But the inexplicable desire I had been feeling wasn't a mystery anymore. I had been feeling your desire and I think you were also feeling mine."
Lex glanced over at the closet before he sat down on the bed next to Clark. "The elation you felt in there wasn't yours, it was mine. But it wasn't just elation, it was also pride and love. I was proud of how well my design for the closet had turned out, how perfect it was, elated how happy it made you, and feeling your joy at something I'd done just made me more in love with you than ever." Lex's gaze gently regarded him. "You did feel love too, didn't you?"
Clark nodded, amazed. "Yeah, I did."
It made so much sense. The inexplicable desire, the confusing emotions... Clark didn't know what else to say. He just looked at Lex as he looked back. He had a hard to read look on his face.
Lex looked down and fingered a wrinkle in the pristine sheet Clark laid on. "The wizard I talked to said that the spell the witch created to bond us to the stone was a perversion of a spell designed to help two lovers, two soul mates, bond more deeply. The magic forces she'd brought together to perform her spell were the right ones to take that spell further than she'd intended. However, he pointed out that the drop of blood did what it did only because he said that we're destined to be together. If it had been anyone else's blood, you swallowing that blood wouldn't have done a thing. It would have just been blood, instead of the key to a spell. You and I wouldn't be feeling what the other is going through if we weren't meant to be together."
It was as if everything had been explained and everything was as it should be. It made sense.
It felt right.
Tired, Clark just nodded and yawned. He closed his eyes.
He felt loving amazement come from Lex. "You don't seem surprised."
"I'm not..." He looked up at Lex. "So what was it that you had originally wanted?"
Clark felt a wave of sadness come from Lex as he sighed, "I wanted you to stay for longer than just 30 days." He looked at Clark, Lex's eyes were hard to read, but he could feel the sadness along with a tinge of hope too. "I wanted you to stay for the rest of your life."
"I'll stay, if you still want me to."
"Of course I do, but I'm confused at why this seems so easy."
"Doing the right thing can sometimes be hard, but it also can be easy." He smiled. "Mom knew that I'd know what to do and she was right. This, us together, me loving you... It just feels right."
Lex looked surprised and Clark realized he could feel it too, "Since when?"
Clark looked up into Lex's shimmering eyes, brimming with unshed tears. "Since it was clear that thing was out to kill you, I was so scared you were going to die. It was then that I finally knew that I love you, Lex." A thought occurred to him and Clark looked up at Lex, confused. "Don't ever doubt that I love you, Lex... I do." His eyes drifted closed for a second, but snapped open when he felt Lex's body shift. He looked up at Lex, worried he was going to leave, "Please stay while I sleep... I need to feel you next to me."
Clark could feel the love radiating from Lex. "I know, Clark. I'll stay."
The other man kicked off his shoes and got into bed next to him. Lex leaned back on the pillows and pulled Clark into his arms.
Clark mumbled, "...love you..."
He closed his eyes and Lex hugged him, "I love you so much, Clark."
Feeling Lex's love in addition to his own, wrapped in strong arms and bathed in golden sunshine, Clark peacefully slept.
~:::~
Lex held Clark as he slept and his body slowly got warmer. Superman was healing.
He was always amazed by Clark's abilities. The speed of his recovery was astonishing. Clark had almost died only five days ago and just a few hours ago had looked so pale and could barely stand upright, his skin still so cold. Yet, now his skin was again warm as he had healed almost magically before Lex's eyes, his skin closer now to its naturally golden light tan.
The power the sun gave his body was almost a miracle. He gently kissed the top of Clark's head.
Lex felt contented in a way he couldn't remember ever feeling before. His eyes closed and he started to doze, close to falling asleep himself, when he heard a faint knock on the door. He looked over to see the door slowly open and Mercy lean in.
"Sir, you awake?"
He was too flush with love to be really angry, but he was still annoyed. "Yes, Mercy, I'm up..."
"I'm sorry for bothering you, Mr. Luthor, but I thought you'd want to know..." Her voice faltered as she apparently became uncertain that it had been a wise decision to interrupt his time with Clark.
Lex was curious, Mercy knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't want to be disturbed for anything right now unless it was really important. Intrigued, Lex asked quietly, "Know what?"
"We found the money, most of it anyway. The witch finally got careless."
Lex almost sat up and was about to push Clark off his shoulder. He had to act fast before she moved the funds again, but he thought maybe he didn't have to. Just a few days ago he'd said to himself that the money didn't matter anymore. He leaned back against the headboard and Clark adjusted to the change in position in his sleep.
Mercy was amazed. "What are you waiting for, sir? You have to act quickly. She's gotten sloppy since she stopped her reign of terror. She finally made a mistake and we found it, so now you can take it back. "
He considered the money and the witch for a moment.
He shouldn't let her get away with it, but she hadn't blackmailed anyone else since he'd bought Clark from her. She had essentially retired thanks to his money. She'd been so cruel, painfully torturing and humiliating men to extort money from them, she probably deserved to be killed so making her destitute was probably fitting. However, saving Clark from her had been the best thing that had ever happened to him and he had made her a deal, a promise...
He shook his head. "No, I'll hold up my end of the deal. Clark would have been a bargain at a thousand times the price I'd paid her. He's priceless. Let her keep the money."
Lex looked over at Mercy and was surprised when she smiled, "Of course, sir." She started to leave, but paused and looked back at Lex. "I'm so happy for you sir."
She closed the door softly. After she left and Lex settled back down. Clark's weight shifted in his sleep in response to Lex's movement and he snuggled closer, his arm briefly tightening around Lex's waist. He mumbled softly in his sleep, something Kryptonian, and Lex felt a wave of love and happiness from the still sleeping Clark.
He hugged him tighter and caressed his tangle of curls.
Lex fell asleep bathed in the golden light of late afternoon while holding the man that was the center of his world, more deeply in love with him than ever.
~:::~
Read the Epilogue here...
~:::~