Predictions by mistressace, commentary by danceswithgary
Title: Predictions
Author: mistressace
Commentator: danceswithgary
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Warnings: Minor Character Death
Rating: R
Summary: Summary: Written for the Cuff 'Em, Vamp 'Em, or Just Make 'Em Come Already Kink and Cliche Multi-Fandom Challenge. The prompt given was: "If we're going to die, then dammit, let's go out with a bang."
Whatever Lex wants -- Lex will have.
Even at the end of all things, hope remains eternal.
June 2025 started out as the worst month of my life.
It began with Dad.
The fifth of June was a typical summer day in Smallville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the cows waited patiently to be fed. There was nothing out of the ordinary except it was the day my dad's heart finally gave out and I wasn't there to save him.
An hour and twenty minutes earlier, there'd been an explosion in a South African mine and forty-five men were trapped a mile underground. I was their only hope. While I was shoring up a rapidly collapsing tunnel, my dad collapsed in the driveway.
Mom said it was quick. One minute, he was loading bags of feed into the old truck and the next he was gone. Even if I'd been on the right side of the world, she was sure there was nothing I could've done. She kept telling me it was just his time, but I know better.
Before Jor-El souped him up so Dad could put an end to my crime spree in Metropolis, Jonathan Kent had been perfectly fine. Whenever he'd gone in for a check-up, our family doctor raved about the shape Dad was in. According to all of the tests, he had a heart of a twenty-year old and was supposed to outlive us all.
No matter what Mom said, I knew it was all my fault.
Clark never releases his burden of guilt for that summer in Metropolis. Years of penance as the world's champion have never allowed him to accept the forgiveness he deserves. A sad note to begin this story.
The entire JLA left Earth on the seventh. Green Lantern got an urgent summons from the Guardians, and when he heard what they had to say, he sped back to the Watchtower to brief the rest of us.
Somehow I missed the call to arms.
Two days after his father died. He will not cut himself ANY slack. Is it any surprise that certain other people aren't allowed any either?
Actually... I ignored it. Grief does funny things to people, even people who aren't human. I knew I was being stubborn and stupid and ignoring a call from the Watchtower would earn me a serious ass-kicking from Batman, but if I'd done it earlier, if I'd ignored the call about the mine, my dad might still be alive.
Because I missed the meeting out of sheer pigheadedness, I didn't know what was up until Bruce and Wally knocked on my mom's front door. Even then they didn't tell me much -- just that the situation was off world and serious enough that everybody was needed.
Sheer pigheadedness. Now, I'm getting irritated with the stubborn alien.
Everybody except me.
When I asked why, Wally went into a song-and-dance routine, telling me it really wasn't a big deal and they could handle it without me.
Bruce was more straightforward. There was Kryptonite involved and since I'm the only one affected by it, I would be a liability. Besides, I had a parent to bury.
Honest to the point of being brutal, that's Bruce. He'd never been one to pull punches.
I think Wally's version was better.
Of course he preferred Wally's. Bruce actually had the nerve to suggest quite reasonably that a parent's death might have something to do with Clark's actions.
We buried Dad three days later. The funeral was really something.
The strangest thing occurred to me while we followed the hearse to the cemetery. When we were kids, Lex told me kings would come to his father's funeral, but friends would come to my dad's.
Only one part of Lex's prediction turned out to be right.
He'd missed by a mile on the first half. After a conviction for the murder of his parents -- even though he only spent a few months in prison for it -- and having been stripped of the power that had once held half of Kansas in sway, Lionel Luthor was a nobody when he died. He was buried quietly and without fanfare. To be honest, I think Lex was the only one who went. I don't really know because we weren't friends then and it's not something I can ask him about now.
The part Lex did get right was that friends came to Dad's funeral. Not just his friends, but my friends as well, some of them I'd lost touch with years ago. Pete was there; he drove in from Wichita with his mom and brothers. Chloe flew in from New York with her husband and three teenaged kids in tow. Lana arrived late, running into the church at the last minute with her Aunt Nell and Uncle Dean. Even Lois took a few days off from The Daily Planet and her entire family showed up, including Lucy who might've been out on bail. She left pretty quickly afterward so... maybe not.
The roundup of characters fills us in on where canon took a detour. Lionel's death in prison indicates a number of the later Smallville confrontations, including Lex marrying Lana never took place. It makes me very curious about where Lex is in this universe.
In fact, all of Lowell County came by to pay their respects. There were people I'd never seen before coming out of the woodwork with casseroles and fresh baked pies and offers of sympathy. The church was packed, reduced to standing room only and even with that, some of the crowd spilled out onto the lawn. The line of cars in the procession behind us stretched for miles.
But what really got to me was what I saw after the hearse stopped and I was helping my mom out of the limo. You see, Lex had been dead wrong about the most important point of his prediction.
There was a king who showed up for my father's funeral -- or at least the closest thing America had to a king.
President Alexander J. Luthor was standing at the graveside, waiting for the pall bearers to bring Dad to his final resting place. There must've been a dozen Secret Service men scattered about, but the only person I noticed was Lex. Dressed in black from head to toe, he ignored the gasps as people recognized him. He just stood there, utterly motionless until Mom and I stopped on the other side of the grave.
Aha! There he is!
That's when he lifted his head, offering my mother a sympathetic smile before his eyes locked on mine.
We stared at each other, neither of us willing to look away as the minister read the burial service, the words an unintelligible jumble. I guess I should've been grateful he wasn't wearing that damned ring. At least I wasn't writhing on the ground while they were lowering my dad into it.
The ring is the first clue that there is indeed a rift, although Lex seems to be civilized about it.
Mom was numb, so worn down to the breaking point by the weight of her loss and everyone's sympathy that I don't think she even knew Lex was there. But I did. Through the whole service I kept watch, making sure he didn't touch anyone, hurt anyone. If it was the last thing I ever did, I'd keep my friends and family safe from the monster who'd once been my best friend.
Monster. OK, really big rift. What the heck happened?
At the end of the sermon and after Dad's coffin was at the bottom of the grave, Lex knelt, his black-gloved fingers sifting through the dirt. It didn't dawn on me what he was doing until he stood and tossed a handful into the hole. The dull thud as it hit the coffin echoed in my head.
He had no right. Only family members were allowed to do that and Lex Luthor wasn't a member of my family. He'd never been.
It was all I could do to contain myself. To stay where I was and not leap across the chasm that separated us. I wanted to tear him to pieces.
We were enemies. Mortal enemies.
We'd been trying to destroy each other for nearly two decades.
Lex shoving himself into Jonathan's funeral was pretty ballsy if Clark isn't exaggerating about their mutual enmity. Not just ballsy, though. Deliberate, calculated cruelty.
As Clark Kent, I studied every aspect of his life, both public and private, in order to rip it apart in the press. Lois helped in the anti-Luthor crusade, but I was the driving force behind our many exposes. As Superman, I'd gone out of my way to thwart his never-ending schemes to conquer the world.
In retaliation, Lex banned Metropolis' lead reporters from LexCorp sponsored events. When that failed, he sued The Daily Planet and Perry White almost into bankruptcy.
Denouncing Superman as dangerous, he claimed I was a blight on mankind's potential. He called me alien, exhorting the American public to see me as a precursor to an invasion and demanded I be held accountable for damage to public property due to my innumerable brawls.
All I ever tried to do was help people and he wanted me branded as a criminal because of it.
He tried to kill me a hundred times, always swearing that next time he'd do it, that the next time I'd be begging him for mercy, begging him for a quick death and the bastard had the gall to come to my dad's funeral.
Why the hell did he think he'd be welcome here?
Sure, he didn't know Jonathan Kent was the father of his arch-nemesis, but he and my dad had never seen eye-to-eye. Even when Lex and I were friends, Dad wasn't nice to him. At best, they were cordial and that never lasted long.
And yet -- Lex stood there, waiting until the majority of the mourners drifted away. He never said a word. He didn't approach anyone, touch anyone, or look at anyone except me. When it was all over, he dusted off his hands and walked away with his guards closing ranks around him.
Twenty years of hatred. That's a long time. And yet, Lex hasn't killed Superman and we know he could.
I should've let it go.
Lex left town right after the funeral.
But his having been so close, hovering at the edge of our grief like a vulture waiting for the chance to feed, rankled. At the reception afterward, I saw him in every corner, heard his voice as I moved from room to room, caught a whiff of his cologne even though I knew he wasn't there. Every hand I shook was his. Every pair of arms that held me tight, every pat on the back, every murmured condolence -- they all belonged to him.
It drove me out of my mind. I couldn't stand it.
Once everybody left and Mom had gone to bed, I bolted for the loft. It was the one place on the farm that was mine and mine alone, my retreat from the world. Normally, I felt safe up there but this time it didn't work. I was alone with my thoughts and all I could think about was Lex.
I started to pace, but that didn't help.
The more I walked, the angrier I got and before I knew it, I was airborne.
Clark's losing it and pacing in the loft. Revisiting the scene for the beginning of their 'relationship' had to be grinding it all in even more.
I found him in the Oval Office, hard at work even though it was well after midnight.
Normally, I go through proper channels when I meet with the President. I call ahead and check in with his aides to make certain he has time to talk to me. I even advise NORAD that I'll be in the air space over Washington DC. Even though it sounds corny, I do stand for Truth, Justice and the American Way, and part of the American Way means not barging in on its leader without warning.
Besides, it's the polite thing to do and had kept the friction between us to a minimum. Lex was in the middle of his second term and in two years, we'd be back to business as usual -- at each other's throats.
Poor Clark, torn between two sets of imperatives, another source of aggravation.
But not this time. This time I was too mad to do it the polite way.
To his credit, Lex didn't jump when I snapped the lock and shoved the doors open. He finished signing the document in front of him, slid it into a folder and rose to his feet as a Secret Service team rushed into the room with guns drawn. They were sent away with a calm thanks for their diligence and a request to be left undisturbed for the next hour.
Lex politely offered me a drink. When I refused, he poured one for himself before taking a seat in front of the fire. He was being so calm and rational, blithely unaware I'd come here to break him into little tiny pieces.
Clark was being blithely unaware, thinking Lex didn't understand exactly what he'd done and the expected result.
But, in the end, it was Lex who broke me.
After listening to my heated lecture about how he'd handled the latest nuclear crisis with North Korea, Lex set his drink aside and asked me why I'd chosen this moment to take him to task over his foreign policy.
He didn't give me a chance to respond, interrupting me with a smooth, "While your points are quite valid, don't you think this could have waited? Or it your grief talking?"
I sputtered, "Grief? I--I don't know what you're talking about."
The look on Lex's face was something I hadn't seen in years. Pity mixed with a hint of contempt, and it carried through in his voice. "Please, don't play me for a fool. We buried your father today. Despite what Bruce may have told you, even superheroes are allowed to mourn."
Lex knows exactly where to cut. Not even a superhero can avoid the sharp edge of his tongue.
Oh... Jesus.
I don't remember what I said after that.
I don't remember what I did but it was bad.
Bad enough that Lex opened a box on his coffee table and a moment later, I was on the floor at his feet trying not to throw up on the carpet. Lex stayed seated, his hand sliding into my hair and fresh agony came with that touch. The whole room glowed bright green as he stroked me like a dog. Held tight against his knee, he kept petting me while he whispered horrors into my ear.
Lex knew everything. Everything.
All those times in Smallville when I thought he hadn't noticed or that his memory had been destroyed -- I'd been wrong. He knew he'd been split into two and that the reintegration hadn't been perfect. He knew I'd abandoned him when he needed me most, that I'd run away as he raved about my abilities to anyone who would listen, condemning him to incarceration in Belle Reve and leaving him to his father's mercies. He knew about the ECT... and he knew I tried to save him.
There were other things he knew, things he must've learned from the caves or maybe the third stone, the one I'd found in his vault. He knew the location of the Fortress, how it was built, what was in it and how to destroy it. He knew my real parents' names, how old I was when they put me in the ship and how long it took me to come to Earth. He knew why Jor-El had chosen Smallville as my landing place.
He knew I was going to live forever...
And he knew how to kill me.
He knew he was the only one who could kill me and one day I would ask him for that release. As he predicted my fate, his lips brushed against my face, lingering there like a kiss -- one that burned worse than the blood boiling in my veins.
Then he left me shivering on the floor.
The visual of a shattered Superman being forced to listen to the secrets and truths he'd never wanted to face is a sucker-punch to my gut every time I read this. I can't decide if Lex's eyes would have held an unholy glee or reflected the tortured emotions.
The following morning, the aliens invaded.
Again, Lex had been off on his predictions. The attackers he'd prophesied in his campaign speeches wanted nothing to do with me -- other than to secure my destruction.
The idea of predictions was threaded through the earlier Smallville seasons. Clark, in particular, was affected by Cassandra's and Jordan's visions, as well as the Naman/Segeth prophecy. Using Lex's 'predictions' as the base for this story was an interesting twist.
By the twentieth, Earth was theirs.
The other members of the League had been contained off world, their errand simply a distraction.
The human race fought back, but they were no match for the invaders.
Without the Justice League to help me, I wasn't much of a match either. The aliens knew about Kryptonite and used it to shoot me out of the air during the first battle. My chains were made out of it, keeping me weak as they broadcast the image of Earth's defeated hero on every station.
Poor Clark, what he considers his only means of redemption torn away from him.
Lex proved harder to take down.
He'd been trained for war from the moment he was born and in those few days, he proved that training hadn't been in vain. Raised in leonine tradition, Lex roared his defiance right up to the moment he was captured.
The callback to Lionel's 'training' - excellent!
I knew something was up when my chains were stripped off and tossed into a corner. For the first time in days, I was free to move. Taking full advantage of that respite, I crawled off the cot and into the opposite corner, breathing a sigh of relief as the poisonous glow faded.
I hadn't expected any kind of mercy. From the beginning, my fate had been made perfectly clear. To the people of Earth I was a symbol of hope, and hope was to be crushed.
In that, my captors had succeeded. The last few days had overwhelmed me -- living in constant agony, barely able to breathe, let alone resist -- I was simply waiting to die.
Now, without explanation, I'd been given a reprieve. I was as weak as a day-old kitten but at least the pain had stopped.
Before letting me loose, the guards had dropped off a tray of food. I pulled it toward me, dragging it across the floor. This was another blessing I hadn't expected. The meat was still warm, the bread fresh and the cup of water cold. Sipping it slowly, I wondered how long I had before they chained me up again.
Clark expects so little, is so happy with the slight respite - you know he's being set up.
As I finished the last bite of bread, the door to my cell opened. An awkward bundle of cloth was tossed in, landing heavily against the far wall and once more, the door closed.
Puzzled, I stared at the new addition to my decor.
I'd thought I was going to die in my uniform. After all, its familiar red, blue and yellow was as much a symbol of Superman as the body within it. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe they wanted me to look like everybody else. Maybe they wanted to show the world how much I'd been humbled by captivity, that I'd been reduced to nothing but an ordinary man.
That was an interesting bit of insight on Clark's part. I think the aliens missed a trick there, but then again, without the uniform, the final degradation wouldn't have had the same impact.
And then again, maybe I was way off base.
Because the bundle on my floor groaned, unfolding slowly to reveal that it was a man.
Not just any man.
Lex.
It took a supreme effort of will but he rose to his feet. His shoulders were squared and head held high as he glared at the door, the walls and then finally me. Battered, bruised, clearly beaten and yet... the President of the United States remained unbowed.
Clark betrays his grudging respect for his sworn enemy.
Lex eyed the chains in the far corner, turning slowly to take in every detail of the small room that had been my home for nearly a week. "Of course," he said, then laughed, his shoulders shaking as he dropped onto the small cot.
I had no idea why he'd said that, or why he was laughing, but I never had understood Lex.
Pushing myself up off the floor, I leaned against the wall while the room spun around me. Even though the chains were off, I was barely able to stand.
Lex spared me a glance, his mouth twisted into a parody of a smile as he apologized. "Forgive me, Clark. It appears that gallows etiquette is universal."
"I fail to see what etiquette has to do with this...."
"Which has always been part of the problem. You're just human enough to pass for one of us, but not to be one of us. This..." Lex waved at the cell, the chains, then at me, "... this is a condemned man's fantasy -- a last wish."
Lex's instant comprehension of the situation is not surprising. It is Lex, after all.
I swayed and clutched at the wall. "It's not mine."
"No, it's definitely not yours." Lex stood, slinking toward me in that loose-hipped way that confused me when I was a kid. When we first met, I'd never known anybody like him and by the time I realized what that walk meant, it was too late to do anything about it.
So Clark wasn't completely clueless. Hmmm.
He didn't stop until he was only inches away, until he could reach out a wrap his hand around my neck and pull me in. "But it is mine."
What followed was the scariest, wildest and hardest kiss of my life. It left me gasping for breath, scrabbling at Lex's shoulders as I tried to push him away. My enemy, he was my enemy and this was not happening.
But it was happening. With an exasperated snarl, Lex pushed me into the wall and kissed me again, harder this time. He bit my lip, pulling on it until I opened my mouth to protest and got invaded instead. Too weak to get away from him, the only thing I could do was fall.
We slid down the wall, hitting the floor hard. My teeth clicked together, barely missing Lex's tongue as he leaned back to tear at the collar of my uniform. He was in my lap, slapping my hands away as I tried to stop him. "This comes off. I know it does."
I grabbed his wrist, holding him in place as I wiped my other hand across my mouth. "We... we are not doing this."
Lex's eyes narrowed, his thighs tightening around my ribs. "Oh, yes, we are. Don't you get it? We've lost the war, Clark. The human race is going to be enslaved and nothing we can do will prevent it. Do you have any idea what these aliens have planned for the two of us?"
His hands were in my hair, tugging every time I tried to struggle away from him. My head slammed into the wall, stars dancing before my eyes as Lex continued, "Tomorrow we're going to be an example of why resistance is futile. They're going to march us out onto the White House lawn and there's going to be a very public execution.
"It'll be broadcast worldwide -- everyone is going to see us die. They've got a rock for you and a sword for me and I'll be damned if I leave this life without having had you."
Lex snatches a personal victory in defeat.
Then his mouth was on mine again and somehow he'd found the opening in my suit.
It'd been years since anybody touched me. Too many years and... we were going to die. My friends were trapped, maybe already dead. I'd never see my mom again. I'd never have a wife, I'd never have a son -- my entire race's future was going to die with me and my adoptive race was condemned to slavery.
My best friend had become my enemy and devoted his life to my destruction.
The same enemy was offering me the last comfort I would ever have.
It was insane. It was the worst thing I could imagine and yet... I wasn't going to fight him anymore. What was the point? At least one of us would die happy.
Burying my face into his shoulder, I nodded, shaking with bitter laughter. When he kissed me again, I kissed back. We stripped each other quickly, throwing our clothes into a pile before I tumbled onto the cot. It was close enough to the chains that I was immediately dizzy, weakened by their proximity.
Clark makes a final sacrifice.
Lex frowned, sparing a glance at the chains and then shook his head. Pulling me to my feet, he shoved the cot, propelling it forward and ignoring the screech of metal on the stone floor. Once he was satisfied it was as far away from the danger as possible, I ended up on my back with Lex crawling up between my legs.
His mouth was heaven.
Seconds later, I spilled eagerly into it, trembling with the force of my release. Sex had never been like this.
When he sat back onto his heels and wiped a fingertip across the corner of his mouth, I tried to apologize for being so quick. He stopped me with a look, then a kiss. With his weight pressing me into the thin mattress, the beat of his heart against mine was so strong and vital I couldn't believe anything would stop it. The hard touches softened, there were no more bites, no more harsh words. When he pushed inside me, I welcomed the pain, gasping his name and giving in to the only destiny left to me.
Lex's strength is a comfort to a stricken Clark. It is his redemption in Clark's eyes.
They came for us the following morning.
Lex was ready.
With my chains wrapped around his fists, he did a lot of damage. I helped as best I could, grabbing anyone who landed on my side of the cell and battering their heads against the wall until they stopped moving.
But there were too many of them. After they shot Lex and lassoed me with the chains, there was nothing left to do but accept the inevitable.
He was still alive when they dragged us through the streets of Washington. There was blood everywhere and he couldn't walk. With my chains back in place, neither could I. The sidewalks were lined with people -- some crying, some cursing and pushing at the guards -- whether to get away or to save us, I'm not sure. But most of them were just watching, bearing silent witness to the end of freedom.
The chunk of Kryptonite was huge, the largest I'd ever seen. It started to glow long before we reached the execution ground. I felt it as we cleared the fence, a searing pain that dwarfed the effects of my chains. My blood was boiling, my skin tight, the veins crawling underneath it, pulsing with agony.
They laid me beside it and as I struggled to breathe, I felt a hand touch my face. Turning toward its owner, I found Lex kneeling at my side, my own torment reflected in his eyes. His voice was so quiet only I could hear it.
"So beautiful -- even now. How could I have been so fortunate?" Lex leaned closer, the tips on his fingers brushing my forehead, stroking my eyelids closed.
"Sleep, Clark. The pain will be gone soon."
Everything once broken between them is burned away, leaving only the unbreakable bond they've had from the beginning. Such a poignant moment.
I obeyed, closing my eyes and waiting for it to happen. Somewhere near us people were screaming and running, but I didn't care. It hurt so much. I'd been dying for weeks and now that the end was near all I wanted was to believe Lex. I just wanted the pain to be gone.
Blackness rose up to meet me. With the same eagerness that I'd embraced my enemy, I embraced my death.
Is it really over?
There were voices, voices I never thought I'd hear again. Bruce and Wally and maybe Diana, but definitely Lex. They were somewhere close, trading heated insults back and forth while I drifted pleasantly along. The pain was gone but I was weak and so very tired. I felt like I could sleep for a month.
"You already have."
Of course, I'd said that out loud and Lex was the logical one to answer. I was experiencing lucid dreaming, caught in a euphoric state brought on by a massive Kryptonite overdose. If the exposure continued, seizures would follow, then death. The A.I. had told me a little about this.
Lex had told me more.
Turning toward that voice, I smiled, but didn't open my eyes. This was such a nice dream. I wanted it to last forever.
Lex's presence in what Clark believes is his final dream says it all. Clark wants him there.
"Get away from him."
Oh, I knew I was right. Bruce was here, seriously pissed and confrontational -- just like always. But that was impossible, Bruce was gone with the rest of the JLA.
"Gentlemen, need I remind you I am here in an official capacity? Your meager commentary to the press that our national hero is 'recovering' has proven woefully inadequate for the American public. We need more information than you have deigned to provide."
Yes, that was even more welcome sound. Here was my lion -- Lex Luthor in full presidential mode, just hearing him growl made my heart beat faster. I wanted to see him going toe-to-toe with Bruce because that was always entertaining. Besides, if I could open my eyes, then this would be real.
His lion. Clark has come complete circle, back to their beginning.
Lex would be alive. I would be alive. And if the JLA was here, then the Earth might be safe.
It took a lot of effort, but I finally got them to open. Surrounded by a world of white, I blinked slowly and looked up at a familiar ceiling. I was at the Fortress, lying in my own bed.
So... this was real.
It took a moment to focus on the person standing next to me, but when the immaculate suit and dark purple shirt registered, I grinned. He hadn't worn purple in years.
Lex has returned to the past, also. He makes sure Clark can see that the minute he opens his eyes.
He also hadn't smiled like that since we lived in Smallville. "Nice to have you back in the land of the living." Warm fingers slid into my hair, combing through it in a now achingly familiar motion. My head tingled. "Your mother was worried about you...."
All the evidence points to a complete reversal in their dynamic. Yay!
My voice sounded rusty. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine. Just worried about you." Lex's fingers tightened, the lines around his mouth softening as he murmured, "So was I."
Before I could reply, Wally zipped into existence beside Lex. "Look, we're serious. We don't care that you're the President. This isn't the U.S. and you've got no right to be here. I don't know how the heck you got in but you're leaving. And stop touching him!"
The hand was abruptly jerked away. I missed it immediately. Wally was going to get bounced off a wall.
Just as soon as I could move.
That made me laugh. Things are definitely looking up.
"It's all right, Flash. He didn't break in... did you?"
"No."
"The A.I. let you in?" Bruce was incredulous. His relationship with the A.I. was dodgy at best and he'd had access to the Fortress for years. Personally, I think the A.I. took random pot-shots at him to keep him on his toes. Of course, it could be the other way around.
The humor is relieving the tension that had built and bringing in the sweet.
"Yes."
The smugness hung there in the air, taunting my teammates who didn't have a clue how much things had changed. Lex was completely relaxed, hands tucked in his pockets, smirking at Bruce like this was a regular thing. Like he'd had a key to my place for years -- an all-access pass to Superman's secret hideaway where the two of us indulged in regular Friday night rituals of pizza, bad action flicks and some serious making out on the couch.
Actually, that didn't sound like such a bad idea.
Lex was gloating and not being subtle about it as he watched Bruce through half-lidded eyes, waiting for a reaction.
Lex is so perfect in his triumph. He's won everything he's ever wanted.
For such a laconic individual, Bruce had never been fond of one word answers. I could hear his teeth grinding. There was going to be an explosion soon, probably involving one of the gadgets. The stuff he carried around could easily take down a charging rhino.
He's one seriously scary guy.
I'd never want him as an enemy.
However, as Superman, defender of the American Way, it was my duty to keep the President safe. Since Lex wasn't dead and was still President, I should put a stop to this. While it was a new experience seeing Bruce so rattled, he and Lex were equally matched in ruthlessness. They might end up killing each other and I'd had enough of death.
Clark chooses. Again. This time he makes the right choice.
"A.I., explain Lex Luthor's presence."
Even twenty years after Jor-El's final interference I still avoided the cave, but the A.I. had been programmed with my mother's personality. It was one of the reasons I didn't mind spending my free time in the Antarctic. Her voice filled the room, warming me right down to my toes. "He has the access code."
Bruce shifted, fingertips gliding along the edge of his belt. "How?"
"He is Segeth."
Right. Like that explained anything. The most annoying thing about dealing with an A.I. was their linear logic and I really didn't have the strength to explain a centuries-old prophecy.
I've always loved the Naman/Segeth storyline. It's wonderful having it end up being the most important prediction in this story.
Besides, as far as Bruce and Wally were concerned, 'Segeth' could mean anything. It could be Kryptonian for brother, friend, enemy, lover... or all of the above.
Lex was smiling though. He'd taken a seat beside my bed, my hand was in his and he looked just like a kid on Christmas morning. I'm sure if Bruce and Wally hadn't been glowering at him, Lex would've been doing a lot more than grinning from ear-to-ear.
I could go for that.... "Flash, Batman, thank you for your concern but I'm perfectly safe."
Lex chuckled, edging closer, and the grinding of Bruce's teeth was so loud even Wally turned to look at him. In order to avoid disaster, I had to give them a little more to go on. "Things have changed and I'll explain it all later... when we've got a few hours. Then, you can tell me why we're not dead. But right now, I'm tired, I'm thirsty and I'm hungry."
Bruce glared but Wally grinned, the mention of food distracting him easily. In his own way, Wally's just as predictable as the rest of us. All you had to do was push the right buttons. "Right. Okay. I'll take care of the food. Hey, Supes, is the A.I. still programmed to make chili-dogs?"
Clark proves he's not a big dumb alien, except when it concerns Lex. And that's changed, too.
I rolled my eyes. Now there was a story I could share with Lex. It had taken weeks to air out the Fortress. "Unfortunately, yes."
"Great! C'mon, Bats, I think these two need to talk and we're kind of in the way and... hey, let go of my arm."
Bruce was still glaring over his shoulder at me as he dragged Wally out of the room. I had a lot of explaining to do later, but what else was new?
After they were gone, I rolled toward Lex, settling down onto my side. Frankly, being able to move came as a surprise to me. Except for the part about being hungry, I'd told Wally and Bruce the truth. Even though I'd apparently slept for a month, I was still exhausted. Constant exposure to Kryptonite had drained every reserve I had.
The only thing that would help more than sleep would be the sun. Tomorrow....
Lex's smile broadened, lighting up his face as his hand tightened on mine. I'd never seen him this happy -- not even when we were kids. And while things between us were far from perfect, for the first time in years, I had hope for something better.
But I had to tease him.
"Lex, I don't know why you're smiling like that. Being Segeth isn't a good thing."
"That's where you're wrong, Naman... Don't you remember?" Lex leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss on my mouth. "Segeth is the hero of the story."
Maybe he was right.
I couldn't wait to find out.
Clark is happy because Lex is finally happy. I'm happy, too!
Author: mistressace
Commentator: danceswithgary
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Warnings: Minor Character Death
Rating: R
Summary: Summary: Written for the Cuff 'Em, Vamp 'Em, or Just Make 'Em Come Already Kink and Cliche Multi-Fandom Challenge. The prompt given was: "If we're going to die, then dammit, let's go out with a bang."
Whatever Lex wants -- Lex will have.
Even at the end of all things, hope remains eternal.
June 2025 started out as the worst month of my life.
It began with Dad.
The fifth of June was a typical summer day in Smallville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the cows waited patiently to be fed. There was nothing out of the ordinary except it was the day my dad's heart finally gave out and I wasn't there to save him.
An hour and twenty minutes earlier, there'd been an explosion in a South African mine and forty-five men were trapped a mile underground. I was their only hope. While I was shoring up a rapidly collapsing tunnel, my dad collapsed in the driveway.
Mom said it was quick. One minute, he was loading bags of feed into the old truck and the next he was gone. Even if I'd been on the right side of the world, she was sure there was nothing I could've done. She kept telling me it was just his time, but I know better.
Before Jor-El souped him up so Dad could put an end to my crime spree in Metropolis, Jonathan Kent had been perfectly fine. Whenever he'd gone in for a check-up, our family doctor raved about the shape Dad was in. According to all of the tests, he had a heart of a twenty-year old and was supposed to outlive us all.
No matter what Mom said, I knew it was all my fault.
Clark never releases his burden of guilt for that summer in Metropolis. Years of penance as the world's champion have never allowed him to accept the forgiveness he deserves. A sad note to begin this story.
The entire JLA left Earth on the seventh. Green Lantern got an urgent summons from the Guardians, and when he heard what they had to say, he sped back to the Watchtower to brief the rest of us.
Somehow I missed the call to arms.
Two days after his father died. He will not cut himself ANY slack. Is it any surprise that certain other people aren't allowed any either?
Actually... I ignored it. Grief does funny things to people, even people who aren't human. I knew I was being stubborn and stupid and ignoring a call from the Watchtower would earn me a serious ass-kicking from Batman, but if I'd done it earlier, if I'd ignored the call about the mine, my dad might still be alive.
Because I missed the meeting out of sheer pigheadedness, I didn't know what was up until Bruce and Wally knocked on my mom's front door. Even then they didn't tell me much -- just that the situation was off world and serious enough that everybody was needed.
Sheer pigheadedness. Now, I'm getting irritated with the stubborn alien.
Everybody except me.
When I asked why, Wally went into a song-and-dance routine, telling me it really wasn't a big deal and they could handle it without me.
Bruce was more straightforward. There was Kryptonite involved and since I'm the only one affected by it, I would be a liability. Besides, I had a parent to bury.
Honest to the point of being brutal, that's Bruce. He'd never been one to pull punches.
I think Wally's version was better.
Of course he preferred Wally's. Bruce actually had the nerve to suggest quite reasonably that a parent's death might have something to do with Clark's actions.
We buried Dad three days later. The funeral was really something.
The strangest thing occurred to me while we followed the hearse to the cemetery. When we were kids, Lex told me kings would come to his father's funeral, but friends would come to my dad's.
Only one part of Lex's prediction turned out to be right.
He'd missed by a mile on the first half. After a conviction for the murder of his parents -- even though he only spent a few months in prison for it -- and having been stripped of the power that had once held half of Kansas in sway, Lionel Luthor was a nobody when he died. He was buried quietly and without fanfare. To be honest, I think Lex was the only one who went. I don't really know because we weren't friends then and it's not something I can ask him about now.
The part Lex did get right was that friends came to Dad's funeral. Not just his friends, but my friends as well, some of them I'd lost touch with years ago. Pete was there; he drove in from Wichita with his mom and brothers. Chloe flew in from New York with her husband and three teenaged kids in tow. Lana arrived late, running into the church at the last minute with her Aunt Nell and Uncle Dean. Even Lois took a few days off from The Daily Planet and her entire family showed up, including Lucy who might've been out on bail. She left pretty quickly afterward so... maybe not.
The roundup of characters fills us in on where canon took a detour. Lionel's death in prison indicates a number of the later Smallville confrontations, including Lex marrying Lana never took place. It makes me very curious about where Lex is in this universe.
In fact, all of Lowell County came by to pay their respects. There were people I'd never seen before coming out of the woodwork with casseroles and fresh baked pies and offers of sympathy. The church was packed, reduced to standing room only and even with that, some of the crowd spilled out onto the lawn. The line of cars in the procession behind us stretched for miles.
But what really got to me was what I saw after the hearse stopped and I was helping my mom out of the limo. You see, Lex had been dead wrong about the most important point of his prediction.
There was a king who showed up for my father's funeral -- or at least the closest thing America had to a king.
President Alexander J. Luthor was standing at the graveside, waiting for the pall bearers to bring Dad to his final resting place. There must've been a dozen Secret Service men scattered about, but the only person I noticed was Lex. Dressed in black from head to toe, he ignored the gasps as people recognized him. He just stood there, utterly motionless until Mom and I stopped on the other side of the grave.
Aha! There he is!
That's when he lifted his head, offering my mother a sympathetic smile before his eyes locked on mine.
We stared at each other, neither of us willing to look away as the minister read the burial service, the words an unintelligible jumble. I guess I should've been grateful he wasn't wearing that damned ring. At least I wasn't writhing on the ground while they were lowering my dad into it.
The ring is the first clue that there is indeed a rift, although Lex seems to be civilized about it.
Mom was numb, so worn down to the breaking point by the weight of her loss and everyone's sympathy that I don't think she even knew Lex was there. But I did. Through the whole service I kept watch, making sure he didn't touch anyone, hurt anyone. If it was the last thing I ever did, I'd keep my friends and family safe from the monster who'd once been my best friend.
Monster. OK, really big rift. What the heck happened?
At the end of the sermon and after Dad's coffin was at the bottom of the grave, Lex knelt, his black-gloved fingers sifting through the dirt. It didn't dawn on me what he was doing until he stood and tossed a handful into the hole. The dull thud as it hit the coffin echoed in my head.
He had no right. Only family members were allowed to do that and Lex Luthor wasn't a member of my family. He'd never been.
It was all I could do to contain myself. To stay where I was and not leap across the chasm that separated us. I wanted to tear him to pieces.
We were enemies. Mortal enemies.
We'd been trying to destroy each other for nearly two decades.
Lex shoving himself into Jonathan's funeral was pretty ballsy if Clark isn't exaggerating about their mutual enmity. Not just ballsy, though. Deliberate, calculated cruelty.
As Clark Kent, I studied every aspect of his life, both public and private, in order to rip it apart in the press. Lois helped in the anti-Luthor crusade, but I was the driving force behind our many exposes. As Superman, I'd gone out of my way to thwart his never-ending schemes to conquer the world.
In retaliation, Lex banned Metropolis' lead reporters from LexCorp sponsored events. When that failed, he sued The Daily Planet and Perry White almost into bankruptcy.
Denouncing Superman as dangerous, he claimed I was a blight on mankind's potential. He called me alien, exhorting the American public to see me as a precursor to an invasion and demanded I be held accountable for damage to public property due to my innumerable brawls.
All I ever tried to do was help people and he wanted me branded as a criminal because of it.
He tried to kill me a hundred times, always swearing that next time he'd do it, that the next time I'd be begging him for mercy, begging him for a quick death and the bastard had the gall to come to my dad's funeral.
Why the hell did he think he'd be welcome here?
Sure, he didn't know Jonathan Kent was the father of his arch-nemesis, but he and my dad had never seen eye-to-eye. Even when Lex and I were friends, Dad wasn't nice to him. At best, they were cordial and that never lasted long.
And yet -- Lex stood there, waiting until the majority of the mourners drifted away. He never said a word. He didn't approach anyone, touch anyone, or look at anyone except me. When it was all over, he dusted off his hands and walked away with his guards closing ranks around him.
Twenty years of hatred. That's a long time. And yet, Lex hasn't killed Superman and we know he could.
I should've let it go.
Lex left town right after the funeral.
But his having been so close, hovering at the edge of our grief like a vulture waiting for the chance to feed, rankled. At the reception afterward, I saw him in every corner, heard his voice as I moved from room to room, caught a whiff of his cologne even though I knew he wasn't there. Every hand I shook was his. Every pair of arms that held me tight, every pat on the back, every murmured condolence -- they all belonged to him.
It drove me out of my mind. I couldn't stand it.
Once everybody left and Mom had gone to bed, I bolted for the loft. It was the one place on the farm that was mine and mine alone, my retreat from the world. Normally, I felt safe up there but this time it didn't work. I was alone with my thoughts and all I could think about was Lex.
I started to pace, but that didn't help.
The more I walked, the angrier I got and before I knew it, I was airborne.
Clark's losing it and pacing in the loft. Revisiting the scene for the beginning of their 'relationship' had to be grinding it all in even more.
I found him in the Oval Office, hard at work even though it was well after midnight.
Normally, I go through proper channels when I meet with the President. I call ahead and check in with his aides to make certain he has time to talk to me. I even advise NORAD that I'll be in the air space over Washington DC. Even though it sounds corny, I do stand for Truth, Justice and the American Way, and part of the American Way means not barging in on its leader without warning.
Besides, it's the polite thing to do and had kept the friction between us to a minimum. Lex was in the middle of his second term and in two years, we'd be back to business as usual -- at each other's throats.
Poor Clark, torn between two sets of imperatives, another source of aggravation.
But not this time. This time I was too mad to do it the polite way.
To his credit, Lex didn't jump when I snapped the lock and shoved the doors open. He finished signing the document in front of him, slid it into a folder and rose to his feet as a Secret Service team rushed into the room with guns drawn. They were sent away with a calm thanks for their diligence and a request to be left undisturbed for the next hour.
Lex politely offered me a drink. When I refused, he poured one for himself before taking a seat in front of the fire. He was being so calm and rational, blithely unaware I'd come here to break him into little tiny pieces.
Clark was being blithely unaware, thinking Lex didn't understand exactly what he'd done and the expected result.
But, in the end, it was Lex who broke me.
After listening to my heated lecture about how he'd handled the latest nuclear crisis with North Korea, Lex set his drink aside and asked me why I'd chosen this moment to take him to task over his foreign policy.
He didn't give me a chance to respond, interrupting me with a smooth, "While your points are quite valid, don't you think this could have waited? Or it your grief talking?"
I sputtered, "Grief? I--I don't know what you're talking about."
The look on Lex's face was something I hadn't seen in years. Pity mixed with a hint of contempt, and it carried through in his voice. "Please, don't play me for a fool. We buried your father today. Despite what Bruce may have told you, even superheroes are allowed to mourn."
Lex knows exactly where to cut. Not even a superhero can avoid the sharp edge of his tongue.
Oh... Jesus.
I don't remember what I said after that.
I don't remember what I did but it was bad.
Bad enough that Lex opened a box on his coffee table and a moment later, I was on the floor at his feet trying not to throw up on the carpet. Lex stayed seated, his hand sliding into my hair and fresh agony came with that touch. The whole room glowed bright green as he stroked me like a dog. Held tight against his knee, he kept petting me while he whispered horrors into my ear.
Lex knew everything. Everything.
All those times in Smallville when I thought he hadn't noticed or that his memory had been destroyed -- I'd been wrong. He knew he'd been split into two and that the reintegration hadn't been perfect. He knew I'd abandoned him when he needed me most, that I'd run away as he raved about my abilities to anyone who would listen, condemning him to incarceration in Belle Reve and leaving him to his father's mercies. He knew about the ECT... and he knew I tried to save him.
There were other things he knew, things he must've learned from the caves or maybe the third stone, the one I'd found in his vault. He knew the location of the Fortress, how it was built, what was in it and how to destroy it. He knew my real parents' names, how old I was when they put me in the ship and how long it took me to come to Earth. He knew why Jor-El had chosen Smallville as my landing place.
He knew I was going to live forever...
And he knew how to kill me.
He knew he was the only one who could kill me and one day I would ask him for that release. As he predicted my fate, his lips brushed against my face, lingering there like a kiss -- one that burned worse than the blood boiling in my veins.
Then he left me shivering on the floor.
The visual of a shattered Superman being forced to listen to the secrets and truths he'd never wanted to face is a sucker-punch to my gut every time I read this. I can't decide if Lex's eyes would have held an unholy glee or reflected the tortured emotions.
The following morning, the aliens invaded.
Again, Lex had been off on his predictions. The attackers he'd prophesied in his campaign speeches wanted nothing to do with me -- other than to secure my destruction.
The idea of predictions was threaded through the earlier Smallville seasons. Clark, in particular, was affected by Cassandra's and Jordan's visions, as well as the Naman/Segeth prophecy. Using Lex's 'predictions' as the base for this story was an interesting twist.
By the twentieth, Earth was theirs.
The other members of the League had been contained off world, their errand simply a distraction.
The human race fought back, but they were no match for the invaders.
Without the Justice League to help me, I wasn't much of a match either. The aliens knew about Kryptonite and used it to shoot me out of the air during the first battle. My chains were made out of it, keeping me weak as they broadcast the image of Earth's defeated hero on every station.
Poor Clark, what he considers his only means of redemption torn away from him.
Lex proved harder to take down.
He'd been trained for war from the moment he was born and in those few days, he proved that training hadn't been in vain. Raised in leonine tradition, Lex roared his defiance right up to the moment he was captured.
The callback to Lionel's 'training' - excellent!
I knew something was up when my chains were stripped off and tossed into a corner. For the first time in days, I was free to move. Taking full advantage of that respite, I crawled off the cot and into the opposite corner, breathing a sigh of relief as the poisonous glow faded.
I hadn't expected any kind of mercy. From the beginning, my fate had been made perfectly clear. To the people of Earth I was a symbol of hope, and hope was to be crushed.
In that, my captors had succeeded. The last few days had overwhelmed me -- living in constant agony, barely able to breathe, let alone resist -- I was simply waiting to die.
Now, without explanation, I'd been given a reprieve. I was as weak as a day-old kitten but at least the pain had stopped.
Before letting me loose, the guards had dropped off a tray of food. I pulled it toward me, dragging it across the floor. This was another blessing I hadn't expected. The meat was still warm, the bread fresh and the cup of water cold. Sipping it slowly, I wondered how long I had before they chained me up again.
Clark expects so little, is so happy with the slight respite - you know he's being set up.
As I finished the last bite of bread, the door to my cell opened. An awkward bundle of cloth was tossed in, landing heavily against the far wall and once more, the door closed.
Puzzled, I stared at the new addition to my decor.
I'd thought I was going to die in my uniform. After all, its familiar red, blue and yellow was as much a symbol of Superman as the body within it. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe they wanted me to look like everybody else. Maybe they wanted to show the world how much I'd been humbled by captivity, that I'd been reduced to nothing but an ordinary man.
That was an interesting bit of insight on Clark's part. I think the aliens missed a trick there, but then again, without the uniform, the final degradation wouldn't have had the same impact.
And then again, maybe I was way off base.
Because the bundle on my floor groaned, unfolding slowly to reveal that it was a man.
Not just any man.
Lex.
It took a supreme effort of will but he rose to his feet. His shoulders were squared and head held high as he glared at the door, the walls and then finally me. Battered, bruised, clearly beaten and yet... the President of the United States remained unbowed.
Clark betrays his grudging respect for his sworn enemy.
Lex eyed the chains in the far corner, turning slowly to take in every detail of the small room that had been my home for nearly a week. "Of course," he said, then laughed, his shoulders shaking as he dropped onto the small cot.
I had no idea why he'd said that, or why he was laughing, but I never had understood Lex.
Pushing myself up off the floor, I leaned against the wall while the room spun around me. Even though the chains were off, I was barely able to stand.
Lex spared me a glance, his mouth twisted into a parody of a smile as he apologized. "Forgive me, Clark. It appears that gallows etiquette is universal."
"I fail to see what etiquette has to do with this...."
"Which has always been part of the problem. You're just human enough to pass for one of us, but not to be one of us. This..." Lex waved at the cell, the chains, then at me, "... this is a condemned man's fantasy -- a last wish."
Lex's instant comprehension of the situation is not surprising. It is Lex, after all.
I swayed and clutched at the wall. "It's not mine."
"No, it's definitely not yours." Lex stood, slinking toward me in that loose-hipped way that confused me when I was a kid. When we first met, I'd never known anybody like him and by the time I realized what that walk meant, it was too late to do anything about it.
So Clark wasn't completely clueless. Hmmm.
He didn't stop until he was only inches away, until he could reach out a wrap his hand around my neck and pull me in. "But it is mine."
What followed was the scariest, wildest and hardest kiss of my life. It left me gasping for breath, scrabbling at Lex's shoulders as I tried to push him away. My enemy, he was my enemy and this was not happening.
But it was happening. With an exasperated snarl, Lex pushed me into the wall and kissed me again, harder this time. He bit my lip, pulling on it until I opened my mouth to protest and got invaded instead. Too weak to get away from him, the only thing I could do was fall.
We slid down the wall, hitting the floor hard. My teeth clicked together, barely missing Lex's tongue as he leaned back to tear at the collar of my uniform. He was in my lap, slapping my hands away as I tried to stop him. "This comes off. I know it does."
I grabbed his wrist, holding him in place as I wiped my other hand across my mouth. "We... we are not doing this."
Lex's eyes narrowed, his thighs tightening around my ribs. "Oh, yes, we are. Don't you get it? We've lost the war, Clark. The human race is going to be enslaved and nothing we can do will prevent it. Do you have any idea what these aliens have planned for the two of us?"
His hands were in my hair, tugging every time I tried to struggle away from him. My head slammed into the wall, stars dancing before my eyes as Lex continued, "Tomorrow we're going to be an example of why resistance is futile. They're going to march us out onto the White House lawn and there's going to be a very public execution.
"It'll be broadcast worldwide -- everyone is going to see us die. They've got a rock for you and a sword for me and I'll be damned if I leave this life without having had you."
Lex snatches a personal victory in defeat.
Then his mouth was on mine again and somehow he'd found the opening in my suit.
It'd been years since anybody touched me. Too many years and... we were going to die. My friends were trapped, maybe already dead. I'd never see my mom again. I'd never have a wife, I'd never have a son -- my entire race's future was going to die with me and my adoptive race was condemned to slavery.
My best friend had become my enemy and devoted his life to my destruction.
The same enemy was offering me the last comfort I would ever have.
It was insane. It was the worst thing I could imagine and yet... I wasn't going to fight him anymore. What was the point? At least one of us would die happy.
Burying my face into his shoulder, I nodded, shaking with bitter laughter. When he kissed me again, I kissed back. We stripped each other quickly, throwing our clothes into a pile before I tumbled onto the cot. It was close enough to the chains that I was immediately dizzy, weakened by their proximity.
Clark makes a final sacrifice.
Lex frowned, sparing a glance at the chains and then shook his head. Pulling me to my feet, he shoved the cot, propelling it forward and ignoring the screech of metal on the stone floor. Once he was satisfied it was as far away from the danger as possible, I ended up on my back with Lex crawling up between my legs.
His mouth was heaven.
Seconds later, I spilled eagerly into it, trembling with the force of my release. Sex had never been like this.
When he sat back onto his heels and wiped a fingertip across the corner of his mouth, I tried to apologize for being so quick. He stopped me with a look, then a kiss. With his weight pressing me into the thin mattress, the beat of his heart against mine was so strong and vital I couldn't believe anything would stop it. The hard touches softened, there were no more bites, no more harsh words. When he pushed inside me, I welcomed the pain, gasping his name and giving in to the only destiny left to me.
Lex's strength is a comfort to a stricken Clark. It is his redemption in Clark's eyes.
They came for us the following morning.
Lex was ready.
With my chains wrapped around his fists, he did a lot of damage. I helped as best I could, grabbing anyone who landed on my side of the cell and battering their heads against the wall until they stopped moving.
But there were too many of them. After they shot Lex and lassoed me with the chains, there was nothing left to do but accept the inevitable.
He was still alive when they dragged us through the streets of Washington. There was blood everywhere and he couldn't walk. With my chains back in place, neither could I. The sidewalks were lined with people -- some crying, some cursing and pushing at the guards -- whether to get away or to save us, I'm not sure. But most of them were just watching, bearing silent witness to the end of freedom.
The chunk of Kryptonite was huge, the largest I'd ever seen. It started to glow long before we reached the execution ground. I felt it as we cleared the fence, a searing pain that dwarfed the effects of my chains. My blood was boiling, my skin tight, the veins crawling underneath it, pulsing with agony.
They laid me beside it and as I struggled to breathe, I felt a hand touch my face. Turning toward its owner, I found Lex kneeling at my side, my own torment reflected in his eyes. His voice was so quiet only I could hear it.
"So beautiful -- even now. How could I have been so fortunate?" Lex leaned closer, the tips on his fingers brushing my forehead, stroking my eyelids closed.
"Sleep, Clark. The pain will be gone soon."
Everything once broken between them is burned away, leaving only the unbreakable bond they've had from the beginning. Such a poignant moment.
I obeyed, closing my eyes and waiting for it to happen. Somewhere near us people were screaming and running, but I didn't care. It hurt so much. I'd been dying for weeks and now that the end was near all I wanted was to believe Lex. I just wanted the pain to be gone.
Blackness rose up to meet me. With the same eagerness that I'd embraced my enemy, I embraced my death.
Is it really over?
There were voices, voices I never thought I'd hear again. Bruce and Wally and maybe Diana, but definitely Lex. They were somewhere close, trading heated insults back and forth while I drifted pleasantly along. The pain was gone but I was weak and so very tired. I felt like I could sleep for a month.
"You already have."
Of course, I'd said that out loud and Lex was the logical one to answer. I was experiencing lucid dreaming, caught in a euphoric state brought on by a massive Kryptonite overdose. If the exposure continued, seizures would follow, then death. The A.I. had told me a little about this.
Lex had told me more.
Turning toward that voice, I smiled, but didn't open my eyes. This was such a nice dream. I wanted it to last forever.
Lex's presence in what Clark believes is his final dream says it all. Clark wants him there.
"Get away from him."
Oh, I knew I was right. Bruce was here, seriously pissed and confrontational -- just like always. But that was impossible, Bruce was gone with the rest of the JLA.
"Gentlemen, need I remind you I am here in an official capacity? Your meager commentary to the press that our national hero is 'recovering' has proven woefully inadequate for the American public. We need more information than you have deigned to provide."
Yes, that was even more welcome sound. Here was my lion -- Lex Luthor in full presidential mode, just hearing him growl made my heart beat faster. I wanted to see him going toe-to-toe with Bruce because that was always entertaining. Besides, if I could open my eyes, then this would be real.
His lion. Clark has come complete circle, back to their beginning.
Lex would be alive. I would be alive. And if the JLA was here, then the Earth might be safe.
It took a lot of effort, but I finally got them to open. Surrounded by a world of white, I blinked slowly and looked up at a familiar ceiling. I was at the Fortress, lying in my own bed.
So... this was real.
It took a moment to focus on the person standing next to me, but when the immaculate suit and dark purple shirt registered, I grinned. He hadn't worn purple in years.
Lex has returned to the past, also. He makes sure Clark can see that the minute he opens his eyes.
He also hadn't smiled like that since we lived in Smallville. "Nice to have you back in the land of the living." Warm fingers slid into my hair, combing through it in a now achingly familiar motion. My head tingled. "Your mother was worried about you...."
All the evidence points to a complete reversal in their dynamic. Yay!
My voice sounded rusty. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine. Just worried about you." Lex's fingers tightened, the lines around his mouth softening as he murmured, "So was I."
Before I could reply, Wally zipped into existence beside Lex. "Look, we're serious. We don't care that you're the President. This isn't the U.S. and you've got no right to be here. I don't know how the heck you got in but you're leaving. And stop touching him!"
The hand was abruptly jerked away. I missed it immediately. Wally was going to get bounced off a wall.
Just as soon as I could move.
That made me laugh. Things are definitely looking up.
"It's all right, Flash. He didn't break in... did you?"
"No."
"The A.I. let you in?" Bruce was incredulous. His relationship with the A.I. was dodgy at best and he'd had access to the Fortress for years. Personally, I think the A.I. took random pot-shots at him to keep him on his toes. Of course, it could be the other way around.
The humor is relieving the tension that had built and bringing in the sweet.
"Yes."
The smugness hung there in the air, taunting my teammates who didn't have a clue how much things had changed. Lex was completely relaxed, hands tucked in his pockets, smirking at Bruce like this was a regular thing. Like he'd had a key to my place for years -- an all-access pass to Superman's secret hideaway where the two of us indulged in regular Friday night rituals of pizza, bad action flicks and some serious making out on the couch.
Actually, that didn't sound like such a bad idea.
Lex was gloating and not being subtle about it as he watched Bruce through half-lidded eyes, waiting for a reaction.
Lex is so perfect in his triumph. He's won everything he's ever wanted.
For such a laconic individual, Bruce had never been fond of one word answers. I could hear his teeth grinding. There was going to be an explosion soon, probably involving one of the gadgets. The stuff he carried around could easily take down a charging rhino.
He's one seriously scary guy.
I'd never want him as an enemy.
However, as Superman, defender of the American Way, it was my duty to keep the President safe. Since Lex wasn't dead and was still President, I should put a stop to this. While it was a new experience seeing Bruce so rattled, he and Lex were equally matched in ruthlessness. They might end up killing each other and I'd had enough of death.
Clark chooses. Again. This time he makes the right choice.
"A.I., explain Lex Luthor's presence."
Even twenty years after Jor-El's final interference I still avoided the cave, but the A.I. had been programmed with my mother's personality. It was one of the reasons I didn't mind spending my free time in the Antarctic. Her voice filled the room, warming me right down to my toes. "He has the access code."
Bruce shifted, fingertips gliding along the edge of his belt. "How?"
"He is Segeth."
Right. Like that explained anything. The most annoying thing about dealing with an A.I. was their linear logic and I really didn't have the strength to explain a centuries-old prophecy.
I've always loved the Naman/Segeth storyline. It's wonderful having it end up being the most important prediction in this story.
Besides, as far as Bruce and Wally were concerned, 'Segeth' could mean anything. It could be Kryptonian for brother, friend, enemy, lover... or all of the above.
Lex was smiling though. He'd taken a seat beside my bed, my hand was in his and he looked just like a kid on Christmas morning. I'm sure if Bruce and Wally hadn't been glowering at him, Lex would've been doing a lot more than grinning from ear-to-ear.
I could go for that.... "Flash, Batman, thank you for your concern but I'm perfectly safe."
Lex chuckled, edging closer, and the grinding of Bruce's teeth was so loud even Wally turned to look at him. In order to avoid disaster, I had to give them a little more to go on. "Things have changed and I'll explain it all later... when we've got a few hours. Then, you can tell me why we're not dead. But right now, I'm tired, I'm thirsty and I'm hungry."
Bruce glared but Wally grinned, the mention of food distracting him easily. In his own way, Wally's just as predictable as the rest of us. All you had to do was push the right buttons. "Right. Okay. I'll take care of the food. Hey, Supes, is the A.I. still programmed to make chili-dogs?"
Clark proves he's not a big dumb alien, except when it concerns Lex. And that's changed, too.
I rolled my eyes. Now there was a story I could share with Lex. It had taken weeks to air out the Fortress. "Unfortunately, yes."
"Great! C'mon, Bats, I think these two need to talk and we're kind of in the way and... hey, let go of my arm."
Bruce was still glaring over his shoulder at me as he dragged Wally out of the room. I had a lot of explaining to do later, but what else was new?
After they were gone, I rolled toward Lex, settling down onto my side. Frankly, being able to move came as a surprise to me. Except for the part about being hungry, I'd told Wally and Bruce the truth. Even though I'd apparently slept for a month, I was still exhausted. Constant exposure to Kryptonite had drained every reserve I had.
The only thing that would help more than sleep would be the sun. Tomorrow....
Lex's smile broadened, lighting up his face as his hand tightened on mine. I'd never seen him this happy -- not even when we were kids. And while things between us were far from perfect, for the first time in years, I had hope for something better.
But I had to tease him.
"Lex, I don't know why you're smiling like that. Being Segeth isn't a good thing."
"That's where you're wrong, Naman... Don't you remember?" Lex leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss on my mouth. "Segeth is the hero of the story."
Maybe he was right.
I couldn't wait to find out.
Clark is happy because Lex is finally happy. I'm happy, too!