Fic: You and I, We're Legendary
You and I, We're Legendary
Word Count: 1227
From Clexmas True Love Drabble Fest, Prompt "Legendary"
For more lovely Clexmas drabbles and ficlets, go here to read and support the authors!
Humming. Humming, all around him, long before his eyes would open. Something was happening. Nothing had happened for a long, long time. Before this, there had been dreaming, and cold cold cold. Now it was still too cold, but there was humming then beeping and eventually, talking.
“He’s waking up.”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know what you’re implying, but you are still human beings. You should help him.”
The stern voice seemed almost familiar. Deep, but not cavernous, and very ernest.
“Clark?” he managed, gulping in air as though he’d forgotten to breathe for too long. His eyes were open now, but he was blind as the day he was born.
“He knows who you are!”
“He can’t see me. I don’t think.”
A towering figure came closer and took his hand. “Lex?”
“He can’t be,” came a hushed whisper drenched in fear.
“Quiet. Lex? You need to wake up now.”
“Clark?”
Lex narrowed his eyes at the figure above him, and his eyes failing, reached up with one hand to touch his cheek. Firm and very warm, as always.
Strong arms pulled him up, and then there was a towel being wrapped around his shoulders.
“You’ve been in stasis in Brainiac’s ship for a long time,” Clark said a bit uncertainly. “You might have some memory loss.”
“I might. Since I don’t know anything that you’re saying.”
“Hm.”
With his vision beginning to clear a little, Lex tried to focus on Clark. He was wearing a strange, skin-tight outfit, with a red cape, and there were two scientists behind him, both looking as though they were about to wet themselves. One stepped forward.
“Welcome to the 31st Century, Lex Luthor.”
***
“They didn’t want to wake me up.” There was no question in Lex’s voice. He would not be coddled, no matter how hard the cryo-pod had been on him.
“No, they were afraid of what you would do.”
Clark sat beside Lex in the small, spartan quarters Lex had been afforded on the spaceship. Lex surmised that there was security that would keep him there, if he tried to leave. No need to be careless. Even with the Superman about.
But Lex just couldn’t call him Superman. He was Clark.
“And you? Were you afraid of what I’d do?”
“Not really.”
“Are we really enemies? I know you and I didn’t leave things on the best terms before I was abducted, but I still have a hard time envisioning us fighting.”
“We were enemies. You’ve been dead for a long time.” Clark’s voice grew a little cold.
“I see. 31st century.”
“That wasn’t what killed you.” Clark met Lex’s eye. “But it wasn’t really you. I knew that, somehow. I knew that Brainiac had done something to you, and you had changed, just slightly, and the longer the other you was around the worse it got. But it was never really you.”
“And you were willing to risk that? You were willing to reawaken your nemesis because of some feeling you had that I wouldn’t really turn out to be as monstrous as some clone of me was?” Lex thinned his lips. “Are you sure on that one, Clark? Because I think you could still stuff me back and that pod, and no one in this world would care.”
“I would care.”
Clark put his hand on the back of Lex’s neck and held him firmly, as though he needed to keep him firmly on this plane of existence.
“We do great things. Never just good things, or bad things, but amazing things. Great things, which can be incredibly wonderful for the world or hugely detrimental. But there it is.”
“You’ve changed.”
“I’m a lot older. I hope I’ve learned something since you last saw me.”
Lex looked over Clark’s face. He still looked young. Not the fifteen year old sprout of a man who had plucked him from a watery grave, or the bellicose college freshman strangling him in his study, but young. His voice, however, was that of a much older man. One who had lost much. If it truly were the 31st, then likely... everyone.
“I’m sorry, Clark.”
“You don’t even know what you’re apologizing for.”
“You’re lonely. That’s why you woke me up,” Lex surmised. Clark already had his hand on Lex, so he didn’t feel strange touching Clark’s thigh gently.
“We didn’t start the process. One of our enemies did. The found you on an abandoned planet. I have no idea how the spare ship got there. We were in the middle of fighting them when one of our people found you. They assumed our enemies wanted to use you for their own purposes, so they took you aboard.”
“I see.”
“Well, once the process was started, it was either help you out of it or let you die.”
Lex nodded. “Then I should be thanking you.”
“I’d like to believe these crew’s better nature would have won out.”
“Ever the optimist, hm?” Lex gazed out the window for a long moment. Even seeing unfamiliar stars outside his window, it was hard to believe where he was, when he was.
Clark put both of his hands on Lex’s shoulders and turned him so that they could look at one another.
“You once said that our friendship was to be the stuff of legends. I believe that, Lex. You and I haven’t even yet begun. And if you’ll trust me, just a little bit longer, which I know is more than I maybe deserved all those centuries ago, I’ll show you what we can really accomplish together.” Clark shook his head once and seemed to lose focus momentarily. “One of my biggest regrets was losing you.”
“When I died-”
“When I lost your friendship. No. When I threw it away on the word of others.”
It had been a long time, longer than Lex could readily count, since Lex had felt so unanchored and out of place. There was no Earth, no ground. No planet under their feet or real air generated by their ecosystem to breath. There was no one in the universe he knew besides Clark. His scientific knowledge was centuries outdated. There were aliens of all sorts walking about the ship, when the last aliens Lex had seen were both powerful and malevolent.
“This is a brave new world for me, Clark. I hope you understand that. I’m going to need a little... guidance here.”
A very familiar and welcome sight: Clark grinned. “Maybe I can make up for those times you guided me.”
“I don’t know that I was ever such a good mentor,” Lex scoffed.
“You always meant more to me than you knew,” Clark replied seriously. He took Lex’s hand and stood, encouraging him to rise as well.
“Together again, then,” Lex quipped as he let Clark free him from his cell-like room.
Clark smiled at him. A warm, reassuring expression that belied the silly outfit and went straight to the core. Superman was saying it, so you believed him.
“Wherever, whenever, Lex. You and I. We’re legendary.”
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth.
comments posted there. Please comment there using OpenID or your DW account.
Word Count: 1227
From Clexmas True Love Drabble Fest, Prompt "Legendary"
For more lovely Clexmas drabbles and ficlets, go here to read and support the authors!
Humming. Humming, all around him, long before his eyes would open. Something was happening. Nothing had happened for a long, long time. Before this, there had been dreaming, and cold cold cold. Now it was still too cold, but there was humming then beeping and eventually, talking.
“He’s waking up.”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know what you’re implying, but you are still human beings. You should help him.”
The stern voice seemed almost familiar. Deep, but not cavernous, and very ernest.
“Clark?” he managed, gulping in air as though he’d forgotten to breathe for too long. His eyes were open now, but he was blind as the day he was born.
“He knows who you are!”
“He can’t see me. I don’t think.”
A towering figure came closer and took his hand. “Lex?”
“He can’t be,” came a hushed whisper drenched in fear.
“Quiet. Lex? You need to wake up now.”
“Clark?”
Lex narrowed his eyes at the figure above him, and his eyes failing, reached up with one hand to touch his cheek. Firm and very warm, as always.
Strong arms pulled him up, and then there was a towel being wrapped around his shoulders.
“You’ve been in stasis in Brainiac’s ship for a long time,” Clark said a bit uncertainly. “You might have some memory loss.”
“I might. Since I don’t know anything that you’re saying.”
“Hm.”
With his vision beginning to clear a little, Lex tried to focus on Clark. He was wearing a strange, skin-tight outfit, with a red cape, and there were two scientists behind him, both looking as though they were about to wet themselves. One stepped forward.
“Welcome to the 31st Century, Lex Luthor.”
***
“They didn’t want to wake me up.” There was no question in Lex’s voice. He would not be coddled, no matter how hard the cryo-pod had been on him.
“No, they were afraid of what you would do.”
Clark sat beside Lex in the small, spartan quarters Lex had been afforded on the spaceship. Lex surmised that there was security that would keep him there, if he tried to leave. No need to be careless. Even with the Superman about.
But Lex just couldn’t call him Superman. He was Clark.
“And you? Were you afraid of what I’d do?”
“Not really.”
“Are we really enemies? I know you and I didn’t leave things on the best terms before I was abducted, but I still have a hard time envisioning us fighting.”
“We were enemies. You’ve been dead for a long time.” Clark’s voice grew a little cold.
“I see. 31st century.”
“That wasn’t what killed you.” Clark met Lex’s eye. “But it wasn’t really you. I knew that, somehow. I knew that Brainiac had done something to you, and you had changed, just slightly, and the longer the other you was around the worse it got. But it was never really you.”
“And you were willing to risk that? You were willing to reawaken your nemesis because of some feeling you had that I wouldn’t really turn out to be as monstrous as some clone of me was?” Lex thinned his lips. “Are you sure on that one, Clark? Because I think you could still stuff me back and that pod, and no one in this world would care.”
“I would care.”
Clark put his hand on the back of Lex’s neck and held him firmly, as though he needed to keep him firmly on this plane of existence.
“We do great things. Never just good things, or bad things, but amazing things. Great things, which can be incredibly wonderful for the world or hugely detrimental. But there it is.”
“You’ve changed.”
“I’m a lot older. I hope I’ve learned something since you last saw me.”
Lex looked over Clark’s face. He still looked young. Not the fifteen year old sprout of a man who had plucked him from a watery grave, or the bellicose college freshman strangling him in his study, but young. His voice, however, was that of a much older man. One who had lost much. If it truly were the 31st, then likely... everyone.
“I’m sorry, Clark.”
“You don’t even know what you’re apologizing for.”
“You’re lonely. That’s why you woke me up,” Lex surmised. Clark already had his hand on Lex, so he didn’t feel strange touching Clark’s thigh gently.
“We didn’t start the process. One of our enemies did. The found you on an abandoned planet. I have no idea how the spare ship got there. We were in the middle of fighting them when one of our people found you. They assumed our enemies wanted to use you for their own purposes, so they took you aboard.”
“I see.”
“Well, once the process was started, it was either help you out of it or let you die.”
Lex nodded. “Then I should be thanking you.”
“I’d like to believe these crew’s better nature would have won out.”
“Ever the optimist, hm?” Lex gazed out the window for a long moment. Even seeing unfamiliar stars outside his window, it was hard to believe where he was, when he was.
Clark put both of his hands on Lex’s shoulders and turned him so that they could look at one another.
“You once said that our friendship was to be the stuff of legends. I believe that, Lex. You and I haven’t even yet begun. And if you’ll trust me, just a little bit longer, which I know is more than I maybe deserved all those centuries ago, I’ll show you what we can really accomplish together.” Clark shook his head once and seemed to lose focus momentarily. “One of my biggest regrets was losing you.”
“When I died-”
“When I lost your friendship. No. When I threw it away on the word of others.”
It had been a long time, longer than Lex could readily count, since Lex had felt so unanchored and out of place. There was no Earth, no ground. No planet under their feet or real air generated by their ecosystem to breath. There was no one in the universe he knew besides Clark. His scientific knowledge was centuries outdated. There were aliens of all sorts walking about the ship, when the last aliens Lex had seen were both powerful and malevolent.
“This is a brave new world for me, Clark. I hope you understand that. I’m going to need a little... guidance here.”
A very familiar and welcome sight: Clark grinned. “Maybe I can make up for those times you guided me.”
“I don’t know that I was ever such a good mentor,” Lex scoffed.
“You always meant more to me than you knew,” Clark replied seriously. He took Lex’s hand and stood, encouraging him to rise as well.
“Together again, then,” Lex quipped as he let Clark free him from his cell-like room.
Clark smiled at him. A warm, reassuring expression that belied the silly outfit and went straight to the core. Superman was saying it, so you believed him.
“Wherever, whenever, Lex. You and I. We’re legendary.”
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth.
comments posted there. Please comment there using OpenID or your DW account.