Fic: Rushlight, For the 2010 Smallville Big Bang. (Part One)
Rushlight
Author: Lexalicious70
Beta: dreamwvr73 cinderella81
Word Count: 18,564
Rating: R
Pairing: Clark/Lex, Bart Allen-centric
Genre: Drama, AU, episode-related
Summary: When Clark and Lex decide to live together and officially begin their relationship as they work to protect Metropolis together, Clark finds himself in conflict with Lex when his good friend Bart Allen falls inexplicably ill; trust issues arise between them, but when Lex risks everything to both save Bart and repair the growing rift between himself and Clark, the results prove to be potentially deadly for himself, his partner, and for the young speedster as well.
A/N:Spoilers: Very faint for “Run,” and moderate for “Transference.” This story takes place in between the events of those episodes, though there is a longer time period between the two. Note: Lionel’s prison term began later in this story than it did in canon, shortly after the events in “Run.”
Warnings: Possible triggers for discussions of sexual assault and for PTSD. All characters owned by DC or their respective creators, not by me. A very, very special thank you to the lovely tallihensia for the great art she created for me, and for stepping in to help out.
Rushlight
By Lexalicious70
“Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty.”
Lex’s eyes fluttered open to the sensation of sunlight spreading across the floor of their bedroom as it spilled through the east-facing window of their penthouse apartment and to Clark’s full lips trailing across his bare shoulders, counting the freckles there and marking each with a kiss, as he did almost every morning. A smile quirked the corners of Lex’s own lips.
“If you intend to count each one, we’ll be in this bed quite awhile.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Clark murmured as he kissed another freckle. “Fifty-one.”
“Mmm. If I didn’t know better, Clark Kent, I’d say apartment life is spoiling you!”
“I’m still a good boy,” Clark replied. “I go to my new job, help pay the bills, catch the occasional bad guy at night. How am I spoiled?” Another kiss. “Fifty-two.”
Lex chuckled and turned to slip his arms around the bigger man. Sunlight spilled over the bed, and Clark sighed in satisfaction. He loved Lex’s attention to detail; ever since they had discovered that Clark stored energy from the sun’s rays like a solar cell, Lex made sure that their shared apartment was decorated in such a way that the furniture faced east to catch the best and strongest of the sun’s morning rays. Clark’s green eyes glittered like polished carnival glass in the bright light, and Lex laid his head against Clark’s broad chest. His bare, elegant head fit into the hollow of Clark’s collarbone as if each had been molded for the other.
“So you’re not spoiled. You’re simply addicted to me,” Lex grinned. Clark reached down and stroked a finger over Lex’s right nipple.
“You should really do something about that self-confidence problem you have.”
Lex gave a sharp little inhale at the touch, his blue-grey eyes tipping up to Clark’s.
“I don’t have a problem. You’re the one who can’t keep your lips off me.”
“To your eternal delight.” Clark slipped out of Lex’s embrace and pushed the duvet back, exposing more of Lex’s naked body. Lex watched, stroking a hand through Clark’s sleep-tousled hair. Clark kissed his way down Lex’s chest, over his flat belly, and then nuzzled over the hardening length of Lex’s cock, which was already rising to greet Clark’s eager lips. Clark’s tongue flicked over the tip and then his full lips were sheathing Lex in a warm, wet manner that made Lex hiss through his teeth in pleasure. Both hands curled into Clark’s onyx curls.
“God, Clark, yes.” He moaned, watching the younger man’s lips slide along his rigid flesh. In the two months he and Clark had lived together, the slightly inhibited farm-bred boy in Clark had slowly shrunk as a new and more confident Clark emerged. At the threshold of true maturity, just eight months shy of his nineteenth birthday, Clark was only starting to understand and accept who he truly was. As a young man who had fought his true nature, both as an alien and as a man destined to bond to a same-sex mate, he had a great deal to overcome. He had shared his greatest secret with Lex four months earlier, after the sentencing and imprisonment of Lex’s father, Lionel Luthor, turning Lex away from a path that led to destruction and the curse of becoming like him. Clark’s truth was all that Lex had ever wanted from the only person on earth he truly loved, and although he had a lot to make up for, watching Clark turn his back on Lana and opening his eyes to her lies gave Lex the strength to admit every mistake he’d ever made when he’d been mourning the relationship he’d thought he’d never have the chance at again. Lana had condemned them both and fled to Europe, and the last Lex had heard, she was living in Milan and attempting to write an expose on the Luthors that he knew would die a quiet but firm literary death.
Most major publishers understood that the Luthor family had a very far reach.
As did apparently Clark’s tongue. Lex’s rational thoughts jittered apart and spun in a thousand different directions as Clark’s tongue wound around the head of his erection and the tip of the hot, wet thing did devastating things there. Lex growled low in his throat and tugged on Clark’s hair as he came hard, his head tipping back as Clark swallowed neatly, a new talent that he loved to show off, much to Lex’s delight. At first, Lex worried about the effects of his mutated cells on Clark’s body, but since they had started their physical relationship about a month after that day underground, Clark showed no ill effects. He was inexperienced but eager under Lex’s touch, and he gave Lex everything that he possibly could in return.
Finally, Clark pulled off and licked his full lips before he grinned up at Lex almost smugly. Lex arched a sketchy brow.
“I’d make allusions to cats and canaries . . . but that’s not quite what you swallowed.”
Clark chuckled and stretched out next to Lex, his big, broad frame, layered with subtle muscle. His green eyes gleamed with pleasure, and Lex reached out to give his lover’s erection a few affectionate strokes.
“We’re both going to be late,” he murmured, and Clark’s solid hips arched up toward Lex’s slender, stroking hand.
“Impossible. Ohh . . .” Clark breathed as his heartbeat quickened.
“For you, maybe. But super-speed isn’t one of my meta powers, and since I’m a respectable, legitimate scientist now, it would set a poor example for my people if I strolled into the building late.” Lex made no move to pull his hand away, and it increased the speed of his strokes. Clark’s hips twisted and his big frame tensed.
“Don’t stop, Lex, please!”
“God, I love it when you beg.” Lex put a hand on Clark’s chest and pushed him down onto his back. They both knew that Clark allowed this kind of play and could resist and overpower Lex if he chose, but there was a bit of the submissive in Clark, and Lex knew what it was like to want to hand over the power to someone else on occasion. He lowered his head to suck one of Clark’s nipples into his mouth as he moved his hand faster. After a few moments, Clark stiffened and his dark head whipped back and forth across the pillow as his hips bucked up off the bed. Lex took pity on him and rubbed a slick thumb across the head of Clark’s cock as he sunk his teeth lightly into his lover’s nipple. Clark gave a breathy keen and shot hard, pumping thickly over Lex’s slender hand. Finally, he slumped back, gasping, and Lex gave his nipple one more loving lick before he sat up and reached for the tissue box on the nightstand. He wiped his hands and dropped the tissues into the small silver mesh wastebasket tucked under the open nightstand. Clark sighed and stroked a hand over his wet belly, his eyes hooded and gleaming with pleasure. Lex chuckled at the expression and touched Clark’s face.
“Mihishddal,” he whispered, and Clark smiled; it was a Kryptonian word of affection, of bonding, partnership, and love, a word they alone shared, and it made Clark’s heart leap every time Lex used it. He returned the touch.
“Mihishddal.”
“And now we really will be late if we don’t get up,” Lex said as he gave Clark’s lips a brief kiss before he got to his feet.
“Okay, okay.” Clark bid a regretful farewell to his usual post-coital nap and roused himself from the bed. Lex was already in the bathroom, the shower running, and Clark indulged in a full-body stretch before he followed. “Hey, save me some hot water!”
Clark’s new job as a part-time staff contributor and full-time proofreader for the Daily Planet, Metropolis’ major newspaper, kept him out during the day until six. He’d been fortunate enough to land a job that had consistent hours, and although the job didn’t pay as much as Clark would have liked, he enjoyed the work, his co-workers, (even Lois, on her good days,) and he knew that if he kept contributing articles that eventually someone was bound to notice his work and recommend him for a staff position. Lex, of course, had a great deal of money, (he had been very careful to detangle himself from his father both emotionally and financially since Lionel had gone to prison, although Clark wasn’t sure he wanted to know the details about how he’d managed it,) but Clark wanted his relationship with Lex to be one of equality. For his part, Lex often reminded Clark that they could never truly be equal, being that Clark had the strength of one hundred men and was faster than a freight train, (not to mention the whole heat vision thing,) but he did allow that they could strive for just as much equality in other areas. While Clark knew that it was his destiny to help mankind and combat evil, he couldn’t imagine hanging around the penthouse apartment all day, waiting for evil to occur. Besides, working for the newspaper helped both him and Lex keep up with the city as they worked together to help protect it.
It also allowed him to spend his evenings with Lex. Most nights, they would eat take-out food from a nearby restaurant, or Clark would cook for them both. On this particular night, as Clark approached their secure apartment building with his key card in one hand and three bags of Italian food in the other, he hoped that Lex would remember to keep track of time and remember to come home for supper. Sometimes, when an experiment caught his attention or some new mystery arose in the labs, Lex would lose track of time until he found answers or Clark texted him with a reminder that as a human, Lex occasionally needed a meal. This was usually met with a laconic text in return about Clark’s amazing observational powers, but Lex always returned home before the evening ended.
Clark juggled the food and the key card as he got the door open and rode the elevator up to the penthouse floor. Lex owned the forty-four story building, and other people of mild to moderate wealth lived there as well, but they all understood discretion, and few of their neighbors ever disturbed them. The penthouse floor was theirs alone, and it had its own private glassed-in lobby. After having several bad experiences with inept or lax security personnel, Lex had little use for them and preferred technology combined with complex security codes. Clark typed in his daily password at the security hub and then stood still for the retina scan. After a moment, the triple-thick beveled glass doors gave a muted click as a smooth female voice approved his scan.
“Scan complete. Good evening, Clark.”
Clark nodded his head patiently.
“Good evening, Ziggy,” he replied. “And that’s Dr. Beckett to you.” He slipped through the doors and listened to them click shut securely behind him. He crossed the lobby and then keyed open the door to the apartment that had a daily numerical code, which was texted to Clark’s cell phone each morning automatically.
“I don’t know what’s more nerdy,” a voice said from behind him, and Clark nearly spilled the bags of food as he turned. Bart Allen stepped out from the shadows of the opposite corner. “The fact that you made a Quantum Leap reference to yourself or that I got it.”
“Bart.” Clark scooped the bags closer to his chest before the tops spilled open. “What are you doing up here? How did you get in?”
“Nice to see you too, amigo,” Bart sighed and pushed his hair back. It was longer than Clark remembered, and no longer spiked into the up-do that Bart had worn it in the last time he’d been to Smallville. The young man looked tired and a little pale. He wore a red hoodie with a matching tee, blue jeans, and red-and-yellow sneakers. “Nothing like a warm welcome to make a guy feel wanted.”
“That’s not what I meant. Come on in.” Clark motioned him forward, and Bart sped into the apartment. Clark closed the door and set the bags on the spacious black marble kitchen counter. Bart looked around at the clean, well-lit place with its big bay windows and plush furniture.
“I went to the farm looking for you,” Bart said, and Clark glanced over his shoulder.
“How did you find me?”
“You mom gave me the address. Don’t get all bunched up at her, Stretch,” Bart said as Clark began to protest. “I gave her a big sob story, okay? You know she’s got a soft spot for me and wanted to help. I promised her that I wouldn’t give it to anyone else.” Bart eyed the food on the counter, and Clark sighed.
“Are you hungry?”
“Does Lex Luthor’s cue ball head shine when the sun is out?” Bart smiled, and Clark flinched a little as he went to the fridge to pull out some leftovers. There was some Chinese, a meat-and-cheese platter, an assortment of fruit, some summer sausage, and a cheesecake sampler. Clark set them out, and Bart went at it like he hadn’t eaten in a year. The meat and cheese platter spun and chattered on the table, stripped of its contents, and it hadn’t even settled before Bart was finishing up the dessert.
“When was the last time you ate, Bart?” He asked, and Bart shrugged as he grabbed a napkin from the holder and wiped his mouth.
“I dunno. Yesterday, sometime, I think. With the way my mind works, it’s hard for me to keep track of real time. That was good though, thanks.”
“Anytime.” Clark picked up the empty dishes. “So . . . you came back. Did you bring anyone with you?”
Bart shook his head as he pushed his hair back again.
“Nah. Just me, myself, and I.”
“So you’re on vacation?” Clark asked, and Bart grinned a little.
“Does it matter? I mean . . . are we still friends, or did you leave everyone behind when you left the farm to live here?” Bart got up and paced around the apartment. “Man, look at this place! What kind of job did you score, Clark?”
“Bart . . .” Clark glanced at his watch. “I work at the Daily Planet as a part-time reporter and full-time copy person and proofreader.”
“They must pay sweet!” Bart zipped down the hallway and then nearly put grooves in the highly-polished hardwood floor as he braked hard. Photos lined the wall-Clark as a child with his parents, Jonathan and Martha together, smiling in front of the farmhouse, Chloe, Clark, Pete, and Lana together when they were in high school, and at the end of the line, a large portrait-sized photo of Clark, with the Metropolis skyline in the background. His dark curls were tousled and he was laughing as Lex Luthor embraced him from behind, his expression enigmatic but warm as his hands rested low on Clark’s flat belly. There was no doubt as to their relationship or intimacy. Bart’s eyes narrowed and he turned to Clark, betrayal filling his expression.
“What the hell, Clark! What is this?”
“I believe they call it a photograph,” a voice said from behind them, and Bart’s lean frame stiffened as Lex stepped into the hallway. He still wore his long black overcoat, a leather briefcase in his left hand. “It was taken on the outdoor patio about a month ago by Clark’s mother when we had her over for supper. She has a print too, in her living room at the farm.”
Bart flicked a glance at Lex before he turned furious eyes back to Clark, but not before Clark saw a kind of helpless terror in them, too.
“What is Lex Luthor doing here?”
“I live here.” Lex shrugged off his overcoat and set down his briefcase. “As does Clark.” He looked Bart over. “I know you, don’t I?”
“I’m Bart Allen! Clark’s friend!” Bart bit back with such sudden aggressiveness that Clark stepped in front of him.
“Bart, please, there’s things you don’t understand! If you’d let me explain-”
“Explain what? That you’re shacked up with a guy? A Luthor?”
“No! It’s just-things are different now, Bart! Lex is . . .” Clark glanced at Lex, who turned to hang up his overcoat on the nearby oak coat rack.
“He’s what?” Bart’s grey eyes blazed. “He’s a Luthor! Are you nuts? Haven’t you read about the kinds of things his old man is into?”
“There are things you don’t know about! Will you just let me explain?”
Bart’s lips trembled and he pressed them together.
“Don’t bother. Just . . . just leave me alone!” The air crackled with electricity and the pictures on the wall shook and went askew as Bart jumped into super speed and vanished. Lex cursed softly.
“Clark, you need to go after him.”
“He’s a lot faster than me. I’d never catch him!”
“You have to try.”
There was no arguing with Lex when he used a tone with such finality to it. Clark streaked from the apartment as he tuned in his highly-sensitive hearing to Bart’s heartbeat and was shocked to find that it was still nearby. Judging by the look on Bart’s face before he’d bolted, Clark had figured the younger boy would have been halfway around the world by now. Clark sped to the alleyway as the heartbeat grew louder and found Bart sitting between two large dumpsters, his knees drawn up and his forehead resting on them. Clark wrinkled his nose; he wasn’t sure if he had a heightened sense of smell along with everything else, but the stench from the dumpsters was formidable.
“Bart . . .” He approached the little speedster carefully. “Don’t bolt on me again, okay? I want to explain.”
Bart raised his head, his expression stricken.
“So talk,” he said softly. Clark tilted his head to one side.
“I’m glad you changed your mind about running away. We’re pals, right? You at least owe me the chance to explain.”
“I owe you?” Bart gave a short, humorless laugh. “Right. I forgot, I’m in your debt! I can’t believe you, Clark. I might owe you for saving my skin that day, but I don’t think I owe you this much!”
“Then why didn’t you run?” Clark asked as he gestured down the alley, and Bart’s nostrils flared as his lips pressed together. Clark peered at him. “Bart, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Get away from me!” Bart shouted, jumping up and backing away. Clark took another step and Bart turned to run, but there was no rush of air, no crackling of meta-fueled power. Bart was running at human speed, breathing harshly as he ran toward the street at the end of the alley. Clark put on a brief burst of speed and caught up with him in moments, catching him by the elbow. Bart struggled to pull away.
“Let me go! Get your hands off me, Clark!”
“Just calm down!” Clark said as he tugged the younger boy back into the alley. Bart shrieked at the action and then went limp in Clark’s hold, his grey eyes wide and glassy. Clark lifted him in one arm before he accidentally dislocated the teenager’s shoulder. “Bart?” He patted Bart’s cheek, but there was no reply. His heart beat wild and rapid in Clark’s ears, like the pulse of a fragile bird. Clark turned and sped back up to the penthouse, calling for Lex before he even had the penthouse door open.
“Lex!”
Lex met him in the living room.
“What happened? How did you catch up to him?”
“It’s like his powers vanished all at once. One minute he was gone and the next he was hiding in the alley! He tried to run away but it was like he didn’t have any speed at all. I went after him, but when I grabbed his arm, he yelled and just . . . went limp. I know I didn’t hurt him, Lex!”
Lex slipped a gentle hand under Bart’s chin and turned his head. Bart’s eyes were open, his stare fixed, the pupils of his eyes extremely dilated. Lex slipped a finger down and took his pulse.
“It’s like he’s in shock. Bring him into the bedroom, Clark.” Lex turned and went down the hall as Clark followed, Bart’s slender form limp in his big arms.
“Shock from what? From finding out about us?”
“Possibly, but I don’t believe so. If that were the case, he would have passed out when he saw me in the hallway. No . . . I think this is something else. Lay him down on the bed, Clark.”
Clark laid Bart down gently and unzipped the boy’s red hoodie so he could breathe a little easier.
“We have to find a way to keep him here once he comes back around. I want to help him,” Clark said, and Lex brought in a small white metal box from the bathroom-a first aid kit. He flipped it open and took out a portable cool pack about the size of a folded tissue and ripped one end open. He tugged the protective strip from the back of the mildly adhesive gel pack and pushed Bart’s bangs back in order to press the pack to his forehead. He covered Bart with the duvet as Clark watched.
“Isn’t there anything else we can do?”
“We can’t take him to the hospital. If his powers return, they might find a reason to detain him, and there would be too many questions to answer. Despite how he feels about us, we have to protect him.” Lex got to his feet. “I’ll heat up some soup so we can try and get a little something into his system. Stay with him, all right?” Lex patted Clark’s hand before he left the room, and Clark sighed as he looked down at his young friend. Bart’s powers were fluctuating, of that Clark had no doubt, but why? What was causing it, and why had Bart suddenly looked so different than the grinning, mischievous kid he remembered once he’d laid eyes on Lex? What was to keep Bart from running away and hurting himself if his powers came back again?
Bart moaned softly and blinked, pulling Clark from his troubled thoughts.
“Bart?” Clark asked, putting a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder, and Bart’s gaze tracked slowly to Clark’s face.
“Clark? What . . . what happened?”
“You passed out in the alley,” Clark said. “Please, Bart, just lay still, okay?” He said as Bart struggled to sit up. His frame tensed and shuddered like a car trying to start despite its dead battery. “You fainted or something, so just lay down!”
“I’m not staying here!” Bart protested.
“We’re friends, Bart, so please, just trust me? I’m not under Lex’s control, he knows my secret. Clark reached out to touch Bart’s shoulder but then pulled back when Bart flinched. “I know this is a lot to take in, but I’m asking you to try! You’ve never even met Lex before!”
Bart closed his eyes and let his head thump back onto the pillow. He touched the gel pack on his forehead. Clark watched him.
“Have your powers ever gone out on you before?” He asked, remembering several times it had happened to him growing up.
Bart opened his eyes and glared a little.
“No! Never!” He struggled to sit up. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
Clark frowned.
“If you don’t trust me, then what are you even doing here?”
“When I came here to find you, I didn’t expect you to be living with Lex Luthor! That’s one detail that your mom kind of left out when she told me where to find you!”
“She wants to protect us. The press doesn’t trust Lex, and she thinks my secret is in danger if too many people know that we live together. I can’t help people if everyone knows about what I can do. You know that, Bart. And you can’t judge Lex by his father!”
“I can’t believe she’s okay with this.” Bart finally struggled to sit up and put one hand to the cool pack on his forehead so it stayed in place. “And since when do you like guys? Last I knew, you were still all about Lana Lang.”
“Lana lives in Milan now,” Clark said. “And I don’t like guys. It’s not about being gay or straight, Bart, it’s about Lex. It’s been about Lex since the day we met, and I was so busy fighting it that I didn’t see that until I almost lost him. And if I had, it would have been my fault. He was slipping into darkness because of me . . . I hurt him so badly, and it took him nearly dying to realize that nothing would be right until we stopped hurting each other! We’re together, and we’re trying to help people here in the city, and that’s what matters.”
Bart lifted a shoulder as he looked down at his hands.
“I came here because . . . because well . . . I really don’t have anywhere else to go again and because I missed you, man. I just didn’t expect . . . you know. This!”
“You can stay anyway,” Clark offered. “You can stay here and see what a great man Lex is. He’s an amazing scientist, Bart.”
“I can only stay for a little while. I’ve was trying to find others like me, but so far, zip.
I’m the only speedster.” Bart glanced down at himself. “Or maybe that’s was. Past tense city.”
“Your powers aren’t gone completely, Bart. Look, you’re still young . . . how old are you?”
“I turned seventeen three months ago.”
“When I was younger, my powers developed in spurts. All kinds of crazy things used to happen to me. Maybe what’s happening to you is what used to happen to me. Maybe the fluctuation is a part of you changing, growing up.”
“I’ve had my powers since I was fourteen, Clark! This has never happened before!” Bart tore the cooling strip from his forehead and tossed it onto the bed before he ran a hand through his hair to let it fall over his forehead. Clark watched him.
“Bart, you need something to eat, a warm bed . . . and a shower, no offense.”
“I told you I didn’t have anywhere else to go, and I didn’t want to steal from anyone to get a hotel room or anything. If I stink so bad, then kick me out. Go ahead, I’m used to it!”
“I didn’t say I was kicking you out. I said if you want a good meal and a safe place to sleep, you’ve got it.”
“Sleeping in the same house with Lex Luthor is safe?” Bart scoffed. “How do I know he won’t dissect me in the middle of the night?”
“Because I do all my dissections during the day, when the light is best,” Lex said as he came into the room with a bowl of soup and a turkey sandwich on an oak tray. “Surely you’re a smarter boy than to believe everything you read in the Inquisitor?” Bart stiffened, and Clark gave Lex a warning look.
“Not helping!” He said quietly between his teeth, and Lex handed him the tray as he glanced at Bart. Bart scowled.
“Did he make that? Because if he did, I’m not eating it! He probably drugged it or something!”
Clark gave an impatient sigh.
“Would it make you feel better if I tasted it first?”
Bart eyed the sandwich with an expression of hunger mixed with suspicion.
“Maybe!”
“Fine.” Clark took a bite of the sandwich and then took a spoonful of the soup. “There, see? It’s perfectly safe.”
“Bart.” For what’s it worth . . . I’m nothing like my father, and I’ve never experimented on metas, period. The science I do is to help them, not harm them.”
“You don’t want to run a bunch of tests on me?” Bart asked, and Clark pushed the tray a bit closer to his friend, coaxing him to eat.
“Lex has tested the limits of my powers, Bart, all with my consent. If we can do the same with you, maybe we can find out what happened tonight.”
“You’d be giving me the chance to show you the man I am now,” Lex said. “I swear on my life and on Clark’s that you’re safe here. I know this all must be a shock to you, and that you’re probably more than a bit confused, but I’m offering my help if you want to know what happened to your speeding ability.”
Bart turned dubious eyes to Clark, and then he sighed at his older friend’s expression.
“Not the big cow eyes, Clark, jeez! Come on!”
Clark gave him a hopeful smile, and Bart finally rolled his eyes.
“Okay. I’ll stay for tonight. Tonight only, for now, until I can figure out what I’m going to do next!”
Clark handed Bart the soup spoon.
“This.”
Part Two
Author: Lexalicious70
Beta: dreamwvr73 cinderella81
Word Count: 18,564
Rating: R
Pairing: Clark/Lex, Bart Allen-centric
Genre: Drama, AU, episode-related
Summary: When Clark and Lex decide to live together and officially begin their relationship as they work to protect Metropolis together, Clark finds himself in conflict with Lex when his good friend Bart Allen falls inexplicably ill; trust issues arise between them, but when Lex risks everything to both save Bart and repair the growing rift between himself and Clark, the results prove to be potentially deadly for himself, his partner, and for the young speedster as well.
A/N:Spoilers: Very faint for “Run,” and moderate for “Transference.” This story takes place in between the events of those episodes, though there is a longer time period between the two. Note: Lionel’s prison term began later in this story than it did in canon, shortly after the events in “Run.”
Warnings: Possible triggers for discussions of sexual assault and for PTSD. All characters owned by DC or their respective creators, not by me. A very, very special thank you to the lovely tallihensia for the great art she created for me, and for stepping in to help out.
Rushlight
By Lexalicious70
“Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty.”
Lex’s eyes fluttered open to the sensation of sunlight spreading across the floor of their bedroom as it spilled through the east-facing window of their penthouse apartment and to Clark’s full lips trailing across his bare shoulders, counting the freckles there and marking each with a kiss, as he did almost every morning. A smile quirked the corners of Lex’s own lips.
“If you intend to count each one, we’ll be in this bed quite awhile.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Clark murmured as he kissed another freckle. “Fifty-one.”
“Mmm. If I didn’t know better, Clark Kent, I’d say apartment life is spoiling you!”
“I’m still a good boy,” Clark replied. “I go to my new job, help pay the bills, catch the occasional bad guy at night. How am I spoiled?” Another kiss. “Fifty-two.”
Lex chuckled and turned to slip his arms around the bigger man. Sunlight spilled over the bed, and Clark sighed in satisfaction. He loved Lex’s attention to detail; ever since they had discovered that Clark stored energy from the sun’s rays like a solar cell, Lex made sure that their shared apartment was decorated in such a way that the furniture faced east to catch the best and strongest of the sun’s morning rays. Clark’s green eyes glittered like polished carnival glass in the bright light, and Lex laid his head against Clark’s broad chest. His bare, elegant head fit into the hollow of Clark’s collarbone as if each had been molded for the other.
“So you’re not spoiled. You’re simply addicted to me,” Lex grinned. Clark reached down and stroked a finger over Lex’s right nipple.
“You should really do something about that self-confidence problem you have.”
Lex gave a sharp little inhale at the touch, his blue-grey eyes tipping up to Clark’s.
“I don’t have a problem. You’re the one who can’t keep your lips off me.”
“To your eternal delight.” Clark slipped out of Lex’s embrace and pushed the duvet back, exposing more of Lex’s naked body. Lex watched, stroking a hand through Clark’s sleep-tousled hair. Clark kissed his way down Lex’s chest, over his flat belly, and then nuzzled over the hardening length of Lex’s cock, which was already rising to greet Clark’s eager lips. Clark’s tongue flicked over the tip and then his full lips were sheathing Lex in a warm, wet manner that made Lex hiss through his teeth in pleasure. Both hands curled into Clark’s onyx curls.
“God, Clark, yes.” He moaned, watching the younger man’s lips slide along his rigid flesh. In the two months he and Clark had lived together, the slightly inhibited farm-bred boy in Clark had slowly shrunk as a new and more confident Clark emerged. At the threshold of true maturity, just eight months shy of his nineteenth birthday, Clark was only starting to understand and accept who he truly was. As a young man who had fought his true nature, both as an alien and as a man destined to bond to a same-sex mate, he had a great deal to overcome. He had shared his greatest secret with Lex four months earlier, after the sentencing and imprisonment of Lex’s father, Lionel Luthor, turning Lex away from a path that led to destruction and the curse of becoming like him. Clark’s truth was all that Lex had ever wanted from the only person on earth he truly loved, and although he had a lot to make up for, watching Clark turn his back on Lana and opening his eyes to her lies gave Lex the strength to admit every mistake he’d ever made when he’d been mourning the relationship he’d thought he’d never have the chance at again. Lana had condemned them both and fled to Europe, and the last Lex had heard, she was living in Milan and attempting to write an expose on the Luthors that he knew would die a quiet but firm literary death.
Most major publishers understood that the Luthor family had a very far reach.
As did apparently Clark’s tongue. Lex’s rational thoughts jittered apart and spun in a thousand different directions as Clark’s tongue wound around the head of his erection and the tip of the hot, wet thing did devastating things there. Lex growled low in his throat and tugged on Clark’s hair as he came hard, his head tipping back as Clark swallowed neatly, a new talent that he loved to show off, much to Lex’s delight. At first, Lex worried about the effects of his mutated cells on Clark’s body, but since they had started their physical relationship about a month after that day underground, Clark showed no ill effects. He was inexperienced but eager under Lex’s touch, and he gave Lex everything that he possibly could in return.
Finally, Clark pulled off and licked his full lips before he grinned up at Lex almost smugly. Lex arched a sketchy brow.
“I’d make allusions to cats and canaries . . . but that’s not quite what you swallowed.”
Clark chuckled and stretched out next to Lex, his big, broad frame, layered with subtle muscle. His green eyes gleamed with pleasure, and Lex reached out to give his lover’s erection a few affectionate strokes.
“We’re both going to be late,” he murmured, and Clark’s solid hips arched up toward Lex’s slender, stroking hand.
“Impossible. Ohh . . .” Clark breathed as his heartbeat quickened.
“For you, maybe. But super-speed isn’t one of my meta powers, and since I’m a respectable, legitimate scientist now, it would set a poor example for my people if I strolled into the building late.” Lex made no move to pull his hand away, and it increased the speed of his strokes. Clark’s hips twisted and his big frame tensed.
“Don’t stop, Lex, please!”
“God, I love it when you beg.” Lex put a hand on Clark’s chest and pushed him down onto his back. They both knew that Clark allowed this kind of play and could resist and overpower Lex if he chose, but there was a bit of the submissive in Clark, and Lex knew what it was like to want to hand over the power to someone else on occasion. He lowered his head to suck one of Clark’s nipples into his mouth as he moved his hand faster. After a few moments, Clark stiffened and his dark head whipped back and forth across the pillow as his hips bucked up off the bed. Lex took pity on him and rubbed a slick thumb across the head of Clark’s cock as he sunk his teeth lightly into his lover’s nipple. Clark gave a breathy keen and shot hard, pumping thickly over Lex’s slender hand. Finally, he slumped back, gasping, and Lex gave his nipple one more loving lick before he sat up and reached for the tissue box on the nightstand. He wiped his hands and dropped the tissues into the small silver mesh wastebasket tucked under the open nightstand. Clark sighed and stroked a hand over his wet belly, his eyes hooded and gleaming with pleasure. Lex chuckled at the expression and touched Clark’s face.
“Mihishddal,” he whispered, and Clark smiled; it was a Kryptonian word of affection, of bonding, partnership, and love, a word they alone shared, and it made Clark’s heart leap every time Lex used it. He returned the touch.
“Mihishddal.”
“And now we really will be late if we don’t get up,” Lex said as he gave Clark’s lips a brief kiss before he got to his feet.
“Okay, okay.” Clark bid a regretful farewell to his usual post-coital nap and roused himself from the bed. Lex was already in the bathroom, the shower running, and Clark indulged in a full-body stretch before he followed. “Hey, save me some hot water!”
Clark’s new job as a part-time staff contributor and full-time proofreader for the Daily Planet, Metropolis’ major newspaper, kept him out during the day until six. He’d been fortunate enough to land a job that had consistent hours, and although the job didn’t pay as much as Clark would have liked, he enjoyed the work, his co-workers, (even Lois, on her good days,) and he knew that if he kept contributing articles that eventually someone was bound to notice his work and recommend him for a staff position. Lex, of course, had a great deal of money, (he had been very careful to detangle himself from his father both emotionally and financially since Lionel had gone to prison, although Clark wasn’t sure he wanted to know the details about how he’d managed it,) but Clark wanted his relationship with Lex to be one of equality. For his part, Lex often reminded Clark that they could never truly be equal, being that Clark had the strength of one hundred men and was faster than a freight train, (not to mention the whole heat vision thing,) but he did allow that they could strive for just as much equality in other areas. While Clark knew that it was his destiny to help mankind and combat evil, he couldn’t imagine hanging around the penthouse apartment all day, waiting for evil to occur. Besides, working for the newspaper helped both him and Lex keep up with the city as they worked together to help protect it.
It also allowed him to spend his evenings with Lex. Most nights, they would eat take-out food from a nearby restaurant, or Clark would cook for them both. On this particular night, as Clark approached their secure apartment building with his key card in one hand and three bags of Italian food in the other, he hoped that Lex would remember to keep track of time and remember to come home for supper. Sometimes, when an experiment caught his attention or some new mystery arose in the labs, Lex would lose track of time until he found answers or Clark texted him with a reminder that as a human, Lex occasionally needed a meal. This was usually met with a laconic text in return about Clark’s amazing observational powers, but Lex always returned home before the evening ended.
Clark juggled the food and the key card as he got the door open and rode the elevator up to the penthouse floor. Lex owned the forty-four story building, and other people of mild to moderate wealth lived there as well, but they all understood discretion, and few of their neighbors ever disturbed them. The penthouse floor was theirs alone, and it had its own private glassed-in lobby. After having several bad experiences with inept or lax security personnel, Lex had little use for them and preferred technology combined with complex security codes. Clark typed in his daily password at the security hub and then stood still for the retina scan. After a moment, the triple-thick beveled glass doors gave a muted click as a smooth female voice approved his scan.
“Scan complete. Good evening, Clark.”
Clark nodded his head patiently.
“Good evening, Ziggy,” he replied. “And that’s Dr. Beckett to you.” He slipped through the doors and listened to them click shut securely behind him. He crossed the lobby and then keyed open the door to the apartment that had a daily numerical code, which was texted to Clark’s cell phone each morning automatically.
“I don’t know what’s more nerdy,” a voice said from behind him, and Clark nearly spilled the bags of food as he turned. Bart Allen stepped out from the shadows of the opposite corner. “The fact that you made a Quantum Leap reference to yourself or that I got it.”
“Bart.” Clark scooped the bags closer to his chest before the tops spilled open. “What are you doing up here? How did you get in?”
“Nice to see you too, amigo,” Bart sighed and pushed his hair back. It was longer than Clark remembered, and no longer spiked into the up-do that Bart had worn it in the last time he’d been to Smallville. The young man looked tired and a little pale. He wore a red hoodie with a matching tee, blue jeans, and red-and-yellow sneakers. “Nothing like a warm welcome to make a guy feel wanted.”
“That’s not what I meant. Come on in.” Clark motioned him forward, and Bart sped into the apartment. Clark closed the door and set the bags on the spacious black marble kitchen counter. Bart looked around at the clean, well-lit place with its big bay windows and plush furniture.
“I went to the farm looking for you,” Bart said, and Clark glanced over his shoulder.
“How did you find me?”
“You mom gave me the address. Don’t get all bunched up at her, Stretch,” Bart said as Clark began to protest. “I gave her a big sob story, okay? You know she’s got a soft spot for me and wanted to help. I promised her that I wouldn’t give it to anyone else.” Bart eyed the food on the counter, and Clark sighed.
“Are you hungry?”
“Does Lex Luthor’s cue ball head shine when the sun is out?” Bart smiled, and Clark flinched a little as he went to the fridge to pull out some leftovers. There was some Chinese, a meat-and-cheese platter, an assortment of fruit, some summer sausage, and a cheesecake sampler. Clark set them out, and Bart went at it like he hadn’t eaten in a year. The meat and cheese platter spun and chattered on the table, stripped of its contents, and it hadn’t even settled before Bart was finishing up the dessert.
“When was the last time you ate, Bart?” He asked, and Bart shrugged as he grabbed a napkin from the holder and wiped his mouth.
“I dunno. Yesterday, sometime, I think. With the way my mind works, it’s hard for me to keep track of real time. That was good though, thanks.”
“Anytime.” Clark picked up the empty dishes. “So . . . you came back. Did you bring anyone with you?”
Bart shook his head as he pushed his hair back again.
“Nah. Just me, myself, and I.”
“So you’re on vacation?” Clark asked, and Bart grinned a little.
“Does it matter? I mean . . . are we still friends, or did you leave everyone behind when you left the farm to live here?” Bart got up and paced around the apartment. “Man, look at this place! What kind of job did you score, Clark?”
“Bart . . .” Clark glanced at his watch. “I work at the Daily Planet as a part-time reporter and full-time copy person and proofreader.”
“They must pay sweet!” Bart zipped down the hallway and then nearly put grooves in the highly-polished hardwood floor as he braked hard. Photos lined the wall-Clark as a child with his parents, Jonathan and Martha together, smiling in front of the farmhouse, Chloe, Clark, Pete, and Lana together when they were in high school, and at the end of the line, a large portrait-sized photo of Clark, with the Metropolis skyline in the background. His dark curls were tousled and he was laughing as Lex Luthor embraced him from behind, his expression enigmatic but warm as his hands rested low on Clark’s flat belly. There was no doubt as to their relationship or intimacy. Bart’s eyes narrowed and he turned to Clark, betrayal filling his expression.
“What the hell, Clark! What is this?”
“I believe they call it a photograph,” a voice said from behind them, and Bart’s lean frame stiffened as Lex stepped into the hallway. He still wore his long black overcoat, a leather briefcase in his left hand. “It was taken on the outdoor patio about a month ago by Clark’s mother when we had her over for supper. She has a print too, in her living room at the farm.”
Bart flicked a glance at Lex before he turned furious eyes back to Clark, but not before Clark saw a kind of helpless terror in them, too.
“What is Lex Luthor doing here?”
“I live here.” Lex shrugged off his overcoat and set down his briefcase. “As does Clark.” He looked Bart over. “I know you, don’t I?”
“I’m Bart Allen! Clark’s friend!” Bart bit back with such sudden aggressiveness that Clark stepped in front of him.
“Bart, please, there’s things you don’t understand! If you’d let me explain-”
“Explain what? That you’re shacked up with a guy? A Luthor?”
“No! It’s just-things are different now, Bart! Lex is . . .” Clark glanced at Lex, who turned to hang up his overcoat on the nearby oak coat rack.
“He’s what?” Bart’s grey eyes blazed. “He’s a Luthor! Are you nuts? Haven’t you read about the kinds of things his old man is into?”
“There are things you don’t know about! Will you just let me explain?”
Bart’s lips trembled and he pressed them together.
“Don’t bother. Just . . . just leave me alone!” The air crackled with electricity and the pictures on the wall shook and went askew as Bart jumped into super speed and vanished. Lex cursed softly.
“Clark, you need to go after him.”
“He’s a lot faster than me. I’d never catch him!”
“You have to try.”
There was no arguing with Lex when he used a tone with such finality to it. Clark streaked from the apartment as he tuned in his highly-sensitive hearing to Bart’s heartbeat and was shocked to find that it was still nearby. Judging by the look on Bart’s face before he’d bolted, Clark had figured the younger boy would have been halfway around the world by now. Clark sped to the alleyway as the heartbeat grew louder and found Bart sitting between two large dumpsters, his knees drawn up and his forehead resting on them. Clark wrinkled his nose; he wasn’t sure if he had a heightened sense of smell along with everything else, but the stench from the dumpsters was formidable.
“Bart . . .” He approached the little speedster carefully. “Don’t bolt on me again, okay? I want to explain.”
Bart raised his head, his expression stricken.
“So talk,” he said softly. Clark tilted his head to one side.
“I’m glad you changed your mind about running away. We’re pals, right? You at least owe me the chance to explain.”
“I owe you?” Bart gave a short, humorless laugh. “Right. I forgot, I’m in your debt! I can’t believe you, Clark. I might owe you for saving my skin that day, but I don’t think I owe you this much!”
“Then why didn’t you run?” Clark asked as he gestured down the alley, and Bart’s nostrils flared as his lips pressed together. Clark peered at him. “Bart, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Get away from me!” Bart shouted, jumping up and backing away. Clark took another step and Bart turned to run, but there was no rush of air, no crackling of meta-fueled power. Bart was running at human speed, breathing harshly as he ran toward the street at the end of the alley. Clark put on a brief burst of speed and caught up with him in moments, catching him by the elbow. Bart struggled to pull away.
“Let me go! Get your hands off me, Clark!”
“Just calm down!” Clark said as he tugged the younger boy back into the alley. Bart shrieked at the action and then went limp in Clark’s hold, his grey eyes wide and glassy. Clark lifted him in one arm before he accidentally dislocated the teenager’s shoulder. “Bart?” He patted Bart’s cheek, but there was no reply. His heart beat wild and rapid in Clark’s ears, like the pulse of a fragile bird. Clark turned and sped back up to the penthouse, calling for Lex before he even had the penthouse door open.
“Lex!”
Lex met him in the living room.
“What happened? How did you catch up to him?”
“It’s like his powers vanished all at once. One minute he was gone and the next he was hiding in the alley! He tried to run away but it was like he didn’t have any speed at all. I went after him, but when I grabbed his arm, he yelled and just . . . went limp. I know I didn’t hurt him, Lex!”
Lex slipped a gentle hand under Bart’s chin and turned his head. Bart’s eyes were open, his stare fixed, the pupils of his eyes extremely dilated. Lex slipped a finger down and took his pulse.
“It’s like he’s in shock. Bring him into the bedroom, Clark.” Lex turned and went down the hall as Clark followed, Bart’s slender form limp in his big arms.
“Shock from what? From finding out about us?”
“Possibly, but I don’t believe so. If that were the case, he would have passed out when he saw me in the hallway. No . . . I think this is something else. Lay him down on the bed, Clark.”
Clark laid Bart down gently and unzipped the boy’s red hoodie so he could breathe a little easier.
“We have to find a way to keep him here once he comes back around. I want to help him,” Clark said, and Lex brought in a small white metal box from the bathroom-a first aid kit. He flipped it open and took out a portable cool pack about the size of a folded tissue and ripped one end open. He tugged the protective strip from the back of the mildly adhesive gel pack and pushed Bart’s bangs back in order to press the pack to his forehead. He covered Bart with the duvet as Clark watched.
“Isn’t there anything else we can do?”
“We can’t take him to the hospital. If his powers return, they might find a reason to detain him, and there would be too many questions to answer. Despite how he feels about us, we have to protect him.” Lex got to his feet. “I’ll heat up some soup so we can try and get a little something into his system. Stay with him, all right?” Lex patted Clark’s hand before he left the room, and Clark sighed as he looked down at his young friend. Bart’s powers were fluctuating, of that Clark had no doubt, but why? What was causing it, and why had Bart suddenly looked so different than the grinning, mischievous kid he remembered once he’d laid eyes on Lex? What was to keep Bart from running away and hurting himself if his powers came back again?
Bart moaned softly and blinked, pulling Clark from his troubled thoughts.
“Bart?” Clark asked, putting a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder, and Bart’s gaze tracked slowly to Clark’s face.
“Clark? What . . . what happened?”
“You passed out in the alley,” Clark said. “Please, Bart, just lay still, okay?” He said as Bart struggled to sit up. His frame tensed and shuddered like a car trying to start despite its dead battery. “You fainted or something, so just lay down!”
“I’m not staying here!” Bart protested.
“We’re friends, Bart, so please, just trust me? I’m not under Lex’s control, he knows my secret. Clark reached out to touch Bart’s shoulder but then pulled back when Bart flinched. “I know this is a lot to take in, but I’m asking you to try! You’ve never even met Lex before!”
Bart closed his eyes and let his head thump back onto the pillow. He touched the gel pack on his forehead. Clark watched him.
“Have your powers ever gone out on you before?” He asked, remembering several times it had happened to him growing up.
Bart opened his eyes and glared a little.
“No! Never!” He struggled to sit up. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
Clark frowned.
“If you don’t trust me, then what are you even doing here?”
“When I came here to find you, I didn’t expect you to be living with Lex Luthor! That’s one detail that your mom kind of left out when she told me where to find you!”
“She wants to protect us. The press doesn’t trust Lex, and she thinks my secret is in danger if too many people know that we live together. I can’t help people if everyone knows about what I can do. You know that, Bart. And you can’t judge Lex by his father!”
“I can’t believe she’s okay with this.” Bart finally struggled to sit up and put one hand to the cool pack on his forehead so it stayed in place. “And since when do you like guys? Last I knew, you were still all about Lana Lang.”
“Lana lives in Milan now,” Clark said. “And I don’t like guys. It’s not about being gay or straight, Bart, it’s about Lex. It’s been about Lex since the day we met, and I was so busy fighting it that I didn’t see that until I almost lost him. And if I had, it would have been my fault. He was slipping into darkness because of me . . . I hurt him so badly, and it took him nearly dying to realize that nothing would be right until we stopped hurting each other! We’re together, and we’re trying to help people here in the city, and that’s what matters.”
Bart lifted a shoulder as he looked down at his hands.
“I came here because . . . because well . . . I really don’t have anywhere else to go again and because I missed you, man. I just didn’t expect . . . you know. This!”
“You can stay anyway,” Clark offered. “You can stay here and see what a great man Lex is. He’s an amazing scientist, Bart.”
“I can only stay for a little while. I’ve was trying to find others like me, but so far, zip.
I’m the only speedster.” Bart glanced down at himself. “Or maybe that’s was. Past tense city.”
“Your powers aren’t gone completely, Bart. Look, you’re still young . . . how old are you?”
“I turned seventeen three months ago.”
“When I was younger, my powers developed in spurts. All kinds of crazy things used to happen to me. Maybe what’s happening to you is what used to happen to me. Maybe the fluctuation is a part of you changing, growing up.”
“I’ve had my powers since I was fourteen, Clark! This has never happened before!” Bart tore the cooling strip from his forehead and tossed it onto the bed before he ran a hand through his hair to let it fall over his forehead. Clark watched him.
“Bart, you need something to eat, a warm bed . . . and a shower, no offense.”
“I told you I didn’t have anywhere else to go, and I didn’t want to steal from anyone to get a hotel room or anything. If I stink so bad, then kick me out. Go ahead, I’m used to it!”
“I didn’t say I was kicking you out. I said if you want a good meal and a safe place to sleep, you’ve got it.”
“Sleeping in the same house with Lex Luthor is safe?” Bart scoffed. “How do I know he won’t dissect me in the middle of the night?”
“Because I do all my dissections during the day, when the light is best,” Lex said as he came into the room with a bowl of soup and a turkey sandwich on an oak tray. “Surely you’re a smarter boy than to believe everything you read in the Inquisitor?” Bart stiffened, and Clark gave Lex a warning look.
“Not helping!” He said quietly between his teeth, and Lex handed him the tray as he glanced at Bart. Bart scowled.
“Did he make that? Because if he did, I’m not eating it! He probably drugged it or something!”
Clark gave an impatient sigh.
“Would it make you feel better if I tasted it first?”
Bart eyed the sandwich with an expression of hunger mixed with suspicion.
“Maybe!”
“Fine.” Clark took a bite of the sandwich and then took a spoonful of the soup. “There, see? It’s perfectly safe.”
“Bart.” For what’s it worth . . . I’m nothing like my father, and I’ve never experimented on metas, period. The science I do is to help them, not harm them.”
“You don’t want to run a bunch of tests on me?” Bart asked, and Clark pushed the tray a bit closer to his friend, coaxing him to eat.
“Lex has tested the limits of my powers, Bart, all with my consent. If we can do the same with you, maybe we can find out what happened tonight.”
“You’d be giving me the chance to show you the man I am now,” Lex said. “I swear on my life and on Clark’s that you’re safe here. I know this all must be a shock to you, and that you’re probably more than a bit confused, but I’m offering my help if you want to know what happened to your speeding ability.”
Bart turned dubious eyes to Clark, and then he sighed at his older friend’s expression.
“Not the big cow eyes, Clark, jeez! Come on!”
Clark gave him a hopeful smile, and Bart finally rolled his eyes.
“Okay. I’ll stay for tonight. Tonight only, for now, until I can figure out what I’m going to do next!”
Clark handed Bart the soup spoon.
“This.”
Part Two