Fic: Champagne And Apple Cider (1/3)
Title: Champagne And Apple Cider (1/3)
Author: BradyGirl
Characters/Pairings: Clark/Lex, implied Bruce/Dick
Category: Romance
Rating: (this chapter): PG-13
Summary: Clark and Lex celebrate their anniversary.
Date Of Completion: March 22, 2007
Date Of Posting: March 29, 2007
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, DC and Warner Brothers do, more's the pity.
Word Count: 2071
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Author's Note: This is my first Clex fic after years of being in the fandom. Hopefully it passes muster! :)
All chapters can be found here.
I
THE SECRET
Lex checked the dining room: snowy-white tablecloth shot through with silver threads; priceless bone china and silverware; a silver bowl filled with white lilies flanked by white tapers in silver candlesticks.
He could smell the roast cooking and smiled in satisfaction. He went into the kitchen, checking on the meat simmering in the oven with baby red potatoes and carrots, then checking on the rolls.
Not Martha Kent-worthy, but not bad.
He smiled. A combination of Luthor luxury and Kent cooking described Clark and him to a T: elegance and comfort, champagne and apple cider, silk sheets and gingham curtains.
Lex returned to his office. It was all glass and steel, a smaller version of the one at LexCorp. His office at home in Smallville was filled with sturdy, dark oak furniture and rich, red carpets, lit by stained-glass windows. It suited Smallville as silver-and-blue suited Metropolis.
Lex sat at the glass desk, switching on the TVs mounted in the wall. No major disasters. Maybe dinner could proceed on time.
It’s not easy being married to a superhero.
Well, technically he wasn’t, since he was married to reporter Clark Kent, but Clark’s other job was definitely as a member of the caped community.
Lex smiled as he leaned back on his chair. He wouldn’t change his life for all the wheat in Kansas.
His life had changed the day he had met Clark on the bridge in Smallville. Met, as in hit him with his car, which resulted in him ending up in the river and Clark pulling him out.
Our first kiss. Lex chuckled. Okay, it was mouth-to-mouth, but I still came to with him on top of me.
From that day their friendship grew despite the disapproval of their fathers and the puzzlement of townspeople and Clark’s friends. Yet it had continued, Clark standing by him when no one else would, he able to help Clark when no one else could.
And then, one glorious day, Clark had told him the Secret.
He had not been the first one to know the Secret. That honor had gone to Jonathan and Martha Kent when they had seen a shooting star while coming home one night in their beat-up old truck. The star had landed in their field, the back forty, in fact, and they had discovered the rocket…and the smiling baby inside.
The next people who knew were Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan, and they had found out by accident but were valuable allies in protecting the Secret.
In the present, the Justice League knew the Secret, and all were honorable men and women who could be trusted to keep it. Besides, it was a matter of practicality to know it.
In between, there had been Lex. Clark had told him the Secret one day in the Kent barn. In fact, he was the only one in Clark’s life who knew the Secret without discovering it by accident, or having it practically land on top of him from the sky, or be told for the sake of League efficiency.
No, Clark had told him because he loved him.
Lex caressed a sparkling purple gem on his desk, a gift from Clark that he’d picked up on the planet Rigel.
It had been a golden autumn day when he had walked into the Kent barn…
& & & & & &
“Lex, I have something to tell you.”
“Shoot.”
Lex admired the golden motes of sunlight sparkling around Clark. The boy was almost unearthly in his beauty.
& & & & & &
Funny how right I was, Lex mused with a smile.
& & & & & &
Lex realized that Clark was really nervous. He felt sweat trickle down his spine.
What if Clark wanted to break up?
It wouldn’t be far-fetched. Despite Jonathan warming to him, he didn’t fully trust him, and his own father was outraged that Lex was dallying below his station. The good citizens of Smallville thought that Clark was crazy for taking up with a Luthor. Luthors couldn’t be trusted.
“I’m…I’m telling you, even though this knowledge…Lex, if your father or anyone else found out they could badly hurt me or my family.”
Lex felt his stomach knot. “Then why tell me?”
Green eyes locked with his own blue ones. “Because I…I love you, but more importantly, in this case…I trust you.”
The knot loosened. Joy surged up through Lex, a smile lighting up his face. He walked forward and took Clark’s hand.
“I won’t let you down.”
And so Clark told him his incredible Secret, and Lex was incredibly honored. When he had suspected Clark of being a meteor freak, he had never imagined the truth.
Once he managed to process the information that his beautiful young boyfriend was an alien who had literally fallen from the stars, who possessed super-strength, super-hearing, super-speed, super-breath, invulnerability, heat vision, telescopic vision, X-ray vision, , and flying ability, for crying out loud, he said, “I’ll never betray you, Clark. The Secret stays with me. I swear it with all my heart and all my soul.”
Clark’s eyes were pure love. He crushed Lex to him, and that was the second time that Lex’s life had changed forever.
& & & & & &
Lex looked out over the city, its sparkling lights creating a fairytale atmosphere. He had become Clark’s partner that day in more than just the love they shared. He used his considerable resources and brains to keep the Secret safe. That meant keeping the Kents safe, too. He had finally won over Jonathan for good when he had successfully come up with a plan to divert his father away from the Secret.
And there was the help he could give Clark when he learned more new powers that developed, and the training he needed in the Fortress before officially beginning his career. Lex had learned to tolerate Arctic cold a lot more than he ever would have dreamed, though Clark made sure the temperature was comfortable for him in the Fortress. Lex had eagerly learned about Krypton as much as Clark had, and he kept his father busy with other projects and challenges as he quietly gained more power in LutherCorp, finally breaking LexCorp away to be his own man.
LexCorp became the leader in environmental technology at home and in projects that allowed desperate countries to feed their populations in arid or otherwise hostile environments. Health became a top priority, too, as new and affordable drugs were developed by LexCorp. LexCorp stock soared as people who wanted to invest in socially-responsible ways chose his company.
All the while he had romanced Clark Kent, who had begun a successful career at The Daily Planet with Chloe and Lois. Clark had recused himself from writing any articles about Lex but that did not hamper his career. After Clark had become established as an award-winning reporter in his own right and Lex had quietly worked behind the scenes to push a gay marriage law through the Kansas state legislature, they were married in the biggest social event of the season, though it took place in Smallville in a small white clapboard church on a flat Kansas plain, the reception at the Luthor Mansion to handle the crowds, otherwise it would have been held at the Kent farm. His father had attended though he wasn’t exactly approving, but Clark Kent was now a somewhat worthy personage as he had just won a Pulitzer Prize.
During this time Clark had begun his career as Superman, and Lex had to accustom himself to burnt dinners and missed appointments. Either that, or he’d better find a new boyfriend, because Clark wasn’t going to change. So he had accepted the Big Blue part of Clark’s life, actually feeling quite proud to be the one whom Superman had chosen, though he couldn’t shout it to the world. Oh, there were people who knew, and for Lex, that was enough.
Superman worked without a partner, except in the context of the Justice League or with the World’s Finest team. Lex had become his unofficial partner, using his great wealth and resources to aid Earth’s Greatest Hero. In this capacity he had worked often with the Justice League of America.
At first many Leaguers were wary of him, Batman foremost among them. Superman’s faith and his own demonstration of loyalty had won them over, though he suspected that Batman still kept tabs on him.
You were always on the paranoid side, Bruce.
Lex smiled as he remembered the outrage on his old schoolmate’s face when he learned that Lex had discovered he was Batman. Quickly assuring his fellow billionaire that Clark had kept his secret, Lex had enjoyed watching Bruce squirm, or at least as much as he would show. And, Bruce had informed him haughtily, he had not for a moment thought that Clark had betrayed him. Good. Clark needed someone to watch his back out there.
“Why do you always have to tweak Bruce, Lex?” Clark had asked him.
“Oh, I have to keep my fellow billionaires in line, Clark.”
Lex watched as a blinking light flew slowly far over the city. Superman never emitted blinking lights when he flew. He had his own natural light. Lex chuckled in the quiet of the room.
Of course, a man had to keep tabs on things. A beautiful, gorgeous, unearthly creature like Superman…why, he was constantly spending time with buff, gorgeous superheroes, and Batman was his closest friend among all the heroes despite the fact that they were like night and day. Watching videos of the World’s Finest in action had bothered Lex. They were in perfect sync, working smoothly together without words. And so what if Bruce had the social skills of a kindergartener? Tall, dark, and broody types always reeled ‘em in.
So Lex had decided to go about finding out the secret identity of one Bat, a little insurance in case he got a little too friendly with the Big Red S. Resources and research and then surprise: the Batman was his old friend and rival, Bruce Wayne!
Things really got interesting then. Lex had become more obsessed over the Clark/Bruce relationship as he knew that Clark had a thing for charming, blue-blooded billionaires. Lex had gone back to studying film, video, tape, anything to detect weaknesses in the impervious Bat. If Bruce got too close…blackmail was an option, though Lex preferred to use that as an absolute last resort. He didn’t want to think how Clark would react to his best friend being blackmailed, but it didn’t hurt to know a man’s weaknesses, just as in any business.
That’s when a second revelation had come to him: he had no reason to worry.
Watching Batman and Robin in action, he had begun to notice things. Like how in sync they were. How they moved without words. How Batman went absolutely berserk if Robin was hurt by some scumbag not worthy to shine the kid’s pixie boots.
And so he began watching the paparazzi tapes and stills of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, and he had smiled.
Why, Brucie! That pretty boy of yours has you wrapped around his little finger. He’s a bright, winsome, college student who spends most of his time with you. The kid got to you, didn’t he? So the Bat does have a heart!
Lex had laughed a long time over this revelation and felt warm affection for Dick as well as his old besotted friend Bruce.
The other heroes? Well, Wonder Woman was certainly worthy of a Superman, but she was head-over-heels in love with the blond Air Force major whom she had rescued off Paradise Island, and most of the other heroes were hooked up with other significants. So maybe a bald guy who knew how to keep his Kryptonian happy in bed had nothing to worry about.
He loves me. Guess the old Luthor insecurities are hard to shake.
A tap on the window startled him, and he smiled as he saw Superman floating outside the glass. He stood up and slid the window open, a blur of red-yellow-and-blue zipping past him and out of the office. Lex closed the window. So, Super Hubby was feeling frisky tonight. That promised good things to come, Lex thought as he exited the office at a more leisurely pace than his mate.