Superman For Sale, part 11b
Part 11b
Title: Superman for Sale
Author: D.M. Wyatt
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Rating: Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17
Warnings: Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift
Spoilers: None
Word Count this chapter: 6,612 - both parts (Story, thus far: 52,810)
Short summary of this chapter: Lex finds Clark and Clark suffers the after-affects of the emergency that called him away. (cover thanks to danceswithgary)
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven A |
Part 11 B of possibly 15....
~:::~
Clark woke to warmth and comfort.
He vaguely remembered bad dreams, all the dead eyes and broken bodies that had been so numerous in the small fishing villages on the coast of poor countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. Only partly awake, he felt a pair of arms around him, warmth, comfort, safety...
Not really aware, yet comforted by the arms that held him, Clark fell back into a deeper sleep.
~:::~
Clark woke again slowly, his still weary mind coming awake slowly. He realized it was day, but he had come back to the penthouse in the middle of the night after too many days pulling bodies, too many of them dead, from the destruction in the aftermath of the tsunami.
He felt warm and comfortable, despite the partly remembered bad dreams he'd had about the dead staring eyes and torn and battered corpses. He wished it would get easier to deal with tragedies like that, but he supposed it never would.
Clark shifted on the bed and realized that he wasn't alone, that his cheek rested on the shoulder of someone and that his arm was draped over someone else's waist.
Lex...
He looked up at the sleeping man's profile. He had dark smudges under his eyes and, if he'd been any other man, Clark imagined he would have had a several day growth of beard on top of that. He was fully clothed except for his stocking feet and, despite the fact he slept, Lex looked drained like he'd been up for days.
Still weary from the emergency, Clark didn't have the heart to pick a fight with Lex about him coming into his room... He regretfully pulled away and sat up in bed and looked out of the window. It was in the middle of the day, and yet Lex was in the bed with him when he should be at work.
Why?
He remembered vaguely that someone had held him in strong arms, comforting him.
Would someone who only lusted after Clark do something like that? Comfort him when no sex had been involved? Had Lex been telling the truth about his feelings?
He had thought that Lex's feelings had been more lustful, but why had he said he loved him if that was the case? Didn't the manipulation into sharing his bed, the phantom fingers, the non-sex while at City Hall, all prove it was lust?
Clark had only felt the phantom fingers originally whenever Lex had been in the same room with him, smirked at him, or mocked him. Then it started happening more and more, even when Lex was in a different room, a different building. It wasn't just when he saw Clark; it must also be when he thought about him, or when he daydreamed about graphic sexual encounters with him.
The phantom fingers weren't as apparent as they had been. He had only been faintly felt them since he had gone west (possibly due to the distance while he was half a world away). However, he had felt them when that reporter had done the live shot from the rescue center. After that they were fainter and they weren't present now. He wondered at that and realized it was likely because Lex was still deeply asleep, despite it being so late in the day.
Hadn't the feelings been just because of the lust Lex felt?
Or, maybe they weren't.
If Lex loved him, truly loved him, like he'd said, like Mrs. O'Hara seemed to think, and that there was more than lust, then maybe there was another reason for them. The feeling had been less erotic when he had been at that rescue center; then the feeling had felt more comforting.
Clark looked back at Lex's tired face and his eyes fluttered open, as if on cue. Clark looked away. The phantom touches came back when Lex saw him and smiled sleepily, not quite awake yet. This time the fingers were again soft, gentle, loving, not erotic, but Clark had to stay true to his promise.
He sighed.
No sex, meant no intimacy. Right?
None?
No, he thought.
None.
Clark sighed again, regretfully, and looked toward the window.
Lex spoke, his speech slurred with sleep, "You 'kay, Clark?"
"Why are you here, Lex?"
"You were having a nightmare..."
"I'm not a child. I don't need to be tucked in when the closet monster scares me."
Lex sounded annoyed, "I was trying to comfort you."
"What if I don't want you comforting me?"
"Do you hate me that much?"
Clark replied quietly, "No, you know I don't..."
Lex sounded angry, Clark didn't want to look at him, but the fingers stopped. "So what's wrong? Are you so disgusted by me that you hate me showing you some tenderness?"
He glared at Lex angrily, "No, I hate that you manipulated me into being here and I don't think you should take advantage of it."
"How is giving you comfort taking advantage of you?"
Clark didn't have anything to say to that, specifically, so he glowered. "Because you know I don't want it."
"That's rich. You've always said I needed to show more kindness and compassion toward my fellow man, but what about me showing some to the only Kryptonian on the planet?" Lex sighed heavily, clearly exasperated. "I was only trying to help you... I thought you'd understand that."
"If it were anyone else-"
It was Lex's turn to interrupt, "Am I that much of a monster, Clark?"
"Sometimes you do monstrous things."
"What if I've changed? What if I'm different now?"
"You're never going to change, Lex. You've been doing the same things over and over again, for almost as long as I've known you. It doesn't seem to matter how many buildings of yours that I knock down..."
"If I'm so awful, if there's no hope in my redemption, why don't you just kill me right now? It'd be easy, you could squash me as easily as I could crush a paper cup. No one would blame you for doing it. In fact, I bet there would be a lot of people that would thank you! They'd throw you parades out of gratitude."
Clark was horrified. "No matter what you've done, I could never do that, I would never want that."
"Well, what do you want from me?"
"I want you to let me out of our agreement."
"Oh, no you don't, Clark... I'm not going to let you out of this. We're only ten days in-"
Clark interrupted, "Eleven."
Lex's eyes flashed in anger. "Okay, eleven, but do you think you get extra points for being anal about it?"
Clark sighed in exasperation. "Just stop, okay? I don't want to have a fight, I'm too tired."
"So, go back to sleep..." Lex got up and leaned down to pick up his shoes. "I'll leave you to suffer alone since that's obviously what you want."
He slammed the door as he left. Unthinking, despite the lead lined oak paneling and walls that had come between them, Clark looked at the door and tried to follow Lex as he stalked back to his bedroom.
Of course his vision flared blue.
Clark leaned back onto his pillow, his remarkably comfortable pillow, and couldn't wait for the rest of these thirty days to be over.
~:::~
The next week was pure hell.
He was confused about what he was supposed to feel. At times the need was still overwhelming, but it got overshadowed by the lingering grief for the lost thousands. Added to the stress he felt about everything else, the addition of nightmares made it hard for Clark to sleep.
He was conflicted on what to do about Lex, but had no one he could really talk to about it. Not in Metropolis, anyway, and he couldn't shake the nightmares. They seemed to get worse with each passing day.
He ached to see his mother and talk to her about everything. She might not know how he should handle this whole crazy situation, but at least she always made him feel better. He didn't want to try and talk to her about this over the phone either. Clark wanted to go home and spend the weekend with her, hug her, but he couldn't. He'd promised Lex he'd stay as part of their deal.
In an effort to try and distract himself, Clark worked as hard as he could at both his jobs while he kept to his bargain with Lex as much as it hurt him. He was miserable, but he wouldn't break his part of the bargain.
He acted like things were okay, but his sleep suffered and the nightmares got worse. Breakfast in the mornings always brought sad, regretful glances from Mrs. O'Hara and glares from Lex.
Dinners at night were even more uncomfortable, fretting Mrs. O'Hara always looked so sad as she watched her "dear lads" glower at each other. It just made things harder.
The ironic thing was that sometimes Lex was so angry at him that the phantom fingers would stop entirely. When that happened, Clark actually missed them.
They were touch, after all.
Right now he wasn't getting touched, not by anyone.
He actually would have loved to get just a hug, but Lois wasn't really an option either.
Going to her for comfort and understanding would have required he explain the whole thing to her. Clark wasn't sure he wanted to tell her the truth yet, mostly because he wasn't sure what the truth really was. Also, he couldn't imagine which lie he could tell that would possibly cover what was going on. She'd be able to tell that he was lying anyway, so there was really little point in even trying.
In getting down to the bottom of the story Lois would be like a terrier pulling on a pant leg, she wouldn't stop. He knew she would eventually find out what Clark was hiding from her. However, his sad love-life wasn't something he wanted to really discuss with her.
Wait. Did he just think that this was all part of his love life?
Clark wondered why he'd thought that the situation with Lex had anything to do with his love life. Could he really describe what was happening as part of an actual relationship?
Did he love Lex in return?
He thought about that.
If he had to answer honestly, he wasn't sure he could say no to that question. Some part of him had always treasured the friendship they'd had when he was younger. Clark had grieved for its loss. It had always saddened him to see what Lex had become, what he'd sometimes do.
However he had never hated Lex and he'd always found him attractive. Clark had always desired him. That much was true. However, was his confusion over how to deal with Lex rooted in love or lust?
After all that had been done and said between them, on both sides, was it possible to create a relationship?
He ached to talk to someone about this, but his emotions were too raw to discuss it with Lex.
Clark sat in the Daily Planet and looked out toward the window, distracted. He had been so preoccupied that he actually didn't realize that Lois had been trying to talk to him until he felt something smack into the side of his face. He looked down.
It was a paper ball wadded up from the early edition front page.
"You haven't heard a single word I've said, have you?"
Clark blushed, despite himself. "No, sorry. I'm a bit distracted, Lois."
She snorted, "A bit?"
"So what's so important you turn a perfectly innocent piece of paper into a projectile?" He scowled at Lois as he picked up the crumpled piece of paper and put it into the recycling bin that sat under his desk.
"I had been telling you about a story I was researching and then I asked you whether you read your email yet today and you completely ignored me."
Clark shook his head, "I haven't read my email yet. Why do you ask?"
"You might want to check it. Luthor's press conference on Monday looks like it might be a doozie."
Intrigued, despite himself, Clark looked at his inbox, "Why's he holding a press conference?"
"I don't know, the news release only says that Luthor will be announcing important changes for Lexcorp."
Curious, Clark found the email and read the press release. Not a thing indicated what it was that Lex was going to talk about. He mused quietly to himself, "I wonder what he's up to?"
There was only a brief pause, and Lois' heartbeat sped up, before she quietly said, "You could always ask him at dinner tonight."
Startled that she somehow knew, he tried to act cool and blandly looked over at her, acting as innocent as he could. "Why do you think I'm having dinner with Lex?"
"Maybe because you've been living with him since you had inexplicably disappeared after that bank robbery."
Clark was evasive, "What makes you think that?"
"I'm a reporter, Clark. I figured it out. Hope taking your clothes, Lexcorp muscle carting away your furniture, combined with the fact that you've been seen leaving the Luthor Towers complex first thing in the morning several times the last few weeks."
Clark cautiously asked her, "Have you told anyone?"
She scowled and threw another paper ball at him. It hit him right between the eyes. "You're a big dope sometimes, Clark." She stood up and came around so she could stand over him. "Why would you think I would tell anyone that? I don't spread gossip about my friends, not even juicy gossip like you apparently shacking up with Lex Luthor." Her voice softened, "But I am concerned what this all means, you're clearly not happy combined with what happened at City Hall a few weeks ago and you not acting like yourself lately. I think something more is going on and I'm worried about you."
"I don't want to talk to you about it, Lois... not now."
"Well, okay. So you don't want to talk to me, but have you talked to your mom about it?"
Clark didn't trust his voice and merely shook his head.
"That explains it, then. You always get moody after you deal with something like just what had happened with the tsunami, you always talk to your mom to feel better. Are you going to see her this weekend?"
Again, not trusting his voice, Clark shook his head and played with his pen absentmindedly.
Lois let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, you need to talk to your mom. You're going to be miserable until you talk to her about whatever it is that's going on between you and Luthor and let her make you some of her apple pie."
"I can't, Lois, and I don't want to talk about why..."
Somehow, that made Lois angry. "Oh, you don't need to tell me why, I know why."
Clark looked up in surprise. "You know why?"
"Yes, I do. Luthor must be behind it in some way and I'm going to punch him in the nose the next time I see him for doing it, whatever it is, to you. I don't care what that bitch Mercy does about that either. He deserves worse than a broken nose for hurting you."
Clark could almost feel the love and protectiveness that radiated from Lois. Touched more than he would have admitted, he stood and wrapped her up in his arms. "Thank you, Lois. Thank you for caring."
Her voice was soft and uncharacteristically husky with emotion as she talked softly into his ear, "Of course I care for you, Clark... I wouldn't give you so much shit if I didn't." She pulled from the embrace and looked up at him sadly. "I still want to know exactly what's going on, but right now I'm more concerned for you. Please, do what you can to go back to Smallville this weekend, okay? You know talking to your mom always makes you feel better."
He smiled slightly, unconvinced that Lex would agree to breaking that part of their agreement, and let him go. However, he wanted to reassure her. "I'll see what I can do."
~:::~
Clark slid his card key into the slot and pushed the button and waited for the elevator doors to open. As he waited, Clark fidgeted with his tie. He hated the fact that he was going to have to ask for Lex's permission to go home to see his mom for the weekend.
He'd agreed, in what seemed like a life-time ago, that he would only go back to see her for an afternoon. Clark had wanted to save the witch's life, but now he regretted he'd agreed to limit the time that he would spend with his mom. He wanted the comfort of home, her embrace, her cooking, her love, and for more than just a few hours.
The elevator reached the top floor far too soon. He sighed as the doors opened. He walked toward the front door of the penthouse. Mercy arched an elegant eyebrow at him from her position at the small desk she sat at, but didn't ask whatever the question was that clearly was in the front of her mind.
Clark ignored her as he pushed open the door. He was surprised when he found that the apartment was nearly completely dark. There was a light coming from the hallway leading to Lex's office and bedroom and the light that came in through the windows from the twilight sky and the city lights.
Clark was about to look through the walls, but he remembered the lead and listened instead. Lex was in his office, and there was a slight clink of ice in a glass as he sipped something. There were no other heart beats on the floor aside from Mercy's out in the hallway.
So there was no Mrs. O'Hara and no dinner waiting for them. Clark looked at his watch, it was a few minutes before seven. Confused what was going on, he walked into Lex's office and was surprised to find that he wore a tuxedo.
He looked up at him, his eyes red-rimmed and sad. "Hello, Clark."
"You've been drinking."
Lex simply shrugged and then in answer took another sip of his scotch.
Clark was confused. "What's going on, Lex?"
"I gave Mrs. O'Hara the night off, so you'll have to fend for yourself. You're a big boy so I'm sure you'll be fine. I'm going out for dinner tonight."
"You're going out?"
"Yes, there's a benefit dinner tonight, it's for the victims of the tsunami."
"Oh, that's good." Clark was confused, "But, isn't it a bit late for dinner?"
He arched an eyebrow in Clark's direction, "I'm going to be fashionably late, like Luthors always are..." Lex looked at Clark with a significant arch of one eyebrow. "But then again, I don't have a date so I only have myself to worry about." He took another sip of his scotch.
Clark was at a bit of a loss and turned to leave, but a grunt from Lex, and remembering he had to ask about visiting his mother, made him stop.
He looked back at the other man. Lex appeared as if he were completely confused about something.
Bitterly, he asked, "How can you stand it, Clark?"
"Stand what?"
"How can you stand what you're going through?"
"What are you talking about, Lex?"
"Can't you feel it, Clark? The pain, the confusion, the grief? I can feel it and I'm not even you. I don't know about you, but I can't stand it another minute."
Confused at exactly what Lex was talking about, all Clark could do was watch as Lex shook his head sadly and drained the rest of his drink in one pull. He stood up heavily and straightened his tie and jacket. He walked past Clark and spoke, his voice pained and angry.
"Go home to Smallville and see your mother, Clark..." He turned to look at Clark. "I will expect you back in Metropolis on Monday for my press conference and then, barring any disasters, natural or otherwise, be back here to eat dinner and sleep. I'll have Mrs. O'Hara make something special to celebrate you coming home. I'll also want to celebrate the announcement I'll be making at the press conference Monday, but I don't want to see you until then." He turned to walk out, but Clark's question stopped him.
Despite his joy at being let go, even if only for a weekend, Clark had to ask, "What are you going to announce?"
Lex looked back at Clark. "You'll find out when everyone else does, Clark." With that, Lex walked out of the front door.
Overjoyed, Clark didn't even bother to change. He sped through the living room and out of the sliding glass door and flew home to Smallville without looking back.
~:::~
Continued HERE...
Title: Superman for Sale
Author: D.M. Wyatt
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Rating: Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17
Warnings: Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift
Spoilers: None
Word Count this chapter: 6,612 - both parts (Story, thus far: 52,810)
Short summary of this chapter: Lex finds Clark and Clark suffers the after-affects of the emergency that called him away. (cover thanks to danceswithgary)
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven A |
Part 11 B of possibly 15....
~:::~
Clark woke to warmth and comfort.
He vaguely remembered bad dreams, all the dead eyes and broken bodies that had been so numerous in the small fishing villages on the coast of poor countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. Only partly awake, he felt a pair of arms around him, warmth, comfort, safety...
Not really aware, yet comforted by the arms that held him, Clark fell back into a deeper sleep.
~:::~
Clark woke again slowly, his still weary mind coming awake slowly. He realized it was day, but he had come back to the penthouse in the middle of the night after too many days pulling bodies, too many of them dead, from the destruction in the aftermath of the tsunami.
He felt warm and comfortable, despite the partly remembered bad dreams he'd had about the dead staring eyes and torn and battered corpses. He wished it would get easier to deal with tragedies like that, but he supposed it never would.
Clark shifted on the bed and realized that he wasn't alone, that his cheek rested on the shoulder of someone and that his arm was draped over someone else's waist.
Lex...
He looked up at the sleeping man's profile. He had dark smudges under his eyes and, if he'd been any other man, Clark imagined he would have had a several day growth of beard on top of that. He was fully clothed except for his stocking feet and, despite the fact he slept, Lex looked drained like he'd been up for days.
Still weary from the emergency, Clark didn't have the heart to pick a fight with Lex about him coming into his room... He regretfully pulled away and sat up in bed and looked out of the window. It was in the middle of the day, and yet Lex was in the bed with him when he should be at work.
Why?
He remembered vaguely that someone had held him in strong arms, comforting him.
Would someone who only lusted after Clark do something like that? Comfort him when no sex had been involved? Had Lex been telling the truth about his feelings?
He had thought that Lex's feelings had been more lustful, but why had he said he loved him if that was the case? Didn't the manipulation into sharing his bed, the phantom fingers, the non-sex while at City Hall, all prove it was lust?
Clark had only felt the phantom fingers originally whenever Lex had been in the same room with him, smirked at him, or mocked him. Then it started happening more and more, even when Lex was in a different room, a different building. It wasn't just when he saw Clark; it must also be when he thought about him, or when he daydreamed about graphic sexual encounters with him.
The phantom fingers weren't as apparent as they had been. He had only been faintly felt them since he had gone west (possibly due to the distance while he was half a world away). However, he had felt them when that reporter had done the live shot from the rescue center. After that they were fainter and they weren't present now. He wondered at that and realized it was likely because Lex was still deeply asleep, despite it being so late in the day.
Hadn't the feelings been just because of the lust Lex felt?
Or, maybe they weren't.
If Lex loved him, truly loved him, like he'd said, like Mrs. O'Hara seemed to think, and that there was more than lust, then maybe there was another reason for them. The feeling had been less erotic when he had been at that rescue center; then the feeling had felt more comforting.
Clark looked back at Lex's tired face and his eyes fluttered open, as if on cue. Clark looked away. The phantom touches came back when Lex saw him and smiled sleepily, not quite awake yet. This time the fingers were again soft, gentle, loving, not erotic, but Clark had to stay true to his promise.
He sighed.
No sex, meant no intimacy. Right?
None?
No, he thought.
None.
Clark sighed again, regretfully, and looked toward the window.
Lex spoke, his speech slurred with sleep, "You 'kay, Clark?"
"Why are you here, Lex?"
"You were having a nightmare..."
"I'm not a child. I don't need to be tucked in when the closet monster scares me."
Lex sounded annoyed, "I was trying to comfort you."
"What if I don't want you comforting me?"
"Do you hate me that much?"
Clark replied quietly, "No, you know I don't..."
Lex sounded angry, Clark didn't want to look at him, but the fingers stopped. "So what's wrong? Are you so disgusted by me that you hate me showing you some tenderness?"
He glared at Lex angrily, "No, I hate that you manipulated me into being here and I don't think you should take advantage of it."
"How is giving you comfort taking advantage of you?"
Clark didn't have anything to say to that, specifically, so he glowered. "Because you know I don't want it."
"That's rich. You've always said I needed to show more kindness and compassion toward my fellow man, but what about me showing some to the only Kryptonian on the planet?" Lex sighed heavily, clearly exasperated. "I was only trying to help you... I thought you'd understand that."
"If it were anyone else-"
It was Lex's turn to interrupt, "Am I that much of a monster, Clark?"
"Sometimes you do monstrous things."
"What if I've changed? What if I'm different now?"
"You're never going to change, Lex. You've been doing the same things over and over again, for almost as long as I've known you. It doesn't seem to matter how many buildings of yours that I knock down..."
"If I'm so awful, if there's no hope in my redemption, why don't you just kill me right now? It'd be easy, you could squash me as easily as I could crush a paper cup. No one would blame you for doing it. In fact, I bet there would be a lot of people that would thank you! They'd throw you parades out of gratitude."
Clark was horrified. "No matter what you've done, I could never do that, I would never want that."
"Well, what do you want from me?"
"I want you to let me out of our agreement."
"Oh, no you don't, Clark... I'm not going to let you out of this. We're only ten days in-"
Clark interrupted, "Eleven."
Lex's eyes flashed in anger. "Okay, eleven, but do you think you get extra points for being anal about it?"
Clark sighed in exasperation. "Just stop, okay? I don't want to have a fight, I'm too tired."
"So, go back to sleep..." Lex got up and leaned down to pick up his shoes. "I'll leave you to suffer alone since that's obviously what you want."
He slammed the door as he left. Unthinking, despite the lead lined oak paneling and walls that had come between them, Clark looked at the door and tried to follow Lex as he stalked back to his bedroom.
Of course his vision flared blue.
Clark leaned back onto his pillow, his remarkably comfortable pillow, and couldn't wait for the rest of these thirty days to be over.
~:::~
The next week was pure hell.
He was confused about what he was supposed to feel. At times the need was still overwhelming, but it got overshadowed by the lingering grief for the lost thousands. Added to the stress he felt about everything else, the addition of nightmares made it hard for Clark to sleep.
He was conflicted on what to do about Lex, but had no one he could really talk to about it. Not in Metropolis, anyway, and he couldn't shake the nightmares. They seemed to get worse with each passing day.
He ached to see his mother and talk to her about everything. She might not know how he should handle this whole crazy situation, but at least she always made him feel better. He didn't want to try and talk to her about this over the phone either. Clark wanted to go home and spend the weekend with her, hug her, but he couldn't. He'd promised Lex he'd stay as part of their deal.
In an effort to try and distract himself, Clark worked as hard as he could at both his jobs while he kept to his bargain with Lex as much as it hurt him. He was miserable, but he wouldn't break his part of the bargain.
He acted like things were okay, but his sleep suffered and the nightmares got worse. Breakfast in the mornings always brought sad, regretful glances from Mrs. O'Hara and glares from Lex.
Dinners at night were even more uncomfortable, fretting Mrs. O'Hara always looked so sad as she watched her "dear lads" glower at each other. It just made things harder.
The ironic thing was that sometimes Lex was so angry at him that the phantom fingers would stop entirely. When that happened, Clark actually missed them.
They were touch, after all.
Right now he wasn't getting touched, not by anyone.
He actually would have loved to get just a hug, but Lois wasn't really an option either.
Going to her for comfort and understanding would have required he explain the whole thing to her. Clark wasn't sure he wanted to tell her the truth yet, mostly because he wasn't sure what the truth really was. Also, he couldn't imagine which lie he could tell that would possibly cover what was going on. She'd be able to tell that he was lying anyway, so there was really little point in even trying.
In getting down to the bottom of the story Lois would be like a terrier pulling on a pant leg, she wouldn't stop. He knew she would eventually find out what Clark was hiding from her. However, his sad love-life wasn't something he wanted to really discuss with her.
Wait. Did he just think that this was all part of his love life?
Clark wondered why he'd thought that the situation with Lex had anything to do with his love life. Could he really describe what was happening as part of an actual relationship?
Did he love Lex in return?
He thought about that.
If he had to answer honestly, he wasn't sure he could say no to that question. Some part of him had always treasured the friendship they'd had when he was younger. Clark had grieved for its loss. It had always saddened him to see what Lex had become, what he'd sometimes do.
However he had never hated Lex and he'd always found him attractive. Clark had always desired him. That much was true. However, was his confusion over how to deal with Lex rooted in love or lust?
After all that had been done and said between them, on both sides, was it possible to create a relationship?
He ached to talk to someone about this, but his emotions were too raw to discuss it with Lex.
Clark sat in the Daily Planet and looked out toward the window, distracted. He had been so preoccupied that he actually didn't realize that Lois had been trying to talk to him until he felt something smack into the side of his face. He looked down.
It was a paper ball wadded up from the early edition front page.
"You haven't heard a single word I've said, have you?"
Clark blushed, despite himself. "No, sorry. I'm a bit distracted, Lois."
She snorted, "A bit?"
"So what's so important you turn a perfectly innocent piece of paper into a projectile?" He scowled at Lois as he picked up the crumpled piece of paper and put it into the recycling bin that sat under his desk.
"I had been telling you about a story I was researching and then I asked you whether you read your email yet today and you completely ignored me."
Clark shook his head, "I haven't read my email yet. Why do you ask?"
"You might want to check it. Luthor's press conference on Monday looks like it might be a doozie."
Intrigued, despite himself, Clark looked at his inbox, "Why's he holding a press conference?"
"I don't know, the news release only says that Luthor will be announcing important changes for Lexcorp."
Curious, Clark found the email and read the press release. Not a thing indicated what it was that Lex was going to talk about. He mused quietly to himself, "I wonder what he's up to?"
There was only a brief pause, and Lois' heartbeat sped up, before she quietly said, "You could always ask him at dinner tonight."
Startled that she somehow knew, he tried to act cool and blandly looked over at her, acting as innocent as he could. "Why do you think I'm having dinner with Lex?"
"Maybe because you've been living with him since you had inexplicably disappeared after that bank robbery."
Clark was evasive, "What makes you think that?"
"I'm a reporter, Clark. I figured it out. Hope taking your clothes, Lexcorp muscle carting away your furniture, combined with the fact that you've been seen leaving the Luthor Towers complex first thing in the morning several times the last few weeks."
Clark cautiously asked her, "Have you told anyone?"
She scowled and threw another paper ball at him. It hit him right between the eyes. "You're a big dope sometimes, Clark." She stood up and came around so she could stand over him. "Why would you think I would tell anyone that? I don't spread gossip about my friends, not even juicy gossip like you apparently shacking up with Lex Luthor." Her voice softened, "But I am concerned what this all means, you're clearly not happy combined with what happened at City Hall a few weeks ago and you not acting like yourself lately. I think something more is going on and I'm worried about you."
"I don't want to talk to you about it, Lois... not now."
"Well, okay. So you don't want to talk to me, but have you talked to your mom about it?"
Clark didn't trust his voice and merely shook his head.
"That explains it, then. You always get moody after you deal with something like just what had happened with the tsunami, you always talk to your mom to feel better. Are you going to see her this weekend?"
Again, not trusting his voice, Clark shook his head and played with his pen absentmindedly.
Lois let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, you need to talk to your mom. You're going to be miserable until you talk to her about whatever it is that's going on between you and Luthor and let her make you some of her apple pie."
"I can't, Lois, and I don't want to talk about why..."
Somehow, that made Lois angry. "Oh, you don't need to tell me why, I know why."
Clark looked up in surprise. "You know why?"
"Yes, I do. Luthor must be behind it in some way and I'm going to punch him in the nose the next time I see him for doing it, whatever it is, to you. I don't care what that bitch Mercy does about that either. He deserves worse than a broken nose for hurting you."
Clark could almost feel the love and protectiveness that radiated from Lois. Touched more than he would have admitted, he stood and wrapped her up in his arms. "Thank you, Lois. Thank you for caring."
Her voice was soft and uncharacteristically husky with emotion as she talked softly into his ear, "Of course I care for you, Clark... I wouldn't give you so much shit if I didn't." She pulled from the embrace and looked up at him sadly. "I still want to know exactly what's going on, but right now I'm more concerned for you. Please, do what you can to go back to Smallville this weekend, okay? You know talking to your mom always makes you feel better."
He smiled slightly, unconvinced that Lex would agree to breaking that part of their agreement, and let him go. However, he wanted to reassure her. "I'll see what I can do."
~:::~
Clark slid his card key into the slot and pushed the button and waited for the elevator doors to open. As he waited, Clark fidgeted with his tie. He hated the fact that he was going to have to ask for Lex's permission to go home to see his mom for the weekend.
He'd agreed, in what seemed like a life-time ago, that he would only go back to see her for an afternoon. Clark had wanted to save the witch's life, but now he regretted he'd agreed to limit the time that he would spend with his mom. He wanted the comfort of home, her embrace, her cooking, her love, and for more than just a few hours.
The elevator reached the top floor far too soon. He sighed as the doors opened. He walked toward the front door of the penthouse. Mercy arched an elegant eyebrow at him from her position at the small desk she sat at, but didn't ask whatever the question was that clearly was in the front of her mind.
Clark ignored her as he pushed open the door. He was surprised when he found that the apartment was nearly completely dark. There was a light coming from the hallway leading to Lex's office and bedroom and the light that came in through the windows from the twilight sky and the city lights.
Clark was about to look through the walls, but he remembered the lead and listened instead. Lex was in his office, and there was a slight clink of ice in a glass as he sipped something. There were no other heart beats on the floor aside from Mercy's out in the hallway.
So there was no Mrs. O'Hara and no dinner waiting for them. Clark looked at his watch, it was a few minutes before seven. Confused what was going on, he walked into Lex's office and was surprised to find that he wore a tuxedo.
He looked up at him, his eyes red-rimmed and sad. "Hello, Clark."
"You've been drinking."
Lex simply shrugged and then in answer took another sip of his scotch.
Clark was confused. "What's going on, Lex?"
"I gave Mrs. O'Hara the night off, so you'll have to fend for yourself. You're a big boy so I'm sure you'll be fine. I'm going out for dinner tonight."
"You're going out?"
"Yes, there's a benefit dinner tonight, it's for the victims of the tsunami."
"Oh, that's good." Clark was confused, "But, isn't it a bit late for dinner?"
He arched an eyebrow in Clark's direction, "I'm going to be fashionably late, like Luthors always are..." Lex looked at Clark with a significant arch of one eyebrow. "But then again, I don't have a date so I only have myself to worry about." He took another sip of his scotch.
Clark was at a bit of a loss and turned to leave, but a grunt from Lex, and remembering he had to ask about visiting his mother, made him stop.
He looked back at the other man. Lex appeared as if he were completely confused about something.
Bitterly, he asked, "How can you stand it, Clark?"
"Stand what?"
"How can you stand what you're going through?"
"What are you talking about, Lex?"
"Can't you feel it, Clark? The pain, the confusion, the grief? I can feel it and I'm not even you. I don't know about you, but I can't stand it another minute."
Confused at exactly what Lex was talking about, all Clark could do was watch as Lex shook his head sadly and drained the rest of his drink in one pull. He stood up heavily and straightened his tie and jacket. He walked past Clark and spoke, his voice pained and angry.
"Go home to Smallville and see your mother, Clark..." He turned to look at Clark. "I will expect you back in Metropolis on Monday for my press conference and then, barring any disasters, natural or otherwise, be back here to eat dinner and sleep. I'll have Mrs. O'Hara make something special to celebrate you coming home. I'll also want to celebrate the announcement I'll be making at the press conference Monday, but I don't want to see you until then." He turned to walk out, but Clark's question stopped him.
Despite his joy at being let go, even if only for a weekend, Clark had to ask, "What are you going to announce?"
Lex looked back at Clark. "You'll find out when everyone else does, Clark." With that, Lex walked out of the front door.
Overjoyed, Clark didn't even bother to change. He sped through the living room and out of the sliding glass door and flew home to Smallville without looking back.
~:::~
Continued HERE...