Protection, Chapter 5
Nov. 26th, 2006 02:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bagheera_sanHere we are, the next chapter of Protection. It's about thousand words longer than the others and I'm closer to the ending than I thought I would be...
Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
averaird for the speediest beta on the planet and some really good suggestions!
Spoiler Warning: This chapter contains heavy spoilers for "Vessel" and "Zod". Be warned.
Chapter Five
Lex retired to his study after their return from the Fortress, allegedly to catch up on work. That left Clark to worry about Chloe.
He searched for the Daily Planet edition with the article Lex had showed him, but he couldn't find it. The help had probably already thrown it away. So Clark didn't know how bad things were. If LuthorCorp sued and Chloe was convicted for the charges, she'd be lucky to end up having to pay a large fine – which the Sullivans were unlikely to be able to pay.
He spent the whole night mulling over this. A few times he almost called home, but each time he picked up the phone his courage left him as he thought of Chloe, crying as she had done at the funeral. Clark bet that half of the things Chloe was in trouble for now were things he had asked her to do for him.
By morning, Clark felt genuinely tired for the first time. Five sleepless nights in a row and constant stress eventually wore down even the toughest super-powered alien. Even his face in the mirror looked disgruntled and bleary – a novel sight for Clark.
He found Lex in the kitchen leaning against the counter, the newspaper behind him. He had a cup of coffee in one hand and his phone in the other, tapping it impatiently against his thigh.
Clark shuffled past him, feeling very much like he imagined Lois must feel before her first cup of coffee – barely human and not inclined to act so. Whatever benevolence he had felt towards Lex the day before was very far away.
"I thought it might interest you that Chloe is out on bail. She has apparently acquired a mysterious benefactor – and a very good lawyer," Lex said, his voice carefully neutral.
Clark stilled in the middle of reaching for a coffee cup. Could it be…? Was Lex making a peace offering?
If so, it was a pretty weird one. Clark turned an annoyed frown on Lex. "You could just drop the charges."
Lex raised his brows, looking genuinely puzzled for moment. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again, his expression turning inscrutable.
But he was watching Clark closely. "That'd be tactical suicide."
Clark ground his teeth in frustration. "Did your Dad tell you that, Lex?" he asked, giving way to some of his exasperation. "I think he'd say that giving Chloe a lawyer at all is tactical suicide."
There it was again, that second where Lex looked completely at a loss, as if Clark's words somehow jibed with the way the world worked according to Lex Luthor. He visibly struggled to adjust. "I reserve the right to disagree with my father," he said, slowly, as if trying the words on for size like an old shirt found at the back of the closet.
It was barely a shadow of that younger Lex who had so vehemently insisted that he was nothing like his father, but the echo was there, however faint and tentative. Clark sighed.
"Then I guess I'm glad you don't."
Whatever Lex's reaction was, he hid it by taking a long sip from his coffee, furtively watching Clark over the rim, then dipping his lashes and looking away.
*
During the next two days, Lex kept himself at a distance, talking to Clark only when it was necessary, avoiding him completely in the penthouse. Clark probably exchanged more words with Laurel than with Lex. But Clark felt watched whenever he turned his back on Lex and instead of relaxing him, it made him nervous. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were waiting for something.
At work, Lex seemed normal enough, going through the motions of his job as if nothing could touch him. Whatever he felt was hidden deep under rigid composure and Clark wasn't able to tell if Lex ever let go of that at all, even when he was alone in his room. He drank, but so moderately that it could barely affect him, and he never was anything but polite to any of his employees.
On the third morning, Lex dropped another Daily Planet in front of Clark. Clark glanced down only once to find the headline. 'LuthorCorp drops charges, apologizes for mistake.'
Before he could say anything, Lex said, "This is tactical suicide, Clark," as if expecting him to agree.
"It's the right thing to do," Clark replied sternly. He was glad that Chloe was safe, but now that he didn't have to worry anymore, there was a lot more room for anger. "You should never have attacked her in the first place."
And, yeah, now that Lex had taken the threat back, Clark felt a lot safer speaking his mind. Taking the threat back meant that absolute control over Clark couldn't be Lex's primary goal anymore. He wouldn't take it back just to lash out again at the next opportunity.
That realization felt like a stone lifted from Clark's heart.
Infuriatingly, Lex answered with, "It was a strategic mistake. I did something I should have saved as an absolute emergency measure in reaction to a minor obstacle."
"You shouldn't have done it at all!" And damn, but Lex knew this. Clark had no doubt that Lex knew this. If he didn't know that it had been wrong, he wouldn't have taken it back. He was just acting like an asshole out of habit, or whatever it was.
Lex raised his chin, his lips thinning, distancing himself once more from Clark. "I believe this discussion is pointless, as we're talking based on two completely different sets of moral imperatives."
Before Clark could call bullshit, Lex had slipped away from him and started burying himself in work once more. Still angry, Clark stayed behind in the penthouse. He read the article once more. Now that the charges were dropped, the Planet sounded pretty supportive of Chloe, ragging instead on LuthorCorp and other big corporations suppressing the freedom of the press.
He was still considering this when Laurel came into the kitchen, her face serious. Something was different about her, but Clark needed some time to place it. It was little things: the fact that she wore comfortable running shoes and a pair of jeans, that her stance was tense and alert, like a football player's on the field…
"Is everything alright?" Clark asked, immediately concerned.
"We should talk," she said, and that was another difference – her voice was the same, but her accent harder, less refined. "I've overheard you and Mr Luthor arguing a couple of times."
Instinctively, Clark tried to deflect. "That's nothing unusual between people who've known each other for a long time."
Her frown darkened. "Look, Kent, it's obvious he's threatening you. I've been told to stay away from you because you might be drugged or dangerous, but that's not what I'm seeing."
A rush of panic made Clark flush. The last thing he needed was the police getting involved in this. "It's not – "
She made an exasperated noise and pushed her blonde hair back. "Alright. I shouldn't be telling you this, but you've obviously got trust issues. The cameras are off at the moment, so you needn't hold back. My name's Dinah, I'm a friend of Oliver Queen and I'm here undercover to find out about LuthorCorp's secret mutant research."
Clark gawked. "You're a friend of Ollie's?"
She grinned. "And old friend." And from inside her pocket, she pulled a small metal triangle – the tip of an arrow. Clark gulped. He hadn't known that anyone besides him and their mutual super-powered friends knew about the Green Arrow's secret identity.
She put the arrow back into her pocket. "Actually, I was supposed to apply as a nanny later on, but we changed the plan when Luthor's girlfriend died."
Luthor's girlfriend. That was all Lana was to Ollie. "Why didn't he tell me about this?"
Laurel – Dinah – shrugged. "No idea. I didn't hatch this plan. All I know is that Ollie's convinced you've switched sides for some reason or other. From what I heard about your powers, I sure hope you haven't."
Clark's eyes widened as he heard that Ollie had told a stranger, someone Clark had never even heard of before, about Clark's powers. And then he'd sent her to insinuate herself into Lex's family and spy on him. Ollie meant well, and it was Clark who'd told him about Lex's illegal research, but sometimes his methods were so ruthless that he seemed barely better than the criminals he fought.
Dinah seemed to misinterpret his shocked impression. "Yeah, sorry. I've seen that you're a good guy. So what's Luthor got on you?"
Clark almost said 'nothing', but that wasn't fair to Ollie or his other friends. "Lex knows about the Green Arrow. And he's threatening Bart, Arthur and Victor."
Dinah scowled. "Bastard. That means we've got serious problems. But you've got much better access to Luthor's work. You follow him around all day. There must be something you could dig up on him."
"It's too dangerous."
It was only half of the truth. Clark really did think that it was too dangerous – for Dinah, for him, for everybody Lex threatened, but also for Lena. This woman wasn't who she said she was, and the way she talked about Lex sounded almost as extreme as Ollie's opinions. Even if she was one of the good guys, Clark knew that he wouldn't be able to leave her alone with the baby from now on without worrying. But aside from that, working together with Dinah meant that whatever little chance there was of coming to a peaceful solution with Lex would be gone. Lex had already shown some positive progress. He'd dropped the charges against Chloe. He had agreed not to try and exploit the Fortress for the time being.
There was hope, and Clark couldn't let it go.
"I'm sorry, I can't work with you."
"So, you're just going to let him walk all over you, Powerboy?"
"No." Clark crossed his arms, trying to make it clear that his mind was made-up. That gesture worked surprisingly well with people who didn't know him – not so well with his Mom, or Chloe. "I'm doing this my own way. You're only putting everybody at risk with what you're doing."
Dinah didn't seem terribly impressed, but her expression hardened in understanding. "So Ollie was right. Again. I shouldn't have given you a heads-up."
"You shouldn't have done this at all. I know Ollie believes in vigilantism, but there's a difference between stopping a mugging on the street and spying on people in their homes," Clark added, not wavering in his resolved stance. Why did Ollie always have to do so damn risky stuff? Money seriously screwed people up, even more so than super-powers.
"I'll make sure to tell him that. Can I count on you giving me a couple of hours before Luthor finds out about this?"
"I'm not going to – "
Dinah held up a hand, shutting him up. "I blew my cover. You're not going to help me. It doesn't matter what you say you will or won't do, I'm getting out of here. So, do I have a couple of hours?"
Clark nodded. She gave him a tight smile and turned around, doing something with her wristwatch. "Well, at least I'll get to wear proper clothes now. I never want to see a navy skirt in my life again," she muttered as she left the kitchen.
This was so surreal. Luckily, it'd be hours yet before Lex would get back from work and notice that their nurse was gone and by then, Dinah had said she would be okay. Clark really didn't want to think about what Lex would do when he found out. He stayed where he was until he heard the elevator doors open and close, then he went into Lena's room to check on her.
The room looked the same as before. Dinah hadn't taken any of her stuff with her – upon closer examination, most of it looked as new and impersonal as the things in Clark's room. None of it was really hers, just part of her cover.
Lena was awake, lying in her crib and Clark gently picked her up. She made a gurgling noise, grabbing for him with a tiny hand and closing her fingers on a piece of his white shirt. It made him angry that she was just a week old and people were already using her as a pawn.
Clark carried her around for a while, taking her with him to the kitchen and the living room, talking to her like his Mom sometimes talked to Shelby – little nonsense things, whatever came into his head. It was strangely relaxing. After a while, his subjects became less meaningless and he told Lena about Lana. It wasn't as if she understood anything he said, so he could pour out the whole flood of little memories that had accumulated in his mind over the last days.
About an hour after Dinah had left, Clark put Lena back to bed and called Lex's help. Unlike at the mansion, here you had to call for it with a little phone, like room service in a hotel, and some time later some manservant would appear from the depths of LuthorCorp and do your bidding. Clark hadn't actually tried it before, but his request for infant formula was followed promptly and without questioning.
Whiling the afternoon away like this, Clark eventually ended up in an armchair in Lena's room, feeling safe and content enough for the first time in a week to truly find rest. He didn't quite fall asleep, but he dozed, lazy as a cat in the sun, even though the sun wasn't shining, it was raining outside…
"Clark?"
Lex startled voice abruptly woke Clark from his slumber. He was standing in the doorway, still in his suit and tie, looking somewhat puzzled. Clark wasn't the only one roused by Lex's arrival – Lena started crying louder than she had all day.
"Where is Ms Lance?" Lex inquired.
Clark got up, regretting the loss of comfort. He walked over to the baby's crib and picked her up, trying to calm her by patting her back and rocking her, but it was to no use. A glance at his watch told him that she might be hungry again.
"I'll explain if you could hold her for a minute," Clark said. Lex frowned in mute disapproval, but he took the crying baby from Clark and held her while following Clark to the kitchen. As soon as Lex had the baby, Clark realized that it was a great tactic – as long as he held Lena, Lex wasn't able to do anything drastic when Clark told him about Dinah. Putting water on the stove to warm the infant formula, Clark felt cunning.
"Well?" Lex prodded, shifting Lena from one arm to the other.
"She left and I don't think we'll be seeing her again," Clark stated.
"Her employment contract clearly states – " Oh yeah, the baby distraction tactic worked, Clark thought. Lex still hadn't caught on to anything.
"That won't be an issue, Lex. She was – is working for someone else."
"My father?" Lex asked, enraged but partly drowned out by his daughter's crying. Of course Lex would think that first.
"No. Someone who is investigating your illegal research." Clark wouldn't drop Ollie's name – it was a sure thing that Lex would react by releasing the info on Green Arrow to the press.
"Who?" Lex demanded.
Clark stared down at the heating water and the small plastic bottle of baby formula and thanked God for wailing infants. "Not the police, I think."
Lex was quiet for a moment and it sent hot and cold fear down Clark's back. But then Lex asked, "She didn't do anything to Lena, did she?"
"No," Clark breathed in relief. "Nothing like that, Lex."
"How did you find out?"
Clark fished the bottle from the pot and turned around. "Um, could you test that? I'm not sure if I can tell whether it's too hot or not."
Lex looked irritated at not getting his answer, but he shifted Lena against his shoulder so he could take the bottle from Clark. "Infant formula is inferior to breast-milk," he said absently. "You didn't use tap water for this, did you?"
"No, your help sent sterile water with the formula," Clark said patiently.
It was actually quite funny to watch Lex try and figure out the proper way to feed a baby with the expression of someone conducting a particularly volatile chemical experiment. Once she started drinking though, the frown of concentration loosened and he seemed completely absorbed in the process. Clark looked on, unwilling to disturb the moment of bonding, until Lex glanced up.
"So?"
"She approached me this morning after you left because she'd figured out that you're blackmailing me." Clark said it in a deliberately challenging way and noted with satisfaction the tiny moment of discomfort passing over Lex's face. It was the first time since that very first evening that he showed any kind of guilt for what he'd done. "She explained what she was here for and suggested that we work together."
He expected Lex to be angry that Clark had let her go, but Lex just stared at Clark as if Clark was making no sense, and Lex didn't like things that made no sense. Clark could see the disbelief and questions building up inside him, but the wave broke in silence and all Lex did was close his eyes for a second, as if someone had pulled the ground from under his feet and the world was spinning for him.
Lena hiccupped and spit a mouthful of milk onto Lex's Armani suited shoulder. Suddenly Clark couldn't suppress a grin. Lex looked helpless and miserable in his ruined suit and ruffled tie, having a baby drooling on his shoulder when Clark had expected him to be plotting revenge by now.
After a moment or two, it got a bit weird to be stared at by Lex like this, so Clark took the empty baby bottle from him and put it into the dishwasher. Behind him, Lex muttered something about background checks.
"This kind of thing would happen much less often if you didn't do so much bad stuff that makes people try to get revenge on you," Clark said.
Lex didn't even debate that he was doing evil things. "I got attacked even when the worst thing I did was drive above speed limit."
Clark shook his head as he took Lena from Lex to bring her back to her room. "Half of the time you got attacked because of something your father did. You remember Level Three? Rachel Dunleavy? Lucas? Do you want Lena to grow up like that? One day she'll ask questions, Lex. What are you going to do if she asks you whether you're experimenting on people in secret labs?"
"I –" Lex began, but he didn't finish as he followed Clark into Lena's room.
"Or are you going tell her that there are no secret labs?" Clark prodded once he had laid her down on the changing table.
Lex's expression tightened and he turned away from Clark, so that all Clark could see was his profile, and the raindrops running down the windowpane reflected on his skin. He waited for an answer. It was a long time before Lex said, "I'm not going to lie to my daughter."
"Then you'll have to explain."
"I'll explain to her why research is necessary," Lex said, louder this time, but less convinced. "We need progress, Clark. We need to understand how the world works in order to survive. There are beings like Zod out there and we need to be able to defend ourselves. Sacrifices sometimes need to be made for that."
"I know," Clark replied calmly, because this was an argument he could win. "A week ago I was ready to go to the Fortress and finish my Kryptonian education. I'm not sure if I'll still be the same person if I do that, but I know I have to so I can protect Earth."
Lex turned his head. "You agree with me?"
"No. What you're saying is not that we need to make sacrifices, but that the end justifies the means. If I agreed with that, you'd be dead."
Lex sucked in a sharp breath, then let it go in a shallow huff of laughter. "I guess I would be."
"I'm not talking about now," Clark sighed. "I'm talking about when Zod possessed you. Didn't Lana tell you that I was going to kill you?"
"No." Lex walked over to the desk and took off his ruined suit jacket. He folded it on the desk and leaned against it. "All Lana told me was that she almost killed me. She didn't want to talk about what happened with Zod."
"What do you remember?" Clark asked as he changed Lena's diaper. He'd done it twice before that day, and was getting quite good at it.
"I was assaulted by Milton Fine and he injected me with a powerful vaccine. The next day, I started hearing some sort of noise - "
"Shrill and really loud?" Clark interrupted.
Lex frowned suspiciously. "Yeah. How did you know?"
"I think it might be the same noise that the key and the spaceship used to call me. Huh. I guess it's some sort of Kryptonian thing."
Lex took a moment to process this, then went on. "It felt as if my head was going to burst if I didn't get out the castle. I drove into a field outside Smallville… then it gets confused. Lana was there, and Fine, too."
"Lana said it looked like you were abducted by aliens," Clark took over. He told Lex how she had confided in Chloe and Chloe had told him and they had figured out it had to do with Zod. "Some months earlier, Fine tried to use me as a vessel for Zod, but I defeated him. I thought he was gone, but then your father started writing down all these Kryptonian messages that said Zod was coming. So I went to the Fortress and Jor-El said it was true. Fine was trying to create a human vessel for Zod. He said I could only stop it by killing the vessel and he gave me a dagger."
"A dagger," Lex echoed incredulously.
Clark shrugged. He'd sat down with Lena in the armchair, holding her as she fell asleep. "It was some kinda crystal. Anyways, you reappeared later that day and hurt your Dad pretty badly. Then Fine did something with the computer in your office that caused a complete blackout all over the globe – but you know about that."
They both knew what horrible things had happened on that day without power. They had rebuild Metropolis afterwards, Lex very publicly and Clark in secret, but both driven by guilt.
"You showed up in my barn and you had the same powers as I do. You said some things… I'm not sure how much of that was really you."
"What did I say?" Lex demanded.
"You said… you said that I was only ever your friend because I liked to think that I could save you. And that you only were my friend because you envied me."
"I did envy you," Lex said. He looked down. "I've never envied anyone as much as I envied you. You had the family I always wanted, you were in love with the right girl, you always saved the day. That's what it looked like to me. That's what I wanted to see. But that wasn't why I wanted to be friends with you."
Clark sensed that they had gotten to a dangerously emotional subject. Lex had that sincere expression on his face that meant that he was flaying himself open, desperate to be believed. And Clark believed him. What Lex had said about envying him… Clark had known that long before last year. It wasn't very hard to miss when you saw how Lex used to act around his parents or listened to the things he said. Knowing what he now knew, Lex probably realized that Clark's life wasn't nearly as simple or perfect as it might look. But Lex said that wasn't the reason he wanted to be friends with Clark, so…
Suddenly, Clark remembered that Lex had wanted Clark. That he'd been in love with him. Clark had done very well suppressing that knowledge, but now it was there, back in the open, just as raw.
"So why did you want to be friends with me?" Clark asked nervously. They were both talking very softly now – because of the baby, but also because every step in this conversation might hurt. Would hurt, almost certainly.
Lex looked pained, but he didn't waver. "I liked you, Clark. It wasn't all that hard not to. And you liked me. That doesn't happen a lot."
It was such a simple, obvious answer. Nothing dark or nefarious. Clark swallowed.
"What about you, Clark?" Lex asked, barely a whisper.
"I don't know. I just… you were a nice guy, back then, Lex. A bit weird…but cool. And it was pretty hard to say no to you. And then we were just friends – Jesus, Lex, you can't explain friendship. It's just there. You like someone because of who they are. You like to spend time with them. It wasn't about saving you. There were a lot of people I saved but didn't become friends with." Clark stopped because he had been getting louder the more agitated he got.
He decided to take a break and got up carefully, placing Lena in her crib. "It's probably going to be a long night. I'm going to eat something."
Lex remained silent and Clark was almost out of the room before he said, "I'd like some take-out right now."
Lex fished for his phone in the discarded suit jacket, but Clark decided to go for a run instead and zipped out of the penthouse, taking the emergency staircase instead of the slow elevator. It felt good to run.
Not quite ten minutes later, as he returned with two plastic bags of Thai food from a couple of blocks away, Clark decided that take-out was a great idea. He was a bit wet now from the rain outside, but there'd be hot, delicious food instead of sandwiches. He was feeling seriously hungry after all that baby-feeding.
Lex had migrated into the living room. He seemed like he was brooding, leaning with his elbows on his knees, nursing a glass of scotch. But when Clark appeared with a rush of air, he looked at him with quiet awe.
"You didn't actually run to Thailand, did you?" he asked as Clark unpacked the boxes and chopsticks and fetched himself some water and a spoon. Clark never managed the high art of chop sticks, no matter how much Lana and Chloe tried to teach him.
"Baker Street," Clark clarified. "Near MetU."
"Could you run to Thailand? You should be fast enough to run over water."
"I know a guy who – " Clark fell silent. He never accidentally blurted out any secret information, but he'd gotten so used to Lex knowing about his powers that he'd forgotten secrecy.
"Bart Allen," Lex guessed. Then, curiously, "How did he get his powers?"
Clark took a deep breath. "I don't think he'd want me to tell you."
Lex paused, his chopsticks in hand, and gave Clark a long, level glance. Then he nodded. "Alright."
Clark blinked. Then he smiled. Then his smile fell as he realized that maybe, years ago, it'd have been that easy. He could just have admitted that he had a secret and told Lex that his parents didn't want him to tell. If Lex could accept that much now, wouldn't he have accepted it then?
Clark finished his fried rice in record time, then offered, "You still want to know the rest about Zod?"
Lex wasn't done, but he sat back on the couch and nodded.
"So you showed up in the barn. We had that talk, and then we had a fight – well, a pretty short one. I pinned you down and pulled the dagger, but you… didn't fight back and I didn't want to do it. Fine showed up to taunt me, so I threw the dagger at him instead. That's what opened the portal for Zod."
"Portal?"
"He was imprisoned in another dimension. A place called the Phantom Zone. Fine somehow used the crystal from the dagger to open a portal, and Zod came through. He possessed your body and told me he was there for revenge because my father had locked him up in the Phantom Zone. Zod said that he'd destroy Earth and hurt everyone I loved unless I joined him."
"Joined him doing what?"
Clark shrugged. Zod hadn't elaborated. "Ruling Earth, I guess. I didn't find out because I said no."
Lex licked his lips, then narrowed his eyes at Clark. "You realize that he used essentially the same threat against you as I did?"
Clark hesitated a second, because he hadn't thought of it that way before. "No. It wasn't the same. Zod already destroyed one planet. If you met him you'd know that I couldn't have joined him."
"I haven't been known to lay waste to entire worlds, no," Lex mused. "So you escaped Zod?"
"Eventually. But first he imprisoned me in the Phantom Zone." Clark related meeting Raja and the phantoms. Lex seemed way more interested in whether the Phantom Zone was actually another dimension and how it felt to be two-dimensional, but eventually Clark managed to get to the part of how he'd gotten back and found Zod in the mansion, about to kill Lana.
"Zod attacked me, and this time I was the one who lost the fight. It was still your body, but Zod knew how to fly and he was stronger than I was. I'd have lost – but then he repeated his offer to join him. He must have been really eager for that."
"Any man would be foolish not to want you as an ally," Lex said, as if it was the most normal and obvious thing in the world.
"There are nicer ways of asking than telling me to kneel, though," Clark said pointedly.
It wasn't often that you saw Lex baffled. "What?"
"Zod," Clark reminded him. "Zod told me to kneel. I did. He bought it, and when he offered me his hand, I pressed the crystal Raya gave me into his palm and it sucked Zod right out of your body."
Lex stared down at his palm – the right one – and then at Clark. "I had a slight burn there when I woke in the hospital. A pentagonal shape."
"Raya told me it's the crest of the House of El."
Lex looked as if he loved and hated the idea at the same time as he examined his palm as if he might find the mark there, hidden in the lines of his skin.
Without having to talk about it, they both stayed up most of that night, taking care of Lena whenever she woke up. Whenever she slept, Clark continued telling Lex more, about the Zoners he had defeated, about Raya's death, until their conversation changed its direction and Clark talked about other things, college, family, that time he and Lana raised the fast-aging mutant. It were all things that didn't matter much, that Clark just talked about because he wanted to, not to convey some important message. It was just to stay awake, because somehow, that had gotten awfully hard. Clark wasn't just tired any longer, he could barely keep open his eyes. The dark behind his eyes was gentle and peaceful, so tempting…
There was another disruption, Lena cried, and Lex went to take care of her. Clark curled up against the arm of the couch and decided that now, he would sleep. He hadn't slept in days, but now he felt like he could. Like it was safe to do so.
Dimly, he still heard Lex coming back, pacing the room. Clark wished he'd just settle down and buried his face deeper in the crook of his arm.
"Clark, I – " Lex began, but Clark just muttered, "Sleeping."
The last, soft sound he heard was the click of a light-switch.
Thanks to
averaird for the speediest beta on the planet and some really good suggestions!Spoiler Warning: This chapter contains heavy spoilers for "Vessel" and "Zod". Be warned.
Chapter Five
Lex retired to his study after their return from the Fortress, allegedly to catch up on work. That left Clark to worry about Chloe.
He searched for the Daily Planet edition with the article Lex had showed him, but he couldn't find it. The help had probably already thrown it away. So Clark didn't know how bad things were. If LuthorCorp sued and Chloe was convicted for the charges, she'd be lucky to end up having to pay a large fine – which the Sullivans were unlikely to be able to pay.
He spent the whole night mulling over this. A few times he almost called home, but each time he picked up the phone his courage left him as he thought of Chloe, crying as she had done at the funeral. Clark bet that half of the things Chloe was in trouble for now were things he had asked her to do for him.
By morning, Clark felt genuinely tired for the first time. Five sleepless nights in a row and constant stress eventually wore down even the toughest super-powered alien. Even his face in the mirror looked disgruntled and bleary – a novel sight for Clark.
He found Lex in the kitchen leaning against the counter, the newspaper behind him. He had a cup of coffee in one hand and his phone in the other, tapping it impatiently against his thigh.
Clark shuffled past him, feeling very much like he imagined Lois must feel before her first cup of coffee – barely human and not inclined to act so. Whatever benevolence he had felt towards Lex the day before was very far away.
"I thought it might interest you that Chloe is out on bail. She has apparently acquired a mysterious benefactor – and a very good lawyer," Lex said, his voice carefully neutral.
Clark stilled in the middle of reaching for a coffee cup. Could it be…? Was Lex making a peace offering?
If so, it was a pretty weird one. Clark turned an annoyed frown on Lex. "You could just drop the charges."
Lex raised his brows, looking genuinely puzzled for moment. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again, his expression turning inscrutable.
But he was watching Clark closely. "That'd be tactical suicide."
Clark ground his teeth in frustration. "Did your Dad tell you that, Lex?" he asked, giving way to some of his exasperation. "I think he'd say that giving Chloe a lawyer at all is tactical suicide."
There it was again, that second where Lex looked completely at a loss, as if Clark's words somehow jibed with the way the world worked according to Lex Luthor. He visibly struggled to adjust. "I reserve the right to disagree with my father," he said, slowly, as if trying the words on for size like an old shirt found at the back of the closet.
It was barely a shadow of that younger Lex who had so vehemently insisted that he was nothing like his father, but the echo was there, however faint and tentative. Clark sighed.
"Then I guess I'm glad you don't."
Whatever Lex's reaction was, he hid it by taking a long sip from his coffee, furtively watching Clark over the rim, then dipping his lashes and looking away.
*
During the next two days, Lex kept himself at a distance, talking to Clark only when it was necessary, avoiding him completely in the penthouse. Clark probably exchanged more words with Laurel than with Lex. But Clark felt watched whenever he turned his back on Lex and instead of relaxing him, it made him nervous. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were waiting for something.
At work, Lex seemed normal enough, going through the motions of his job as if nothing could touch him. Whatever he felt was hidden deep under rigid composure and Clark wasn't able to tell if Lex ever let go of that at all, even when he was alone in his room. He drank, but so moderately that it could barely affect him, and he never was anything but polite to any of his employees.
On the third morning, Lex dropped another Daily Planet in front of Clark. Clark glanced down only once to find the headline. 'LuthorCorp drops charges, apologizes for mistake.'
Before he could say anything, Lex said, "This is tactical suicide, Clark," as if expecting him to agree.
"It's the right thing to do," Clark replied sternly. He was glad that Chloe was safe, but now that he didn't have to worry anymore, there was a lot more room for anger. "You should never have attacked her in the first place."
And, yeah, now that Lex had taken the threat back, Clark felt a lot safer speaking his mind. Taking the threat back meant that absolute control over Clark couldn't be Lex's primary goal anymore. He wouldn't take it back just to lash out again at the next opportunity.
That realization felt like a stone lifted from Clark's heart.
Infuriatingly, Lex answered with, "It was a strategic mistake. I did something I should have saved as an absolute emergency measure in reaction to a minor obstacle."
"You shouldn't have done it at all!" And damn, but Lex knew this. Clark had no doubt that Lex knew this. If he didn't know that it had been wrong, he wouldn't have taken it back. He was just acting like an asshole out of habit, or whatever it was.
Lex raised his chin, his lips thinning, distancing himself once more from Clark. "I believe this discussion is pointless, as we're talking based on two completely different sets of moral imperatives."
Before Clark could call bullshit, Lex had slipped away from him and started burying himself in work once more. Still angry, Clark stayed behind in the penthouse. He read the article once more. Now that the charges were dropped, the Planet sounded pretty supportive of Chloe, ragging instead on LuthorCorp and other big corporations suppressing the freedom of the press.
He was still considering this when Laurel came into the kitchen, her face serious. Something was different about her, but Clark needed some time to place it. It was little things: the fact that she wore comfortable running shoes and a pair of jeans, that her stance was tense and alert, like a football player's on the field…
"Is everything alright?" Clark asked, immediately concerned.
"We should talk," she said, and that was another difference – her voice was the same, but her accent harder, less refined. "I've overheard you and Mr Luthor arguing a couple of times."
Instinctively, Clark tried to deflect. "That's nothing unusual between people who've known each other for a long time."
Her frown darkened. "Look, Kent, it's obvious he's threatening you. I've been told to stay away from you because you might be drugged or dangerous, but that's not what I'm seeing."
A rush of panic made Clark flush. The last thing he needed was the police getting involved in this. "It's not – "
She made an exasperated noise and pushed her blonde hair back. "Alright. I shouldn't be telling you this, but you've obviously got trust issues. The cameras are off at the moment, so you needn't hold back. My name's Dinah, I'm a friend of Oliver Queen and I'm here undercover to find out about LuthorCorp's secret mutant research."
Clark gawked. "You're a friend of Ollie's?"
She grinned. "And old friend." And from inside her pocket, she pulled a small metal triangle – the tip of an arrow. Clark gulped. He hadn't known that anyone besides him and their mutual super-powered friends knew about the Green Arrow's secret identity.
She put the arrow back into her pocket. "Actually, I was supposed to apply as a nanny later on, but we changed the plan when Luthor's girlfriend died."
Luthor's girlfriend. That was all Lana was to Ollie. "Why didn't he tell me about this?"
Laurel – Dinah – shrugged. "No idea. I didn't hatch this plan. All I know is that Ollie's convinced you've switched sides for some reason or other. From what I heard about your powers, I sure hope you haven't."
Clark's eyes widened as he heard that Ollie had told a stranger, someone Clark had never even heard of before, about Clark's powers. And then he'd sent her to insinuate herself into Lex's family and spy on him. Ollie meant well, and it was Clark who'd told him about Lex's illegal research, but sometimes his methods were so ruthless that he seemed barely better than the criminals he fought.
Dinah seemed to misinterpret his shocked impression. "Yeah, sorry. I've seen that you're a good guy. So what's Luthor got on you?"
Clark almost said 'nothing', but that wasn't fair to Ollie or his other friends. "Lex knows about the Green Arrow. And he's threatening Bart, Arthur and Victor."
Dinah scowled. "Bastard. That means we've got serious problems. But you've got much better access to Luthor's work. You follow him around all day. There must be something you could dig up on him."
"It's too dangerous."
It was only half of the truth. Clark really did think that it was too dangerous – for Dinah, for him, for everybody Lex threatened, but also for Lena. This woman wasn't who she said she was, and the way she talked about Lex sounded almost as extreme as Ollie's opinions. Even if she was one of the good guys, Clark knew that he wouldn't be able to leave her alone with the baby from now on without worrying. But aside from that, working together with Dinah meant that whatever little chance there was of coming to a peaceful solution with Lex would be gone. Lex had already shown some positive progress. He'd dropped the charges against Chloe. He had agreed not to try and exploit the Fortress for the time being.
There was hope, and Clark couldn't let it go.
"I'm sorry, I can't work with you."
"So, you're just going to let him walk all over you, Powerboy?"
"No." Clark crossed his arms, trying to make it clear that his mind was made-up. That gesture worked surprisingly well with people who didn't know him – not so well with his Mom, or Chloe. "I'm doing this my own way. You're only putting everybody at risk with what you're doing."
Dinah didn't seem terribly impressed, but her expression hardened in understanding. "So Ollie was right. Again. I shouldn't have given you a heads-up."
"You shouldn't have done this at all. I know Ollie believes in vigilantism, but there's a difference between stopping a mugging on the street and spying on people in their homes," Clark added, not wavering in his resolved stance. Why did Ollie always have to do so damn risky stuff? Money seriously screwed people up, even more so than super-powers.
"I'll make sure to tell him that. Can I count on you giving me a couple of hours before Luthor finds out about this?"
"I'm not going to – "
Dinah held up a hand, shutting him up. "I blew my cover. You're not going to help me. It doesn't matter what you say you will or won't do, I'm getting out of here. So, do I have a couple of hours?"
Clark nodded. She gave him a tight smile and turned around, doing something with her wristwatch. "Well, at least I'll get to wear proper clothes now. I never want to see a navy skirt in my life again," she muttered as she left the kitchen.
This was so surreal. Luckily, it'd be hours yet before Lex would get back from work and notice that their nurse was gone and by then, Dinah had said she would be okay. Clark really didn't want to think about what Lex would do when he found out. He stayed where he was until he heard the elevator doors open and close, then he went into Lena's room to check on her.
The room looked the same as before. Dinah hadn't taken any of her stuff with her – upon closer examination, most of it looked as new and impersonal as the things in Clark's room. None of it was really hers, just part of her cover.
Lena was awake, lying in her crib and Clark gently picked her up. She made a gurgling noise, grabbing for him with a tiny hand and closing her fingers on a piece of his white shirt. It made him angry that she was just a week old and people were already using her as a pawn.
Clark carried her around for a while, taking her with him to the kitchen and the living room, talking to her like his Mom sometimes talked to Shelby – little nonsense things, whatever came into his head. It was strangely relaxing. After a while, his subjects became less meaningless and he told Lena about Lana. It wasn't as if she understood anything he said, so he could pour out the whole flood of little memories that had accumulated in his mind over the last days.
About an hour after Dinah had left, Clark put Lena back to bed and called Lex's help. Unlike at the mansion, here you had to call for it with a little phone, like room service in a hotel, and some time later some manservant would appear from the depths of LuthorCorp and do your bidding. Clark hadn't actually tried it before, but his request for infant formula was followed promptly and without questioning.
Whiling the afternoon away like this, Clark eventually ended up in an armchair in Lena's room, feeling safe and content enough for the first time in a week to truly find rest. He didn't quite fall asleep, but he dozed, lazy as a cat in the sun, even though the sun wasn't shining, it was raining outside…
"Clark?"
Lex startled voice abruptly woke Clark from his slumber. He was standing in the doorway, still in his suit and tie, looking somewhat puzzled. Clark wasn't the only one roused by Lex's arrival – Lena started crying louder than she had all day.
"Where is Ms Lance?" Lex inquired.
Clark got up, regretting the loss of comfort. He walked over to the baby's crib and picked her up, trying to calm her by patting her back and rocking her, but it was to no use. A glance at his watch told him that she might be hungry again.
"I'll explain if you could hold her for a minute," Clark said. Lex frowned in mute disapproval, but he took the crying baby from Clark and held her while following Clark to the kitchen. As soon as Lex had the baby, Clark realized that it was a great tactic – as long as he held Lena, Lex wasn't able to do anything drastic when Clark told him about Dinah. Putting water on the stove to warm the infant formula, Clark felt cunning.
"Well?" Lex prodded, shifting Lena from one arm to the other.
"She left and I don't think we'll be seeing her again," Clark stated.
"Her employment contract clearly states – " Oh yeah, the baby distraction tactic worked, Clark thought. Lex still hadn't caught on to anything.
"That won't be an issue, Lex. She was – is working for someone else."
"My father?" Lex asked, enraged but partly drowned out by his daughter's crying. Of course Lex would think that first.
"No. Someone who is investigating your illegal research." Clark wouldn't drop Ollie's name – it was a sure thing that Lex would react by releasing the info on Green Arrow to the press.
"Who?" Lex demanded.
Clark stared down at the heating water and the small plastic bottle of baby formula and thanked God for wailing infants. "Not the police, I think."
Lex was quiet for a moment and it sent hot and cold fear down Clark's back. But then Lex asked, "She didn't do anything to Lena, did she?"
"No," Clark breathed in relief. "Nothing like that, Lex."
"How did you find out?"
Clark fished the bottle from the pot and turned around. "Um, could you test that? I'm not sure if I can tell whether it's too hot or not."
Lex looked irritated at not getting his answer, but he shifted Lena against his shoulder so he could take the bottle from Clark. "Infant formula is inferior to breast-milk," he said absently. "You didn't use tap water for this, did you?"
"No, your help sent sterile water with the formula," Clark said patiently.
It was actually quite funny to watch Lex try and figure out the proper way to feed a baby with the expression of someone conducting a particularly volatile chemical experiment. Once she started drinking though, the frown of concentration loosened and he seemed completely absorbed in the process. Clark looked on, unwilling to disturb the moment of bonding, until Lex glanced up.
"So?"
"She approached me this morning after you left because she'd figured out that you're blackmailing me." Clark said it in a deliberately challenging way and noted with satisfaction the tiny moment of discomfort passing over Lex's face. It was the first time since that very first evening that he showed any kind of guilt for what he'd done. "She explained what she was here for and suggested that we work together."
He expected Lex to be angry that Clark had let her go, but Lex just stared at Clark as if Clark was making no sense, and Lex didn't like things that made no sense. Clark could see the disbelief and questions building up inside him, but the wave broke in silence and all Lex did was close his eyes for a second, as if someone had pulled the ground from under his feet and the world was spinning for him.
Lena hiccupped and spit a mouthful of milk onto Lex's Armani suited shoulder. Suddenly Clark couldn't suppress a grin. Lex looked helpless and miserable in his ruined suit and ruffled tie, having a baby drooling on his shoulder when Clark had expected him to be plotting revenge by now.
After a moment or two, it got a bit weird to be stared at by Lex like this, so Clark took the empty baby bottle from him and put it into the dishwasher. Behind him, Lex muttered something about background checks.
"This kind of thing would happen much less often if you didn't do so much bad stuff that makes people try to get revenge on you," Clark said.
Lex didn't even debate that he was doing evil things. "I got attacked even when the worst thing I did was drive above speed limit."
Clark shook his head as he took Lena from Lex to bring her back to her room. "Half of the time you got attacked because of something your father did. You remember Level Three? Rachel Dunleavy? Lucas? Do you want Lena to grow up like that? One day she'll ask questions, Lex. What are you going to do if she asks you whether you're experimenting on people in secret labs?"
"I –" Lex began, but he didn't finish as he followed Clark into Lena's room.
"Or are you going tell her that there are no secret labs?" Clark prodded once he had laid her down on the changing table.
Lex's expression tightened and he turned away from Clark, so that all Clark could see was his profile, and the raindrops running down the windowpane reflected on his skin. He waited for an answer. It was a long time before Lex said, "I'm not going to lie to my daughter."
"Then you'll have to explain."
"I'll explain to her why research is necessary," Lex said, louder this time, but less convinced. "We need progress, Clark. We need to understand how the world works in order to survive. There are beings like Zod out there and we need to be able to defend ourselves. Sacrifices sometimes need to be made for that."
"I know," Clark replied calmly, because this was an argument he could win. "A week ago I was ready to go to the Fortress and finish my Kryptonian education. I'm not sure if I'll still be the same person if I do that, but I know I have to so I can protect Earth."
Lex turned his head. "You agree with me?"
"No. What you're saying is not that we need to make sacrifices, but that the end justifies the means. If I agreed with that, you'd be dead."
Lex sucked in a sharp breath, then let it go in a shallow huff of laughter. "I guess I would be."
"I'm not talking about now," Clark sighed. "I'm talking about when Zod possessed you. Didn't Lana tell you that I was going to kill you?"
"No." Lex walked over to the desk and took off his ruined suit jacket. He folded it on the desk and leaned against it. "All Lana told me was that she almost killed me. She didn't want to talk about what happened with Zod."
"What do you remember?" Clark asked as he changed Lena's diaper. He'd done it twice before that day, and was getting quite good at it.
"I was assaulted by Milton Fine and he injected me with a powerful vaccine. The next day, I started hearing some sort of noise - "
"Shrill and really loud?" Clark interrupted.
Lex frowned suspiciously. "Yeah. How did you know?"
"I think it might be the same noise that the key and the spaceship used to call me. Huh. I guess it's some sort of Kryptonian thing."
Lex took a moment to process this, then went on. "It felt as if my head was going to burst if I didn't get out the castle. I drove into a field outside Smallville… then it gets confused. Lana was there, and Fine, too."
"Lana said it looked like you were abducted by aliens," Clark took over. He told Lex how she had confided in Chloe and Chloe had told him and they had figured out it had to do with Zod. "Some months earlier, Fine tried to use me as a vessel for Zod, but I defeated him. I thought he was gone, but then your father started writing down all these Kryptonian messages that said Zod was coming. So I went to the Fortress and Jor-El said it was true. Fine was trying to create a human vessel for Zod. He said I could only stop it by killing the vessel and he gave me a dagger."
"A dagger," Lex echoed incredulously.
Clark shrugged. He'd sat down with Lena in the armchair, holding her as she fell asleep. "It was some kinda crystal. Anyways, you reappeared later that day and hurt your Dad pretty badly. Then Fine did something with the computer in your office that caused a complete blackout all over the globe – but you know about that."
They both knew what horrible things had happened on that day without power. They had rebuild Metropolis afterwards, Lex very publicly and Clark in secret, but both driven by guilt.
"You showed up in my barn and you had the same powers as I do. You said some things… I'm not sure how much of that was really you."
"What did I say?" Lex demanded.
"You said… you said that I was only ever your friend because I liked to think that I could save you. And that you only were my friend because you envied me."
"I did envy you," Lex said. He looked down. "I've never envied anyone as much as I envied you. You had the family I always wanted, you were in love with the right girl, you always saved the day. That's what it looked like to me. That's what I wanted to see. But that wasn't why I wanted to be friends with you."
Clark sensed that they had gotten to a dangerously emotional subject. Lex had that sincere expression on his face that meant that he was flaying himself open, desperate to be believed. And Clark believed him. What Lex had said about envying him… Clark had known that long before last year. It wasn't very hard to miss when you saw how Lex used to act around his parents or listened to the things he said. Knowing what he now knew, Lex probably realized that Clark's life wasn't nearly as simple or perfect as it might look. But Lex said that wasn't the reason he wanted to be friends with Clark, so…
Suddenly, Clark remembered that Lex had wanted Clark. That he'd been in love with him. Clark had done very well suppressing that knowledge, but now it was there, back in the open, just as raw.
"So why did you want to be friends with me?" Clark asked nervously. They were both talking very softly now – because of the baby, but also because every step in this conversation might hurt. Would hurt, almost certainly.
Lex looked pained, but he didn't waver. "I liked you, Clark. It wasn't all that hard not to. And you liked me. That doesn't happen a lot."
It was such a simple, obvious answer. Nothing dark or nefarious. Clark swallowed.
"What about you, Clark?" Lex asked, barely a whisper.
"I don't know. I just… you were a nice guy, back then, Lex. A bit weird…but cool. And it was pretty hard to say no to you. And then we were just friends – Jesus, Lex, you can't explain friendship. It's just there. You like someone because of who they are. You like to spend time with them. It wasn't about saving you. There were a lot of people I saved but didn't become friends with." Clark stopped because he had been getting louder the more agitated he got.
He decided to take a break and got up carefully, placing Lena in her crib. "It's probably going to be a long night. I'm going to eat something."
Lex remained silent and Clark was almost out of the room before he said, "I'd like some take-out right now."
Lex fished for his phone in the discarded suit jacket, but Clark decided to go for a run instead and zipped out of the penthouse, taking the emergency staircase instead of the slow elevator. It felt good to run.
Not quite ten minutes later, as he returned with two plastic bags of Thai food from a couple of blocks away, Clark decided that take-out was a great idea. He was a bit wet now from the rain outside, but there'd be hot, delicious food instead of sandwiches. He was feeling seriously hungry after all that baby-feeding.
Lex had migrated into the living room. He seemed like he was brooding, leaning with his elbows on his knees, nursing a glass of scotch. But when Clark appeared with a rush of air, he looked at him with quiet awe.
"You didn't actually run to Thailand, did you?" he asked as Clark unpacked the boxes and chopsticks and fetched himself some water and a spoon. Clark never managed the high art of chop sticks, no matter how much Lana and Chloe tried to teach him.
"Baker Street," Clark clarified. "Near MetU."
"Could you run to Thailand? You should be fast enough to run over water."
"I know a guy who – " Clark fell silent. He never accidentally blurted out any secret information, but he'd gotten so used to Lex knowing about his powers that he'd forgotten secrecy.
"Bart Allen," Lex guessed. Then, curiously, "How did he get his powers?"
Clark took a deep breath. "I don't think he'd want me to tell you."
Lex paused, his chopsticks in hand, and gave Clark a long, level glance. Then he nodded. "Alright."
Clark blinked. Then he smiled. Then his smile fell as he realized that maybe, years ago, it'd have been that easy. He could just have admitted that he had a secret and told Lex that his parents didn't want him to tell. If Lex could accept that much now, wouldn't he have accepted it then?
Clark finished his fried rice in record time, then offered, "You still want to know the rest about Zod?"
Lex wasn't done, but he sat back on the couch and nodded.
"So you showed up in the barn. We had that talk, and then we had a fight – well, a pretty short one. I pinned you down and pulled the dagger, but you… didn't fight back and I didn't want to do it. Fine showed up to taunt me, so I threw the dagger at him instead. That's what opened the portal for Zod."
"Portal?"
"He was imprisoned in another dimension. A place called the Phantom Zone. Fine somehow used the crystal from the dagger to open a portal, and Zod came through. He possessed your body and told me he was there for revenge because my father had locked him up in the Phantom Zone. Zod said that he'd destroy Earth and hurt everyone I loved unless I joined him."
"Joined him doing what?"
Clark shrugged. Zod hadn't elaborated. "Ruling Earth, I guess. I didn't find out because I said no."
Lex licked his lips, then narrowed his eyes at Clark. "You realize that he used essentially the same threat against you as I did?"
Clark hesitated a second, because he hadn't thought of it that way before. "No. It wasn't the same. Zod already destroyed one planet. If you met him you'd know that I couldn't have joined him."
"I haven't been known to lay waste to entire worlds, no," Lex mused. "So you escaped Zod?"
"Eventually. But first he imprisoned me in the Phantom Zone." Clark related meeting Raja and the phantoms. Lex seemed way more interested in whether the Phantom Zone was actually another dimension and how it felt to be two-dimensional, but eventually Clark managed to get to the part of how he'd gotten back and found Zod in the mansion, about to kill Lana.
"Zod attacked me, and this time I was the one who lost the fight. It was still your body, but Zod knew how to fly and he was stronger than I was. I'd have lost – but then he repeated his offer to join him. He must have been really eager for that."
"Any man would be foolish not to want you as an ally," Lex said, as if it was the most normal and obvious thing in the world.
"There are nicer ways of asking than telling me to kneel, though," Clark said pointedly.
It wasn't often that you saw Lex baffled. "What?"
"Zod," Clark reminded him. "Zod told me to kneel. I did. He bought it, and when he offered me his hand, I pressed the crystal Raya gave me into his palm and it sucked Zod right out of your body."
Lex stared down at his palm – the right one – and then at Clark. "I had a slight burn there when I woke in the hospital. A pentagonal shape."
"Raya told me it's the crest of the House of El."
Lex looked as if he loved and hated the idea at the same time as he examined his palm as if he might find the mark there, hidden in the lines of his skin.
Without having to talk about it, they both stayed up most of that night, taking care of Lena whenever she woke up. Whenever she slept, Clark continued telling Lex more, about the Zoners he had defeated, about Raya's death, until their conversation changed its direction and Clark talked about other things, college, family, that time he and Lana raised the fast-aging mutant. It were all things that didn't matter much, that Clark just talked about because he wanted to, not to convey some important message. It was just to stay awake, because somehow, that had gotten awfully hard. Clark wasn't just tired any longer, he could barely keep open his eyes. The dark behind his eyes was gentle and peaceful, so tempting…
There was another disruption, Lena cried, and Lex went to take care of her. Clark curled up against the arm of the couch and decided that now, he would sleep. He hadn't slept in days, but now he felt like he could. Like it was safe to do so.
Dimly, he still heard Lex coming back, pacing the room. Clark wished he'd just settle down and buried his face deeper in the crook of his arm.
"Clark, I – " Lex began, but Clark just muttered, "Sleeping."
The last, soft sound he heard was the click of a light-switch.
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no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 01:39 am (UTC)Hurray for Clark getting through to Lex! And I loved that they were both taking care of the baby when they finally had *the* conversation, and that Clark was able to sway Lex a little because of his concern about what Lena would know when she grew up.
I loved this section.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 10:47 am (UTC)Wow, you caught on to that? I thought my beta was the only one who knew. *impressed* I don't want to make it seem as if Ollie's the villain in this or anything. He's one of the good guys, even if his methods are a bit ambiguous sometimes (and I love that SV gave us that kind of hero).
no subject
Date: 2006-11-28 03:35 pm (UTC)Love the story anyway!
no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 02:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 10:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 10:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 01:34 pm (UTC)Having no comics knowledge at all, my first guess was that Dinah belongs to the bad guys. Heh, I was wrong. Still for a moment I was worried she'd take the baby with her or something like that.
Half of the time you got attacked because of something your father did. You remember Level Three? Rachel Dunleavy? Lucas? Do you want Lena to grow up like that?
This is a very good argument I think.
I'm happy where this fic is going, love Clark confiding in Lex.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 02:05 pm (UTC)Heh. It's sort of hard to tell apart heroes and villains in comics anyways - good or bad is only a lifestyle choice for the super-powered.
Thanks for commenting :)
no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 10:38 pm (UTC)I particularly love sneaky!Lex and inscrutable!Lex.
Can't wait for the next part!
no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 06:13 am (UTC)I'm glad the thing with Dinah got resolved. It was unnerving to have someone too interested in Clark watching over Lena. Hurrah also for a step forward in Clark and Lex's friendship. Next, I guess, will be the step back in the Clex tango! ;D
no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 09:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-30 04:39 am (UTC)I know that SV!Ollie and DCU!Ollie are rather different. I think SV!Ollie would give Clark more leeway. DCU!Ollie wouldn't. But I can see why he would be suspicious given Clark and Lex's previous enmity. And he's right, Clark is being coerced. But it's a lot more complicated than that, isn't it?
Although it's nice to see that he's still there for Chloe.
Wow, and Dinah just left a week-old baby. That's kind of...wow.
I love that they finally get a chance to talk without having to weigh everything first.
Good stuff! Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-30 03:30 pm (UTC)From what we've seen of them on the show, I think that SV!Ollie sees Lex very much like Jonathan used to see Lionel. And anyone who knows the extent of Clark's powers (but also his character) would be extremely alarmed to see him working with/for someone they consider that evil and dangerous.
Wow, and Dinah just left a week-old baby. That's kind of...wow.
In her defense, she didn't plan it that way. She'd never have harmed the baby, and she probably thought she was protecting her by trying to get Lex arrested. (Still, I feel that I did DC Dinah wrong by presenting her that way... DC Dinah did undercover missions, but not like that).
no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 11:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 07:15 pm (UTC)*cuddles angsty boys*