Running Mates
By Annie
Rated: R Summary: Lex is home from the Asylum; he and Clark make plans and amends. Spoilers: Assume all episodes Disclaimer: Still not mine; Bad Santa. ( Feedback: [email protected]
"I owe you two shirts," I hear as Mom hands me the phone with a bemused smile on her face.
It's been four days, and I haven't been able to bring myself to go back to Arkham again. I'm not afraid of Lex; I have been missing Lex more than I can even admit to myself, and I feel inside that we'll be able to iron out everything that's between us. What frightens me is running into Lionel again. One tiny little loss of my control and he'd be on his way into space or something.
"Lex!" I reply happily, and I can feel the goofy grin on my face, can't stop it even with super willpower. Mom lays a hand on my shoulder and squeezes lightly before she walks away, gives me a confidence in the rightness of things somehow. "I didn't think they'd let you use the phone."
"Unless my father has taken over completely in my absence, it's still my phone, Clark. I'm home."
"At the penthouse? Can you have visitors?" I ask anxiously.
Almost-silent snicker on the other end. "I'm at the mansion, Clark. And not only am I allowed visitors, I've been encouraged to be sociable. Will you be able to come over later? Or are there problems?"
I understand he's talking about the fact that he knows some of my secrets. I know he's worried about my parents' reactions. He doesn't need to worry, and I tell him as much. "It's my secret, not theirs," I add. "I'm not going to protect myself anymore at the risk of anyone that I care about."
Silence for a few awful moments, and I think he's gone off into fantasy- land again. "Lex?"
"I'm still here. Clark, that's a face-to-face conversation. I don't completely trust things here at the moment. I have a team coming in tomorrow morning to sweep the entire place for electronics. I've also bought a new supply of Scotch. So, when can you get here?"
I'm grinning again, and I'm glad I got the chores finished at superspeed today so I could study with Pete and Chloe at the Talon. I don't think they're going to like being second choice, but I don't much care right now.
"Couple of minutes," I tell Lex. "Is that good?"
"Better than good," he tells me, and I hang up to call Chloe quickly, tell her Lex is home, cancel my place at the study session. She's telling me she's glad he's home, but I'm saying good-bye and hanging up before she can get it all out.
I race to Lex's place faster than I've ever gone anywhere and stop in front of the mansion at the sight of the black limo parked there. My heart thuds in panic until I realize it's not Lionel's but Bruce Wayne's.
Big man in a black suit standing at the front door, looking like he's been waiting for me. He opens the door for me and motions me inside, and I hear the lock going on after I'm in. Bruce's man from the car, I'm thinking, although Lex needs to get some security of his own. Someone he can trust.
Me. Because I'll never desert him again.
I find Lex in the office. I don't even look around for Bruce, because my eyes go instantly to the big glass desk, to where I know Lex will be waiting. He gets up as soon as he sees me, and I feel my heart beat a bit faster as he comes around the desk to meet me. He's smooth as silk, self- possessed, and I'm wasted by the way he moves toward me, fluid, masterful. My Lex is back.
He reaches out as if he wants to shake my hand, so I extend mine, too, startled then to find myself pulled into his personal Lex-space, the second time we've hugged each other in joyful welcome in the last few months.
"Clark," he says quietly, the relief a palpable aura around us. "Thank you."
For deserting you? I want to ask, but he suddenly releases me and backs away. "Bruce drove me home. I wanted to surprise you." Lex heads back to his desk.
I follow him, because I can't seem to do anything else. "Are you all right? I would have come for you."
Lex raises an eyebrow almost imperceptibly at my statement, covers it up with a small smile as he sits back down. "I know that, Clark, but as I said, I wanted to surprise you. Bruce very kindly offered."
It's the first time I'm actually aware of anyone else in the room; Bruce is standing over by the stairway that leads to the upper level and all the bookshelves. He's cloaked in semi-darkness there, and as he steps out of the shadows into the multi-colored light from the big stained glass window, I feel a strange sense of déjà vu as I move forward and extend my hand for the second time, receiving the expected handshake this time, instead of a relieved embrace. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Wayne. Thanks for all your help." I tell him.
An almost-smile, and it runs through my mind that a half-smile is probably all anyone ever gets out of the guy. "It's been my distinct pleasure, Clark. I'm sorry I missed you the other night at Arkham. I understand Lionel made something of a spectacle of himself."
Now it's my turn to smile, the unexpected meeting with Batman running a close second to being the highlight of my week. The actual highlight of my week being Lex sitting behind his desk. "Batman showed up just in the nick of time. Chased him away," I explain.
Bruce nodded. "So I heard. Show-off." He says derisively, and Lex laughs shortly, grabbing my attention again.
"Are you all right?" I ask him again.
Lex nods. "I'm fine, Clark. Drugs out of my system; clean bill of health. I found out I have some.issues..to deal with, but I'll take care of those. First, and most importantly, is my Father. Bruce has kindly volunteered to help me with that, and while we get those wheels in motion, you and I will take care of our own issues."
I deliberately try to ignore any reference to 'our' issues for right now, and a worried frown wrinkles my forehead. I lean over the desk to get closer to Lex. "You aren't going to hurt him, are you? I don't want you to get into any trouble. I don't want them to take you away again, Lex."
He smiles reassuringly. "Of course not," he replies expansively. "I would never hurt my own Father. Not physically. Not myself." He stands now, the hard, determined Lex I always see when he's been bested and wants to get even. "My Father is going to be held accountable for what he's done. For what he tried to make me forget. He failed, and he'll be paying for that failure for a long time to come. Perry White made reference to something awful in my Father's past; something that made Lionel threaten him so badly he had to drop it. Bruce is going to contact Perry, make sure we're talking about the same transgression, and then take Perry under his protection. If Perry really knows what I think he does, my Father's days of freedom are numbered."
"Absolutely," Bruce agrees. "On that note, I'm heading back to Gotham. I'll get in touch with White from there; untraceable to you. If I can't convince him to tell me what he knows, I'll ask Batman to talk to him. He very good at making people talk." He heads for the door to the office and Lex moves to see him out, brushing lightly against my arm as he passes. They talk quietly at the door for a few moments, and then Bruce gives me a final nod, walking away briskly. Lex closes the doors firmly. Locks them. Speaks to me, still studying the doors he has just closed. "Bruce and I have things under control. Between the two of us, I don't think my Father stands a chance. Between you and I, however.."
He turns to face me then, leaning against the doors and studying me appraisingly. I don't want to make him ask.
"It's all true," I blurt out desperately. "Everything you saw. More. I told you why I kept everything a secret from you, but that's over. Ask me whatever you want."
He pushes away from the doors and walks a bit closer to me. I feel like I'm about to jump out of my skin, and the only thing saving my own sanity is the warm welcome I got when I arrived.
"I'm not even sure what I want to ask you," Lex admits. "I'm not comfortable discussing this here anyway."
I don't answer him right away, turning in a slow, full circle instead, x- ray vision penetrating everything, looking for objects that shouldn't be there. "It's all right," I assure him. "There's nothing here. We can talk about anything you want."
"You can see.." He doesn't finish the sentence, and I do it for him.
"Through everything," I tell him. "Except lead. That's how I found your room at Belle Reve. Right through the walls."
Sardonic smile then. "That's how you got me out, too, isn't it? Through the walls."
"I couldn't leave you. I had to get you back."
He walks closer then. "You took me to an old warehouse, or something."
"Abandoned factory," I supply helpfully.
"You held me, cried for me. You didn't let them see me being weak."
"I knew you'd hate it if they did. And you're not weak, Lex. You're the strongest person I know. The everything-est person I know."
"You promised you'd never leave me again," he says softly, remembering, and my heart pounds in my chest, because I did. When I was holding him in my arms, when I didn't think he even comprehended anything I was saying, when they felt like the most important words in the world. I step fractionally closer, almost afraid.
"I did, Lex. I'll never desert you again. No matter what."
He looks into my eyes steadily, and he's unreadable. I think he should be able to hear my heart pounding by now. "I may have to hold you to that, Clark," he says seriously. He breaks away from my gaze and runs his glance down the front of my body, assessing, I think, my strength.
"So," he muses, "Superior strength, x-ray vision, superspeed. Have I left anything out?"
I motion at my face briefly. "Eyes. I can burn things with my eyes. Remember the fire in bio class?"
Eyebrows raise incredulously. "That was you? Why bio class? Oh. No, wait, I think I understand that one. You're able to control that, I hope."
I smile, and feel the blush spreading up across my face. "Yea, I learned to handle it all right. It was, um, hormone-related at first, but I can control it now."
"Anything else I should know?" he asks.
"I can't be hurt. Except by the green meteor chunks, but we already talked about that the other night."
He nods slowly. "So we did. That's it?"
I shrug. "Um, except. What you said. At Edge's. You said you knew I wasn't even human. You were right, and that was the worst thing of all. I couldn't stand it if you hated me, Lex. If I disgusted you."
This admission hasn't done anything to calm my pounding heart or the anxiety I can feel building inside, the fear that, despite the hug today, he's not going to want me around anymore; might sell me over to the highest government bidder.
He's shaking his head, coming even closer to me, so the scent of his favorite cologne, the heat coming from his body, the absolute nearness of him, flood my senses. "You can't disgust me, and I would never hate you. But there have to be rules here, Clark. Truth or lies. Here or gone. It's up to you. I'll protect you. Always. I can do that. But in return, you have to do something for me. Honesty. Work with me here, will you?"
"No more lies, Lex. I swear. I'll tell you the whole story, from the very beginning. You already know all the important parts. Whatever you want."
His hand comes up and rests lightly on my arm, heat pouring through the fabric separating our skin.
"I'm not sure you can handle what I want," he says warningly, and the truth flashes through my mind with sudden clarity. Lex has wanted my secrets for a long time. But Lex wants me, too. The knowledge goes right from my brain to my cock, and I shift uncomfortably. I see in his eyes that he knows I have it all figured out, see the tiny fear of rejection there that his body language would never give away. That control comes naturally to him, and heat flares in my stomach as I suddenly think of all the ways I might be able to make him lose that formidable control.
I smile then, knowingly, not at all like the goofy grin I'd had when he called me earlier. I reach over to put my hand on top of his, squeeze slightly to make his grip on my arm firmer, feel my pulse quicken at the sound of his heartbeat speeding up perceptibly. Take his hand from my arm then and bring it up to my lips slowly, kissing the palm softly, inhaling the scent of his skin.
Lex groans, and the sound pulls me toward him unthinkingly.
Tiny bite to taste the skin of his hand then. "I'll never leave you again," I whisper against the sweet warmth, watching his eyes grow darker by degrees, watching him exerting that Luthor control over his body. I press my hips against his softly, just enough to feel the hardness there. Watch his control turn itself off despite his efforts as I bite the skin on the inside of his wrist, feel the heat, taste Lex, whisper again. "Never." Long swipe of my tongue from his wrist to the tip of his index finger, and his eyes close, hips thrust roughly against mine. I can see the tightness of his jaw as he fights another moan I know he doesn't want to voice, but I want to hear it. Bite the pad of his finger. "No matter where you go. No matter what you do." Suck the tip into my mouth, and there it is, ragged and pulled from him, almost forcibly.
He pulls his hand away and reaches up to the back of my head, drags my face down to his, kisses me, and I think my heart is jumping out of my chest, or it might be Lex's, because we're pressed so tightly together now it's hard to imagine ever being apart. He takes his mouth away from mine and I groan from the loss.
"Clark," he's saying against my skin, over and over, as his mouth tracks his way along my jaw, down my throat, hips still pressing against mine, hands moving slowly down across my shirt, feeling the muscles underneath, my own hands on his back, up under his shirt to touch skin, but I can't touch enough of it.
We've been moving slowly, unthinkingly and unerringly toward the desk, and I find myself backed up against it, slide of hard heat on mine stealing my breath and any amount of control I might have thought I had. Lex's control is long gone, the friction on my cock almost too exquisite to endure.
"You said you would have come for me," Lex pants, hands pulling frantically at my shirt to get it out of my jeans. "You're going to come for me now, aren't you?" he asks breathlessly, leaning up to put his lips close to my ear, both of his hands gripping the tails of my shirt and pulling sharply, buttons flying, chest exposed to his touch. My hands tighten on his back as he squeezes one nipple painfully. My cock is already jetting wet heat, as I gasp out my orgasm and feel as much as hear the words.
"Now I owe you three."
By Annie
Rated: R Summary: Lex is home from the Asylum; he and Clark make plans and amends. Spoilers: Assume all episodes Disclaimer: Still not mine; Bad Santa. ( Feedback: [email protected]
"I owe you two shirts," I hear as Mom hands me the phone with a bemused smile on her face.
It's been four days, and I haven't been able to bring myself to go back to Arkham again. I'm not afraid of Lex; I have been missing Lex more than I can even admit to myself, and I feel inside that we'll be able to iron out everything that's between us. What frightens me is running into Lionel again. One tiny little loss of my control and he'd be on his way into space or something.
"Lex!" I reply happily, and I can feel the goofy grin on my face, can't stop it even with super willpower. Mom lays a hand on my shoulder and squeezes lightly before she walks away, gives me a confidence in the rightness of things somehow. "I didn't think they'd let you use the phone."
"Unless my father has taken over completely in my absence, it's still my phone, Clark. I'm home."
"At the penthouse? Can you have visitors?" I ask anxiously.
Almost-silent snicker on the other end. "I'm at the mansion, Clark. And not only am I allowed visitors, I've been encouraged to be sociable. Will you be able to come over later? Or are there problems?"
I understand he's talking about the fact that he knows some of my secrets. I know he's worried about my parents' reactions. He doesn't need to worry, and I tell him as much. "It's my secret, not theirs," I add. "I'm not going to protect myself anymore at the risk of anyone that I care about."
Silence for a few awful moments, and I think he's gone off into fantasy- land again. "Lex?"
"I'm still here. Clark, that's a face-to-face conversation. I don't completely trust things here at the moment. I have a team coming in tomorrow morning to sweep the entire place for electronics. I've also bought a new supply of Scotch. So, when can you get here?"
I'm grinning again, and I'm glad I got the chores finished at superspeed today so I could study with Pete and Chloe at the Talon. I don't think they're going to like being second choice, but I don't much care right now.
"Couple of minutes," I tell Lex. "Is that good?"
"Better than good," he tells me, and I hang up to call Chloe quickly, tell her Lex is home, cancel my place at the study session. She's telling me she's glad he's home, but I'm saying good-bye and hanging up before she can get it all out.
I race to Lex's place faster than I've ever gone anywhere and stop in front of the mansion at the sight of the black limo parked there. My heart thuds in panic until I realize it's not Lionel's but Bruce Wayne's.
Big man in a black suit standing at the front door, looking like he's been waiting for me. He opens the door for me and motions me inside, and I hear the lock going on after I'm in. Bruce's man from the car, I'm thinking, although Lex needs to get some security of his own. Someone he can trust.
Me. Because I'll never desert him again.
I find Lex in the office. I don't even look around for Bruce, because my eyes go instantly to the big glass desk, to where I know Lex will be waiting. He gets up as soon as he sees me, and I feel my heart beat a bit faster as he comes around the desk to meet me. He's smooth as silk, self- possessed, and I'm wasted by the way he moves toward me, fluid, masterful. My Lex is back.
He reaches out as if he wants to shake my hand, so I extend mine, too, startled then to find myself pulled into his personal Lex-space, the second time we've hugged each other in joyful welcome in the last few months.
"Clark," he says quietly, the relief a palpable aura around us. "Thank you."
For deserting you? I want to ask, but he suddenly releases me and backs away. "Bruce drove me home. I wanted to surprise you." Lex heads back to his desk.
I follow him, because I can't seem to do anything else. "Are you all right? I would have come for you."
Lex raises an eyebrow almost imperceptibly at my statement, covers it up with a small smile as he sits back down. "I know that, Clark, but as I said, I wanted to surprise you. Bruce very kindly offered."
It's the first time I'm actually aware of anyone else in the room; Bruce is standing over by the stairway that leads to the upper level and all the bookshelves. He's cloaked in semi-darkness there, and as he steps out of the shadows into the multi-colored light from the big stained glass window, I feel a strange sense of déjà vu as I move forward and extend my hand for the second time, receiving the expected handshake this time, instead of a relieved embrace. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Wayne. Thanks for all your help." I tell him.
An almost-smile, and it runs through my mind that a half-smile is probably all anyone ever gets out of the guy. "It's been my distinct pleasure, Clark. I'm sorry I missed you the other night at Arkham. I understand Lionel made something of a spectacle of himself."
Now it's my turn to smile, the unexpected meeting with Batman running a close second to being the highlight of my week. The actual highlight of my week being Lex sitting behind his desk. "Batman showed up just in the nick of time. Chased him away," I explain.
Bruce nodded. "So I heard. Show-off." He says derisively, and Lex laughs shortly, grabbing my attention again.
"Are you all right?" I ask him again.
Lex nods. "I'm fine, Clark. Drugs out of my system; clean bill of health. I found out I have some.issues..to deal with, but I'll take care of those. First, and most importantly, is my Father. Bruce has kindly volunteered to help me with that, and while we get those wheels in motion, you and I will take care of our own issues."
I deliberately try to ignore any reference to 'our' issues for right now, and a worried frown wrinkles my forehead. I lean over the desk to get closer to Lex. "You aren't going to hurt him, are you? I don't want you to get into any trouble. I don't want them to take you away again, Lex."
He smiles reassuringly. "Of course not," he replies expansively. "I would never hurt my own Father. Not physically. Not myself." He stands now, the hard, determined Lex I always see when he's been bested and wants to get even. "My Father is going to be held accountable for what he's done. For what he tried to make me forget. He failed, and he'll be paying for that failure for a long time to come. Perry White made reference to something awful in my Father's past; something that made Lionel threaten him so badly he had to drop it. Bruce is going to contact Perry, make sure we're talking about the same transgression, and then take Perry under his protection. If Perry really knows what I think he does, my Father's days of freedom are numbered."
"Absolutely," Bruce agrees. "On that note, I'm heading back to Gotham. I'll get in touch with White from there; untraceable to you. If I can't convince him to tell me what he knows, I'll ask Batman to talk to him. He very good at making people talk." He heads for the door to the office and Lex moves to see him out, brushing lightly against my arm as he passes. They talk quietly at the door for a few moments, and then Bruce gives me a final nod, walking away briskly. Lex closes the doors firmly. Locks them. Speaks to me, still studying the doors he has just closed. "Bruce and I have things under control. Between the two of us, I don't think my Father stands a chance. Between you and I, however.."
He turns to face me then, leaning against the doors and studying me appraisingly. I don't want to make him ask.
"It's all true," I blurt out desperately. "Everything you saw. More. I told you why I kept everything a secret from you, but that's over. Ask me whatever you want."
He pushes away from the doors and walks a bit closer to me. I feel like I'm about to jump out of my skin, and the only thing saving my own sanity is the warm welcome I got when I arrived.
"I'm not even sure what I want to ask you," Lex admits. "I'm not comfortable discussing this here anyway."
I don't answer him right away, turning in a slow, full circle instead, x- ray vision penetrating everything, looking for objects that shouldn't be there. "It's all right," I assure him. "There's nothing here. We can talk about anything you want."
"You can see.." He doesn't finish the sentence, and I do it for him.
"Through everything," I tell him. "Except lead. That's how I found your room at Belle Reve. Right through the walls."
Sardonic smile then. "That's how you got me out, too, isn't it? Through the walls."
"I couldn't leave you. I had to get you back."
He walks closer then. "You took me to an old warehouse, or something."
"Abandoned factory," I supply helpfully.
"You held me, cried for me. You didn't let them see me being weak."
"I knew you'd hate it if they did. And you're not weak, Lex. You're the strongest person I know. The everything-est person I know."
"You promised you'd never leave me again," he says softly, remembering, and my heart pounds in my chest, because I did. When I was holding him in my arms, when I didn't think he even comprehended anything I was saying, when they felt like the most important words in the world. I step fractionally closer, almost afraid.
"I did, Lex. I'll never desert you again. No matter what."
He looks into my eyes steadily, and he's unreadable. I think he should be able to hear my heart pounding by now. "I may have to hold you to that, Clark," he says seriously. He breaks away from my gaze and runs his glance down the front of my body, assessing, I think, my strength.
"So," he muses, "Superior strength, x-ray vision, superspeed. Have I left anything out?"
I motion at my face briefly. "Eyes. I can burn things with my eyes. Remember the fire in bio class?"
Eyebrows raise incredulously. "That was you? Why bio class? Oh. No, wait, I think I understand that one. You're able to control that, I hope."
I smile, and feel the blush spreading up across my face. "Yea, I learned to handle it all right. It was, um, hormone-related at first, but I can control it now."
"Anything else I should know?" he asks.
"I can't be hurt. Except by the green meteor chunks, but we already talked about that the other night."
He nods slowly. "So we did. That's it?"
I shrug. "Um, except. What you said. At Edge's. You said you knew I wasn't even human. You were right, and that was the worst thing of all. I couldn't stand it if you hated me, Lex. If I disgusted you."
This admission hasn't done anything to calm my pounding heart or the anxiety I can feel building inside, the fear that, despite the hug today, he's not going to want me around anymore; might sell me over to the highest government bidder.
He's shaking his head, coming even closer to me, so the scent of his favorite cologne, the heat coming from his body, the absolute nearness of him, flood my senses. "You can't disgust me, and I would never hate you. But there have to be rules here, Clark. Truth or lies. Here or gone. It's up to you. I'll protect you. Always. I can do that. But in return, you have to do something for me. Honesty. Work with me here, will you?"
"No more lies, Lex. I swear. I'll tell you the whole story, from the very beginning. You already know all the important parts. Whatever you want."
His hand comes up and rests lightly on my arm, heat pouring through the fabric separating our skin.
"I'm not sure you can handle what I want," he says warningly, and the truth flashes through my mind with sudden clarity. Lex has wanted my secrets for a long time. But Lex wants me, too. The knowledge goes right from my brain to my cock, and I shift uncomfortably. I see in his eyes that he knows I have it all figured out, see the tiny fear of rejection there that his body language would never give away. That control comes naturally to him, and heat flares in my stomach as I suddenly think of all the ways I might be able to make him lose that formidable control.
I smile then, knowingly, not at all like the goofy grin I'd had when he called me earlier. I reach over to put my hand on top of his, squeeze slightly to make his grip on my arm firmer, feel my pulse quicken at the sound of his heartbeat speeding up perceptibly. Take his hand from my arm then and bring it up to my lips slowly, kissing the palm softly, inhaling the scent of his skin.
Lex groans, and the sound pulls me toward him unthinkingly.
Tiny bite to taste the skin of his hand then. "I'll never leave you again," I whisper against the sweet warmth, watching his eyes grow darker by degrees, watching him exerting that Luthor control over his body. I press my hips against his softly, just enough to feel the hardness there. Watch his control turn itself off despite his efforts as I bite the skin on the inside of his wrist, feel the heat, taste Lex, whisper again. "Never." Long swipe of my tongue from his wrist to the tip of his index finger, and his eyes close, hips thrust roughly against mine. I can see the tightness of his jaw as he fights another moan I know he doesn't want to voice, but I want to hear it. Bite the pad of his finger. "No matter where you go. No matter what you do." Suck the tip into my mouth, and there it is, ragged and pulled from him, almost forcibly.
He pulls his hand away and reaches up to the back of my head, drags my face down to his, kisses me, and I think my heart is jumping out of my chest, or it might be Lex's, because we're pressed so tightly together now it's hard to imagine ever being apart. He takes his mouth away from mine and I groan from the loss.
"Clark," he's saying against my skin, over and over, as his mouth tracks his way along my jaw, down my throat, hips still pressing against mine, hands moving slowly down across my shirt, feeling the muscles underneath, my own hands on his back, up under his shirt to touch skin, but I can't touch enough of it.
We've been moving slowly, unthinkingly and unerringly toward the desk, and I find myself backed up against it, slide of hard heat on mine stealing my breath and any amount of control I might have thought I had. Lex's control is long gone, the friction on my cock almost too exquisite to endure.
"You said you would have come for me," Lex pants, hands pulling frantically at my shirt to get it out of my jeans. "You're going to come for me now, aren't you?" he asks breathlessly, leaning up to put his lips close to my ear, both of his hands gripping the tails of my shirt and pulling sharply, buttons flying, chest exposed to his touch. My hands tighten on his back as he squeezes one nipple painfully. My cock is already jetting wet heat, as I gasp out my orgasm and feel as much as hear the words.
"Now I owe you three."