FIC: Causatum (Smallville - Clark, Lex)
A coda to Red. Clark, Lex.



Causatum


"Um," began Clark, for the first time conscious of having sped here through dust and corn right after he'd finished baling hay. His fingers tangled in the hem of his flannel shirt. The last time he'd sauntered into the castle he'd been wearing a two thousand dollar jacket, feeling powerful enough to take on anyone, confident that Lex would give him whatever he asked for.

"Clark," said Lex in greeting. "I thought you'd be half way to Metropolis by now."

"About that," said Clark.

It was late afternoon, but the quality of the light in Lex's office at the castle was always the same, red, purple and oppressive. Lex sat at his desk, mid way through reading the contents of a folder. He gazed at Clark for a long moment, then he pitched the folder onto his desk and stood up, making for the stand of bottled water on the other side of the room. "Change of plans?"

"Yeah, I uh," said Clark, trailing after him. "I made up with my parents?"

Clark bit his lip, hoping this was enough of an explanation. It really wasn't. He watched Lex's back for the first sign, steeling himself.

Lex twisted the cap off an elegant blue bottle, and then took up a second bottle unopened. Paused. Turned.

"I'm glad to hear it. I don't like the thought of the Kent family fighting. It's against the natural order. As though the next thing I know I'll be bonding with my father."

Lex smiled, his posture relaxed. There was no tension in his neck or in his shoulders.

Calmly and deliberately, Lex was making it easy.

Clark forced himself to smile.

"Water?" said Lex.

"Sure," said Clark.

He took the bottle from Lex's extended hand, opened it. Twist. He could remember exactly what it had felt like to wrap his hand around a human throat and squeeze, lifting Jessie's father until the tips of his toes could no longer scrabble against the floor. "You have no idea what I'm capable of," he'd told Lex, and Lex had (liked it) changed gears, rising to the challenge. A different Lex for a different Clark. The Lex opposite him was in neutral; Clark gazed at him, and wondered if he'd ever see that other Lex again.

"Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for letting me stay with you," said Clark, awkwardly. It wasn't what he wanted to say.

"My castle is your castle," said Lex.

Clark shifted his weight. Lana had pushed at his explanations until she'd hit silence. Lex just tipped his head back and took a drink of bottled water, then put the bottle down on his desk with careful fingers.

"I do have one question," said Lex.

Lex's gaze was speculative, and Clark, recognizing it, waiting for it like a penance, braced himself for the wrong question.

"Who was the lucky girl?" said Lex, watching his face.

"Jessie," said Clark, without thinking, and then flushed, the heat traveling all the way down his neck. "It wasn't--I wasn't myself."

"I noticed," said Lex.

The flush deepened. Clark had always thought that the first time he had sex it would be with (Lana) someone he liked, or at least with someone he knew. He'd known that he'd be nervous, and that the part of his mind that was always worried about acting normal would be in overdrive. He'd never thought it would be like that, dirty and hot, with a girl he hardly knew, bruising her while she urged him on, thinking, I can (kill) fuck anyone I want, no one can stop me. I'm faster than they are, stronger, better. Better than everyone, he'd thought, exhilarated, good enough to go head to head with Lex.

Lex was watching him with a calm gaze; he remembered Lex's eyes tracking down his body.

"Just tell me you didn't do it in the Ferrari," said Lex.

"What? No!" said Clark. And then, "Lex, I know I acted pretty weird, and I said some things . . . " He was good at lying, but now he knew what it was like to look Lex in the eye and feel like an equal, and something in Clark twisted when he ducked his head like he knew he had to and said, "You must think I'm such a dork."

"You told me we were going to rule the world," said Lex, his lips smiling.

Clark stretched one corner of his own mouth back. "I can't this month. I'm grounded."

"That's all right. I always thought it was more of a one-man job."

Clark looked down at the bottle in his hand. He thought of winning fights out in the open, of stopping bullets and using his powers right where everyone could see him.

He said, "Very funny, Lex."


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