Dangerous
Rating: PG-13 or less. Not very explicit at all.
Based on: Smallville
Genre: Futurefic, slash
Pairing: Lex/Clark
Dangerous
by Elvichar
Jonathan was always right. He'd drummed this fact into Clark for 13 years, so it must be true. And Clark always did what his dad said.
So it had to happen this way.
"Son, we've protected you for all this time - but you're too powerful. People have been hurt. This is for your own good. You know that."
It had been inevitable really. Clark's name was on almost every incident sheet in the local police station, it was only a matter of time before questions had been asked.
Maybe Lex had tipped the balance - maybe there had been some spite on Jonathan's part. Some suspicion of impropriety? Clark didn't know. It had been too long ago. Another life time. Had it been months? He couldn't tell.
They had taken him away in the middle of the night. On Jonathan's advice they had used the meteor rocks to subdue him.
Lead walls. Clark didn't know where he was. It was his home now. Every now and then somebody dressed all in white would come and perform another test, but this happened far less far more frequent now. In the beginning he had been subjected to all manner of tests. Maybe they had learned all they wanted to know.
He was conscious now, but he felt like he had slept for the longest time.
The straps holding him down had been tightened. They had to be - be had lost so much weight he could have easily slipped through otherwise.
How long had he been here though? And why was his head so clear?
"Hello?" Clark called weakly.
A buzz and a click and a disembodied voice answered. "Clark? You're awake?" it sounded relieved and wary at the same time. Clark thought it sounded familiar somehow.
"Yes. I am awake."
The door opened. Clark blinked, but the light was too bright to see who it was. Just someone else here to test him some more anyway.
A face loomed into view. Clark frowned. He wanted to rub his face, but his hands were bound by his side. He had had so many hallucinations while he was here. Lying here with nothing to do he had often imagined his old life, his old friends. Happy times with his parents. Chloe and Pete. Lana serving him coffee at the Talon. And Lex of course.
Lex.
He had also imagined things that had not happened. They couldn't possibly have happened, although Clark desperately wanted them to be true.
Lex's face peering at him with concern. That was good. Lex looked good.
"Clark?" The voice was shocked for some reason.
"You look like someone I used to know." Clark smiled weakly.
"God, what have they done to you?"
Cool hands were unfastening the straps, lifting him from the table. He leaned back towards the man's chest as he was carried out of the room. The purple fabric was soft against his skin. He closed his eyes and drifted back into something like sleep.
When he opened his eyes again he was somewhere else. In a real bed. And he felt groggy.
Clark tried to sit up, but his muscles were so unused to movement. It was no good.
Good that they had unstrapped him though. Maybe they would leave him alone and just let him be for a while.
There was a knock on the door. Clark giggled slightly. Must be someone new, someone who didn't know the drill. "Come in," he said. Whoever it was would learn soon enough.
The door opened. Clark moved his head to see who it was. That face again. Amazing how much he looked like him.
"You again." Clark said slowly. This one was letting him speak too. He must be new.
"You recognise me?" The man said. It sounded like hope in his voice, but Clark was not used to judging these things any more, and he'd never been much good at looking beyond words anyway.
"I recognise you. Of course. You're the one who moved me here."
"Oh Clark." The man sounded disappointed now, but again that could be imagination. Still it was nice that someone used his name. He had before though. Must be in his notes or something.
"Clark. Yes. I am Clark. Thank you." Good to have it confirmed. The name Jonathan and Martha had given to him. Short and blunt and sort of practical.
"Can you move at all?"
He tried lifting his arm and was surprised when the muscles responded. It was difficult though. Slowly he lifted it to see it again. The way he had been strapped he couldn't see any part of his body. Clark gasped. It didn't look like his arm. It seemed so delicate and brittle. He could almost see the bone through the skin.
"Is that my arm?" Clark felt like laughing. It was ridiculous that arm was a part of him.
"I thought if I got you away from the meteor rocks that you would start to feel stronger." The man who looked like Lex said.
"Oh." Clark thought about it for a second. "I do." His voice was cracking a bit. He wasn't used to saying this much. "Can I have water?" If it had been his mom in the room she would have corrected him. "May, Clark. May I?" But she wasn't here. He hadn't seen her for so long. Had it been so long? Maybe it had been just last week. Although his arm suggested otherwise.
He felt himself being propped up and a glass was lifted to his lips. He gulped. "Good." He told the man as the glass was taken away.
At this angle he could see all around the room. It looked like a real bedroom, not a lab. They must be planning new tests for him. He looked at the man with the water. "Oh. It is Lex." He said. "What are you doing here?" He didn't hear the answer. The arm lifting had taken it out of him. He closed his eyes and slept.
He was surprised that he was still in the same room. He was even more surprised that nobody had thought to strap him down while he slept.
So thirsty though. He reached over to the bedside table and poured himself more water. It was only when he had drunk it that he realised how easy it had been. His arm looked plumper too.
He tried moving getting out of bed. To his delight he managed to move his legs. Slowly he pushed himself up. Nearly there. But so tiring. He sat on the edge of the bed. This much movement was disorienting him.
With a concerted effort he made himself stand up. He hovered there for a second before the strain became too much.
The floor was made of a lovely dark wood. He lay there for a second pondering the grain. Behind him the door opened and he was pulled upright.
Clark grinned. "Baby steps." The phrase had seemed obscure when he'd heard it before, but it seemed to make sense now. Something occurred to him all of a sudden. "Have you rescued me?"
"Yes. In a manner of speaking." Lex helped Clark to the bed. They both sat there while Clark got his breath back.
"What took you so long?" Clark had meant it as a joke, but Lex look stricken.
"I looked for you. You just disappeared. Jonathan told everyone you'd gone to live with your real parents. I was hurt you hadn't said goodbye - we all were. Lana thought you and her were becoming really good friends. Chloe was devastated. I think Pete just felt you'd let him down."
"My real parents?"
"If I had known I would have tried harder to track you down. I swear I had no idea until two weeks ago."
"Two weeks?"
"Lexcorp has only just taken over the facility where they kept you. "
"Lexcorp?" Clark grinned slowly. "You have your own company now? How long have I been away?"
Lex stood up. "Are you hungry? You must be. I'll have something brought up for you. Maybe you'll feel stronger when you've eaten."
"Lex?" The stern voice he always used to use when Lex wasn't being completely honest with him.
"Clark. If I had known I would have done everything in my power to get you out of there."
"I know it's been a long time. I just want to know how long." His throat was all scratchy now, but he was going to carry on this conversation until he found out.
"Do I look any older to you Clark?"
Clark looked at Lex carefully. "Not really."
"I don't look, say, ten years older?"
"No."
"Really?" Lex looked surprised.
"Stop kidding around - obviously it's been more than two weeks."
"Twelve years Clark."
"You don't look 33."
"I'm 34."
"Good genes."
"You're not shocked Clark? You've been locked up all these years and you're not angry?"
"Wow - I'm a grown up." Clark grinned.
"What?" Lex smiled in spite of himself.
"Dad always said always used to say, 'grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.'"
"It's Jonathan's fault that you were locked up for so long."
"Is dad OK?"
"He's dead."
"Oh. How'd he die?"
"You don't sound that upset Clark."
"No, well I just told you what he used to tell me. Tell me how he died."
"He was crushed in a cattle stampede."
"Oh." It did occur to him that he should have felt worse than this about it. "When can I see mom?"
"Clark. When I said I was rescuing you I wasn't entirely truthful."
"You're not rescuing me?"
"You have to stay here until I can figure something out. The previous owners of the lab were given very specific instructions. I could go to jail for a very long time if I just let you loose."
"Are we still there then?" Clark looked around. It didn't look much like a laboratory.
"We are at my place. But as far as anyone knows you are still under restraint and safely taken care of."
"What makes you think I couldn't just over power you and escape?"
"Are you planning something?"
"No." Clark flopped backwards on to the bed. "Too tired."
A week later he was far stronger.
Lex found him standing by the window, the light bathing him in a golden glow.
"Clark - maybe you should put some clothes on. If the neighbours see you they might talk."
It was amazing how quickly Clark had recovered. He was still a little unsteady on his feet, and far skinnier than he'd been back in Smallville, but the wraith of last week had all but disappeared.
Clark turned around. He was definitely a grown up, Lex noted. "So, are you going to escape today?" Lex asked.
"Not today. Maybe tomorrow. Haven't decided."
"Have you recovered any of the 'super powers' I've heard about?"
Clark looked warily at Lex. Jonathan had always insisted Clark kept his gifts to himself. Then again Lex must have read all the notes the lab had made over the past decade or so. Although it was years since he'd been able to use his gifts. The meteor rocks had seen to that.
"Maybe. I don't really want to try. They haven't done me much good so far have they?"
Lex walked up to Clark. "I am so sorry."
"Don't be. Not your fault."
Lex knew this was true, but he also felt he should have done more to find Clark. He should have known Jonathan was lying. He should have known Clark wouldn't leave with saying goodbye. Then again, as plausible as he had been back then, Lex knew he hadn't really had the power to have saved Clark. Not until now.
"I thought I'd driven you away." Lex said quietly.
Clark looked questioningly at the other man. "Why would you think that?"
"After what happened."
It had only been once. In the barn, late at night. After Lex had left Clark had gone back into the house beaming.
"What's tickled your fancy son?" Jonathan had asked. Clark burst into laughter and his father had responded by looking at him in a very peculiar way.
They had come to get Clark two days later.
It was only now that Clark had connected the two unrelated events.
That wasn't true. At the time he had an inkling his father had suspected something, but surely he wouldn't have been so petty. Wasn't that what Victorian fathers did to their wayward daughters - lock them up in institutions for having impure thoughts?
The thought seemed hilarious now. Clark grinned.
"What? What's so amusing?" Lex looked hurt.
"Nothing. Just thinking about it all. We should do it again you know."
"Do it again?"
"Yeah. It. You know."
Lex smiled. "I'm not sure that would be appropriate."
"We have a lot to catch up on."
"Yes, but you are effectively my prisoner."
"That's really hot."
"Clark." Lex wasn't exactly shocked. But that hadn't been the response he'd expected.
"I've been thinking about it for ever. And I've got a lot of catching up to do."
Clark had moved closer to Lex, so close Lex could feel his breath on the back of his head. "I need you," he whispered.
Lex closed his eyes. Since Clark left he had been searching for love in all kinds of places. There had been so many people, but none of them had erased the memory of the eager young farmboy
The day after it had happened Lex had visited the Kent farm. Jonathan was there but Clark was not.
"I've been watching you," Mr Kent had said. "I don't trust you Luthor. And I don't like the effect you're having on my son."
"I think Clark is old enough to start making his own judgements isn't he?" Lex had said. At that Jonathan had narrowed his eyes.
"Yes - well it won't be a problem for much longer."
Who could have known what the man was thinking. He probably thought it was for the best - that in some way he was protecting Clark by revealing his secret to the authorities. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Jonathan always respected authority, perhaps he felt what he was doing was a public service.
Maybe Clark was dangerous.
Now Lex knew his suspicions had been right about Clark it was something of a relief. He hadn't been imagining things - the boy was special. In so many ways.
"Clark. You don't need me." Lex smiled.
Clark moved imperceptibly closer. "I do." He licked the top of Lex's ear. Lex flinched.
"Clark, you're probably feeling a lot of things at the moment. Maybe you should wait until you've sorted it all out in your head."
"Already have. I want you. That's all."
Lex didn't move as Clark continued nibbling his ear.
"You realise I can't let you go."
Clark made a sound that could have been accord. Lex tilted his head as Clark kissed his neck.
"I have you at something of an advantage Clark. You are naked and I still have all my clothes on."
Clark stopped what he was doing and looked at Lex with defiance. "What are you going to do about it?"
"If this is a cunning ploy to get out of here it's unnecessary. If I could let you go I would, with or without the bait. But it's not my choice."
"It's a cunning ploy to get something. Is it working?"
"You are feeling better then?"
"Much. Can I get back to what I was doing now?"
"If I let you go you'd have to spend the rest of your life in hiding." Clark was undoing his buttons. His hands were pushing the material from Lex's shoulders and his mouth was moving down his body.
Clark rested his cheek on Lex's stomach. "I don't care. And you're right I have nowhere to go."
Lex stroked Clark's hair. "I don't expect anything from you Clark. And I don't know what to do to make this all right."
"I love you. You know that don't you Lex. No matter what happens." Clark kissed Lex's navel gently, and Lex shivered.
"I know."
Clark stood up and faced Lex. The kiss that followed was deep and probing. Lex wanted to keep his eyes open, to see everything, but he couldn't. His eyes closed. Clark's mouth was soft, but his lips burned. Lex felt as though he were falling.
When he opened his eyes Clark was gone. As he'd known he would be.
He went over to the window and looked out. He couldn't be sure but he thought he saw a figure far in the distance.
"Good bye." Lex whispered.
Far away it seemed the figure turned and waved. But it could have been a trick of the eye.
The end
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