Deal Part 4C
9/5/06 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roxyTitle: Deal
Fandom: SV
Pairing:Clark/Adam
Rating: 4
Lex stared at door, waiting for it to open. It was nearly time—felt like it anyway…the door opened, and the cart rolled in pushed by someone who didn’t register because they didn’t exist in any meaningful way. Behind him came God for all intents and purposes.
How was he going to eat today?
Would he have to beg for it, would he be fed like a pet, or would they pretend to be real people—have a table set with white linen, music and champagne and current events…he pressed his hand against his mouth, hard, to smother a high-pitched giggle.
Mr. Hati smiled at him. “In a good mood this evening Alexander? Lovely.” He walked to the windows and closed the drapes on the evening sky, whisking away the sight of a purple sky dusted with diamonds—unimportant, unimportant…Mr. Hati, circled Lex’s waist with one arm and pinched the slight swell of flash over the band of his trousers.
“Mmmm. Good enough to eat.” He pushed Lex back and ran his hands over his waist, his shoulders; he bit at his soft round chin and licked at his mouth. “You taste so good…”
Lex waited, breathing in and out calmly. In a minute, he’d tell Lex what to do. He walked backwards; pulling Lex with him. He sat on the edge of the sofa, and told Lex to kneel.
He knelt between his legs, and Mr. Hati fed him spoonfuls of food, teasing him a little, making him reach and chuckling when he invariably chased the spoon, mouth fluttering, helpless and trapped between his knees. He laughed, and slid the licked clean bowl of the spoon over Lex’s cheek.
“You know, your father sent the package back. It was opened and resealed, and I don’t think he’s going to play our game. There was a note tucked inside—it said you’d understand.” Mr. Hati rose and walked away, across the room. He paced back and forth, wandering from bookcase to table to couch, to…bed. “An interesting man, your father.” He frowned. “I don’t think I’d like him very much.”
Lex waited on his knees, leaning against the sofa. He’d known it would end like this; surely Lionel’s reaction came as no surprise to them. It wasn’t worth thinking about. Just as he knew his dreams of Clark were simply that, dreams—his imagining rescue had been fantasy, something to pass the time, and now—time was nearly at an end. The hope he’d held had long since withered to dust. He looked up into the dead blue eyes staring at his, waiting for a reaction. He shrugged. What was, was.
Mr. Hati huffed a little, tapping his fingers on his thigh impatiently.
Lex stood and walked to the bed, shedding clothes as he did.
*******
They brought white lilies. Adam promised that whatever Clark found, he would take at face value. Clark told him, if he wanted, he could dig up the coffin, and replace it easily in no time.
Adam shook his head. “Oh, no. I don’t want to see…that again. Whatever you see, I’m sure…is the truth.” Clark nodded, and pushed in front of him and he moved to the side.
Clark stared at the neatly cared for plot of earth in the shadow of a scaled down black marble obelisk. To Adam, he appeared to be thinking hard; his face had the unfocused look of someone deep in memory. Adam waited, and Clark began to look hopeful, it was almost painful to see, how hopeful he looked. “There’s…nothing. Nothing at all. None of the breaks Toby told you about—I told you Lex wasn’t here.” His voice was hushed, but vibrated with suppressed excitement.
“Are you sure? Clark—you’re sure?”
“The neck of this skeleton—it’s been broken. It’s the only break.”
“You’re telling me that someone was killed to provide a corpse? Why? What would be the point? Why fake Lex’s death if it was a kidnapping, and who would want to? They got nothing out of it—what would be the point?”
“What if Lex had something that only he could give, something that his body produced, that he needed to be *alive* to give? I think he was kidnapped but not for money—I think they needed something from him. His body.”
The realization hit Adam like a wave. He felt like he’d been dipped in ice, and Clark nodded, so pale his lips were almost blue, and said, “What my parents claimed they were always afraid of happening to me, is happening to Lex. That’s why I’ve been having those grotesque dreams. They’ve been doing that to Lex, testing him, tearing him to bits. Finding out what makes him tick.”
Adam’s stomach roiled, he swallowed and swallowed in an effort to keep from being sick--he lost the fight, leaned over and threw up at the edge of the dwarf box hedges bordering the grave.
Clark stuffed his hands under his arms and rocked back on his heels. “God—do you think—think his father knew? Do you think *he* did that to him?”
Adam wiped his mouth and shook his head. “No. No way—I can’t believe that. Like I said, he’s a dick but he’s not that big a dick.”
Clark looked unconvinced, but didn’t try to argue. “Now what?”
“Now—we find him.” or find out what happened to him… Adam could feel himself being sucked into Clark’s little fantast world—he wanted to believe there might be a chance that he’d see Lex again. He was afraid to hope—to even dream that one day he might see Lex again, touch him, feel his hands on him again…even as he tried to deny the possibility, his heart beat faster. Lex…
******
Adam tore Lex’s study apart; incredibly grateful that he’d given in to sentimentality and left everything in the castle the way it was when Lex died. Or…something.
Clark worked over the rest of the castle, looking for anything out of the ordinary, anything that might be a clue to what Lex had been doing before he was taken. He found plenty of bugs, in the entertainment room, in the kitchen, in closets. A few had been disabled and returned to their spots, some had sticky notes attached to them, with almost good-natured and wryly amused comments written on them—one had a small lion sketched under a comment…God, and he thought the relationship he had with his parents was fucked up. He collected and disabled any working bugs, and walked back to the study. Adam was at Lex’s desk, cursing quietly. He was trying to open a safe that he’d found behind a bookshelf.
Clark admired his tenacity. “Wow, I never would have thought to look back there! Do you need help?”
“Yes, great, you can probably hear the tumblers drop into place—I should have thought about that.” He stepped back and let Clark get closer to the safe.
Adam whispered, “Do I need to get back farther so you’re not distracted by my heart bea--” Clark punched his fist straight through the lock. “—or that…that works too.” Adam blinked as Clark peeled the door back.
“There you go,” Clark said, with a shy smile. Inside, there was a stack of what appeared to be personal papers, a banded stack of bills, and a few pictures pushed toward the back wall of the safe. One was a photo of Chloe’s wall of weird. Clark felt an unhappy and sick nostalgia at the sight. There was a picture of his mother and him; he was wearing his barn jacket, a basket of apples in his hands. His mom had an arm around his shoulders and they were smiling straight into the camera. Clark stared a moment—the look on his face was so—how was it that Lex never took the chance? He sighed—why should Lex have seen in his eyes, what he’d obviously missed in Lex’s?
He threw the photo aside, under that was a picture of an unsmiling, solemn faced little boy, in a school blazer. His eyes were a clear blue and his hair was bright red, and curled over his forehead. Adam leaned over Clark’s shoulder and gasped softly. “Is that—is that Lex?”
Clark turned over the photograph, and printed across the back was Excelsior Boys Preparatory School and written in a large round child’s hand underneath, ‘Alexander J. Luthor’.
Adam breathed, “Fuck me, red hair…”
Clark smiled and ran his finger lightly across the child’s face. “Told you.” he briefly scanned the safe. “Hey, this is a false floor, something’s underneath--” He cracked the fastenings that held the floor down, and pried the bottom of the safe up. Under the square of metal was a shallow bin, and in it sat Lex’s laptop.
“Oh—I thought for sure Lionel stole that.”
Clark nodded. “I’ll bet we get some idea what happened to him now,” he said.
They set up the laptop, and turned it on. “So, what’s his password?” he asked Adam.
Adam looked back, and a slow smirk spread across his face. “It’s going to be a long night, Clark.”
******
When they finally figured out the password, it was gray out side, night had passed completely and the sun was on the tip of rising. Adam groaned, and yawned. “Oh shit Clark. I *have* to lie down—I’m about to die!”
Clark nodded. “Okay. I forget sometimes how fragile you people are.”
Adam managed a tired little snicker, and grabbed Clark by the collar. “Shut up and come to bed with me. I don’t want to sleep alone.”
Clark smiled. “Okay.”
They curled around each other, and without thought, they fell into kissing, slowly, moving against each other in no particular way, just moving, and it was easy to do—it felt like fantasy, no more real than a dream and they floated into it, let the dream catch them up. Adam inhaled the scent of Clark, spicy, a little hint of sweat and salt, a faint smell of sun-warmed grass…his mouth held a touch of sweet and spice….
He slid his tongue across Clark’s, enjoying the slick warm feeling, liking the way Clark curled his tongue against the roof of his mouth, it tickled and aroused at the same time. He locked his teeth around Clark’s tongue and sucked like he was sucking dick, he used the same rhythms, movements of his tongue—he flicked his tongue over the tip of Clark’s and promised him he’d do that to his dick if he got a chance. If he got a chance, he’d swallow him down until he choked, he wanted to choke on his fat dick, he wanted it in his ass, he wanted to feel him open him up and pound into him—Clark yelled and ground his hips against him, coming hard in his pants, making Adam come just as hard. He pushed his pulsing dick against the heat of Clark’s denim guarded crotch, and felt him still twitching. It felt amazing—for all of the few seconds it took to come crashing back to earth.
“I’m so sorry, but you made me come, what you were saying—it got me too hot.” At first glance, Clark looked terribly flustered, adorable and so very hot, Adam thought--red cheeks and lips, and huge green eyes, his pupils giant in the low light—and then he saw that Clark was also completely mortified, embarrassed, and…sad.
“Clark, don’t—my fault. It’s okay, Clark. We’ll get a shower, s’okay…” Adam felt heavy with guilt. He pulled Clark’s head to his shoulder, to comfort him, to hide the sight of his pained eyes. “It’s going to be fine, it’ll be okay.” He stroked and stroked him until he felt him relax, and relaxed himself—he drifted off before he knew it.
In the morning Clark was sitting on the edge of the bed, warm, shower damp, holding Adam’s hand.
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that I keep getting close and then pulling back. It’s just…I just… I’m an asshole. I’m really…”
Adam squeezed his hand back. “I told you a long time ago I’d never do anything you didn’t want. I meant it. I love you Clark, I do. Don’t want you to do something you’re not sure of. I’m grown—I can survive it.”
“It’s just that I feel like there’s a chance, a good chanced he’s alive. I *know* it. And—and I want all the firsts you talked about to be with him. If it’s possible.” He looked uncomfortable, but held Adam’s hand a little tighter. “It hurts me, feeling this way…but Lex…”
“I love Lex, too. I understand. If it’s true, if we have a chance to get him back--” he stopped, his breath catching in his throat “—than all I want is for him to be happy. And you.”
Clark shook his head, “It’s all so jumbled up in my mid--I love Lex so much, he’s been my angel...but I love you too. I want you, I want Lex and maybe I can’t ever have him. Maybe I’m crazy…” he slid his hand away from Adam’s. “Maybe I need to stop waiting--”
“Clark. I believe you. I believe we’re going to find him. You need to wait.”
Clark fell back and groaned. “Adam, shit--I don’t understand anything—I don’t even understand myself. Knowing we’re possibly on the verge of a miracle…why am I doing this?”
“Because you’re scared. Forget it. Don’t worry. We’ll figure it all out. Promise.” He rolled off the bed, and slapped Clark’s shoulder. “And now, we need to see what Lex left for us to find.”
Clark nodded eagerly; thankful to direct his confused, jumbled thoughts somewhere else besides himself.
******
It was hours later before they stopped to eat and compare what they’d found. “Okay, some guy named Hartnett—that’s the only appointment that stands out—and the fact that he left on the weekend to meet him.”
Clark looked up from his notes--“Yeah, but why’s that significant? So he left on a weekend to go---didn’t he have other weekend appointments?”
“No—he saved the weekends for…for me. There would’ve had to have been a crisis before he’d do business on the weekend, and besides, as I remember, he’d promised me something special that…that weekend, to fly out to the coast.”
“What?” Clark was wounded and just as immediately felt silly. But still, it hurt. “Oh—that’s why you kept calling that day?”
“I did? I remember only calling once.”
“You were such a dick, you probably tried to block it out.” Clark smiled gently at him, and Adam snorted.
“Anyway, assassination of my personality aside—back to this Hartnett person. I found a last name only.”
Clark glanced own at the pad next to his hand. “Okay, I found two or three references to the name in his papers, just the name and a date.”
Adam leaned back and looked at Clark. “He didn’t e-mail him…he didn’t keep any correspondence, anyway. We could check against any Hartnett listed in Lexcorp records.” He shrugged, looking doubtful.
“All right, lets do that”
****
They came up with three Hartnetts at Lexcorp-- a secretary, and a mid level executive. The executive had only been at Lexcorp a few months before Lex disappeared—and her records were impeccable, as clean as a whistle, as was the secretary. She no longer worked for Lexcorp, but there was nothing sinister there—she’d gone on to employment elsewhere, was easily tracked.
The third Hartnett was a janitor. Zero return.
Clark was frustrated. “Okay, that was a long shot and besides, shouldn’t this guy be a doctor? Lex was worried, you said…”
“If he was being consulted by Lex, more than likely he’s a research scientist. As far as I know he had no doctor appointments.” He looked up at Clark. “The guy I talked to about the broken bones was more or less his doctor, sort of his bizarro version of a family doctor. The kind of guy who can’t afford to ask questions.”
Clark raised his eyebrows. “Sounds like something…not particularly legal, Adam.”
Adam shrugged. “Not everything Lex did was particularly legal… Um…hold on. I think I found something. Here’s an article on Smallville’s oddities—sent to him. From Met U.”
“Yeah---I see it. There’s a Hartnett here--” Clark’s voice was excited and then he drooped a bit. “Was a Hartnett. He resigned.” Clark jumped up and paced. “Okay—he resigned to work on Lex, I’ll bet. So, where would he go?”
Adam bit his thumb, and thought. “How do we find him? Fuck Clark, it’s been two years. Two fucking years. The trail is cold as ice. Lex could be…”
“No. He’s not. I told you.”
Adam sat quiet and thought. “We need to find out why he resigned the university.”
In response to an e-mail sent from LexCorp, they learned that he resigned, with the best wishes of the school, to work in the private sector. STAR Labs.
Clark said, “I’ve heard of them…wait…let me remember…Lex was on the phone, talking to his dad…and—and—STAR Labs deals with pediatric medicine. Why would Hartnett resign to work there? What connection does it have with Lex?”
Adam sighed. “STAR Lab may have been connected to LuthorCorp, but I think they’re a private research facilities now. Let’s look into STAR anyway, I have a feeling about this.”
STAR Labs had employed Dr. Hartnett, but he was no longer with them, and they declined to give more information.
Adam felt like they were butting into walls at every turn. They were both getting frustrated, and a little desperate. Adam asked, “Clark…can you look around STAR, see if anything could lead us to him?” it was a dangerous move, and careless, but Clark’s feeling that time running out for Lex was beginning to affect Adam too. Clark agreed, and that evening found them in Metropolis.
STAR was exactly what it claimed to be and no more. As Adam waited, Clark slipped from floor to floor. He had always been more than half certain that Lionel was behind all of this. Clark drooped with disappointment--now, it seemed positive he wasn’t. He’d thought—hoped-- that Lex might be trapped in some part of this building, that he would find that cell here and rescue him…he examined labs, and searched out hidden places and found nothing. Nothing but completely average, legal boring labs, clean, spotless, and Lex was nowhere near here…. He scanned the floor under him, and came up against a dark spot—a place he couldn’t see through…
He sped to the area in the basement that read blank for him. Lead. Lead sheathed doors, no doubt the walls were shielded too…he reached out and twisted the handle open and walked in. Barely feet inside the door, his stomach began to cramp, and cold sweat broke out over his body, he panted, each step made him more and more ill. He knew what was in that lab. It had nothing that he could imagine to do with medicine.
He scanned the inside looking for cameras, bugs…it was clean. The few cameras he found, he avoided easily. The security seemed strangely lax considering, but the biohazard signs plastered over every available surface probably acted as it’s own security measure.
He found dozens and dozens of file cabinets, filled with documents…and one set of documents caught his interest in particular.
‘Catastrophic evolution’. He scanned the papers, finding Hartnett’s name. The theory was interesting…and connected to the meteorites. The radioactive meteorites that plagued Smallville—and seemed to cause bizarre mutations in it’s people. Mutations that might be passed down and in generations become a part of the species. They must have been exploring the possibilities in the rock; maybe even looking for some beneficial applications, but there was nothing in any of the research that equaled a missing Lex. He checked through the rest of the files. There was nothing that hinted at human research in any of the files. Clark sighed in relief. If that had been the case, he would have had to do something—and he just wasn’t sure what he would have done….
Clark did have some success—he came back to Adam with the information and an address. Hartnett was reachable and that equaled a step forward for Clark. He wanted to leave at that moment, now, before a minute more passed—he wanted to get to Lex.
Adam disagreed. “No—I know you’re impatient, I can really understand that, Clark—but there’s a business that needs me, and yes, school coming up, for the both of us. You need to go home, Clark. It’s been forever since you’ve been home.”
‘Why?” Clark glowered at Adam. He pushed against him. “Why do I have to go home, I want to go to the city—now.” Clark wanted to intimidate Adam. He could, he was stronger, he was unbeatable, and Adam was weak, human, he would be so easy to hurt…Clark sagged. Stupid. It was stupid to even think for a minute that he could hurt Adam. He couldn’t hurt anyone, not like that….
Adam pushed Clark gently away. “Because when we get Lex back, I want to hand him Lexcorp whole, and you too.” He smiled. “Understand? I’ll call you, let you know when to come.”
Clark frowned. He doubted Adam really believed like he did. If he did, he’d be on his way to find that guy right now… “Fine, damn it! When? When will you call me?”
“Tomorrow, I promise. Just let me get with Harry, and I’ll call you, all right. And please—go home. Don’t sleep here, you hear me?”
“All right!” Clark stormed off, so angry, but not questioning Adam’s decision.
******
His parents were at the kitchen table when he came home, and they looked startled to see him. He sneered and made for the stairs. Sure they were surprised to see him--they probably forgot they had a son. Or were trying to forget…
His mother called out as he went past them.
“Clark.”
He thought about walking past them anyway but he turned. They were holding hands across the table. Wasn’t that sweet, he snorted. They were looking at him, staring at him and he felt a flare of anger so strong it made his gut twist “What?”
“Clark, we—Clark,” his dad started and fell silent. He stared at the table, and for a moment Clark was shocked. His dad looked so old, so tired. His mother spoke up, and her voice was a little shaky, unsure. Clark backed away.
“We want to talk to you, Clark.” His mom looked like a stranger—too thin, too old, too—scared.
Clark shook his head. “I can’t—I can’t talk to you now.” He backed farther out of the kitchen, his emotions a wild tumble, confusion and fear of--of something he couldn’t identify, making him angry.
“Clark, please…” They turned to him; both of them, and the force of...whatever it was that was on their minds beat against him, smothered him. He had to get away.
“If you want me out of here for good, fine—I’ll leave, but right now, I can’t talk to you.”
He ran upstairs and into his room, slamming the door. When he heard footsteps on the stair, he threw the window open, leaped out, and hit the ground running.
******
He could see the Lexcorp helicopter taking off from where he hid, in the shelter of the still untamed scrub along the rear of Lex’s property. When it was less than a black dot on the horizon, he walked back into the castle, back into his room, and rolled up in blankets heavy with the scent of Adam and himself. How could Adam just stop looking like that? How could he wait? How could he want to wait?
Clark felt betrayed--as minutes slid by, he felt more and more angry, and more alone. They were so fucking close, so *close*—how could Adam claim to love Lex like Clark did and not move this instant?
Shit. He rolled out of bed, dressed quickly. He ran out the back way again, across the cleared helipad area and headed as straight as possible to Metropolis. Fuck Adam and fuck waiting—he’d waited long enough.
TBC.
Fandom: SV
Pairing:Clark/Adam
Rating: 4
Lex stared at door, waiting for it to open. It was nearly time—felt like it anyway…the door opened, and the cart rolled in pushed by someone who didn’t register because they didn’t exist in any meaningful way. Behind him came God for all intents and purposes.
How was he going to eat today?
Would he have to beg for it, would he be fed like a pet, or would they pretend to be real people—have a table set with white linen, music and champagne and current events…he pressed his hand against his mouth, hard, to smother a high-pitched giggle.
Mr. Hati smiled at him. “In a good mood this evening Alexander? Lovely.” He walked to the windows and closed the drapes on the evening sky, whisking away the sight of a purple sky dusted with diamonds—unimportant, unimportant…Mr. Hati, circled Lex’s waist with one arm and pinched the slight swell of flash over the band of his trousers.
“Mmmm. Good enough to eat.” He pushed Lex back and ran his hands over his waist, his shoulders; he bit at his soft round chin and licked at his mouth. “You taste so good…”
Lex waited, breathing in and out calmly. In a minute, he’d tell Lex what to do. He walked backwards; pulling Lex with him. He sat on the edge of the sofa, and told Lex to kneel.
He knelt between his legs, and Mr. Hati fed him spoonfuls of food, teasing him a little, making him reach and chuckling when he invariably chased the spoon, mouth fluttering, helpless and trapped between his knees. He laughed, and slid the licked clean bowl of the spoon over Lex’s cheek.
“You know, your father sent the package back. It was opened and resealed, and I don’t think he’s going to play our game. There was a note tucked inside—it said you’d understand.” Mr. Hati rose and walked away, across the room. He paced back and forth, wandering from bookcase to table to couch, to…bed. “An interesting man, your father.” He frowned. “I don’t think I’d like him very much.”
Lex waited on his knees, leaning against the sofa. He’d known it would end like this; surely Lionel’s reaction came as no surprise to them. It wasn’t worth thinking about. Just as he knew his dreams of Clark were simply that, dreams—his imagining rescue had been fantasy, something to pass the time, and now—time was nearly at an end. The hope he’d held had long since withered to dust. He looked up into the dead blue eyes staring at his, waiting for a reaction. He shrugged. What was, was.
Mr. Hati huffed a little, tapping his fingers on his thigh impatiently.
Lex stood and walked to the bed, shedding clothes as he did.
*******
They brought white lilies. Adam promised that whatever Clark found, he would take at face value. Clark told him, if he wanted, he could dig up the coffin, and replace it easily in no time.
Adam shook his head. “Oh, no. I don’t want to see…that again. Whatever you see, I’m sure…is the truth.” Clark nodded, and pushed in front of him and he moved to the side.
Clark stared at the neatly cared for plot of earth in the shadow of a scaled down black marble obelisk. To Adam, he appeared to be thinking hard; his face had the unfocused look of someone deep in memory. Adam waited, and Clark began to look hopeful, it was almost painful to see, how hopeful he looked. “There’s…nothing. Nothing at all. None of the breaks Toby told you about—I told you Lex wasn’t here.” His voice was hushed, but vibrated with suppressed excitement.
“Are you sure? Clark—you’re sure?”
“The neck of this skeleton—it’s been broken. It’s the only break.”
“You’re telling me that someone was killed to provide a corpse? Why? What would be the point? Why fake Lex’s death if it was a kidnapping, and who would want to? They got nothing out of it—what would be the point?”
“What if Lex had something that only he could give, something that his body produced, that he needed to be *alive* to give? I think he was kidnapped but not for money—I think they needed something from him. His body.”
The realization hit Adam like a wave. He felt like he’d been dipped in ice, and Clark nodded, so pale his lips were almost blue, and said, “What my parents claimed they were always afraid of happening to me, is happening to Lex. That’s why I’ve been having those grotesque dreams. They’ve been doing that to Lex, testing him, tearing him to bits. Finding out what makes him tick.”
Adam’s stomach roiled, he swallowed and swallowed in an effort to keep from being sick--he lost the fight, leaned over and threw up at the edge of the dwarf box hedges bordering the grave.
Clark stuffed his hands under his arms and rocked back on his heels. “God—do you think—think his father knew? Do you think *he* did that to him?”
Adam wiped his mouth and shook his head. “No. No way—I can’t believe that. Like I said, he’s a dick but he’s not that big a dick.”
Clark looked unconvinced, but didn’t try to argue. “Now what?”
“Now—we find him.” or find out what happened to him… Adam could feel himself being sucked into Clark’s little fantast world—he wanted to believe there might be a chance that he’d see Lex again. He was afraid to hope—to even dream that one day he might see Lex again, touch him, feel his hands on him again…even as he tried to deny the possibility, his heart beat faster. Lex…
******
Adam tore Lex’s study apart; incredibly grateful that he’d given in to sentimentality and left everything in the castle the way it was when Lex died. Or…something.
Clark worked over the rest of the castle, looking for anything out of the ordinary, anything that might be a clue to what Lex had been doing before he was taken. He found plenty of bugs, in the entertainment room, in the kitchen, in closets. A few had been disabled and returned to their spots, some had sticky notes attached to them, with almost good-natured and wryly amused comments written on them—one had a small lion sketched under a comment…God, and he thought the relationship he had with his parents was fucked up. He collected and disabled any working bugs, and walked back to the study. Adam was at Lex’s desk, cursing quietly. He was trying to open a safe that he’d found behind a bookshelf.
Clark admired his tenacity. “Wow, I never would have thought to look back there! Do you need help?”
“Yes, great, you can probably hear the tumblers drop into place—I should have thought about that.” He stepped back and let Clark get closer to the safe.
Adam whispered, “Do I need to get back farther so you’re not distracted by my heart bea--” Clark punched his fist straight through the lock. “—or that…that works too.” Adam blinked as Clark peeled the door back.
“There you go,” Clark said, with a shy smile. Inside, there was a stack of what appeared to be personal papers, a banded stack of bills, and a few pictures pushed toward the back wall of the safe. One was a photo of Chloe’s wall of weird. Clark felt an unhappy and sick nostalgia at the sight. There was a picture of his mother and him; he was wearing his barn jacket, a basket of apples in his hands. His mom had an arm around his shoulders and they were smiling straight into the camera. Clark stared a moment—the look on his face was so—how was it that Lex never took the chance? He sighed—why should Lex have seen in his eyes, what he’d obviously missed in Lex’s?
He threw the photo aside, under that was a picture of an unsmiling, solemn faced little boy, in a school blazer. His eyes were a clear blue and his hair was bright red, and curled over his forehead. Adam leaned over Clark’s shoulder and gasped softly. “Is that—is that Lex?”
Clark turned over the photograph, and printed across the back was Excelsior Boys Preparatory School and written in a large round child’s hand underneath, ‘Alexander J. Luthor’.
Adam breathed, “Fuck me, red hair…”
Clark smiled and ran his finger lightly across the child’s face. “Told you.” he briefly scanned the safe. “Hey, this is a false floor, something’s underneath--” He cracked the fastenings that held the floor down, and pried the bottom of the safe up. Under the square of metal was a shallow bin, and in it sat Lex’s laptop.
“Oh—I thought for sure Lionel stole that.”
Clark nodded. “I’ll bet we get some idea what happened to him now,” he said.
They set up the laptop, and turned it on. “So, what’s his password?” he asked Adam.
Adam looked back, and a slow smirk spread across his face. “It’s going to be a long night, Clark.”
******
When they finally figured out the password, it was gray out side, night had passed completely and the sun was on the tip of rising. Adam groaned, and yawned. “Oh shit Clark. I *have* to lie down—I’m about to die!”
Clark nodded. “Okay. I forget sometimes how fragile you people are.”
Adam managed a tired little snicker, and grabbed Clark by the collar. “Shut up and come to bed with me. I don’t want to sleep alone.”
Clark smiled. “Okay.”
They curled around each other, and without thought, they fell into kissing, slowly, moving against each other in no particular way, just moving, and it was easy to do—it felt like fantasy, no more real than a dream and they floated into it, let the dream catch them up. Adam inhaled the scent of Clark, spicy, a little hint of sweat and salt, a faint smell of sun-warmed grass…his mouth held a touch of sweet and spice….
He slid his tongue across Clark’s, enjoying the slick warm feeling, liking the way Clark curled his tongue against the roof of his mouth, it tickled and aroused at the same time. He locked his teeth around Clark’s tongue and sucked like he was sucking dick, he used the same rhythms, movements of his tongue—he flicked his tongue over the tip of Clark’s and promised him he’d do that to his dick if he got a chance. If he got a chance, he’d swallow him down until he choked, he wanted to choke on his fat dick, he wanted it in his ass, he wanted to feel him open him up and pound into him—Clark yelled and ground his hips against him, coming hard in his pants, making Adam come just as hard. He pushed his pulsing dick against the heat of Clark’s denim guarded crotch, and felt him still twitching. It felt amazing—for all of the few seconds it took to come crashing back to earth.
“I’m so sorry, but you made me come, what you were saying—it got me too hot.” At first glance, Clark looked terribly flustered, adorable and so very hot, Adam thought--red cheeks and lips, and huge green eyes, his pupils giant in the low light—and then he saw that Clark was also completely mortified, embarrassed, and…sad.
“Clark, don’t—my fault. It’s okay, Clark. We’ll get a shower, s’okay…” Adam felt heavy with guilt. He pulled Clark’s head to his shoulder, to comfort him, to hide the sight of his pained eyes. “It’s going to be fine, it’ll be okay.” He stroked and stroked him until he felt him relax, and relaxed himself—he drifted off before he knew it.
In the morning Clark was sitting on the edge of the bed, warm, shower damp, holding Adam’s hand.
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that I keep getting close and then pulling back. It’s just…I just… I’m an asshole. I’m really…”
Adam squeezed his hand back. “I told you a long time ago I’d never do anything you didn’t want. I meant it. I love you Clark, I do. Don’t want you to do something you’re not sure of. I’m grown—I can survive it.”
“It’s just that I feel like there’s a chance, a good chanced he’s alive. I *know* it. And—and I want all the firsts you talked about to be with him. If it’s possible.” He looked uncomfortable, but held Adam’s hand a little tighter. “It hurts me, feeling this way…but Lex…”
“I love Lex, too. I understand. If it’s true, if we have a chance to get him back--” he stopped, his breath catching in his throat “—than all I want is for him to be happy. And you.”
Clark shook his head, “It’s all so jumbled up in my mid--I love Lex so much, he’s been my angel...but I love you too. I want you, I want Lex and maybe I can’t ever have him. Maybe I’m crazy…” he slid his hand away from Adam’s. “Maybe I need to stop waiting--”
“Clark. I believe you. I believe we’re going to find him. You need to wait.”
Clark fell back and groaned. “Adam, shit--I don’t understand anything—I don’t even understand myself. Knowing we’re possibly on the verge of a miracle…why am I doing this?”
“Because you’re scared. Forget it. Don’t worry. We’ll figure it all out. Promise.” He rolled off the bed, and slapped Clark’s shoulder. “And now, we need to see what Lex left for us to find.”
Clark nodded eagerly; thankful to direct his confused, jumbled thoughts somewhere else besides himself.
******
It was hours later before they stopped to eat and compare what they’d found. “Okay, some guy named Hartnett—that’s the only appointment that stands out—and the fact that he left on the weekend to meet him.”
Clark looked up from his notes--“Yeah, but why’s that significant? So he left on a weekend to go---didn’t he have other weekend appointments?”
“No—he saved the weekends for…for me. There would’ve had to have been a crisis before he’d do business on the weekend, and besides, as I remember, he’d promised me something special that…that weekend, to fly out to the coast.”
“What?” Clark was wounded and just as immediately felt silly. But still, it hurt. “Oh—that’s why you kept calling that day?”
“I did? I remember only calling once.”
“You were such a dick, you probably tried to block it out.” Clark smiled gently at him, and Adam snorted.
“Anyway, assassination of my personality aside—back to this Hartnett person. I found a last name only.”
Clark glanced own at the pad next to his hand. “Okay, I found two or three references to the name in his papers, just the name and a date.”
Adam leaned back and looked at Clark. “He didn’t e-mail him…he didn’t keep any correspondence, anyway. We could check against any Hartnett listed in Lexcorp records.” He shrugged, looking doubtful.
“All right, lets do that”
****
They came up with three Hartnetts at Lexcorp-- a secretary, and a mid level executive. The executive had only been at Lexcorp a few months before Lex disappeared—and her records were impeccable, as clean as a whistle, as was the secretary. She no longer worked for Lexcorp, but there was nothing sinister there—she’d gone on to employment elsewhere, was easily tracked.
The third Hartnett was a janitor. Zero return.
Clark was frustrated. “Okay, that was a long shot and besides, shouldn’t this guy be a doctor? Lex was worried, you said…”
“If he was being consulted by Lex, more than likely he’s a research scientist. As far as I know he had no doctor appointments.” He looked up at Clark. “The guy I talked to about the broken bones was more or less his doctor, sort of his bizarro version of a family doctor. The kind of guy who can’t afford to ask questions.”
Clark raised his eyebrows. “Sounds like something…not particularly legal, Adam.”
Adam shrugged. “Not everything Lex did was particularly legal… Um…hold on. I think I found something. Here’s an article on Smallville’s oddities—sent to him. From Met U.”
“Yeah---I see it. There’s a Hartnett here--” Clark’s voice was excited and then he drooped a bit. “Was a Hartnett. He resigned.” Clark jumped up and paced. “Okay—he resigned to work on Lex, I’ll bet. So, where would he go?”
Adam bit his thumb, and thought. “How do we find him? Fuck Clark, it’s been two years. Two fucking years. The trail is cold as ice. Lex could be…”
“No. He’s not. I told you.”
Adam sat quiet and thought. “We need to find out why he resigned the university.”
In response to an e-mail sent from LexCorp, they learned that he resigned, with the best wishes of the school, to work in the private sector. STAR Labs.
Clark said, “I’ve heard of them…wait…let me remember…Lex was on the phone, talking to his dad…and—and—STAR Labs deals with pediatric medicine. Why would Hartnett resign to work there? What connection does it have with Lex?”
Adam sighed. “STAR Lab may have been connected to LuthorCorp, but I think they’re a private research facilities now. Let’s look into STAR anyway, I have a feeling about this.”
STAR Labs had employed Dr. Hartnett, but he was no longer with them, and they declined to give more information.
Adam felt like they were butting into walls at every turn. They were both getting frustrated, and a little desperate. Adam asked, “Clark…can you look around STAR, see if anything could lead us to him?” it was a dangerous move, and careless, but Clark’s feeling that time running out for Lex was beginning to affect Adam too. Clark agreed, and that evening found them in Metropolis.
STAR was exactly what it claimed to be and no more. As Adam waited, Clark slipped from floor to floor. He had always been more than half certain that Lionel was behind all of this. Clark drooped with disappointment--now, it seemed positive he wasn’t. He’d thought—hoped-- that Lex might be trapped in some part of this building, that he would find that cell here and rescue him…he examined labs, and searched out hidden places and found nothing. Nothing but completely average, legal boring labs, clean, spotless, and Lex was nowhere near here…. He scanned the floor under him, and came up against a dark spot—a place he couldn’t see through…
He sped to the area in the basement that read blank for him. Lead. Lead sheathed doors, no doubt the walls were shielded too…he reached out and twisted the handle open and walked in. Barely feet inside the door, his stomach began to cramp, and cold sweat broke out over his body, he panted, each step made him more and more ill. He knew what was in that lab. It had nothing that he could imagine to do with medicine.
He scanned the inside looking for cameras, bugs…it was clean. The few cameras he found, he avoided easily. The security seemed strangely lax considering, but the biohazard signs plastered over every available surface probably acted as it’s own security measure.
He found dozens and dozens of file cabinets, filled with documents…and one set of documents caught his interest in particular.
‘Catastrophic evolution’. He scanned the papers, finding Hartnett’s name. The theory was interesting…and connected to the meteorites. The radioactive meteorites that plagued Smallville—and seemed to cause bizarre mutations in it’s people. Mutations that might be passed down and in generations become a part of the species. They must have been exploring the possibilities in the rock; maybe even looking for some beneficial applications, but there was nothing in any of the research that equaled a missing Lex. He checked through the rest of the files. There was nothing that hinted at human research in any of the files. Clark sighed in relief. If that had been the case, he would have had to do something—and he just wasn’t sure what he would have done….
Clark did have some success—he came back to Adam with the information and an address. Hartnett was reachable and that equaled a step forward for Clark. He wanted to leave at that moment, now, before a minute more passed—he wanted to get to Lex.
Adam disagreed. “No—I know you’re impatient, I can really understand that, Clark—but there’s a business that needs me, and yes, school coming up, for the both of us. You need to go home, Clark. It’s been forever since you’ve been home.”
‘Why?” Clark glowered at Adam. He pushed against him. “Why do I have to go home, I want to go to the city—now.” Clark wanted to intimidate Adam. He could, he was stronger, he was unbeatable, and Adam was weak, human, he would be so easy to hurt…Clark sagged. Stupid. It was stupid to even think for a minute that he could hurt Adam. He couldn’t hurt anyone, not like that….
Adam pushed Clark gently away. “Because when we get Lex back, I want to hand him Lexcorp whole, and you too.” He smiled. “Understand? I’ll call you, let you know when to come.”
Clark frowned. He doubted Adam really believed like he did. If he did, he’d be on his way to find that guy right now… “Fine, damn it! When? When will you call me?”
“Tomorrow, I promise. Just let me get with Harry, and I’ll call you, all right. And please—go home. Don’t sleep here, you hear me?”
“All right!” Clark stormed off, so angry, but not questioning Adam’s decision.
******
His parents were at the kitchen table when he came home, and they looked startled to see him. He sneered and made for the stairs. Sure they were surprised to see him--they probably forgot they had a son. Or were trying to forget…
His mother called out as he went past them.
“Clark.”
He thought about walking past them anyway but he turned. They were holding hands across the table. Wasn’t that sweet, he snorted. They were looking at him, staring at him and he felt a flare of anger so strong it made his gut twist “What?”
“Clark, we—Clark,” his dad started and fell silent. He stared at the table, and for a moment Clark was shocked. His dad looked so old, so tired. His mother spoke up, and her voice was a little shaky, unsure. Clark backed away.
“We want to talk to you, Clark.” His mom looked like a stranger—too thin, too old, too—scared.
Clark shook his head. “I can’t—I can’t talk to you now.” He backed farther out of the kitchen, his emotions a wild tumble, confusion and fear of--of something he couldn’t identify, making him angry.
“Clark, please…” They turned to him; both of them, and the force of...whatever it was that was on their minds beat against him, smothered him. He had to get away.
“If you want me out of here for good, fine—I’ll leave, but right now, I can’t talk to you.”
He ran upstairs and into his room, slamming the door. When he heard footsteps on the stair, he threw the window open, leaped out, and hit the ground running.
******
He could see the Lexcorp helicopter taking off from where he hid, in the shelter of the still untamed scrub along the rear of Lex’s property. When it was less than a black dot on the horizon, he walked back into the castle, back into his room, and rolled up in blankets heavy with the scent of Adam and himself. How could Adam just stop looking like that? How could he wait? How could he want to wait?
Clark felt betrayed--as minutes slid by, he felt more and more angry, and more alone. They were so fucking close, so *close*—how could Adam claim to love Lex like Clark did and not move this instant?
Shit. He rolled out of bed, dressed quickly. He ran out the back way again, across the cleared helipad area and headed as straight as possible to Metropolis. Fuck Adam and fuck waiting—he’d waited long enough.
TBC.
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(no subject)
9/6/06 04:58 am (UTC)I like the fact that things seem to be moving in a slightly more positive direction here. And you're teasing us with the Clark/Adam, which I kind of like, even though I also kind of want Clark to wait for Lex.
(no subject)
9/6/06 05:47 am (UTC)And Adam is kind of Lex-whipped even now. Poor sap.
(no subject)
9/6/06 05:20 am (UTC)But I am glad Clark wants to wait for his 'firsts' to be with Lex; I don't dislike Adam, but he's not a part of my OTP, and I prefer to keep it that way.
Please keep writing!
(no subject)
9/6/06 05:48 am (UTC)Wish me luck!!
(no subject)
9/6/06 04:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
9/6/06 01:24 pm (UTC)And aww, Lex *hugs him*
(no subject)
9/6/06 01:37 pm (UTC)You are my Queen of Angst.
(no subject)
9/6/06 10:32 pm (UTC)I didn't think of that.
You're probably right.
Poor Clark.
*pets Clark*
(no subject)
9/6/06 01:41 pm (UTC)And omg Clark is slipping god help us all if he loses it.
Great Chapter babes.
(no subject)
9/6/06 02:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
9/6/06 05:39 pm (UTC)*bounce*
Finally!
But...angst!
*flail*
*luffs*
(no subject)
9/6/06 07:25 pm (UTC):D
(no subject)
9/6/06 07:39 pm (UTC)Find Lex and beat up that evil Mr. Hati!
*glares at Mr. Hati*
(no subject)
9/6/06 10:26 pm (UTC)I'm so glad Clark could use his powers to confirm Lex is alive and to find clues about his disappearance! He and Adam make an unusual and yet very good investigative couple. And I do love romantic Clark!
The kents scene made me really sad. I'm so sorry Clark is so estranged from his parents. I hope they can find a way to make amends, in the future, though it seems unlikely right now.
I hope it doesn't take long for Clark to find Lex! I’m so intrigued and excited about what’s going to happen now!
(no subject)
9/6/06 10:48 pm (UTC)