roxy. fic post: Mariposa

Title:Mariposa
Fandom: SV
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Rating:1
Summary: My Clark and my Lex like the buttsex. That makes this an AU version of Smallville…maybe.

The Previous Parts are here, admiring your shag carpet….um. Need the name of a good cleaner?

Jonathan stared up, his eyes making patterns out of ancient water spots and cracks in the plaster ceiling. It was almost like looking at clouds, that spot looked like a duck, that one looked like a butterfly, that one looked like a face, that one—

“Jonathan…”

He jumped a little—he’d thought Martha was sound asleep. “Hmmm?”

“He is going to be fine, isn’t he?”

“Of course. He’s going to be just fine. He’s home and soon, he’ll be back in the swing of things…”

“But sweetheart, I can see he’s not. He’s so sad. It tears my heart to see how sad he is. Not just Whitney—it’s more than that. Something terrible happened to him.”

“What’s killing me is how the hell did he end up with Lex Luthor? What’s the deal there?” He was quiet, his fingers rolling and unrolling the edge of the blanket...he sighed, said, “Did he—he kissed him, right? I did see that, didn’t I?”

“Looked like—he’s there now. It’s odd, isn’t it—suspicious.”

Jonathan rose up on an elbow and peered at Martha. “How do you mean suspicious? You think he coerced Clark into this?” He was already feeling anxious—the idea that Luthor might have hurt his son, taken advantage of him in some way made his heart beat faster. He started to sit up all the way.

“No,” she pushed him back down and put her head on his chest. “No, not like that…but something bad happened to Clark and maybe he had a hand in—in—rescuing him. I’m thinking he knows a lot about Clark that he might not tell us. Clark looks at him like he used to look at Whitney.”

Jonathan sighed. “Yeah. But I liked *that* boy. I’m not so sure about this one.”

“Time will tell, hon. Time will tell. We’ll just have to try and be patient.

Jonathan threw an arm around her and pulled her closer, kissed the top of her head. Great. Patience wasn’t exactly his strong suit.

******
Lex had a room on the second floor refitted into an office. There was a little balcony off one side that let in lots of sun--a good place for Clark to sit….there were stained glass windows along the other wall and he kind of liked the light it cast, that and the fireplace made it the perfect choice for an office. He had the feeling he’d be in Smallville for a while yet….

He played with a tiny rubber ball he’d found in his briefcase and stared at the number his pet genius had found for him. He’d thought a lot about the next step for his … ‘charges’. For the people who were surely being born right at the moment. They needed a safe haven, with structure and support, and he thought he finally found the idea. He just needed people with vision, and kindness—people like the Kents--willing to reach out, willing to take a chance with even the least likely prospect and deal with other worldiness. He looked at the number in his hand. This person might understand the need for a place like he proposed; certainly they were skilled in searching those people out…very skilled. He smiled wryly. He considered it a plus that his family had had contact with them before. In fact, they were right under his nose.

He dialed, and waited. “Mr. Sullivan? How are you, sir? This is Lex Luthor.” He laughed lightly. “Yes, your new boss.”

*****
Clark climbed out of the truck in front of the school and turned back to his dad, eyes wide, begging…he felt weird. He pulled his hand over hair, freshly cut and still curling wildly, even with a ton of gel struggling to hold it in place. don’t make me go in there, please…

“Go on son, it’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

Clark sighed and lifted his shoulders, waved at his dad as he drove off. Okay. He could do this. If he could survive…everything else, this had to be a piece of cake.

Of course, the very first person he ran into was Lana Lang.

She was about to sweep past him when she jerked to a stop, and looked at him like she’d been struck, she even gasped a little. She jerked her chin up and glared at him and it made him smile, it reminded him so much of Lex. She faltered a little at his smile…lowered her chin. “Well. Clark Kent. Back again.”

“Lana. How are you?” As if he cared. But it must have be the right thing to ask, her expression thawed a bit and she managed a small smile in return.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking.” She sailed on, and Clark shook his head. The more things change…

The day dragged on. The classes were slow, god awful slow, pointless, boring. They were going over stuff Lex’s tutors had already taught him and they were doing it at a snail’s pace and everything was broken down into tiny bite size chunks that even a baby could have followed. The students were…stupid. Either they couldn’t understand, or they didn’t pay attention. There was a quiz and Clark sat and stared out of the window forever while he waited for everyone else to finish.

Maybe he could test out. Maybe his folks wouldn’t force him to keep going to school because one thing he was certain of—he refused to play dumb. He heaved a great sigh. He couldn’t do this. Lex would get tutors for him again if he asked. And his parents agreed. Because really, he’d go insane if he had to play this game.

*******

Clark was standing on the little rise at the edge of the ball field, watching the guys practice. Last time he’d been on the field, it was to argue with Whit. He smiled. That argument seemed so damn important then…he shook his head. Stupid.

Pete caught up with him at the edge of the football field. He waved, and jogged over, and Clark had to admit, he looked pretty damn good in his uniform. He let his eyes roam over Pete, frankly admiring, and Pete faltered. Clark wondered idly if maybe he’d pushed it, gone a little too far. A year was a long time to stretch a tentative truce—

Pete said, “Clark. I heard you were back.”

“Pete.” He watched the play of emotion over Pete’s face. He’d always had such an open face…Pete glanced back at the guys on the field, some of them had stopped, were watching the two of them. Pete dropped his helmet and threw his arms wide. “Fucking Clark Kent—c’mere, you shit.”

Clark laughed and stepped into Pete’s embrace, stooped a little to hug him, hard, tight—carefully. “Pete…damn, Pete…”

“Fucking hell, Clark Kent. Look at you—what the hell—what did you do while you were gone, work out non-stop?”

Clark looked down at himself and had an odd moment—a feeling of looking at someone else, someone…big. Built. He grinned, blushed a little. “I guess I just kind of filled out finally. Got a growth spurt.”

“I’ll say. You need to try out--” Pete stopped and blushed and Clark shook his head.

“No—oo…I don’t think that will work out Pete. I’m not hiding. Not for *anyone*”

“I hear ya. Good for you Clark. Damn, it’s good to see you.”

Clark thought about hugging Pete again, but decided to give him a break--held his hand out instead and Pete grabbed it, shook it hard. “Good to see you too, man. It’s…pretty good to be back.”

They walked back down to the field, and Clark could see Pete glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

“CK…what…nah, never mind.”

“Pete, not now, but we’ll talk about it some other time, okay? Promise.”

Clark could see Pete kind of draw himself up, trying to hide a pleased expression. “It’s cool Clark. Whenever you want. When you feel right about it, I’m here.”

Clark sighed quietly. It probably was the best thing that had happened to him all day.

******
Clark was sprawled out on Lex’s floor, digging his toes into the thick rug. His shoes were under the couch, his socks under the coffee table. His pants were draped over the back of the couch; he figured his shirt must be back there somewhere too. He had his arms looped around Lex’s legs, listening to him describe a project he was excited about.

“Let me get this straight,” he giggled. “You didn’t know what to do with the mutants so you’re organizing a…a secret crime fighting society? What, like The Angel’s League?” he laughed, waving a Warrior Angel comic at Lex.

“Careful with that, and why not? The comic isn’t any weirder than real life—I have a guy who can walk through walls, I’m sleeping with a guy who can shot fire out of his eyes—he dodged a sock “--and you really aren’t much of a supportive boyfriend are you?” He realized what he said, and blushed a little and Clark smiled. Boyfriend?

Anyway, it’s a thought...I’ve got some people looking into property around Smallville, something private…I’m thinking of opening the plant again.” He looked at Clark. “I’m thinking of accepting an offer on LuthorCorp.”

“But won’t you need LuthorCorp to help fund the new project?”

I think I’ll be okay. Besides, if my plans work out, we’ll support ourselves. Sort of like—rent-a-cops to the world. WE can be the people who stand between decent folks and people like—like the Gallettis’. People like Jake.” Lex growled.

Clark stared at Lex. “Wow. You’ve given this a lot of thought, haven’t you? And…do I come in at some point in your plans?”

“I hope so. The kids will need a mentor, someone who’s been where a lot of them have. You’re uniquely qualified for the job, Clark.”

Clark nodded. What Lex was saying just underlined what he felt so strongly every day—that he was never ever going to be normal or average ever, that he’d never fit in completely anywhere…except Lex was making a place for him, wasn’t he. He stared at Lex, watched him working with complete concentration on something. Wondered what was going on in that mind of his. It was almost a little scary, what lengths Lex would go to for him.”

******

Clark carried a basket of wet laundry out to the clothesline. He stopped a few yards away and watched his mom talking to Kala. Kal was smiling up at her, and Clark had a memory of his mother talking to him like that, how beautiful he’d thought she was with her red, red hair, how soft her hands were on his cheek. His heart swelled, and he felt a measure of relief. No matter what happened to him, they had his sister. They had each other.

He dropped the basket at one end of the line, and handed his mom a sheet. She thanked him and pegged it on the line next to other damp sheets.

“Why you insist on doing this when we have a dryer…”

“It’s good for the clothes. And they smell better. And sometimes, it helps me think about—stuff. Things that bother me, or things that make me happy. It’s quiet out here, relaxing. And besides, Kala likes the sun.”

He had to agree—it felt good to have the sun touching him all over. He made faces at Kala, much to her delight. He was in the middle of imitating a monkey, and doing pretty good from the reaction he was getting when his mom made the smallest inquiring sound.

Crap. Clark braced himself. He knew it had been too good to be true, this not asking they were doing.

“Take down the dry sheets, will you son?” He breathed a sigh of relief, until she went on. How was it that he never remembered Mom was a master of the one-two-punch? “I have to ask Clark--” Clark grit his teeth and nodded his head, ready for—whatever.

“Why do you shower so much? It’s really…noticeable.”

Except for that. Clark looked at her, tilted his head. “Shower? Shower…” he did. Lex had never said anything about it but she was right…a little feeling of lightness stole over him. “Well…I never really thought about it, Mom.” He folded a sheet and dropped it into the empty basket. “It’s…well.” He shrugged. She wanted to know. “The worst smell, one of the worst smells is dirty humans. People.” He laughed, with no trace of humor in it. “It’s a smell that clings, crawls into your nose all thick and greasy and won’t let go, what you wear, whatever you touch. You can wash up at a sink and it’s never enough…You smell like dirt and industrial soap. I hated being dirty. When I could finally take a shower daily it was nice. It was more than nice—I got in the habit of showering a lot, a whole, whole lot when I was with--” he stopped, horrified. ‘Oh my god,’ he thought…he looked at his mom, bright red with shame. He’d not meant to say that much…she was looking at him with tear filled eyes, and he felt horribly guilty. Horribly guilty.

“Son, son, why didn’t you come home?” Her voice was so soft, so full of grief.

“I don’t know.” He couldn’t say more but that.

“But what you must have gone through—where did you go?”

He folded another sheet, carefully lining up the corners, like Jake taught him. ‘Where did you go’ not ‘what did you do’… “I—I lived with this guy—not like that,” he said when she started. “I worked in his store—he was a good guy, he treated me like his son…and I had my own place even, for a little bit, and friends…but something happened and I had to live somewhere else for a while, and then Lex—Lex kind of turned up and he helped me. I lived with him.” He smiled at his mom a little. “Actually, it was there I kind of went nuts on the showers. He can afford it.” He grabbed another sheet to fold.

His mom nodded, and Kala yelped, “Hungry, Ma!” and the spell was broken. They finished hanging the sheets, his mom carried Kala, and he carried the basket, followed them back to the house.

tbc

Tags:

sv: mariposa

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Posted by

xinsidemyskinx.livejournal.com

Ooo again another good chapter. Love that Jonathan isn't immediately accepting of Lex even in this universe, but that he's not openly hostile like Bo Kent in the original smallvillian universe.

Aww for Pete just bursting with Joy. **rolls eyes** Lana just never changes does she, still only perking up only when a question has something to do with her.

I like how you describe Clark need to shower, to feel clean. That stench of humans, part of me feels that its a result of his abuse as well. This feeling of always being dirty that alot of abuse victims go through.

Fantastic the way you're dealing with everyones emotions and not making it too easy for them to slide back into the norm... and oooo baby justice league in the making.

Hmmm its late i'm rambling, but great chapter babes, hope to read more soon.

**goes to sleep**

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fic post: Mariposa

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