Think Fast
Clark really didn't like Miami Beach. The idea of just laying out on the sand like that, oiled like his mother's Christmas turkey, held no appeal. Sure, part of it might have been because he felt ridiculously overdressed; flannel and blue jeans weren't anyone's idea of typical beachwear. Well, maybe in Canada, he thought. But the tanned, bikini clad girls made him nervous, as well. They looked at him so oddly. He wasn't sure if it was interest or disdain. He felt completely out of his element.
There were plenty of guys checking him out, too. Not that he was going to do anything about that. It made him uncomfortable as well, in almost the opposite way as the girls. He was supposed to want the girls; they were practically put on display for red-blood young men like him. But it was the strong looking, sun streaked surfer guys who caught his attention. They were nothing like the guys back home, and Clark couldn't help turning his head.
Of course Bart clued in pretty fast, once he'd torn his attention away from Brandy or Mandy or whatever the co-ed he was flirting with was named. He always aimed higher than his reach, which Clark had to admit was admirable in a skeevy sort of way. The kid could probably teach him a little something about confidence. He had made an attempt. "Nobody knows you're a dork here, Clark. You can be anybody."
"I'm not so sure about that. Lois says 'You can take the boy out of Smallville, but you can't take Smallville out of the boy.'"
Bart snorted. "Whoever this Lois is, she hasn't really seen you. It doesn't look like you've been a 'boy' in years."
Clark had to laugh at that. Lois had seen a lot more of him than pretty much anyone else. Still, her assessment of him had been the same as everyone else's, once his personality came into play.
"People see what they expect to see, I guess." Clark shrugged, and tossed the driftwood he had picked up out into the water. A little too far, judging by the surprised looks people gave him.
"Nice throw, man," Clark heard someone say. A guy in low-slung shorts, he reminded Clark a lot of Whitney. He gave Clark an appraising look. "You're not from around here. I'd definitely have noticed you. Want me to show you around?"
The truth was, yeah, he kind of would, but not with Bart around. Where was the kid anyway? Clark looked around for him, but he had disappeared. "Thanks, but no. I've got to go. Sorry." he told the guy. He needed to get back home, anyway.
Bart was on the outskirts of Atlanta by the time Clark caught up with him moments later. "Why'd you run off like that?"
"I didn't want to cramp your style," he told Clark. "It didn't seem like you were all that into the babes, and when that guy started eyeing you, wellŠ"
Clark changed the subject. "We should be getting back. I promised my mom I'd stop by the Talon before I --" Bart beat him there by seconds, and was scarfing one of her chocolate chip cookies before Clark could stop him.
Sure, Clark would love to be as carefree as Bart. The kid was lucky, he was having fun with his ability in a way Clark wished he had the guys to do. It was only when he had the red Kryptonite ring on that Clark felt similarly free. And even then, the hint of wrongness underneath was an ever-present threat.
Bart's presence in Smallville was still a little bit of a shock. More specifically, that Bart (or whatever his real name was) had no connection to the meteor shower. It wasn't Clark's fault that he was like this. And even if it had been, Clark bet Bart wouldn't have blamed him. Somehow, it made Clark feel a lot less alone in the world, even if he was still the only alien. There was somebody else who got it. He hadn't felt that way since Ryan had died.
Bart and Ryan had a lot in common, Clark thought, watching Bart make himself at home among the crowd at the Talon. He remembered Ryan doing the same thing, fitting in so well they'd thrown him a party. They'd both been involved with the seedier element (though Bart seemed to have more enjoyment in his petty crimes), and they'd also both gone for Clark's one time girlfriends. He had to admit, both kids had good taste. Thankfully, so did Chloe, who Clark was sure had shot Bart down tactfully. He couldn't imagine Chloe going out with someone more naturally caffeinated than her.
He didn't have time to worry about Bart for long. Lex was looking for him, his mom said. Clark slipped out of the coffeehouse, hoping Bart wouldn't be too much of a jerk to Chloe. She could handle herself just fine, though. Clark had learned that first hand.
"Clark, come look at this!" Lex's excitement over his new historical acquisition was contagious. It was so nice to just hang out with his friend. It gave Clark hope that they could go back to the relationship they'd had before. They were both walking on eggshells with each other, trying to get back to normal, but not quite there yet.
But when Lex pointed out the Kryptonian symbols embedded in the border, it was like he'd thrown cold water on Clark. Clark tried to act enthusiastic as Lex went on about how good it would be to work together. A quick x-ray and Clark knew it was even worse than he thought. He had to get the text away from Lex before Lex figured it all out. He was relieved when Lex said he had a meeting to go to, and regretfully shooed Clark away.
"Š and Keanu is just so cool," Bart finished. He wanted Clark to go to the movies with him, in Hollywood, no less. It did sound fun, but there was just no way. Not when he had so much to worry about.
"I'm sorry, Bart, but I can't right now. I've got something I've got to do. It's personal." Clark apologized to his new young friend.
Lex was too close to finding out the whole truth about Clark. For all their talk about researching together, Clark knew that could be very bad news. He had to figure out how to get Lex off the trail, without making him even more suspicious.
Of course his parents hated his idea of just slipping into the mansion and taking the thing, until he could figure out how he and Lex could safely work with it. Not that it was going to shoot rays at either of them - he hoped - but they were both better off with it out of Lex's hands. Convincing Bart that he really couldn't go with Clark this time, he sped off for Lex's.
He was just getting another look at the illuminated text when he felt the whoosh of air, followed by the clamor of alarms going off. He looked around, but Bart was already long gone, probably laughing about his great score. And after he'd been so nice to the little creep.
"Clark? What the hell are you doing here?" Clark shrugged, but Lex went on before he could come up with an answer. "Would you like to explain what happened here?"
"I just came along to say hello. Next thing I know, all these lights are going off." Clark tried to put his best clueless face on, but he didn't feel very convincing.
"It's a little late for a social call Clark. Are you sure you didn't see anyone else when you came in?" Lex sounded suspicious, for good reason.
"No, I didn't see anyone." The words were out of Clark's mouth before he could stop himself. Not only did he have super-speed, he had super-stupidity. Why didn't he just tell Lex the truth, or at least as much as he could? Tell him about Bart. It's not like the kid's sticky fingers were Clark's fault. Except of course, that in this case, they were. He'd never have gone to Lex's place if it weren't for Clark's stupid idea.
"I believe you. I know a real friend would never lie to me." No he didn't. Clark knew that. But did Lex think Clark wasn't a real friend anymore, or did he understand that Clark had to lie.
Even as Clark wondered, he knew it was just as much of a falsehood. He'd been fast and loose with the untruths, just because it had grown easier. His parents were dead wrong. Clark wasn't growing into a good person. He was getting to be as bad as they once thought Lex was.
He had to fix this, but how? Clark thought fast, and acted faster; a quick glance around to see that they were alone, and Clark launched himself at Lex, pulling his suit jacket towards him, and kissing him. Lex kissed him back for a long moment, then pushed him away. "What the hell?"
"I'm sorry Lex, I just couldn't wait any more. Now that we're back to being friends, I had to tell you. Had to be honest for once." Clark prayed he hadn't just ruined everything.
To tell Lex how he felt, how he'd always wanted him was something he'd planned out in his head, and even scribbled in the back of notebooks, making sure to camouflage it with doodles of his name with Lana, or rip it up after so nobody would see.
"Jesus, Clark. I'm not mad. But your timing leaves a lot to be desired." Lex probably was mad, Clark knew. But hopefully he was distracted from the real reason.
"I better go and let you take care of things" Maybe Clark could slip out before Lex thought about it, and really confronted him.
"I'll let you in on a secret, I'm not that worried." Lex explained to Clark. He had no doubts that the art piece would be found and returned to him. The thief 'couldn't run far enough to escape Lex Luthor.' A chill ran up Clark's spine when Lex said that. It was like a tangible representation of the dark side Lex claimed not to be able to do away with completely. Uneasy, Clark excused himself.
It hardly took any time at all for things to come to a head. Bart's fence was ridiculously easy to find. Unfortunately, the thugs had already hurt both Bart and Lex by the time Clark got there. "Lex got some good kicks in," Bart told him. He looked sorry for all the trouble, but Clark was still pissed. He was even more worried about Lex, who surely couldn't afford another head injury. Clark waited til the ambulance came, then slipped away.
He was relieved to see Lex looking relatively good, when Clark stopped at the mansion next. A few bruises around the eye, some scrapes, but it could have been so much worse.
He was both relieved and scared when Lex pointed out the return of the stolen paper. Lex seemed eager to get on with their research, so Clark did his best to distact him. "Come on Lex, we can work on it later. You're not up to such heavy thinking right now. Didn't you say you had a headache?"
"I shouldn't have played cowboy, I guess. But it ended up okay."
"Well, why don't we go up to your bedroom, and you can show me your spurs. This'll all still be there later." There was a flare of interest in Lex's eyes, like the thought gave him an extra burst of energy. He stepped out around his desk, and took Clark's hand, leading him up the stairs.
"I don't think I'm up for the spurs and saddle tonight, Clark. But definitely something a little more pedestrian." They were kissing, and Lex had his shirt unbuttoned by the time they got into the bedroom. Clark tried to undo his own buttons, but Lex grabbed his hands. "Let me."
Clark did. He would let Lex do anything he wanted, as long as it kept them out of Lex's office. "Anything, Lex. Anything you want."
As it turned out, Lex hadn't been lying. His head hurt for good reason. Clark could see the small fissure caused by the concussion. Clark did his best to gently relieve Lex's pain, or at least give him pleasure to distract him from it.
Lex was obviously appreciative when Clark pulled him close, and began stroking his growing erection. And yes, it felt good to Clark as well. But despite Lex's enjoyment, Clark just felt wrong when Lex began to reciprocate.
It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Clark wasn't supposed to be feeling such overwhelming guilt, like he'd tainted what should have been one of the best experiences of his life, something he'd been anticipating since that day at the riverbank, even if he didn't quite understand it back then.
The first time he and Lex were together should have been the culmination of years of wanting each other, but being too afraid to say so in words. Lex's sexy slinking, and Clark's admiration was one day going to lead to the big event. Clark had it all planned out. How he would convince Lex that yes, he could have everything he wanted, especially if what Lex wanted was Clark.
There was a while when Clark didn't think it was ever going to happen. Finding out about the room full of evidence Lex kept on him had been a blow. Far from finding the obsessive interest flattering, Clark just felt eviscerated. It was like his father's every fear coming true.
Lex didn't want him. He wanted to own him. To carve him up and lay him out on paper. Another mystery solved. And no amount of Lex's assurances that it was "all about me, Clark, not you" made Clark feel better. He'd been betrayed.
What made it worse was how much he had missed Lex. He wished he could have had his friend's advice when dealing with Jor El, for instance. Nobody knew as much about unpleasant parental issues as Lex. Of course that could never happen, because Clark was never going to tell Lex about that part of his life.
Lex's offering of Clark's file, and the tour of the newly emptied evidence room had done a lot to reassure Clark that Lex's intentions were good. He should have known Lex wouldn't stop his search entirely, though. Now it was up to Clark to lie. Keeping Lex off the correct trail was going to be hard, but Clark didn't have any choice. He would give Lex his body, in place of his secrets. It was the only thing he could do to protect himself.
The question was, why did it make him feel so dirty?