Chapter Text
Chapter One
Clark automatically slapped the alarm clock, stretched, and soundlessly got out of the bed before he realized he didn't have to be soundless. His eyes widened as he searched for his errant partner. Sounds from the bathroom indicated his search was over. But he didn't like the sounds he was hearing.
"Lex?" He padded over to the bathroom and pushed open the door. Lex was just straightening from bending over the toilet. He pushed the lever and smiled weakly in Clark's direction.
"Now you know how I woke many mornings of my misspent youth." As naked as Clark, he went over to the sink and did a quick rinse and spit.
Clark wet a towel and wiped it across Lex's face, which was pale even for him. "Hey, you're not that worried about your presentation, are you?" Clark knew Lex had an important business deal in the works. Well, actually LuthorCorp had an important business deal, but Lex was completely in charge of it. Another one of Lionel's tests.
"It's not that; by the end of the day, Anderson Foods will be a subsidiary of LuthorCorp," Lex said confidently. "I think I picked up some bug when I was in Asia a couple of months ago, something with a long incubation period."
"I thought you didn't get sick," Clark accused worriedly.
"Even my immune system can't be expected to keep up with every germ, Clark. Besides, I was kind of exhausted at the beginning of the trip. Someone had worn me out the night before." Lex waggled his eyebrows to show he was teasing.
Clark blushed. "You were going to be gone for two whole weeks, Lex." For some reason unfathomable to both of them, Lionel had demanded Lex's company as he prowled for Asian acquisitions. "That was my whole Christmas Break! I’d pictured us playing ‘What’s In Santa’s Pocket’ or something for long hours on end."
Lex shot Clark an amused look. "‘What’s In Santa’s Pocket?’ Good thing for you my stomach is already empty, or you would see what I think of that in lurid technicolor."
"You know what I mean, Lex."
Lex relented and stopped his teasing. "Yes, I know. And I’m sorry for spoiling your Christmas plans. Dad…is Dad. But that night certainly made enough memories to get you through the holidays."
Clark ducked his head. "Yeah. Mom kept asking me why I had such a big grin on my face all the time. I told her I just really liked Christmas."
"And giving ‘unwrapped’ presents."
Clark wriggled as he remembered sinking into Lex without a condom. It’d felt like being encased in a hot, form-fitting, supple leather glove…
"Earth to Clark." He blinked. "Jesus, you better be glad your mom focused on your face and not somewhere else," Lex said and Clark felt fingers brush against his cock, which was pointing up against his belly.
"You felt so good, Lex. I wish--I wish you’d let me do it again."
Lex walked across the room and fell across the bed. "You shouldn’t break discipline on a regular basis."
Clark plopped down beside him. "For a wanton, hedonistic profligate, you’re awfully disciplined."
"Those tabloid reporters really need to get a life. Wearing a condom is just good sense, Clark. Especially when you’re with someone like me."
Clark sighed. "I understand. You've told me about business trips with your father before. He uses whatever he needs to to get what he wants--even his son."
Lex lifted his head, his eyes heartbreakingly blue in the dim light of the room. "I didn’t sleep my way through Asia."
Clark reached out and Lex flinched. Determined, Clark finished his movement and stroked Lex's cheek. "Lex, I wasn’t accusing you of anything. And even if--even if something had happened, I wouldn't blame you. I'd know it wouldn't have been your choice."
Lex gave a bitter laugh. "Because prostitutes don't have choices, right? We are subjected to the whims of our pimps."
"Lex."
The bald head gave a negative shake. "No, you're absolutely right, Clark. No matter how you pretty it up, a whore by any other name--"
"Stop it." Clark wrapped his arms around Lex. "Just stop it. You know I can't stand it when you give in to what people think about you."
"It's more than just rumor. I have slept with people on my father's orders. Hell, I've slept with people just to make Dad proud of my initiative. The things you can find out by fucking the right person…."
Clark kissed the back of the smooth head. "And what have you found out by fucking me?"
"That it turns me on as much as getting fucked by you." Lex gave a genuine laugh. "Go on and get out of here, Kent. You need to get home before the chickens wake your parents."
"Rooster, Lex. And don't worry, for some reason he only crows at 9 a.m. Dad thinks he's defective," Clark said as he dressed.
"And he hasn't become rooster stew yet?"
"Mom feels sorry for him. She says the rooster has the right to be who he wants to be."
Lex smiled. "I think I could love your mother."
Clark zipped his jeans and looked intently at Lex. "I think, if given the chance, she could love you, too."
"And your father?"
Clark couldn't lie. "Stranger things have happened. After all, this is Smallville."
They both laughed. "I'll call you if I can't get away and make it back home tonight," Lex said.
Clark nodded. He thought Lex still looked too pale. And his pupils had contracted, signaling a headache. "Why don't you go back to sleep? The alarm is set."
Lex shook his head. "I was getting up at five anyway."
"You driving yourself?"
"The limo."
Clark was relieved. "Maybe you can catch a nap on the way."
Lex's eyes widened. "I look that bad?"
"Just a little tired," Clark hedged.
"Damn, just what I need today."
"It's not that noticeable."
"Trust me--Dad will notice." Lex disappeared into his closet, then returned to the room with a wooden box. He opened it and took out a stash of tiny bottles and jars.
"What’s that?" Clark asked curiously.
"A little of this, a little of that. A collection I gathered back in the days when I overindulged the night before something important. Eye drops, concealer, caffeine pills. A few 'specialty items' courtesy of Toby…."
"Can't you just say, 'I'm sick today, Dad'?"
Pale eyes regarded him with sadness. "No, Clark, I can't."
Clark reached out and traced one of the smudges marring the beautiful face. "I hate your father."
Lex snorted humorlessly. "Join the legions."
"That doesn't mean I hate you."
"Congratulations. You're firmly back in the minority." Lex picked up a magnifying mirror from the box. "You're right; I look like Casper on crack."
Clark didn't want to laugh but it was impossible. "You're warped, Lex."
"Part of my charm. Scurry along home, Clark. One parent after my ass today is all I can handle."
A brief kiss. "Don't push yourself too hard, okay? If you're getting sick…"
"I'll be fine. After the meeting I'll come back here, take a nap, and be good as new. I'm virtually unbreakable, you know."
"Tell it to someone who didn't fish you out of the bottom of a river."
Blue eyes bordering on gray stared at Clark solemnly. "Don't spend your day worrying about me. If I still feel out of sorts later, I'll see the doctor. That's a promise."
Clark nodded, reassured that Lex was taking his illness seriously. He was used to his friends and family getting colds and stuff, but Lex had always been completely healthy--apart from the various injuries he'd suffered since his arrival in Smallville. "Call me tonight if you don't want me to come over."
Lex smiled. "Not going to happen. Have a good day at school, okay?"
Clark grabbed one more kiss before leaving the mansion. Once he passed the range of the gate's security cameras, he increased his speed and made it home in less than a minute.
By the time his mom came to wake him, he'd been in bed long enough to look properly sleepy.
*****
Lex leaned back against the pillowed leather of the limo and tried not to worry. It wasn't like any of this was unexpected. He'd been waiting fourteen years, and in a way it was kind of a relief. The waiting was over; the real damage from the meteors was about to become known. From the moment he'd regained his senses after the "shower", he'd known the meteors were not through with him. He'd "felt" it, and subsequent research of the effects of radiation exposure had confirmed it. "It" was the reason why the true horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki wasn't known until many years later and why a generation of actors, who'd filmed westerns in the southwestern desert, had all died of cancer. It was sort of like microwave cooking--working from the inside out.
And it was the reason why he and his father had been so meticulous about his medical check-ups. Had Lionel considered, as he had, that maybe Smallville wasn't the most healthful place for him to be? Or maybe his father had held the same hope that he had--that maybe a second exposure would negate the first, like the first had wiped away his asthma.
Or maybe that was the real reason why Lionel had tried so desperately to get him out of Smallville.
Damn. That was a disturbing thought, wasn't it? That Lionel's ulterior motives weren't as ulterior as he thought they were? Next thing he knew he'd be convincing himself that Lionel loved him not just as the heir to the Luthor legacy but as Lex, his son.
So the cancer had already migrated to his brain, right?
Cancer. He thought about Pamela. Now, that was a way to die with dignity. She'd come, made peace with him, then just faded away. And he'd been the only one there to mourn her.
One more than he could count on.
He shook his head and reached for a bottle of water from the refrigerator. No, he was pretty sure Clark would mourn him. His illness was going to devastate the boy. He already harbored an unnatural guilt about the meteors anyway. And Clark had been so damned worried about him when he found him puking his guts out earlier. If he knew about the other bouts of nausea, the periods of weakness, the lethargy that had him falling asleep at his desk in the afternoons…. It was leukemia, or possibly some exotic, orphan cancer never observed before. Maybe it would be named after him, and Lionel could hold fundraisers for the research. His dad would like that. Would make a decent tax break.
And in the end--in the end he'd become the spokesperson for cancer research. Because he had no intention of succumbing to anything other than old age, and he wasn't too sure about that. He not only had money, but access to the most sophisticated labs and the world's top scientists. If a cure couldn't be found, then he'd just have to settle for a delay tactic, and no, he didn't mean he was going to turn himself into a human popsicle. He was a survivor. A damn good one.
He drained the blue bottle and tossed it in the receptacle. Even if he had to resort to standard treatment, he'd still survive. At least he didn't have to worry about propecia.
Snickering at his wayward thoughts, he picked up one of the folders from his attaché and flipped it open. Worrying was useless until the exact nature of his ailment was diagnosed. Until then, he might as well concentrate on business.
*****
Clark made it all the way to his second period math class before he allowed his worry to come out of the back corner of his brain where he'd hidden it from his mother. Hiding things from his mother was a skill he'd only become adept at in the past year or so. And he really wasn't that proud of it. If only his parents could give Lex a chance, then he wouldn't have to live a double--no, triple life of lies and deceits. He was one thing to his parents, another to Lex, and still another to the rest of the world. And he understood why it had to be like that--except for Lex. If it wasn't for the likelihood his father would just drop dead if Jonathan found out, he'd tell Lex everything. Lex would understand, and Lex would keep the secret because Lex…loved him.
Of course, he wasn't sure if Lex knew that. Lex liked to live under the delusion that he was destined to be a clone of Lionel Luthor--unlovable and unloving. It was a lie, but it seemed to help Lex get through the day so he figured he'd let go for the moment. After all, what was one more lie in their relationship?
Clark snorted. Who would have thunk it? Lex Luthor and Clark Kent. The Bad Boy Billionaire and the Innocent Farm Boy. Sounded like the plot of a video sold in the very back room of Williams' Emporium of Exotic Literature and Film, or as it was locally called--Uncle Billy's House of Kink. And how did the innocent farm boy know this? Because the bad boy billionaire had made certain internet purchases from Uncle Billy's website--under an assumed name, of course.
"Mr. Kent, would you like to go to the board and do problem six?"
Clark wondered what Mr. Wyman would do if he said no. Of course, that was what the teacher wanted. He always chose Clark to do a problem when Clark's attention wandered. Sadist. But instead of giving the man a reason to send him to see the principal, Clark went to the board and solved the problem in less than a minute. The class clapped. Mr. Wyman frowned. And Clark refused to admit that he borrowed Lex's smirk as he took his seat.
*****
"You could have gotten a better deal."
Lex sighed as he and his father walked side by side toward the exit of the building. "By letting Anderson know that I know about his mistress?"
"You know?"
"Of course I know. You're the one who taught me to know everything about an opponent before facing him."
"Then why didn't you use the information for a better deal?"
"Because I was satisfied with the deal as it was, and in the end LuthorCorp will reap more benefits from it than the few million we would have initially saved."
"Enlighten me."
Sure. Have a couple hundred of years? Lex fought not to roll his eyes. "We wanted Anderson's Foods because it's a leader in baby food products. Why is it a leader in baby food products? Because of the longstanding integrity of the company. If Anderson is exposed, and I guarantee someone somewhere would have investigated if Anderson had sold for a lower bid, then the integrity of the company would have suffered and therefore LuthorCorp would have had to spend millions trying to rebuild a market that was already in place."
"And letting Anderson remain as company president?"
"Same deal. If he gets out of line, then we spring the knowledge of his mistress on him."
Lionel laughed. "You are a constant source of wonder, son."
The linoleum of the hallway seemed to shimmer beneath Lex's feet, and it took him a belated second to answer. "Glad I'm of some use, Dad."
"You'd be of better use if you returned to Metropolis permanently."
"Have you heard the phrase, 'this town isn't big enough for the two of us'?'" Lex frowned as the world around him quivered. What the hell?
"Nonsense! We're both Luthors. I know you consider LexCorp a separate entity, but, honestly, son, we both know it's going to end up being a subsidiary of--Lex!"
Lex heard his father's shout, but couldn't stop the world from closing up around him and turning dark.