Title - A Hero In The Making
Author - Karen Colohan
Feedback email - kcolohan@sidsplace.win-uk.net
Pairing - Clark/Lex
Rating - PG-13
Disclaimer - Not mine, I couldn't afford the motor and household insurance bills. I promise I'll scrub them down and give them back to DC comics, the WB and anyone else who does own a slice of them when I'm done with them.
Summary - Clark takes another step towards becoming Superman.
Author's notes - This was written for the ClexFest Wave Ten. My prompt was campus crime. With thanks as always to Barbara for beta duties.
Breakfast at the penthouse and Lex was sitting at the table eating lightly buttered toast while he read the morning paper. Across the room, Clark sat on the couch, belatedly studying his notes for his first class of the morning. He'd meant to read through them the previous evening, but Lex had distracted him with an advance copy of a DVD he'd been waiting to see followed by a pleasantly energetic early night.
The comfortable silence was broken by Lex's voice. "This is an interesting article, Clark. You ought to read it."
Clark looked up from the pages spread on the coffee table in front of him to find Lex watching him over the top of the latest issue of the Daily Planet. Whatever it was that had caught Lex's eye hadn't made front page news, but there was something about Lex's tone that made Clark sit up and take notice.
"Yeah? What's it about?" he asked.
"Campus crime," Lex stated. "Specifically, relating to Met U. Apparently the latest statistics show an unprecedented drop in incidents there over the past year which is completely opposite to the trend nationwide. Isn't it reassuring to know that you attend the safest college in the country, Clark?"
Lex's words were deceptively bland and Clark felt a prickle of unease run down his spine. He knew why the crime figures at Met U were down this year, but Lex wasn't supposed to know about his extracurricular activities. Clark still hadn't found the right moment to tell Lex his secrets, though he'd come close more than once. But every time he'd gone to say the words, Clark had remembered how knowing the truth had changed his friendship with Pete and he hadn't wanted to take the chance of Lex not handling it well.
Lex wasn't stupid, though, and he was well acquainted with Clark's habit of being in the right place to save people. Added to that, now that Clark practically lived at the penthouse, he constantly had to remember not to use his powers the way he'd always been able to do at home. Maybe he hadn't been as careful as he thought.
Clearing his throat, Clark realised that Lex was still watching him, clearly expecting some kind of response.
"Lucky me," he said finally with a strained smile. "I guess they got better security in or something," he added lamely.
Glancing back down at the paper, Lex began to read out loud. "Sources within Metropolis PD state that, reportedly, a significant number of attempted robberies and sexual attacks on campus have been prevented by the intervention of person or persons unknown. Additionally, the department has seen a considerable rise in anonymous tip-offs regarding dealings in drugs and stolen property. The accuracy of the information provided has led to an increase in arrests and subsequent successful prosecutions.
"All this would seem to be good news for Metropolis' student population. Here at the Daily Planet we intend to find out the truth behind these statistics. Does Metropolis University have its own guardian angel, or is there something more sinister here? Could there be a previously unknown vigilante group working outside the law for its own ends?"
Lex looked up again, his eyes finding Clark's unerringly. "There's more, but those are the salient points."
"If crime is down, isn't that a good thing?" Clark asked. "I mean, if you could stop someone getting hurt, wouldn't you do whatever you could to help?"
After a moment's pause, Lex set the paper aside. Resting his elbows on the table, he steepled his hands in front of his face. He seemed to be thinking. Eventually, he drew in a deep breath before speaking again.
"When I moved to Smallville I became quite familiar with the unexpected happening. I had my fair share of brushes with meteor mutants and the like and I was also the beneficiary of a number of well timed but unexplained rescues. I wasn't alone in that, I know.
"Now it seems that Metropolis is having its share of similar good fortune - at least, Met U is - and, now that I come to think of it, I don't recall hearing of any unusual happenings in Smallville lately. Don't you think that's a little strange, Clark?"
Lex's gaze felt heavy as it rested on Clark. Clark managed what he hoped was a casual shrug of his shoulders.
"It could just be coincidence," he said.
"Perhaps," Lex conceded, "but I've never really believed in coincidences."
Again Clark felt a flare of unease as Lex got up from behind his desk and walked across to take a seat next to Clark on the couch.
"Do you have a better explanation?" Clark asked, his throat suddenly feeling very dry.
Lex reached out, catching hold of one of Clark's hands and turning it so the palm was uppermost.
"I have a theory," Lex said slowly. He began to trace the lines on Clark's hand, his fingernail ghosting over the perfectly smooth skin. "But I don't have any definite proof."
"A theory?" Clark swallowed hard, his eyes never leaving Lex's face.
"Tell me, is there any reason you're not flinching yet?" Lex asked conversationally, his gaze meeting Clark's steadily.
"What?" Clark frowned at the apparent non sequitur.
"Well, if I dug my nail this hard into anyone else's skin I'd have drawn blood by now," Lex said, his expression still eerily calm. "But you're not like anyone else are you, Clark? With you, I'd break my nail, probably my finger too, long before I broke the surface of your skin, wouldn't I?"
Startled, Clark looked down. Lex's wrist was trembling slightly from the pressure he was exerting, trying to dig his nail into Clark's upturned palm. Clark realised that he'd been concentrating so hard, watching Lex's face and trying to read what he was thinking, that he hadn't even noticed when the stroking had turned to something more vicious.
Suddenly terrified by the implications of Lex's actions, Clark jerked his hand away. He wanted to get up and just run, to be anywhere but here. Curbing the impulse, he retreated into the corner of the couch and waited, staring at Lex warily.
The silence dragged, but finally Lex broke it, his voice oddly sad. "I've known that you were - different for a long time, Clark. I knew back in Smallville and I just kept hoping that the day would come when you'd trust me enough to tell me."
"Lex..." Clark looked at him miserably. "I wanted to, but..."
"But your dad cautioned you against trusting anyone whose last name was Luthor," Lex interrupted flatly. Even after all this time he and Jonathan had an uneasy relationship at best.
"My dad cautioned me against telling anyone," Clark said with an edge of bitterness. "I know he was only worried for my safety, but it meant I was always having to push people away. It screwed up so many of my relationships."
"You didn't push me away," Lex said, his voice soft.
"Not for want of trying," Clark said sadly. "God, I treated you so badly... I hated lying to you, Lex, but somehow you always seemed to forgive me. For what it's worth, I really am sorry. I know how much it hurt you."
Lex gave a wry smile. "I wasn't entirely blameless, Clark. I kept investigating you even when I told you I'd stopped and we know how that turned out. In the end, though, I decided that I needed you more than I needed to know your secrets. Which isn't to say that I stopped noticing things like your amazing disappearing acts and the way bullets just bounced right off you. For all the lying, you really weren't as careful as you should have been."
"So, if you've known all this time, what was all this about?" Clark frowned and made a gesture encompassing the newspaper and his unmarked palm.
"Clark, don't you get it?" Lex sat forward, his face concerned. "This isn't Chloe reporting some weird happening in the Torch. This is the Daily Planet reporting recorded statistics and starting an investigation into your crime fighting activities. And don't tell me that you haven't had anything to do with what's been happening because I won't believe you."
"I could hear them," Clark whispered as Lex took his hand again, reassuring this time. "I could hear them begging for help and I couldn't just listen and not do anything. What's the point of my - powers if I don't use them to help people?"
Lex smiled. "Always the hero, Clark, but you have to think of yourself too. Your dad was right about keeping your secrets hidden. There are always going to be people out there who would want to exploit your abilities for their own ends. I'm not saying you shouldn't use them to help when you can, but you're going to have to be a lot more careful. After this article, more eyes then ever will be watching what happens at Met U."
Clark looked unhappy. "So, what do I do?"
"You need an alter ego, Clark, a way of disguising your real identity," Lex said firmly.
"What?" Clark's brow creased in confusion.
"Let me show you." Quickly, Lex got up and moved back to his desk. He opened one of the drawers, pulling something out that he brought back and handed to Clark. “Here, look at this."
Clark took the carefully folded newspaper from Lex. It was a copy of the Gotham Herald. Lex reached over, tapping the article he wanted Clark to read.
When he finished, Clark looked up at Lex in disbelief. "You can't be serious..."
Bending down, Lex pressed a kiss to Clark's lips. "I want you to be able to help people, Clark, but I also want you to be safe from any possible repercussions. So, Gotham has Batman and now I think it's time for Metropolis to have its own caped crusader."
"You are serious," Clark said slowly, his eyes following Lex as he dropped back onto the couch again.
"I happen to have a vested interest in keeping your ass from landing in trouble, Clark. In case you hadn't noticed, I like having you around. Besides, I think you'd look good in a tight black body-suit." Lex let his gaze trail suggestively over Clark, pausing briefly at his crotch.
Clark flushed. "No way, Lex! I am not going out in something like that."
"Well, you can't keep fighting crime in plaid flannel," Lex insisted.
"Why not?" Clark protested.
Lex sighed. "Your new outfit is supposed to disguise you. So it has to be something you wouldn't normally wear. And Clark Kent is well known for his farm boy chic."
"I guess you're right." Clark reached out, sliding an arm round Lex and pulling him closer. "Thank you," he added in a softer voice.
"For what?" Lex asked, tilting his head.
"For taking all of this so well and for not being angry with me about lying to you for so long." Clark rubbed his cheek against the smooth skin of Lex's scalp. "I will tell you everything, you know. I don't want there to be any more secrets between us."
"I told you, Clark, you're more important to me than your secrets. You don't need to tell me anything until you're ready to," Lex said. "Now, focus. We still need to work out what you're going to wear." He paused, his forehead creasing in thought. "Hm, how would you feel about purple - with wings?"
Clark shook his head, laughing. "Lex! I am definitely not dressing up as Warrior Angel."
"You're impossible to please." Lex leaned away from him, eyeing Clark's blue jeans and red shirt. He caught hold of the hem of the shirt, rubbing the well-worn flannel between his fingertips. "Plaid is out, but how do you feel about primary colours?"
The End