Title: Fool Me Twice
Author: Orithain
Email: orithain67@sympatico.ca
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Not mine or they'd be a lot happier.
Website: http://www.angelfire.com/de3/infinitum
AN: Beta by Henry Jones Jr. and Rina
Summary: Lex faces facts.
Clexfest Wave VI
October 2003

FOOL ME TWICE

Lex Luthor, CEO of the company _Fortune_ magazine named the fastest growing in North America, stared at the pictures, and all he could think of was the old cliche, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." He wondered what being willfully fooled countless times for several years made him. Clark Kent had been his friend since the day he'd saved Lex's life, and despite the glaring holes in the stories Clark told, Lex had closed his eyes--figuratively at least--and accepted his friend at face value.

Clark's value had just enjoyed a meteoric rise, however. Lex remained motionless in the expensive leather executive chair that had been custom-made to give him the perfect ergonomic support, his eyes fixed on the full page color spread in the _Daily Planet_ on Earth's newest superhero, Superman.

Lex closed his eyes, shuddering.

Was the garish costume, the slicked back hair and the single curl hanging down over Superman's forehead supposed to be a disguise? Lex looked at the pictures and couldn't understand why there wasn't a caption saying "Clark Kent" beneath them. He could no more not have recognized him than he could fly--and unlike Clark, _he_ couldn't fly.

The door to his office opened unannounced, letting him know that it could only be Clark. His assistant Hayley was the only other person who could get through that door without being announced, and she always knocked first.

"Hello, Clark."

"Hi, Lex!" The college freshman breezed in, perching on the corner of the desk as he always did, the wide smile that hadn't dimmed even as he grew up lighting his face. He frowned when Lex didn't look up, and he followed his friend's gaze, stiffening when he saw the newspaper article.

"Oh, you've seen that. Pretty wild, huh? Sounds more like a story for the _Inquirer_ than the _Planet_, don't you think?"

Lex slowly raised frigid grey eyes. "Oh, I don't know. It seems fairly accurate to me. Anything you'd like to tell me, Clark?"

Clark laughed nervously. "What do you mean?" he started, only to trail off uncomfortably under the distant gaze.

"Please don't lie to me anymore," Lex said calmly, his smooth tone at odds with the turbulence visible in his eyes. "I'm afraid my willful blindness just collided rather fatally with reality." He gestured toward the paper. "At least now I know why you suddenly needed glasses a couple months ago."

"Lex..."

"Don't!" Lex's tone was sharp, as sharp as the edges of the cast steel tables scattered around his office. "Just don't." He stared down at the newspaper, his shoulders slumping before he straightened to rigidity. "I think you should leave."

"Lex!"

"Now."

Clark stood up, his green eyes staring at Lex, who never looked up. He took a step toward the door, then stopped and whirled around again, a splash of denim blue and vibrant red against the grey and purple tones of the office. "No! Damnit, Lex, no. Not this time. I'm not running away and neither are you!

"I'm not the only one who's been lying. Why have you never told me how you felt, why have we been dancing around it for the last four years? Your eyes tell me the truth, but you never do!"

Lex's head shot up and he glared at the other man. "_I_ never tell the truth? Who's the one flying around Metropolis, _Superman_?!"

He lunged out of his chair, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides as he glared at Clark. "I really don't think you have any room to talk about anyone else's honesty."

"I kept quiet about my origins because (A) I didn't know myself until shortly after I met you! And (B) it's not exactly easy to find the right way to say, 'oh hey, by the way, I'm an alien from the other side of the galaxy. And you know those meteorites that cause mutations and turn most people into homicidal maniacs? Well, they came with me. That's what's left of my home planet!'" He met Lex glare for glare.

"But I never denied what I feel for you. You're the one who avoided any opening, blocked any chance. And don't tell me you don't want me as much as I want you!"

"I was trying to protect you!" Lex yelled back, practically into Clark's face as they moved closer during their argument, each unconsciously trying to dominate the other. "Small town Kansas is not exactly a gay man's dream locale!"

"Did I give a shit? I wouldn't have cared if you'd ever given me the slightest encouragement without immediately retreating half a mile."

"And when exactly did you want to become known to the world as Lex Luthor's boy-toy? When you were in high school and I would have gone to jail, assuming your parents left enough of me to send to jail? Or maybe now when you're a college freshman and trying to fit in. That ought to be a fantastic way to strike up conversations at mixers!"

"Fuck you, Lex! You didn't do this for me; you did it for you. You were too scared to let anyone in!"

"I let you in and you lied to me!"

"You let me in just so far and then bang! Solid steel door slammed in my face. Do not enter. I love you, you stupid ass!"

"I was trying to give you time to have a normal life! I love you too much to take it over when you're this young!" Lex yelled back. Then, his eyes widened as Clark's last words registered. "You... love me?"

"What the heck do you think the last four years have been about? Of course I love you. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about that," he gestured toward the newspaper article, "but my parents have drummed into my head since I was three years old that I can't let anyone know I'm different. Besides, I knew you already knew most of it. You're not blind."

"Only willfully so," Lex murmured, still dazed. "But you still lied to me!"

Clark let out a snarl of frustration, grabbed hold of lavender-silk-covered biceps, and yanked Lex into a kiss that held three years worth of tamped down sexual frustration.

If Lex had an iota of pride, he should have shoved Clark away, but this was Clark, the person he'd lusted after and loved for years, and all he could do was groan his approval and open his mouth to the kiss. As Clark felt his response, the bruising grip on his arms loosened, one hand going up to cup the back of his skull and the other falling to his ass to pull him into the cradle of Clark's hips.

Clark knew they should talk, but he was afraid that if he let Lex think, he'd withdraw behind his walls again and they'd never have another chance. He wasn't going to lose Lex, and if he had to seduce him, so be it. Surely one horny teenaged alien with internet access was up to the challenge.

Inhumanly rapid hands stripped them both of their clothes before Lex could blink, and then Clark was on his knees in front of Lex, sucking him. It was the first time he'd ever had a cock in his mouth, the first time other than pictures on the net that he'd even seen an erection other than his own, but the sounds Lex was making told him that he wasn't doing too badly. He loved the sensation of Lex's cock in his mouth, the weight on his tongue, the taste that was uniquely Lex, and he never wanted to stop, but this wasn't all he wanted. He finally pulled back, letting Lex fall free with a faint pop, and pulled the other man down on top of him as he shifted onto his back.

"Fuck me, Lex. I want you in me."

Lex's eyes shot open again, staring at Clark. "But..."

"You can't hurt me, and I want you." Clark spread his legs, wrapping them around Lex's waist so Lex's cock settled into the valley between his cheeks, and he rocked against him, moaning harshly at the amazing sensations. "Please!"

Lex was only human, and with the object of his lust naked and squirming beneath him, begging to be fucked, nothing could have stopped him. He grabbed hold of his cock, gasping at the touch of his own hand, and positioned himself at tight opening, then pressed forward. Both of them groaned at the incredible tightness, Clark's saliva their only lubricant, but Clark's body slowly yielded to the welcome invader.

"Fuck yes." Neither of them knew who had groaned it, but both heartily agreed with the sentiment. They started to move, at first jerkily as they tried to find a rhythm that worked for them, then more smoothly, Lex's balls slapping against Clark's ass.

Lex stared down, still unable to believe this was happening, that he and Clark were _fucking_, but the green eyes gazing back at him were very real. He groaned and lowered his head to kiss Clark again, tongue delving into his mouth. Clark's fingers stroked over his scalp, and Lex shivered. He reached between them, curling his fingers around Clark's erection, pumping him, wanting to feel him come while Lex was buried in him, possessing him.

After years of foreplay it didn't take long, both of them panting heavily as the pleasure mounted, their bodies tightened, and first one then the other cried out as they came. Lex slumped over Clark, lazily kissing him as his breathing returned to normal.

Clark stroked Lex's back, holding him close, waiting for the moment that Lex would pull away and the walls would slam back up.

"So now what?" Lex sighed, lying on top of Clark. "Where do we go from here?"

"Where do you want to go? You were pretty emphatic a little while ago that you never wanted to see me again."

"Yeah, well, things have changed. But we still have issues. Fucking hasn't changed that."

"But it's a good start. Now neither of us is lying to each other anymore." Clark sat up, bringing Lex with him. He was a bit surprised when Lex remained in his lap, but he took it as a positive sign.

"So we take it one step at a time," Lex said, reluctantly pushing to his feet and grabbing a handful of tissues to clean up before dressing again. "If you still want to that is. All the things I was afraid of are still issues for you, but if you don't mind being known as Lex Luthor's boy-toy..."

"Lex Luthor's boy_friend_," Clark corrected. "Not only don't I mind, it's what I want. If you do?"

Lex leaned a hip on the corner of his desk. "Yeah, I do. So let's try and see where we go."

Clark stood up and dressed quickly, then kissed him. "Sounds good to me."

"In that case, shall we try something as radical as a date?"

They exchanged a smile. Maybe they hadn't been fools after all.

END