Chapter 115: Setbacks and Vistations
Lex waited until Clark was gone. Tracked him as far as he could with the super-extended hearing, and then lost him in the clamor of every other obnoxious child at Smallville High School.
His hands rested on his knees, and he looked around at the room. Not exactly messy; more untidy than he was used to, with clothing tucked haphazardly in drawers and shoved in the closet.
His stereo system was sitting on the dresser, and Clark's CD collection was piled beside it. He picked up the first CD off the stack, not really caring what it was, and popped it into the five-disc changer.
The Big Smelly was defin'ly, definin'ly, a fun person. He smelled nice, and his shoes tasted GREAT, and broder and the Sammy trusted him. Oh, but as Cleo sat there, staring up at him with enormous, soulful brown eyes, she couldn’t help a soft howl of sadness. Too much saddiness! Everyone was sad! IT SUCKED!
As he started cleaning, he recognized Creed, and it satisfied him. Creed was inoffensive, and Scott Stapp was a distant acquaintance; it wasn't painful to listen to.
He tuned it out, mostly, listening to it only as background noise as he moved around the room, super-speed aiding him as he straightened, re-hung, re-folded, re-tucked things back into their proper place.
He looked up at the soft howl. "Hey, Cleo." He petted the bed. "Come on, you can jump up here, it's okay."
A snuffle. Hard snuffle. She'd been looking for her bruders, but if The Big Lex wanted her up there, she'd go up. She crouched low, wriggled her tushie like Bruder had taught her, and sprang.
And missed.
She squealed, loud, saw the pretty carpet running up to smush her, and wriggled her paws. AH! FALLING! AH!
Lex's hands shot out and caught her before she hit the floor, and brought her up to the bed beside him. "There we go, Cleo. How's that? Better?" He petted her head gently as he snuggled her into one of his pillows.
Whoa. Okay. So she'd been falling, and OW! Stepping on an ear here PEOPLE!
She scooted off her ear, glared at it, bit it, then nuzzled, it and Big Smellies leg. He was sad-like, and she didn’t like when her People were sad. That just made HER sad. So she sniffled at him, whined and licked his leg, snuggling into his side. Big People liked snuggles, after all.
Lex petted her gently as he sat down on the bed beside the little girl. "I'm worried about Clark. I know he's not as okay as he's pretending to be." He scratched behind her ears, and then lifted her up to his face. "Don't you be sad too, little girl. You, and Arthur, and Samson? You're the only guys keeping us sane around here. Don't you go and be sad too."
OH! A GAME! She let out a loud "Arf!" and wriggled in his hands, paws kicking out toward him as her tongue lagged out. A game! A game! Even if he was moving his mouth and blarbing like she could understand a WORD, it was definitely okay. He was still nice, and he looved her! Loove was so fun! Loove was great! LOOVE!
Lex wrinkled his nose as the lagging tongue licked him, and he brought her closer, tucking her up against his chest and scratching her tummy as her kicking little paws let him. "There we go, baby girl."
OH! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, mother.
There were scratches. Scratches about the belly area. Oh. Her tummy went to water and she lolled on her back in near ecstasy, purring in her throat. See? Now that was nice. She stayed as still as she could so he'd rub, sighing and licking his jaw, his cheek, his neck, his nose, everything she could reach, one little paw kicking out.
Lex laughed softly. Fuzz therapy, he'd once read about, and had totally discounted it until this motley crew of pups had entered their lives. Now? Fuzz therapy was keeping him sane, fingers tickling and scratching Cleo's soft little stomach and smiling at the licks that covered his face.
YAY! Okay! YAY! Oh. She heaved a heavy, happy yawn, kicking out a back foot and rolling over. Wriggle squirm away and she plopped, heavily for all her 6 pounds, on his lap.
Oh. Heaaaavenn. He was fluffy and comfy and oh, she did the loove thing that Sammy had showed. It was definite, definite love. She nosed his leg, his belly button, and OOOOOOO! What’s THAT interesting smell! She buried her snout in his crotch, giving it a sniff. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
"Aht. No. We're not going there." Lex lifted her up again so that they were eye to eye, and he pressed a finger gently to her nose. "No sniffing, Cleo. Boys sniffing are one thing, but ladies are not going sniff there."
What? What? She couldn’t... what?! "Aaarree?"
"No sniffing my crotch, Cleo. No." He pressed her nose gently again, and then cuddled her to make up for the gentle scolding.
Oh. Well that sucked. She snuffled his ear instead, little paws skidding on his really silky, comfy shirt, and okay, she plopped her head down and sighed. She was a bad puppy. Baaad bad bad bad. No love for the Puppy. Getting mad at the puppy.
The heaved sigh almost broke Lex's heart. "Cleopatra, I'm not angry at you, okay?" He rubbed his cheek against her nose, and then turned to put a little kiss on it. "You're a sweet little girl." He scratched behind her ears again, and kissed the top of her head.
Heeeeeeeeeeee. Kisses. Wrapped. Around. Her little. PAW. HAHAHAH! She looked up at him and gave him a hundred licks, tasting whatever was on his face and mmmmmmmm, then barking and squirming, plopping out of his arms and down on the floor.
A reach back, and she snagged his pant leg. Come ON Big Smelly! She had something to show him. Duuuuh. "Arf! Bark!"
"Okay. I'm up for a challenge. Let's go." Lex shrugged as he got up, careful not to step on the little girl tugging on his pants. "Where we going, Miss Cleo?"
Mmmm. His pants tasted good. Another gnaw for good measure before she let go, throwing her head back and sticking her butt in the air as she trotted to the half closed door. She WAS a lady here, you know, people.
Until natural puppy instincts kicked in, and she barked in sheer joy, yipping as she raced to the door, ears flopping, mouth all but hanging open, and tackled her brother.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! PUPPY PILE! Rolling, falling over the Sammy, hitting the wall, a pillow, and THUD into the door. HEEEEEEEEEE! FUN! AGAIN! She bit his ear playfully, growling in cheery joy.
Samson licked his sister happily, rolling and barking as she fell over him, nipping her ear and then her foot as it was stuck in his face. He chewed on it a minute, then put his foot on her ear and licked. The Her was so much fun. "BARW!" he yowled loudly, and licked again as he looked up at the Lex.
Lex crouched on the floor beside the pile of puppies. "Hey? Cleo? Remember me? The big smelly guy you were leading somewhere? I might be super, but I'm not a mind reader. Not unless you're Clark, anyway."
"Arwbar! BARK!" Cleo exclaimed, wriggling out from under him and jumping up and down. She leapt on her front feet, fell on her back, and squealed out another bark as she raced forward, running around Lex's legs and yipping. Come ON Smelly! Lets go! Another prodding yip. YAY! The Sammy had said no Special Presents, cause the Smelly freaked out, but that’s okay! She had a better one! The Yellow Man had SHOES! Shoes that tasted GOOD! And they were a present for the Smelly!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lex laughed at the obvious attempt to get him moving. "Hey, you're the one who detoured with Samson, not me." But he followed obediently, and didn't even bother to wonder when he'd started conversing with dogs.
Samson tripped over his own ear, of course, but no way was he getting left out of the fun. He shook his floppy ears out of the way, and trotted after Lex and Her.
"ARF!"
The Things That Went Down. Oh. Scary. They were long and big and she peered down at them, shaking in fear and crouching on the landing. She'd almost fallen all the way down! Down them! AHH! Scary scary scary, and she whined at her bruder with a little pitiful bark.
Oh! Stairs. They were fun. He nosed Cleo's butt, pushing her onto the top step, and then plopped on it beside her. Then he got up and humped down the rest of them, tripping over his ear and rolling down the bottom two until he got to his feet on the first landing and barked up at her.
Lex reached down and picked Cleo up. "Come on. Let's do this the easy way." He tucked her against his shoulder as he walked down the steps.
EEEEP!!!!!! She thudded, let out a wail, and shivered against the Smelly. OH! He was safe. Oh! She was in LOOVE! She snuggled against him, licking his arm and barking pitifully as her bruder plopped down them like a pro.
Jerk head.
Lex raised an eyebrow at Samson. "You want a ride too?"
Of course he did. If someone else was getting carried, he wanted to be carried. He yipped until Lex picked him up, and then nosed his sister from the other shoulder.
Alright. Forgiven. She licked him, barked happily, and plopped her chin on Lex's shoulder. Life? Spoiled? Uh huh. Who cared, anyway? I mean, honestly?
"Ma'ser Lex." Enrique greeted from the bottom of the stairs, feather duster in hand. Rosalyns lipstick happened to be all over his face. "Sir, I hada all of deh foorniture ordere' for deh room upstair."
"Thank you, Enrique." He tried to keep a straight face. "It's a nice color on you."
Blink. "Sir?"
"Look," Lex said, pointing at the ornate mirror hanging on the wall across from the staircase.
Pink. Ah.
Enrique turned back to Lex and deadpanned, "Than' chu sir. I fin' it avery slimming."
Lex nodded, a puppy on each shoulder. "It is, it's very slimming, and very becoming on you. Though your aim's just a little off. It goes on your mouth, not everywhere else."
Talking. Boring. Samson wiggled on Lex's shoulder, yipped in his ear, and started chewing on the shirt collar before nudging Cleo's butt with his cold nose. "BAWR!"
Enrique gave him a wry smile, bowed, and turned, leaving the room with his feather duster in hand.
COME ON MISSER SMELLY! Things to do! Puppies to see!!!!!!!!! Bruder was keeping their loot safe until they got there, but there was only so much attention Artie had! GEEZ! Talk to Food Man later!
"Okay, okay, okay. I get the point." Lex put the two wiggling puppies down on the floor. "Lead on, Dr. Livingston."
"Whatever, they were DOWN! WOO! Cleo stuck her butt back in the air, trotting down the hall. Leading the way, 'scuse me very much. She was a leader! LEADAAH! She let out a cheerful bark to where she knew her bruder was hidden away, and bounded down the hall, skidding on carpet, running into a table, and bundling on until...
YES!!!!!! "ARF! Arfarfarfarfbarkarfbarkbark!!!!!!!!!" She called in joy. Man, they were so COOL.
"WHOOOOOOOOOOF!" Artie barked back, dancing back and forth. Finally! She was here, with the Sammy and the Big Smelly Lex thing! "OOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" he howled back, answering Her cry.
YAYAYAYAYAY!!!! She leapt over him, giving him a hundred licks before jumping head long into their loot.
Four slippers. Two smelly fancy shoes. A tennis shoe. A ladies pump. A girls sketcher. What appeared to be rain galoshes. And a really shiny piece of paper the three of them had decided was way too cool to leave in the pantry.
Samson dug through the pile until he found the shoe that smelled like the Clark. The ratty Adidas shoe that he'd chewed the other day, and it was now days old, stiff with dog drool, and smelly. But he presented it to Lex like it was gold.
YES! And Cleo had what the old guy who was just her NEW BESTEST FRIEND had called Cricket. She had Cricket’s shoe, and mm-mm-mm! It was one of those shiny kinds, but that was okay. She slipped on a shoe lace and it ended up falling over her head, but hey, she didn’t mind.
Lex just... sat down on the floor. Nothing else to do but. Clark shoes, Shayla shoes, even a pair of Lionel's Prada loafers. Dominic's other Gucci loafer was currently being consumed by Cleo, and Artie was flopped on a pair of Ms. Bird's fuzzy pink house slippers.
He took the shoe that Samson offered him and inspected it, and then calmly tossed it back on the pile. "Guys... Dad's gonna shit when he sees what you did to his Prada."
Cleo beamed. The Smelly was happy! Was he happy???? She grabbed the shoe lace from the shoe on top of her and squirmed it off, before dragging it over and presenting it to him.
Big, shining brown eyes full of pleasure, excitement and pride. Floppy ears, a big doggie beam, and Dominic’s shoelace hanging from her mouth. And she just beamed, dropping it front of the Smelly and "Arf! Arf!!!!"ing.
Lex laughed. Broke down into complete hysterics as he grabbed the shoelace and tugged. "Good girl, Cleo! Good girl!" His entire body shook as he tugged the shoelace, and the pitch of his laugh was rising past hysterical into maniacal.
Yay!!!!!!!!!! He was happy! He was--uht oh.
Cleo arfed, nudged his leg. Uht oh. Big People didn’t laugh like that. Big People only laughed like that before they tossed little puppies into Big Blue Things. She snuffled, huffed and gnawed on his knee gently, before looking up. Hopped up on his front legs and peered at him.
Not good. Artie knew that laugh. It was the Bad Puppy laugh, and it meant he was about to get tossed into the Wet Stuff again. So not good. He just cowered on top of the pile of shoes.
Samson dropped Clark's Adidas and crawled up beside Cleo, adding his nose to hers and nudging at Lex's elbow.
Uht oh. She snuffled, shivering and hiding behind Samson, tugging on his ear and whining softly. Bad! Bad bad bad!
Lex's shoulders shook as he looked up at the concerned puppies crawling over him. "Not gonna hurt you guys," he gasped out, and just fell back instead. His head bounced on the floor but he didn't even feel it, laughter slowly rising up the scale.
Breakdown Palace? Right here.
And from above Lex's sobbing, laughing face, crouched a very slender, small little boy, head tipped and a brow raised.
Lex's eyes opened wide. An upside-down little face peered at him, and Lex sat up so quickly he almost banged heads with the little boy, spilling the puppies onto the pile of shoes as he got on his knees and blinked again.
What the hell?
He had a beautiful face. Strong of jaw and wide of eye, his face looked like something straight from the Grecian statues. Dark, honey brown hair with mahogany and red highlights that shone like cinnamon in the light. He had enormous blue eyes the color of crystal, with a star burst of deep green around the iris. Strong cheekbones, beautiful chin, and a smile that could kill any woman any time.
He might have been seven years old, if that, and he sighed melodramatically and tipped his head, cheek going in one slender palm.
He looked like Clark. Lex couldn't pull his eyes away from the little boy, held out his arms. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn't, jaw moving wordlessly.
He looked like Clark. The eyes, the cut of the cheekbones, the smile.
The hair was his, or was when he was that age. Dear God, he was hallucinating, but he still held his arms out.
The little boy grinned and fell on ratty kneed jeans, sighing as if heavily put upon before crawling into his dad’s arms. He was a skinny little boy but strong as an ox, and he hugged tight as he snuggled close. And when he spoke, the voice, the intonation, the tiny little sounds in it, were all Lex. "Hi.'
"H--hi." Lex wrapped his arms around the little boy, holding tighter than he knew he should but the boy didn't seem to protest.
He'd lost his mind, he was sure of it, but he didn't care. "Mar-El?" He stroked the soft hair carefully, as though he wasn't sure of himself.
"Yeah." The little boy grinned, squeezing ones before rolling his eyes teasingly, making an 'oh, dad.' face, squirming free. "Well duuuh." He giggled, covering his mouth as he grinned at the puppies. Little tiny pups and he reached out, scratching the biggest one of them behind the ears and giggling.
Okay, this was weird. New person. But Samson recognized the smell, part Clark and part Lex, and so, this new person was a cool person, and he licked the little hand that scratched him.
Oh, holy Christ. He really had lost his mind. "You're... you're here. You're here." Lex looked at his son, his son, and didn't dare to blink, afraid that when he did blink, the child would be gone.
Richie giggled, pulling his hand back and grinning at his dad. "The dog licked me. Its wet!" He showed his wet hand, dirty as if he'd just been playing outside. He smelled like the sunshine and the earth, and he grinned and wriggled around. "I betcha they're fun to play with."
Well, that was odd. Cleo stayed behind her bruders, looking up at the VERY intriguing Little Smelly. Little Boy! YEAH! Like the one that used to give food to her and Bruder!
Lex automatically took the wet hand and wiped it clean on his shirt. "There you go. All dry." He stroked the soft curls again, touched the silky smooth skin of his son's face. "You can play with them if you want to; they don't bite. Your--your father and I found them outside."
"I know, I saw. They look fun!" He grinned and looked up at his dad, as he hauled Samson close. Samson was just about as big as he was, but he grinned and scratched the soft ears. "I came to visit ya! Are you happy to see me? I’m happy to see you, daddy." The little boy giggled and gazed up at him. "You can call me Richie, I don’t mind."
"Richie." Lex rolled it off his tongue. "I'm very happy to see you, Richie." He put his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his hand, so that he was at the same eye level as his son. "I... I'm glad you're here. I'm so glad. Can you stay?"
"Nope. I just came for a sec. Grampa said I could come." Richie quieted a minute, scratching Samson behind the ears, before looking up. "He said you and daddy were real sad. Why are you sad? You shouldn’t be sad!"
Lex swallowed back the tears that wanted to choke him. "We're sad because--because we miss you, Richie. We--we didn't even get to know you, before you were gone. We miss you so much. Please... stay."
"Oh." Richie looked up, letting Samson go. Using long, lanky limbs he squirmed back into his dads arms, giving him a big hug, tiny toothpick arms around his waist. "You don’t hafta miss me. I’m right here! I’m here all the time, and stuff, daddy. I see ya and daddy all the time. I saw you guys get the puppies... I saw you when you saw me back, and the water was falling and you were holding me." At that, Richie grinned, broadly. "I was thinkin, how can my dad be so bald? But there ya were, and stuff. I helped dad, when he got hurt having me. But he's okay now, right?"
Lex was torn between crying and laughing as he hugged his son. "He's not hurt anymore, but he's sad, too. Like me. I think he misses you even more than I do. Especially since he saw *his* dad in the ship, and talked to him."
"I know! Grampa told me. That’s why he said," Richie took on a very deep, pretend voice, straightening up and pretending to be commandeering. "Maarr-eellll." Added sound effects to sound like Darth Vader. "Youuu wiiilll go ::keekoo:: find your faaaththhhaaaaaa. S. ::keekoo:: Just... uh... caaauuuusuee."
Lex did laugh at that, laughed through the tears that rolled down his face. "Your grandfather sounds like I used to during an asthma attack." He kept hold of both of Richie's hands.
Oh, the little boy giggled. "I know. But... I gotta go, dad. I'll be back sometime, okay? But I gotsta go." Richie grinned, giving Samson another snuggle. "Bye puppy!" Then up, to give his dad a hug. "Bye, daddy! See ya laters!"
Lex hugged Richie as tight as he could, hands stroking the thick head of hair. "Don't go, Richie, please. Stay." His voice cracked just a little. "Stay and see Clark, when he comes home."
"I can’t! But Ima gonna go see him." Richie grinned, mysteriously, and giggled as he blew a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Bye dad! See ya later! I looooooo-oooooove you!"
He turned, opening the closet door, and two steps out, he was gone.
Lex watched as his son left, and curled in on himself. His chest was tight, his arms were hurting, and he was sure he was having a heart attack. The only thing he did was slam down instinctively hard on the little silver thread that connected him to Clark so that his lover didn't lose his mind too.
Quiet, high-pitched little giggle. "You know what, Samson? It finally happened. I've finally lost my mind." Another giggle. "Did you know that Lex is crazy, Cleo?"
Samson cocked his head as he followed the little boy, and then barked a goodbye after him.
Then he looked at Lex, head cocked to the side, ears flopping over his paws. "Arro?"
Cleo blinked at him, yipping and whining. He was scaring her, and she was escared big time! She hid behind her bruder Sammy, sniffing at his butt as she hided and peeked up at Lex, big floppy ears all over the place. "Browr?"
The shaking line brought Clark’s mind back to awareness. He'd been sitting at his desk at the back of the room, pen and paper in hand, pretending to take notes when he was in fact just doodling all over the pace. Goblins, ghosts, demons, rays of lightening and bats. His mind was in another hemisphere, awareness sitting in the cozy, comfortable place he had brought Lex to when they'd fought, while his mind listened to the teacher.
And as soon as Lex slammed down on their connection he jumped, jolting back from the little room and gasping, swallowing hard.
Whitney put his hand on Clark's arm. "You okay?" he whispered softly, stroking his friend's forearm as the teacher had their back to them, writing on the blackboard.
Lex blinked up at Cleo. "Hi, Cleo. No, it's okay. I'm crazy, but I'm not going to hurt you, see?" He held his hand out to her.
Whitney’s hand, comforting voice. Clark blinked, gazing at his friend with a blank expression before it rushed back, and he pulled himself back on guard, reassuring smile in place. "Just fine."
And in his mind, he fought violently against the walls holding him back from his lover.
Ohhhh! She bounded close, giving his fingers an experimental lick... bite, nip, and MMMMM. She licked and lapped all over his fingers, bounding into his lap again, plopping down and huffed, her chin on Lex's calf as she snuggled in. Okay. She loved this Big Person.
Lex's laughter was quiet as he rubbed Cleo's ears. "there we go, baby. There we go." He could feel Clark banging on the walls, but no way he was going to let Clark in yet. "We can't make Clark insane either, now, can we? No, we can't."
She purred as he rubbed like, right THERE, and ohhh lordy. It was NICE. Wriggly and squirming and delicious, and she sighed a happy baby puppy sigh, closing her eyes and yawning, jaw wriggling as she snuggled into a nice warm place. Mmmmmmmmm. Warm. OH!
"Arrrrr?" to her Bruder.
Samson bounded up beside Cleo, and wiggled in.
Artie was getting left out of the snuggling. He wiggled his way onto Lex's lap, and put his chin on Lex's knee. "Whoof?" He didn't get what was going on, but he just knew there were sad cuddles happening.
Lex snuggled the puppies against his chest, resting his cheek on warm puppy fur. "Clark's worried about me. I should let him in, shouldn't I?"
Clark was beyond worried. Clark was hysterical. His face and body were carefully blank, and his mind was raging. He was battling them down with every thing he possessed, sobbing and screaming in his mind as he begged his lover to let him in, not to leave him cold and alone. To let him *help, because he was good at helping.
Cleo snuggled with Samson, reaching over to bite Artie's ear and tug, hard, nearly falling over. Come ON Bruder! GEEZ!
Artie fell back onto Cleo as she tugged his ear. Whoa! That was fun. He reached up and wiggled onto his feet, and butted his nose against her butt. "Whoof!"
Samson licked Lex's cheek worriedly. "Bawrrrooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo," he howled lowly.
Lex felt his heart rate slowing, and his breathing returning to normal after his little hysterical fit. He buried every precious memory of his delusion at the farthest bottom room of his consciousness, and carefully, gently opened the battered connection back up.
"Arrrr!" Cleo squealed back, falling face first, rolling head over feet, and thudding into their collection of shoes. "Arfarfbarkarf!"
Clarks heart was sobbing. Grief, hard, hot in his gut, and as soon as he felt the barrier come down, he stopped. He didn’t know if it was okay to reach out, didn’t know if it was alright to do anything but... wait. And he hated it, hated that feeling, hated feeling this way.
Hated being unable to mask his emotions, even as much as he wanted to. Aushna'.
Artie bit down on Cleo's ear again, rolling her over onto her back and licking her stomach.
Samson wiggled up against Lex and sighed heavily.
Hi, Clark. Lex smiled.
Are you okay? Tell me you're okay. I thought something happened. Please, are you okay? The teacher set a test down in front of him, and Clark picked up his newly sharpened pencil, unaware of when he'd gotten up to sharpen it.
YEAH! Cleo lolled on her back cheerfully. Her Bruder would take care of her! He was a good taker carer over! And oh, she LOOVED him! She put a paw on his nose, barking in joy as she jumped up, licking all over his face.
I'm okay, baby. Just... a little crying fit, that's all. I'm all right; I just didn't want to expose you to me having a fit, that's it. He tried to soothe his lover through his thoughts.
You lie. You lie to me. I feel your pain. Please, talk to me. Desperately, as he began to fill in the blanks of the test.
I'm all right now, Clark. That's not a lie. I'm all right now.
DO NOT PROTECT ME! You are my AUSHNA! You are there for me to protect! Stop telling me you're alright, you would not let me in! You would not! TELL ME if something is "WRONG!" Clark screamed, hot tears filling his eyes. His classmates around him looked startled and he just didn’t CARE, grabbing the test, ripping it up, throwing it, and grabbing his books.
Whitney jumped up when Clark did, and didn't bother picking up his stuff. "Come on. Let's go. Chloe's office." He didn't wait, instead manhandling Clark to the door of the classroom. "He's been sick," he said, looking over his shoulder. "He's had the flu, and I think his fever's spiking again. Let me get him out of here, and I'll be back to take the test."
The teacher nodded in sympathy, and Whitney kept pushing Clark out of the room.
"Clark!!" Lex thought and yelled both of them at the same time, startling all three of the puppies. "Please, calm down, please! Stop!!" He got to his feet as though he were being shoved and manhandled, his feet tripping up stairs as he went out.
Clark couldn’t pull away from Whitney, yanking from him and it was no use. Whitney was too damn strong and Clark shoved, pulling them both slamming against the lockers. "Leave me alone, goddammit ashimel, leave me alone!" Roared, face beat red and furious as he yanked and tugged.
"Not a chance." Whitney kept dragging and pushing, forcing him down the hallway as he slipped his arms through Clark's, pinning him in a half-Nelson hold as he kept pushing. "Just be glad you're not outing yourself in front of the whole goddamned school," he grunted as he kicked the door to the Torch open and threw Clark inside, then locked it behind him.
Clark stumbled, snagging the desk before he turned, furious. His cheeks were red, his eyes were dark, fingers clamped tight as he snarled. "You disrespect me, ashimel." The Torch door was barely shut before Clark threw his first punch. It landed... it HURT, knuckles popping as it connected with Whitney’s face. Again, advancing on him in his anger.
Whitney's head snapped as two punches landed on his jaw, and the second one pushed him off his feet. He pulled himself up by the wall, and threw his own punch, an uppercut that landed squarely on Clark's jaw. "I might be disrespecting you, Clark," Whitney grunted, spitting out blood and wondering exactly when he'd become the local whipping boy, "But I'm protectin' you too, just like I'm supposed to."
The pain was astonishing, bright, and Clark felt his lip split as his own head snapped backward. He regained his footing, snarling and rearing back for another punch. It was a fight for pride now, respect and honor, and Clark would never lose that, in the name of his lover and his family.
Chloe just blinked. Raised a brow. Blinked again.
Whitney saw the punch coming, and blocked it, ducking and twisting his torso around. He didn't even acknowledge his girlfriend behind the computer other than to tell her "Watch out in case one of us goes flying."
Lex was standing beside the garage and getting ready to drive before he went flying backwards. He felt the fist impacting with his jaw, and he ran. Hard, fast, didn't stop until he was at the school.
Clark stumbled, slamming into the door before turning, snarling, and launching himself at his ashimel. He was on auto pilot, his mind and body screaming in rage, fury, sadness, terror, and he body slammed into Whitney, sending the both of them over Chloe's desk before crashing to the ground.
Short, way too girly cry and Chloe dashed around the fighting, bloodied boys, yanking the blinds and thanking GOD that the walls were soundproof.
Chloe. Lex knew that yell, and to hell with Reynolds' closed campus policy. He twisted the gate off the hinges as he blew past, wind kicking up behind him like a whirlwind. He was standing in front of the Torch office before he even knew where he was, and he pounded on the door. "Chloe! Clark! Open the goddamned door!"
The air went out of Whitney as Clark slammed him over the desk, and they toppled into the floor. Clark landed on top of him and he grunted, his fists pushing up against Clark's chest and trying to shield his face from the flying fists.
Holy shit! Chloe gasped from her spot where she was plastered to the door, squirming around much too long flailing boy limbs, throwing open the door, snagging Lex by the shirt collar, and dragging him in.
Clarks fists were flying into the man below him. He didn’t have much strength... much of anything, but what he did have was fierce because of his temper. "FIGHT BACK!" He screamed, punching him as they rolled, flailing, things breaking and falling in their wake.
Lex plowed past Chloe as she jerked him inside, and he jumped the desk, landing on the floor beside Whitney and Clark. "DEC'KRAH!" he bellowed, hands ripping the two of them apart by the back of their shirts, tossing Clark back into the corner and Whitney into the other side of the office. "DEC'KRAH KLECTANT!" (Stop fighting! Stop fighting now!)
Clark fell backwards, hitting the numerous filing cabinets that Chloe had. He snarled in fury at his lover, ducking his head and looking away as he pressed the back of his head to his nose, swiping the blood away. His body ached, his soul was screaming, and he couldn’t control himself. He felt helpless to keep himself in check, helpless and terrified, and ANGRY.
Lex walked over to Clark and put his hands on his lover's shoulder, pushing him back against the filing cabinet. "Aushna'... netesk dec'krah sha'nauch, wr'ashimel." (Don't fight our friends, your best friend.)
"I don’t care, I DON’T CARE!" Clark screamed back, trying to yank away from Lex's hands furiously even as he snarled. "I NEED TO GO! Don’t KEEP me here when I don’t want to BE here!"
"Then we'll go together." Lex refused to unknot his hands from Clark's shirtfront.
Whitney cracked his jaw as he tried to sit up. "He freaked out in the middle of class; I told the teacher he'd been sick with the flu and his fever was spiking... don't know if he bought it but he let us out." He fell back against some crumpled boxes as he finally got into a sitting position. "Dragged him in here so he didn't out himself fronta the whole school, and we kinda got inta it."
"I am not weak. Let me GO. Stop TREATING ME like I’m TWELVE FUCKING YEARS OLD!" Clark screamed, on top of his lungs. It was rushing out, all of it, FURY hot and boiling in his veins. "Stop treating me like I am just a child that you have to pity! Stop treating me like I don’t have a BRAIN CELL IN MY HEAD! Stop TALKING ABOUT ME IN THE THIRD FUCKING PERSON!!!!!!"
He was positive he'd never been this angry. His nails were digging into his palms, his skin was tight, hot, and pale as a sheet, and he was vibrating with fury. "Stop treating me like I’m just a stupid little boy. Stop. STOP."
Lex's control snapped, and he thumped Clark against the cabinets again. "I saw our son, Clark!" he shouted, eyes wild behind his sunglasses. "I saw our son, and he sat there and played with the fucking puppies and put his arms around me! I spent half an hour talking to a fucking delusion that had your eyes, your face, and my hair!" He thumped Clark again. "Do you think I want to drive you as insane as I am going? No!" Realizing what he was doing, he dropped his hands from Clark's shirtfront. "I won't take you with me."
"Don’t you EVER hit me again!" Clark bellowed back, pushing Lex right back and snarling at him. Temper beyond gone, fury and rage uncontrollable, he shoved his lover right back. "He is NOT a delusion, he is REAL, he is here to visit us, DAMN you. You have no faith in me, no faith in us, no faith in anything! You chose not to trust me with what you feel instead of share it, let me help you work through it!"
"He's gone, Clark!" Lex choked on the words. "He is dead, he is not visiting us, he is GONE!" He shook Clark again. "I won't drive you out your mind! I won't!" He caught Clark's wrists and held them in an unbreakable grip. "I am being strong, Clark, because I have to be. I am being strong because if I'm not, I never will be again." He squeezed. "It has nothing to do with faith, and everything to do with my sanity."
Clark yanked, hard, at his lovers grasp, tugging until he realized he couldn’t fight the strength of a hundred men. And the tears refused to come. He just stood there, made to feel helpless, made to feel inferior, held like a little bad boy and his anger spiked, his fury ebbed on full as he yanked hard, again, attempting to tug away from him. "He is dead, but he is HERE. You don’t care, you don’t CARE because you are so frightened and faithless, you don’t believe. LET ME GO!
Lex let him go. "I care, Clark. But it's not possible. It isn't. I asked him to stay and see you but he couldn't. I'm the only one of us seeing things, Clark." He said it calmly, gently. "I care more than you know, Clark, believe me. You don't know what I'd give for that to be true. But it's simply... not possible."
Clark wrenched free, stumbling back a step before he straightened his back, glowering deeply. "You do not believe. He is here, he is with us. He is dead but not gone, not yet. Don’t TELL me what to see and what not to see. Don’t tell me you're the only one seeing our son. Just shut up. I don’t want to hear anymore. I’m going to go back to class. I’m going to go to work. And I’m going to go home. So... leave me alone until then."
"I can do that, Clark." Lex's voice was still calm, but it had a different, harder quality to it. Deep in his mind, Lex heard doors clanging shut, and didn't pay any attention to them until he slammed the door shut on their connection again. Then he turned around, looking at Chloe and Whitney for a long minute. He pulled out his wallet, and counted out a stack of fifteen $100 bills. "That should take care of the damages to your office." He put his wallet back into his pocket, very calmly opened the door, walked out of it, and then disappeared down the hallway, kicking into a run almost as soon as he hit the front steps.
He fell apart. He'd been holding himself together, but it was happening. He knew it would. He knew this would happen. Lex would finally hate him because Mar-El was gone, would hate him because Clark couldn’t control himself. His face crumbled, his mouth trembled open, and he never felt... so alone.
Maybe he could run away. Maybe he could go to Metropolis... Chicago. Hide. He just wanted desperately to be away. Maybe if he went far away enough from Lex, they'd stop being aushna's. It would end, and things would be better. Lex could lead the life he needed to, and Clark could change his name, his face. Be normal.
Oh, and he wept bitter tears.
Whitney winced as he got up, and walked slowly across the office. He just wrapped his arms around Clark's shoulders and held him tightly, just like he had when Clark had cried over Lex once before. He tucked Clark's head under his chin, wincing slightly again as his jaw realigned itself, and he hugged. "It's okay, Clark. It's going to be okay. You'll see."
"I’m sorry. I’m sorry." Clark let himself be held, just a moment, and made his tears dry up, Hard, face going carefully expressionless, his body language changing as he made himself stop acting like a child. He swallowed, nodded. "I’m sorry." The indignity was tremendous. Lex giving Chloe money, to fix the office? Did he think Clark wouldn’t pay for it himself? Treating him like… like a four year old?
He was done with it. Done with being treated like he couldn’t work, like he couldn’t do anything for himself. Done with feeling inadequate, like a leech, like someone who couldn’t pull their own weight. No more. No more emotions, no more tears, no more showing anything. Showing brought pain. And Clark Kent was done with pain.
Whitney noticed the change in body language almost immediately, and it caused a very, very not-good feeling in the pit of what was left of his stomach. "Clark? Are you okay?"
He was done with mooching. Done with living off other people. They didn’t have to PAY because of HIS mistakes. Goddammit. God, dammit. His lover was closed off to him, completely, and Clark felt so desperately, terrifyingly alone. Just like he dreaded, just like he knew would happen. His eyes traveled to Whitney’s... and he nodded, a little. "Fine. I’m sorry again, Whitney. If there’s anything I can do, let me know, alright?"
And he turned, walking back out the door, books in his hands.
Whitney blinked, looked at Chloe, and then looked at Clark going out the door. "This... is not good." Possibly the understatement of the year, he thought to himself. "Not good... at all."
"Did they just... blow up?" She blinked, blowing out a tiny breath as she pushed the locks of hair from her eyes. She crouched, helplessly picking up a file from the floor, and set it on the table... the table swiped clean by the two wrestling boys. Oh.
Chloe looked up, big eyes flinching with sympathy at her boyfriends face. She walked around what was left of her filing cabinet, taking his hand gently in hers and gazing at him as she led him towards the door. "I love you, Whitney."
"Yeah... I think they did." Whitney wrapped his arm around her waist and ever so gingerly rested his cheek on her hair. "I think... we may have just seen the end." He squeezed hard. "I love you, Chloe." He pressed a kiss to her temple, and then winced. "Remind me... never do another good deed. Somehow... I wind up getting the shit beat out of me."
A very soft, half felt giggle as she led him quietly towards the bathrooms. "Don’t worry, partner. I think you've paid your debt to society."
-fin-