Mending, a smallville fanfic

Title: Mending

Authors' penname: anironicimperfection

Rating: PG or K+ (for language)

Summary: Recuperating from his bullet-wound, Lex is surprised to receive a visit from Clark and Chloe. Tensions arise among the three "once" best friends and Lex reminisces about their past and shares his dream (from "Lexmas") to Clark. Following the episode "Lockdown."

Author's notes: This fan-fiction is based on a Smallville role-play a friend and I randomly played out over AIM one night. This story wouldn't have been possible her without her and I thank her for allowing me to "publish" this piece to Thank you so much, Tasha!

Feedback: Please comment and/or critique. This is my first "Smallville" fan-fiction. I genuinely appreciate your thoughts on my work and how to improve. Thank you.

With his head tilted to the side in a manner of total discomfort and his royal purple shirt unbuttoned and hanging about his waist, Lex Luthor reluctantly appealed to the doctor's insistence of listening to his heart and lungs, again. Lex sucked a hoarse breath in as the ice-cold stethoscope was pressed firmly against his chest. The doctor nodded his approval and continued to relentlessly jab the instrument into his patient's chest and back, causing Lex's body to jolt slightly every time the freezing ball was applied to his skin.

"Really doctor, I'm fine," he said in mid breath as the white-coated man dully removed his earpieces and draped the instrument around his neck as though it were a scarf.

"My prognosis tells me otherwise," the doctor casually remarked as he picked up Lex's chart and jotted a few notes down with a pen. Lex tugged his shirt back, occupying himself with the process of buttoning it back up instead of listening to his doctor's prognosis. "The nurse tells me that you almost collapsed in the hallway after Ms. Lang visited you," his doctor continued rather tediously, flipping a page back or so and casting his eyes down some written data that Lex could not see, "and apparently an orderly had to assist you back to your room. She said you were pale as a bed sheet, and you could barely walk or stand."

Lex said nothing but he stared coldly at this infernal physician who continued his speech concerning his condition. "Lex, you've been shot two times in the course of a month and both times have proved almost fatal. By all accounts, you've been through a tremendous amount of physical and emotional stress…"

"So now you're my psychiatrist?" Lex interrupted cynically. The surgeon shook his head.

"All I'm saying is that you are in serious need of some bed rest. Your body requires time to heal, and I think it would be wise if you stayed here for a night in our care, maybe even a week… Now I've prescribed some medication that will let you sleep easier, and I'm needed in the ER so if you'd excuse me, a nurse will be along in a minute to give you your medication."

As the doctor turned to leave, a small nurse came in right on cue and placed two pills in Lex's palm and handed him a plastic cup with water. She stood in front of him and didn't budge until he finally took the cup and popped the meds in his mouth. Satisfied, the nurse took the empty container and left the room with the extremely annoying surgeon. Once the two turned the corner and were out of sight, Lex coughed and spat the tablets in his hand. He had kept them tucked away under his tongue, a trick he learned from Belle Reve. He smiled to himself.

Though he wouldn't admit it, he did feel quite exhausted from the events of the day and so he lay down on the bed with one arm behind his head and the other at his side. He closed his eyes for a moment and recounted the familiar images in his mind. Lana and he were taken hostage by two unstable police officers demanding to know the whereabouts of the ship that had crashed-landed during the meteor shower, the same ship that Lex had hidden away in a warehouse and showed to Lana in the hopes of winning her complete trust. At one point, one of the officers, Gregory Flinn, held Lana with a gun to her head and threatened to kill her. He surely would have too had Lex not rushed Lana into panic room and taken the bullet meant for her.

Playing hero came with a price. He touched the bandage unconsciously with his left hand, imagining that it was her touch instead. He sighed as he remembered her touch and the feel of her over of him, pleading for him to stay awake. He thought of how she smelled and how their bodies were against one another. He had almost thought dying in her arms would have been a far better alternative than playing chicken with those two crazies. Nevertheless, it was all over now. Smallville's resident boy scout, Clark Kent, had managed to save both Lex and Lana's lives. Of course, Lex knew that he was not on the top of Clark's priority list of saving lives these days.

He surely would have fallen asleep without need of medication had a light knock not disturbed him from his broodings. Lex opened his eyes and turned his head to the doorway, a grin spreading across his lips.

Well, I never expected to see you guys here," he said, adding with the smallest suggestion of scorn his smile could mask, "especially considering neither of you paid me a visit the first time I was wounded in action."

Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan came shuffling into his room like two ashamed convicts. The two appeared very uncomfortable to be there, Clark more so but Chloe forced the brave smile. Lex sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed so he could stand to meet them. He was greatly curious as to why they were here, especially considering one of them was usually accusing him of some form of new villainy every week. He could only assume that some small feeling of guilt was what drove them here, or maybe it was guilt on Chloe's part instead of Clark's.

"Uhm, hi Lex," Chloe said rather casually, ignoring his remark. "Lana told us about what happened at the mansion. When do you think the doctors will let you go home?"

"Yeah, Lex," Clark added. "I'm sure they're a lot of people anxious for you to get back."

Lex gave an amused smirk at this comment. "I would hope more of those people were my friends, Clark. The doctor keeps insisting for me to stay tonight and maybe for a week, which as you both can imagine can't be done. The election is fastly approaching. I'm sure your dad's aware of that Clark, and when a major candiate is confined to a hospital room and bed rest, well that presents quite a tight problem."

"Really, Lex?" Clark asked bitterly. "So how far are you willing to go to win this election?"

"What do you mean, Clark?"

"A lot of things have happened lately," the farm boy continued, "a lot of strange things, especially during my dad's campaigns… I'm just wondering how many of those occurrences you were behind."

Chloe's eyes darted from one to the other nervously. Lex meanwhile stayed quite at ease but held Clark's gaze with his own.

"Clark, I have the utmost respect for your father, you know that," he began. "If there's anything I've learned from Jonathan Kent, it was that he's a far better father to his son than my own. He's a far better man than I could ever hope to be… whatever strange events have been happening, believe me, I had nothing to do with them. We are talking about Smallville after all. From the very start of this campaign, I intend to win the election fairly."

"You seem to be expecting to win," Clark retorted, his eyes narrowing. "How can you be so sure of yourself?"

Lex gave a small, quiet laugh.

"Because I'm a Luthor."

Clark gritted his teeth, "So just because you're a Luthor, you think you're going to instan---" He didn't finish. Chloe elbowed him roughly in the ribs and quickly interrupted.

"Have you seen your father lately, Lex?" she asked. "I haven't seen much of him in Smallville lately."

"He pops in now and then," Lex replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Truthfully I haven't seen much of him this time around which surprised me. He seemed so anxious and "fatherly" about the possibility of losing his son the first time 'round."

"Well, we all know your father, don't we?" Chloe said with a small smirk, adding, "I guess being the son of the devil is hard, right Lex?"

There was a small silence. Clark looked over at Chloe and back at Lex cautiously. Lex's shoulders had slumped a little and his jaw tightened. He appeared to be hurt at this remark of being compared to the son of the devil. He rubbed his bandage unconsciously, his brow quivering slightly. "Yes well," he said at last, "when you've never been loved, you get used to it."

"I guess you also have to get used to losing the ones that you love to your enemies," Clark added, his eyes moving to the tiles on the floor before returning to Lex. "I guess that's part of the package as well."

Chloe eyed him sharply. "Clark, what... are you talking about?"

Lex looked up at Clark, his expression just as dumbfounded as Chloe's.

"What are you implying, Clark?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Clark said coolly. "I'm just commenting… it's not like I have any… enemies." His eyes regarded Lex coldly.

Lex watched Clark's reaction carefully. He wondered if Clark knew that Lana and he were working together on researching the ship. He suddenly thought of Lana's visit earlier that evening. He studied Clark's eyes before proceeding to ask the question,

"Would this have anything to do with Lana?"

The farm boy remained silent but his eyes were fixed on Lex's, heated with a passionate jealousy and hatred. Lex sighed a little uneasily, "Clark I never meant for Lana to get caught up in the middle of a hold up at my mansion. I never meant for her to have a gun to her head… and in case you hadn't noticed, I took a bullet for her."

"Actually Lex, I did notice!" Clark sneered. "I noticed how you two have been together more and more, exchanging words behind my back. I've also noticed her sudden fondness for you."

"Clark, calm down," Chloe whispered and looked warily over at Lex who had returned to sitting on the edge of the bed, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Clark, Lana loves you, she always has. She and I are just friends, she said so herself. I won't lie to you, I would give anything to be blessed, to have a relationship with a young woman like Lana, but I'm not Clark. Regardless of my feelings for her, she doesn't feel the same. There is nothing going on between Lana and me." He paused, waiting for any type of reaction from Clark other than his usual self-righteous, mistrusting every word, stare. When he didn't receive any sort of confirmation that his words had sunk in, Lex added quietly, "And since you don't seem to trust your own girlfriend, why don't you ask her yourself. She's standing right behind you…"

Clark opened his mouth to add some snide remark but Chloe had tugged on his sleeve and the both of them whirled around to come face to face with Lana Lang. She was standing in the doorway, her lower lip trembling and her dark eyes burning with anger beneath her black bangs.

"Tell me, Clark. Is it suddenly a crime for me to be friends with Lex?"

"Uhm, no, Lana," Clark stammered. Chloe took a step back and bit her lower lip in attempt to hide a laugh. Lex lowered his eyes as though he were pretending to not watch or hear the two. The love-struck Clark meanwhile continued to babble defensively, "Lana, I can explain, you see..."

"There's nothing to explain Clark," Lana replied bitterly. "You know, usually I'm the one defending you from Lex and it's killing me to say this, but I trust Lex. I know what page I stand on with him. He saved my life, Clark. He nearly died saving my life. There is nothing, nothing, going on between Lex and me, and if you couldn't trust in our relationship to know this, then maybe we shouldn't be together."

"Lana, no, please," Clark began begging. "I didn't mean anything by it, I mean. I trust you. I don't trust him."

"That doesn't give you the right to suddenly decide whom I can and can't be friends with," she snapped back desperately. "If you have a problem with Lex, then you should settle it with Lex, but don't drag me into your disagreements and use me as your excuse for your rivalry!"

"Rivalry! Lana, I…" Clark cried but she had turned her back on him and stormed off down the hall. Chloe took a step towards Clark and rather hesitantly took him by his arm before looking over at Lex.

"Maybe we should leave," she murmured, "Lex, I'm sorry. I- I didn't come here meaning for this to happen."

Maybe it was the brief moment of sincerity in her eyes or some spark of pity for Clark having his girlfriend scold him and stalk off that aroused Lex. He looked up at the two and got up carefully from the mattress,

"No, it's all right, Chloe," he said tiredly. "Maybe you step out for a moment so Clark and I can talk alone for a few minutes."

Chloe blinked her eyes in complete surprise as this statement. "Erm," she said and looked over at Clark for a moment and back at Lex. It was quite obvious she meant for both of them to leave and was a little startled that Lex would want to talk with Clark. Her friend looked at her with pleading eyes, yearning to avoid all and any sort of conversation with Lex, but Chloe sputtered the words out too fast before she even considered her response. "Okay uhm, I'll wait outside then, Clark."

As the blonde reported closed the door behind her, Clark turned to face Lex. His fists tightened by his sides. "What do you want, Lex?" he demanded sullenly.

"I just want to talk," his old friend said, hiding a grimace of pain from his wound with a smile. "You know, talk. Like we used to."

Clark's eyes searched Lex's face as though he were trying to read his thoughts. However this time, his old friend was not lying between his teeth. He really did want to talk. "You mean, talk like we used to, back when we were friends?" Clark asked hesitantly.

Lex bit his lower lip and his brow crinkled before replying, "Yea, back when we could always count on one another to save each other's asses and have a good laugh afterwards." He let out a small chuckle as he recalled some of those instances. "Man, our friendship was legend."

Clark walked uneasily over to Lex and stood beside him, somewhat leaning on the mattress as Lex did. He tucked his hands in his jacket pocket and stayed quiet for a few moments. "Yea, Lex, but that's in the past," he said although his voice seemed to not want to believe it. He shook his head and added so to reassure himself, "That was a long time ago. Those days are over."

His old friend nodded reluctantly, crossing his arms in front of him slightly. "Yea, in the past," Lex murmured thoughtfully. "Still, I can't help but wonder what went wrong, you know? Why things just aren't as simple now as they were back then."

"We've changed, Lex," Clark said with a shrug. "We've both grown older, and matured, and I've opened my eyes to what's really going on around me. I can see the truth now."

"Do you really, Clark?" Lex asked, turning to look at him. He coughed a little and broke his gaze by looking down at his feet instead. His eyes searched something unforeseen by Clark but his voice reflected a deep contemplation. "Maybe I was just too blind to accept the truth about my actions…"

Clark looked over at Lex's bent head and regarded him curiously.

"You know," Lex continued musingly, "that night on Christmas Eve, when I was shot, I went into a coma and I had a dream; a really wonderful dream. You were there, and Lana, and Chloe, and your parents, and there was so much love in that one single dream, it astonished me… and just for a moment I thought to myself, maybe it would have been better to have stayed there, and let my brain shut down, and my heart stop, and let this world be rid of Lex Luthor... so I could stay there in that fantasy land, forever..." His voice broke off and he rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. "I guess no matter where I go, I've always lived in a fantasy…"

Lex did not look up at Clark but if he had, he would have seen the sudden change in Clark's entire persona in just that one moment. The farm boy's eyes had softened with sympathy for this tormented man. He gazed keenly at his old friend, recalling too the many times he had saved his life, and all the times he had turned to Lex for help when there was no one else to turn to, and he felt a twinge of sadness for the terrible waste of it all; of their friendship. He had lost his friend long ago, but now it seemed he had only recently realized this.

"It's not too late, Lex," Clark spoke at last. "You don't have to live in a fantasy. Just… just open your heart to see what's around you. There's a lot more to life than just winning, and money, and power... It's not too late, Lex."

Lex finally did return Clark's gaze and the two held the gaze for a long time before Lex finally broke away and stepped over to a chair to retrieve his own jacket. He carefully glided one arm into a sleeve and then the other so to avoid stressing his wound any further.

"You gave up on me long ago, Clark," Lex said bitterly at last, regaining his composure. He straightened his collar satisfyingly and buttoned his jacket.

"You come into my mansion and accuse me of the same sins you and I have shared for so long. I've lied to you, yes, but you've done the very same to me. Because of our friendship, I have truly inherited a density that could have been prevented so long ago… it's too late for me now, and I accept it. I'm the future, Clark, and trust me. No idealist farmer or self-appointed boy scout is going to stop the inevitable. Good bye, Clark."

Without another word, Lex turned his back and was gone, leaving Clark and Chloe alone in that desolate hospital room to only exchange stares of uncertainty and perhaps even worry of what "the future," as Lex put it, would bring.