Fic: Near, But Not Far--The EndAuthor: SC182
Pairing: Clark/Lex, mentions of Clark/Lex/ChloeWords: 4,096Summary: As he turned his attention back to the screen, something in the pit of his stomach churned uneasily. It was a feeling he couldn't shake and the more his mind wandered to the rotating image of Chloe exiting his front door, the worse he felt. Something wasn't right.
Day 1
He'd become accustomed to constant buzz and hum of life. Even the sudden flares in sounds, loud like pops and bangs, didn't bother him much anymore. They were all a part of life. He'd already learned which noises to ignore and which to respond to.
So, the crackle and pop filling the air some distance away hadn't been a cause for alarm.
Fireworks, maybe? Demolition, probably?
All were plausible.
It was the summer after all.
Day three
The day before Clark and Chloe had begun their long promised movie marathon. Chores, columns, investigating, and Lois were all pushed aside for the time being. This was their time.
As the first car driven by Jason Bourne, portrayed by Matt Damon, slammed into not one, but four cars, Chloe's cell phone began to wiggle and erupt into a burst of top forty rock ballad.
The exchange was less than ten seconds, but the clench of her jaw and the pout of her mouth told him more than enough. She grabbed her stuff, and half hugged him with one non-awkwardly laden arm, and headed out the door.
Clark didn't ask what the story was about, though he offered help, Chloe turned him down either way.
As he turned his attention back to the screen, something in the pit of his stomach churned uneasily. It was a feeling he could shake and the more his mind wandered to the rotating image of Chloe exiting his front door, the worse he felt.
Something wasn't right.
Day 4
After two days of not hearing from Chloe, Clark decided to bring the mountain to her. A mountain that was laden with leftovers cooked from his mother's last visit home, coupled with a sense of boredom that even the best movie marathon couldn't erase.
What struck him first about his friend's appearance was how battle weary she looked. Her newly cropped and styled locks were out of their neat pressed hold, and sticking up or moving slightly astray of the rest. The whole picture was off.
She shuffled papers around and clicked a few keys on her computer, and turned away in disgust. "It's not making sense." Chloe repeated in a hollow litany.
Clark approached her desk, "What's not making sense?"
Her eyes were glossy—glassy from a lack of sleep. Slightly purple around the bottom rims, because of constant worry and squinting. "None of it." She shook her head.
This seemed like the time to ask if whatever was going on had any ties to LuthorCorp. Clark began to open his mouth, as the AP scroll flashed ominous blurbs of information: explosions, fires, riots, looting, and complete chaos.
Like Black Thursday all over again, except Zod was dead.
He was sure of that.
The phantoms were gone. All taken care of, if anything, the ghosts of Krypton were now once again dead and silent. But, the feeling didn't go away.
As reporters broke away from the scroll, the faint chime of the elevator floated in air. Louder than usual, it seemed, or maybe Clark's finally beginning to pay attention.
Chloe looked past him, forcing his eyes to follow. At the wide mouth of the elevator Lois stood looking for all the world like a plane crash survivor. Business suit torn, face screwed up and locked in an immobile stare, dirty and worn out; she advanced on them. Her silence was far more questionable than her appearance.
"Lo--" Chloe began in question.
But, Lois's hands were beating against Clark's chest and side. Fists tight and pounding, he braced himself so not to do her any harm. "Lois!"
Now, he noticed how her eyes were scrunched closed. The water dripping from the corners and the clench of her teeth. "Where were you?"
He'd seen Lois in many ways. Sarcastic, smartass, sultry, naked, but never broken.
Chloe moved around him, taking her cousin into her arms. Lois accepted the embrace, burying her head in her shorter cousin's shoulder.
When Lois was back in control, she turned to Clark with red swollen eyes. "I've been calling you and calling you. Where have you been?"
Apparently, the world decided to end and no one had the courtesy to let him know.
Day 5
His mother had only looked like this once. When Jor-el was making a point, she'd been almost this sick and pale. Now, as he stood over her as her hair sprawled across the pillow, fanning out like red snow, she looked so peaceful despite the hideous circles of purple and grey beneath her eyes and the paleness of her skin.
He'd been by her side for hours. Instead of seeing her sparkling blue eyes and receiving a pat or kiss, she remained silent and distant in the land of dreams.
He'd never thought about the entitlements of his mother's position. Now, he did, because her room for one had become a room for six and he felt selfish in his right to grieve privately. Her heart was heating in a little staccato, like the sound a toddler banging a heavy spoon against a pan, slow and unwieldy.
He prayed she woke up, and laid his head on her blanketed stomach.
She never did and neither do the others.
Day 6
Even when he was powerless, he'd never quite felt all the sensations that could befall the human body. Right now, he felt numb. Despite the adrenaline of nearly grabbing up the girls in his arms and rushing off to the farm, but didn't, because Chloe had already shaken her head, silently, asking him not to; he's cold.
Was he the only one who could see it?
The end that was in plain sight. He was an expert already. A survivor twice over.
But, she was still thinking about the possibilities. In the event that things did go back to normal still stayed with her. She was always thinking about the bigger picture, but really so was he.
Metropolis. Gotham. Star City. All on fire and not an end in sight. People were terrified and growing more disorganized and frenzied with each passing moment. It wasn't safe in the cities. That's all everyone knew.
Why? He dreaded to find out.
Clark hadn't heard from Oliver or Bart for that matter. If anyone had information in this time of crisis it would be them. So to compound his numbness, he had to add deaf to the world as another issue.
Day 8
The madness had finally reached Smallville. He'd risked driving his truck to the Talon, bypassing running and wildly driving people. The roads were congested people coming from Metropolis and people from Smallville trying to head home.
Earlier that day the LuthorCorp plant exploded. The cause, no one knew. The results seemed to be coming for everyone in a matter of moments.
The girls were almost done packing. It's hard to figure out what were the essentials even when they'll be holding up at the farm.
On the way back, between dodging cars, his reflexes were put to test as he was forced to stop the truck from colliding with the crumpled mash-up of vehicles littering the center of the road. Other cars weren't so lucky.
Clark looked to Chloe and Lois who sat quietly gasping for breath. "I'll be right back." He said and launched out of the truck.
It's strange that the wreck wasn't that far away but there were no bodies anywhere. Doors stood ajar, engines running, smoke rising from some hoods. As he moved deeper to the center, the noises, like the sounds of pure madness, growling and guttural grew louder and louder.
He stopped short at the sight of a familiar silver Mercedes and the horde surrounding it. The part of him that had been raised human, which subscribed to all the natural laws of this world, was purely terrified. The alien part, which knew that he was pretty much invulnerable to everything, hadn't started to speak up yet.
So, he stood watching as 'they' clawed at the windows and tried to free their pearl from its shell. Clark expanded his hearing and found momentarily relief in hearing Lex's steady heartbeat. It wasn't fast with the quickness of adrenaline, but slow and steady from the oblivion of sleep.
A window whined dangerously beneath the stress.
Clark finally went into action.
Day 10
They actually spent two days at the Kent farm until Lex grew too cagey to sit around there any longer. His argument about the security and resources of the castle alone seemed to win over Lois and Chloe.
The moment was here again. Clark always felt bad for leaving the farm. The animals weren't such a worry. They only had cows now anyway. Part of him believed locking the house up would be more of a detriment to someone else in need than security for his own piece of mind. He did it anyway. The loft was his, a home to far too many memories that he just couldn't part with. While the others slept, he boarded the whole open section up before any of them could turn over in their sleep.
Day 12
The castle was just as Lex had said. Better equipped, better stocked, and since the first time he knew him, more secure.
A détente of sorts was called between Clark and Lex. Clark could believe a lot of things about Lex, but never could he accept that Lex was the cause of the end of the world. Yes, even the sporadic communications, national and beyond, seemed to be in an eerie sort of agreement.
The end wasn't near, it was here.
When the tension finally cracked, despite the nearly 70 rooms, they all huddled and cluster together for security of mind. Clark finally broke his silence. "Where's Lana?"
He knew Lex was worried about her, even if he didn't say it. The constant flicker of his eyes towards the security monitors spoke for him. He looked anxious and on edge.
"She said she was coming." Why this scared Clark more than a simple 'I don't know', Clark could hear the almost assured belief that came from constant repetition. Lex was hoping that she was holding up somewhere safe. How could she not? Lana was the ultimate survivor.
Day 14
Lois was gone.
They woke up to her empty pile of blankets, a few missing shelves of food, and a vacant spot where Chloe's car used to be. Yes, she's an answer seeker, and maybe, she hoped she could find Oliver.
Though, her guess would be as good as Clark's at this point. Somehow, they'd all slept through her packing and take off. That wasn't too reassuring since Clark had called himself being on the lookout.
Being a general's daughter certainly did come in handy when she could even stealthily leave without alerting his superhearing. Well, then again, Clark told himself that he was really tired.
Clark watched Chloe, just waiting for her to ask him to go look for Lois. Instead, her eyes flicker between the monitors and the main door to the office. She's starting to wear that same look as Lex; it's an expression of guarded hope.
If Lois came back, it would be on her terms. There had been too many if's for Clark's taste.
He went back to watching the windows instead. The slow progression he saw there was far more frightening.
Day 16
He and Lex were playing chess while Chloe was watching and the monitors simultaneously. The lights don't flicker, as much as they simply evacuate, stranding them without any light or sound.
The volume from outside seemed to only grow louder. The moans of the growing horde were loud and hollow, so hungry and listless. Chloe gasped and scrambled to the center of the room as far from the windows as possible. Clark intercepted her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He looked at Lex over her head, wondering if he too wanted some comfort.
He looked satisfied with Clark's show of concern. Just as fast as they went, the lights returned and the noise subsided. And they're back to pretending that the end of the world wasn't just outside the pretty stained glass windows.
Day 18
The lights went out again. Everywhere else they knew the power wouldn't be returning. Lucky for them, Lex established a separate power grid after the tornado a couple of years ago.
They'd be fine. Sitting on the couch in front of the fire, they almost pretended to not be huddling together, watching the flames dance while feeling the radiant warm from the closeness of another human being.
Chloe's still worried about Lois, and so is Clark. But, when he thought about it, she made her choice, and if there's one thing Clark has learned in the mostly painfully hard ways, is that you live by your decisions.
If three weeks ago, someone had told him that he would be in the same room as Lex Luthor and not have their interaction disintegrate into an argument he would have laughed.
There's no laughing now and despite everything—the invulnerability that comes from alien origins, he felt a lot safer with Lex around.
Day 19
Lex continued to watch the security screens. Waiting and watching for any sign of Lana. There's only them, moving lazily, ambling beneath the sheer force of gravity that they were violating, on the grainy grey television screens.
Clark didn't manage to pull Lex away from the screens often, but when he did, they played pool or he forced Lex to tell him more history lectures. When he was younger he hadn't really seen the value in those lectures. Now, they brought Lex out of his head, which above all was a good thing and it broke the silence.
Chloe's taken to reading and scanning the net. Looking for any and everything that could give her some sense about what's happening. She kept them informed. Sometimes, she and Lex debated and analyzed the things she'd found.
There was some talk of sightings of the Green Arrow and others like him in Star City, Gotham, and Metropolis. Chloe gave him a meaningful look that simply seemed out of place now that the three of them were shacking up together. Truly there was no reason to hide anymore.
"At least, we know he's safe." Clark said finally.
Lex cocked his head and wore his signature testy look. "Friends of yours?"
Clark wondered what Lex was expecting. He couldn't very well continue to lie now. "Yeah."
Lex paled slightly, crossed his arms over his chest and stalked over to the windows. For once, Lex's plans and contingencies deserted him in the face of finally getting the truth.
Chloe slid away from the computer that night. She's been reading the books on the library's shelves ever since. Apparently, the news must have gone from bad to worse.
How worse? It might not even matter anymore.
Day 20
Chloe remarked about a weird smell coming from the east wing of the house.
Clark narrowed down the exact location and Chloe and Lex follow him quietly. He recognized the room long before he reached it. One never forgot the exact location where one's greatest friendship came crashing down.
They find Lana.
Chloe cried lowly, while Lex remained off to the side, silent, drawing in on himself.
Clark fell to his knees and stared. Not moving a muscle, he looked like a giant statue as he gazed at Lana, mouth sometimes hanging open, all the while silent.
Secrets were something useful before when there were societal and potentially governmental consequences. Now, there's no need to think of such things. Clark's given the task of burying Lana since he's the only one that remotely had a chance of getting past the slow moving horde outside.
He picked a spot near the garden Lex's mother made years ago. He's not surprised when he sees Lex with an arm wrapped around Chloe's shoulders as they watch from the window. He put some sunflowers on her grave.
They're all just a little bit quieter after that.
Day 30
"I think we should look for others. Think about it there have to be others out there." Chloe explained.
"Chloe, I don't--" Lex began, but stopped short by the ferocity of Chloe's glare.
She turned back to Clark, "There has to be someone out there, Clark."
Clark looked to Chloe, then over with Lex in one long continuous sweep. "I don't hear anyone."
"But Clark--"
"I.Don't.Hear.Anyone." The punctuation of each word scared Lex, since the first time this all began. The certainty in Clark's voice, the fact that it had taken the end of the so-called world for Clark's abilities to no longer be a point of tension and now, they gave him little signs of hope did not make for good times. If Clark suspected correctly, Lex was actually feeling sorry for him.
What was the use in hearing the whole world when it was all silent?
Day 40
He realized in a way that the three of them were only children. Having their own space was as natural as breathing. A month has passed and the idea that this will be over soon was decaying exponentially into wishful thinking.
Lex's hospitality is growing by leaps and bounds. He and Chloe alternate between watching the feeds and scouring the internet and hackers' playgrounds for information. Clark surprisingly became the maid service, because as the office showed, neither Lex or Chloe was capable of picking up after themselves.
Don't get him started on food. Lex ate like a bird and Chloe was still going through caffeine withdrawal. He thanked every deity he could think of that his mother taught him how to cook.
Cabin fever rooted itself deep, resulting in a discussion turned argument and Clark superspeeding back into the office just in time to keep Lex from getting another head injury by way of a flying stapler.
Like someone's mother, he sentenced Chloe to opposite end of the house and Lex to the office. He couldn't afford to have either around the other or allow them to drive him crazy.
They weren't the only ones who could be methodical and calculating. That night he made them hunt for dinner, which he placed on the roof along with one of Lex's old telescopes. That night they killed some of the fever even if they couldn't escape the cabin entirely.
Day 50
Lex kissed him. They were down in the cellar checking on the generator. Somehow, Lex got distracted, which was a feat in itself. Lex stared at a single bottle of wine that lost its place.
The intensity of his gaze kept Clark silent. Still watching the bottle as if it held the answers to all the universe's problems, Lex began to speak. First talking about his father then his mother, Clark listened, unsure of what exactly Lex was trying to tell him.
Then, Lex stopped talking, and simply stared at Clark, eyes dilating and focusing in with a glaze that was hot and bright despite the cool and dim setting. Clark imagined this was how Shark's looked before they dove in for the kill, serene and graceful.
Lex's mouth found his and it's everything a kiss should be. So hot and just soft enough that Clark moans—whimpers even after Lex was through and had started climbing out of the cellar.
Lex didn't mention the kiss, while Clark couldn't stop thinking about it.
Day 52
Clark kissed Lex back.
He's thought about it and thought about it, along with all those things that Lex rambled about and didn't say when he was younger. It felt like this would have been the end result of their friendship if circumstances hadn't gotten in the way.
Crazy, there was only always Lana. Then, came Lex and it was the two of them competing for his attention. His desire was always split, branching between the two like wild streams. In hindsight, after failed relationship after relationship, he should have placed more faith in Lex.
He hoped he conveyed that with his kiss. Lex's fingers wound their way through his hair, and pulled him closer. Clark's sure he got the message.
Day 57
Lex knows everything. It's funny how much they have in common.
There's not much to do, other than read, watch, wait and for Clark, cook. Lex sat at the counter watching him dice through apples. He could have easily sped through it. Instead, he took it slow, slicing slowly and deliberately. Like Lex had done the day in the cellar, Clark began talking about…well, everything.
Being adopted.
Being different.
The price of secrets and friendships.
How he never met to hurt Lex.
His biggest regrets, his failures, every time he disappointed someone he loved.
By the time, he started talking about the abuses of power by parents and how mindfucked—literally, he'd been by his biological father, the guilt his parents instilled in him, Lex had stopped asking him questions a while ago and just listened and marveled at him.
Clark wiped up traces of sugar and cinnamon with a finger and chattered away about the sins of the father and how much he missed his mother, both of them.
What possessed him to slide that finger over to Lex, he was not sure. Lex's tongue wound itself around his skin, sucking off all the traces of sweetness. When Clark swooped in for his kiss, the taste was nothing short of saccharine and spicy.
Day 60
Chloe didn't seem the least bit surprised to see them kissing. Her eyebrows only arched slightly when she saw Lex's hand down Clark's pants.
Day 64
A single lucky one of them pushed on the kitchen door hard enough and it opened. Chloe's still not over coming face to face with one of them while making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Clark was there before a second microsecond had passed. They were hard to handle, because they were rotten flesh and decaying clothing. He tossed that one out the door, and effectively snapped its neck in the process. He welded the door shut with his heat vision. One less out of a loosely assembled horde.
Lex didn't mind that Clark slept with Chloe in his arms that night.
Day 75
Chloe finally asked how long they had been sleeping together.
They were on the roof, partaking in their evening time sunset dinner. Lex gladly answered fifteen days.
Clark had never seen Chloe blush like that.
Day 80
Chloe joined them. They could call it a comfort thing, because well, it's was strangely comfortable.
Clark was sandwiched between them with Chloe to his front, and Lex at his back. Walls of soft and hard surrounded him, touching, tasting, forcing him to feel. Chloe's skin was softer than Lana's and she had an innate smell of spice, probably front all the coffee she'd ingested over the years.
Lex's hands were surprisingly harder than he would have expected. It made sense though, with Lex being so self directed and into doing things himself. Those hands gripped his hips hard, forcing him back while Chloe's arms wrapped around his shoulders clinging to him.
Soft and hard, it's something he could grow used to in the absence of societal norms.
Day 100
Sometimes, Clark thought this was far scarier than what could have been with Zod or his father's demands. He snuck out a few nights ago and went to the caves. He slowed down just before entering. When one saw the faces of their former classmates, blank, scarred, and grey milling about in an unnatural purgatory, it was very arresting.
He's a little more sober by the time he was in the fortress. Cold and crystalline, it seemed to radiate more life than the populated world. Jor-el wasn't deaf to him this time. His words, though, left him extremely uninspired. This world was in a massive stage of dying.
It wasn't his fault though, as Jor-el reminded him. This was something bound to happen anyway. Clark's not sure how this fit into his early Sunday School teachings, he's sure Lex would know.
His biological parents sent him away from a dying world.
His adopted parents simply left him alone on one.
The clock was ticking and they've got nothing but time.
The future wasn't as bright after all.