Dreaming Clark

By Annie

Rated: PG-13

Summary: Lex had dreams; brief scene; could be anytime, but likely Season 1.

Spoilers: Assume all eps

Disclaimer: Still not mine, no matter how many candles I blow out. :(

Feedback: crehnertptd.net

Dreaming men are haunted men. -- Stephen Vincent Benet

"What do you dream, Lex?"

One minimally-raised eyebrow was the only indication that Clark's question caught him by

surprise. "A rather personal question, don't you think, Clark?" Lex hid a smile as Clark shifted in

his place on the couch a bit uncomfortably. He closed his laptop, coming around the desk to pour

a few fingers of Scotch into a gold-rimmed glass.

"I was just wondering. I thought maybe you always had huge epic dreams about old Greek myths,

or maybe nightmares about your business deals. Or maybe you just dream everything in green."

Clark grinned playfully.

Lex frowned for a second and then laughed, a rare enough sound that Clark reveled in it

gratefully. He didn't want Lex angry about being asked personal questions. Lex came and sat on

the opposite end of the couch, relaxing back into the soft leather and loosening his tie a bit more.

"Let me see if I can guess what you dream," he teased, taking a sip from his glass to hide yet

another smile. "I can see Clark Kent's dreams and they're full of brunettes and blondes, term

papers, chores and new trucks your Dad won't let you have. How close am I?"

Clark shook his head. "Nowhere near."

Lex hid his surprise yet again. "What brought on this intriguing, probably philosophical

discussion we're about to have?"

Clark shrugged. "I have bad dreams sometimes. A lot actually." He tapped the side of his head

lightly. "Not all blondes and brunettes in here, apparently."

Lex looked thoughtful for such a long time then that Clark thought the discussion was over

before it started. "You're talking to the king of nightmares, Clark," Lex said finally, taking

another sip of Scotch as he decided to continue what Clark had started.

"After the meteor shower, I had nightmares for years. They haunted me night and day. I'd wake

up screaming and thrashing around in the covers." A ghost of a smile wafted across Lex's

suddenly sad face. "My Mother would come running into my room from way down the hall.

She'd want to comfort me, but of course my Father would come running right behind her, telling

her how she was making me weak by not allowing me to work my own way through them. I

wanted my Mother when I woke up, terrified, in the dark. She knew it, and she'd defy him by

coming to my rescue, to make sure I was fully awake and out of whatever particular nightmare I

was having that night. My Father gave her a hard time about it, but she wouldn't give in."

"I'm sorry, Lex."

"It's not your fault, Clark. Anyway, after a few years, the nightmares started to abate a little, and

were replaced by this....I have to say it, and don't think I'm crazy....this presence in my dreams. I

don't remember anything for a few days after the meteor shower. I was in shock, of course, being

so young and going through something like that was extremely traumatizing. The nightmares

started playing out differently in my head after my Mother died. Instead of constant images of

fire raining down on me and cries for help coming from every direction, there was comfort. It

was like my Mother's hand stroking the side of my face to ease my fears. I'd wake up sometimes

wanting to see her, but she was never there. I told myself she was still trying to chase away the

bad dreams. Still taking care of me. Right through my adolescent years, the nightmares still

came, the comforting presence still chased them away. I began to realize, after a while, that the

presence had always been there. From the very first dream. As long as I had my Mother to

comfort me, to chase the nightmares away, I hadn't needed this...whatever it was."

"That's a wonderful story, Lex"

Half smile then, as Lex took a small sip of his Scotch. "It's not the whole story. Not as far as I'm

concerned."

Clark frowned. "You still have these nightmares?" he asked, averting his eyes briefly.

"When I opened my eyes and saw you leaning over me after you pulled me out of the river, I

knew we had a destiny," Lex explained, ignoring the question. "I wasn't sure exactly what that

destiny would be. I'm still not sure, but I have learned never to second-guess my own intuition.

That same night, my feelings were confirmed without a doubt in my mind."

Clark was puzzled. "I was in your nightmare?"

"You were always in them."

"Lex? How could that be," Clark asked uneasily.

"It wasn't my Mother comforting me in my dreams, Clark." Lex admitted, leaning closer

earnestly. "Somehow, it was you. Then you pulled me out of the river and I didn't need you in

my dreams anymore."

"What would make you think that?" Clark wanted to know, instinctively leaning toward Lex,

waiting for his answer.

"I was finally here with you. Destiny was being fulfilled on Loeb's Bridge. After you saved me, I

never had the dreams again."