Title: The Club Remix
Author: sparkin
Rating: M
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Genres: Angst, Crossover, Drama, Futurefic, Hurt-Comfort, Romance, Pre-Slash
Warnings: Adult Language, Sexual Content, Drug Use
Summary: Clark enters a dark period in his life. In a club in Gotham, Lex tries to save him.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to DC Comics. Smallville belongs to the WB. I own nothing except my soul. Oh hell, who am I kidding? I sold that years ago for two bottles of Diet Coke and some Mentos.
Author's Notes: Spoilers all the way through Season 5. Un-beta'd. This story is dominated by gay themes and characters. If this makes you uncomfortable, do not read any further.
The Club Remix
Lex rolled over with a groan and slammed a hand down on his alarm clock in an attempt to get it to shut up. For some reason, this didn't seem to be working. After taking a few moments to get his bearings, he realised that it wasn't his alarm going off; rather it was his phone ringing. It didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon either.
He peered blearily at his clock, picked up the receiver and grumbled, "Whoever this is, you'd better have a damn good reason for calling me at 2:30 in morning when I have a board meeting at 9."
"Well hello to you too, Lex. It's Dick."
"Dick?" Why the hell was Dick calling? "Is something wrong? Is Bruce okay? Wait, let me guess, he finally got caught in one of his idiot night time excursions and needs my help."
The voice on the other end sounded amused. "Bruce is fine, Lex. Everything's okay with us. I was wondering more about you. Or rather someone who might be a friend of yours."
"Dick, it's late and I really don't the patience for this right now. You have 2 minutes to tell me why you're calling me and then I'm hanging up," Lex paused for a moment. "What's with the music in the background? Are you at a club?"
"Yeah, that's why I'm calling. I'm at Atlantis with some friends and there's someone here that I think might be friend of yours. He's looking pretty rough, though. He's definitely strung out on something."
Lex was confused. Who did he know that would be strung out in a club in Gotham? Seven years ago this wouldn't have been an unusual occurrence, but he had left that life behind. "What makes you think he's a friend of mine?" he asked, curiosity piqued.
"He keeps talking about you. Everything he says is 'Lex this' and 'Lex that.'"
"You mean he's dropping my name to get free drinks and special treatment? Who cares? Tell him that I don't help freeloaders and have him thrown out."
"No, it's not like that. I don't think he's trying to get anything out of it. He never even mentions your last name, but from the way he's talking it sounds like the guy idolises you."
Lex could practically hear Dick rolling his eyes. "Look, I'm sure I'm not the only Lex in the world. It's probably someone else. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to sle-"
"-How many other Lex's own a crap factory, have ruined more cars than the Dukes of Hazzard and have a complete bastard for a father?" Dick interrupted.
Shit. "Okay, so he might know me," Lex admitted. "Did you happen to catch his name?"
"I asked around. The bartender says he goes by Kal. He also said that this guy's been coming here about once every couple of weeks for almost a year, but suddenly he's started showing up every night for the last two weeks. And he's looking progressively more wasted every night."
Lex raised an eyebrow. "Does this bartender keep such good records of every patron there?"
Dick snickered. "Trust me, I think everyone in the room is keeping an eye on this Kal guy. The guy is gorgeous."
"Hmm, Kal… Kal… it sounds familiar but I can't think of anyone named Kal. What does he look like?"
"He's a bit like Bruce, actually. Tall, dark and brooding. Or at least he seems like he would be brooding if he wasn't so high."
Warning bells were beginning to go off in Lex's head. It couldn't be. "I need you to be more specific than that, Dick. How tall? Hair colour? Eye colour?"
Dick paused for a minute, "I'd say he's about 6'4", built like a brick-shithouse, dark messy hair that makes you want to run your hands through it, and green eyes. Or at least I think they're green. The bartender said they sometime look blue and one of the regulars here swears that they are hazel. No one seems to agree. They sometimes look at bit red too but that's probably the drugs. Maybe he wears colour contacts and changes th-"
"-Aw shit," Lex interrupted.
"So you do know him then!"
"You could say that. I think it might be Clark," Lex said with a sigh.
"Clark? That's Clark? The Clark?"
The bald man scowled. "What do you mean 'the Clark'?"
"I mean the Clark who has a starring role in every story you've ever told us about your time in Smallville. The Clark you hit with your Porsche. The Clark who was your Best Man at both of your weddings. The Clark that you were obviously in love with but were too chicken-shit to tell so you went after his girlfriend instead. The Clark you've been pining for ever since he skipped town." Dick's smirk was damn-near audible.
"Dick, shut up. I'm not pining for Clark. We are – we were just friends. That's it. Besides he's straight. Very, very straight."
"Right. He's so straight that he's in the middle of a gay bar grinding with two guys as we speak."
If Lex had a hairline his eyebrows would have just shot into it. "What! Listen. Just watch him for me, will you? I'll get the chopper and see if it's really him. I should be there in about 45 minutes. Call me if he leaves the club."
"Sure, Lex. Just friends. Right." click Before Lex could reply Dick was gone. So much for sleeping tonight. Lex picked up the phone again and called the control house on the roof of his Penthouse. "Tell Paul to get the helicopter ready. We're leaving for Gotham in 5 minutes," he barked. Being a Luthor had some advantages: like not having to worry about silly things like FAA regulations. He could simply give an order and trust that it would be carried out.
He dressed automatically and headed for the roof. His mind was in chaos the entire ride to Gotham. What if it isn't Clark? What if it is? What do you say to someone who saves you from being inhabited by an alien being, keeps said alien from destroying the world and then disappears before you wake up confused and alone in the hospital? Why now? Lex had finally moved on and gotten over Clark… not that he was ever under him … and wow, that's a bad train of thought. Though if what Dick said was true, then maybe Clark wasn't as straight as he thought. But did that mean that Clark just didn't want Lex? Which is worse? Clark rejecting his whole gender or Clark specifically rejecting him?
Lex's thoughts were interrupted by the helicopter landing on the roof of the night club. He threw a mask of bored disinterest onto his face and walked down into the club. Dick looked nervous when he met Lex at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey Lex!" He said with forced cheerfulness, "Wanna get a drink first? Catch up a little?"
"Where is he, Dick?"
"Look, maybe I was wrong. Maybe it's not really him…"
"Where. Is. He?"
Dick gulped. "He, uh, he just went into the back room. With someone."
Lex didn't trust his voice and showing weakness was not an option, so he gave a curt nod and began stalking towards the back room. Most people would have to squeeze through the crowd of people to get there, but not Lex. The men in the club seemed to decide that it would a good idea to keep the hell out of his way.
He made his way through the darkly lit back room easily. Almost immediately he spotted a familiar mop of hair in some blonde guy's lap. He was also shirtless. And wearing extremely tight jeans that hugged his ass ever so nicely – shit, stop checking him out. Please don't be Clark. Please don't be Clark.
But it was. Of course. As soon as the guy finished, Clark stood up and turned around still wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He was Clark, but he was different.
"Clark?" Lex asked, a little uncertainly.
"Lex?" The younger man's eyes widened almost comically, and then he slipped into a cocky grin. His eyes made an obvious once-over of Lex's body. "How's it hangin'?"
Yeah, Clark was definitely high on something. This was not the Clark he knew. Lex had only seen Clark act this cocky twice before and both times had been back in Clark's sophomore year in high school. Both times Lex had been convinced that Clark was on something.
Lex had to admit that this confidence looked good on Clark. Really good. But that was neither here nor there. Lex had done the whole drugs and alcohol scene and had come out of it relatively unscathed, but a lot of his old friends had not. A lot of them hadn't made it out at all. He was not about to lose Clark to that too.
"It's good to see you again, Clark. Come on. I'm taking you home."
"Fuck off," Clark sneered. "I don't need you to take care of me. I've been doing fine on my own."
Lex rolled his eyes and took a rather pointed look around the back room. "Yeah, I can see that. Just look at what a great job you've been doing. Now come on. I'm taking you back to Metropolis and we'll figure this out tomorrow when you're sober." He grabbed at the younger man's wrist and attempted to drag him out of there.
At this, Clark's partner seemed to rouse himself out of his stupor and grabbed Clark's other wrist. "Hey buddy! Kal here isn't going anywhere that he doesn't want to. And he doesn't want to go anywhere with you. So fuck off before you get in over your head."
Clark looked amused by the struggle going on between the two men but ultimately decided that he didn't feel like being the rope in a tug-of-war and wrenched his wrists out of both men's hands. He turned to the blonde guy "Don't worry about it, Mike. Lex and I go way back. It's been a while since we've talked."
Mike appeared doubtful. "You sure about this, Kal?"
"Yeah, no worries. Lex wouldn't want the publicity if something were to happen to me," Clark smirked.
Lex had to fight not to wince. Great. That just about guaranteed that it would be all over the tabloids tomorrow that he was in a gay bar in Gotham picking up twinks and bringing them home. Just perfect. He was going to have to get Jenny down in PR to put some kind of spin on it tomorrow.
Mike wrote his number on a card and shoved it into Clark's back pocket. "Well the next time you're in Gotham, give me a call," and he added an extra squeeze of Clark's ass before removing his hand.
Lex just turned and walked out the back room, not looking back. To the outside world it looked as if he didn't care if Clark was following him or not but in reality he didn't want to look back and see that Clark wasn't there. He gave Dick a nod and a smile of thanks on his way out and walked up the stairs to the helicopter.
To his relief, when he climbed into the helicopter Clark climbed in after him. Thankfully he was also wearing a t-shirt that had materialised somewhere along the way, but he wasn't blushing or hanging his head like the Clark he knew. No, this guy was almost swaggering. "So, can I take you back to the Penthouse, or should I take you to a hospital first to have your stomach pumped?" Lex asked conversationally.
The dark haired man rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. It'll wear off in about an hour. I can already feel it beginning to fade. The hospital won't be able to detect anything anyway."
"What do you mean by that?" Lex asked sharply. What the hell kind of drugs had Clark gotten himself into?
Clark just snorted. "I mean, that I don't react to drugs and alcohol the way most people do. This is something special that only affects me. My roommate is majoring in chemistry and he makes it for me. He thinks I just like the red colour it gives to my drinks. It only lasts about 6 hours."
Lex sat there for a moment, stunned. This was the closest that Clark had ever come to admitting that he was not like everyone else. Lex had suspected for a long time that the other man was another meteor freak, but Clark had always denied everything. Obviously this special drug removed some of Clark's inhibitions. Chances were, if he asked him what his secret was right now, Clark would actually tell him. But did he want to be that guy? The guy that took advantage of a friend when he was vulnerable?
No. A few years ago he probably would have been that guy, but now he wanted Clark to tell him when he was ready. He wanted Clark to trust him with it. He owed Clark that much, at least. "I think maybe the rest of this conversation should wait until we're back in the Penthouse. If nothing else it'll have more things that we can smash if we want."
Clark gave a half-hearted smile and nodded.
A little over half an hour later they touched down on the top of LexCorp Tower. Clark looked confused. "Lex? I thought we were going to the Penthouse."
Lex gave proud little smile. "We are. My Penthouse. My own public pissing contest with my father. Welcome to LexCorp Tower. You aren't the only one that's been busy this last year. It's a full 15 stories higher than LuthorCorp Tower."
The dark haired man glanced around. "And it's directly across the street from LuthorCorp, I see."
Lex gave a devilish grin. "Of course. What good is beating my father if I can't rub his face in it everyday? Come on, let me give you the 5 dollar tour."
"I thought it was a nickel tour?" Clark asked with amusement.
Lex shrugged, trying to ignore the fluttering in his stomach. "Inflation. It's getting to everything these days."
It was ridiculous. He had entertained actual kings in the Penthouse, and somehow, he was more nervous about Clark seeing it. This wasn't the mansion where he could blame his father for the decor. This was his Penthouse. His baby. He went through the living room, the den (complete with pool table), the kitchen, the dining room, the library, his bedroom and the half dozen guest rooms each with their own bathrooms and separate balconies and ended in his personal office.
"It's nice. There's no possible way that you could need this much space, but it's nice. I think my entire apartment could fit in one of your bathrooms," Clark said with a grin.
There it was, the patented Clark Kent grin. Finally some part of his Clark was coming back. "Well, you know, I have to do a lot of entertaining here, so the space is nice. Plus whenever my dad decides to drop in for a visit there's no such thing as too much space," Lex smirked and offered the other man a seat.
Clark sank into a comfortably overstuffed chair gave a knowing grin, "Oh yeah, I remember."
"Do you want something to drink?" Lex asked, then specified "Water or coffee or something?"
Clark looked relieved to be able to put off the conversation even just a little longer. "Uh yeah. Water would be nice."
Lex watched him smile at the sight of the blue Ty Nant bottle. Time to get down to the matter at hand, though. "So, do you want to tell me what tonight was all about?" he asked carefully.
Clark blew out a breath in a rush. "It's… it's kind of a long story…"
"I have time. You know I'm not going to judge you. You know I haven't been exactly squeaky clean in my past. Why don't you just start with something simple. Are you working? Are you in school?"
"Yeah. I'm studying journalism at Gotham U. After that summer … with everything that happened … I couldn't stay in Smallville. I needed to be alone. I just end up hurting everyone I'm near."
"Clark…"
The younger man was visibly upset. "No, don't. Chloe died in the riot in Metropolis because of me. It's my fault. I left her there so that I could go confront -… never mind."
"Me. You left her so that you could go confront me. Isn't that what you were going to say? And then I got inhabited by Zod." Lex stated quietly.
"Well yeah, but it wasn't your fault-"
"-If it's your fault then it's just as much my fault. I know you have this hero complex, but as much as you try to, you can't save everyone. There's no way you could have known what would happen."
"But I should have taken her with me instead of leaving her in Metropolis!" Clark paused for a few moments, trying to regain his composure. "Afterwards I decided it would be better for everyone if I left. I couldn't stay in Smallville and there was too high a chance of running into people in Metropolis. I made my way to Gotham. I got a job working at a construction site and managed to get late acceptance into the journalism program. Dorms were already full so I got myself a crappy apartment and a roommate to split the bills. Once winter hit the construction jobs got kind of scarce so I have three part-time jobs on-campus. I only have time to take a partial course load so it's going to take me a few extra years finish, but I'll get there eventually. I shelve books in the library, serve food in the cafeteria, and give tours to prospective students and their families. Or at least I did, up until a couple of weeks ago. I haven't shown up in while so I guess I don't have those jobs anymore." he said staring at the carpet.
Lex was impressed. "You do all of that and still find time to go to class, study and write term papers?" And go clubbing regularly he added mentally. "I'm guessing your mother doesn't know about all of this."
Clark became defensive quickly. "I keep my grades up. And I call her at least once a week. I make sure that she doesn't worry. She doesn't need to know about the jobs. Or the clubs."
"And now that you don't have those jobs? How are you going to support yourself now?"
"I'll be fine. I don't need handouts," he said with a scowl worthy of Jonathon Kent.
"Fine. But if you were doing so well then what was with tonight? Or the last two weeks, if the bartender was right?"
Clark's eyes narrowed, "You talked to the bartender about me? How did you find me tonight? Have you been spying on me again? I can't believe you! I-"
"-Clark, shut up." Wonder of wonders, the boy actually did shut up. "I haven't been spying on you. A friend of mine was at the club. He saw what a mess you were and heard you mention my name. He talked to the bartender and found out about you. He thought I might want to know that a friend of mine was in trouble so he called me and I came. That's it. Now stop avoiding the damn subject and tell me what happened that made you turn to drugs or whatever the hell it was, and throw away this life you fought so hard to build for yourself in Gotham!"
Clark started pacing the room. "I - I - I don't know. It was just too much. I didn't want to be boring old Clark Kent anymore. I was tired of always being the good one. The dependable one. I needed to escape, even just for a few hours. For a while I limited myself to just once every couple of weeks. But then – I don't know."
Quietly, calmly, trying not to upset the younger man any more than he already had, Lex offered "Does it have anything to do with the fact that this Friday will be one year since the riot? Since Chloe died?"
The pacing stopped. Clark seemed to just crumple to the floor. "God, Chloe. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He wrapped his arms around his knees, buried his face in his arms and began to rock a little. Lex felt helpless. He didn't know how to deal with this kind of emotion. Anger he could do. Jealousy, no problem. But this? This grief mixed with guilt? He didn't have clue. He awkwardly went to Clark and put his arms around him trying to soothe him. Eventually he forgot about his own discomfort and just held Clark, rubbing small circles on his back like he once remembered Pamela doing for him.
"I'm so sorry, Chloe. I was never good enough for you. Never a good enough friend. I wasn't good enough to save you. I'm so sorry. So sorry. So sorry. So sorry." He continued on with this chant until it became just broken sobs. Almost half an hour later Lex glanced at the clock. Shit. It was nearly 8 am. He helped Clark off the floor and led him to the guest bedroom next to his own. He pointed out the bathroom and some new pyjamas in various sizes in one the drawers.
"You should get some rest. I'm really sorry that I have to leave you, but I have to go to work. But… stay here? Please? Will you be here when I get back?" For the first time in his adult life, Lex let his own insecurities show.
Clark gave an exhausted nod and a small smile. "I only have one class tomorrow… or today, I guess, and it's not mandatory. Just prep for the final." The younger man was almost at the bathroom when he stopped and turned. "Lex? I just want… that is… I mean… thanks."
"We were friends once. I hope we can be friends again. Get some rest." With that Lex headed to his own room and began getting ready for the day ahead of him. A meeting with the board on three hours of sleep was not going to be fun.
At three o'clock Lex gave in. The day had been a complete waste. He nearly fell asleep in the board meeting, and he had no idea what he had agreed to. After his 8th call to the his housekeeper to make sure that Clark was still there, he was told rather sharply that if he was so concerned, perhaps he should take the elevator up the 11 floors and come check on Clark himself. It was too bad that he was going to have to fire her. He quite liked Hildy, but he couldn't have his servants talking to him like that.
She did have a point though. Why the hell was he down here getting absolutely nothing done when Clark was upstairs? He told his Executive Assistant, Charity, that he was taking the rest of the day off. He must have looked worse than he thought. Normally she's grill him for half an hour before letting him go. Today she just smiled and said "Good. I was afraid I was going to have to force you to go home myself."
Lex wasn't sure if he should reprimand her for speaking to him like that. On the other hand, she just sent him home to Clark. He decided instead to give her a raise.
He stepped into his private elevator and thought about how nice it was to have someone to go home to. Maybe… no that's a stupid idea. The elevator doors opened and he unlocked the Penthouse and went in. He found Clark, clad only in pyjama bottoms, in the den, bent over the pool table, attempting to make a tricky shot. Now that was sight worth leaving work early for.
"Clark! I'm glad you stayed!"
A slow blush spread over Clark's face and started to make its way down his chest. "Um, I actually tried to leave earlier, but um, your housekeeper kind of took my clothes while I was in the shower. She said she was going to wash them, and then she uh, never gave them back. I couldn't go back to Gotham in just pj's, so I'm still here." Clark seemed to realise how his words might sound and hastened to add "I wasn't trying to snub you or anything! It's just that after, my uh, breakdown last night… or this morning, I guess, I was kind of embarrassed."
Ah, Hildy! What a brilliant woman. He was going to have to give her a raise. And a bonus. And maybe a car. "Clark, you don't have to be embarrassed. That's what friends do, right? They're there for you when you need them. I'm hoping that we can be friends again."
Clark blushed again. "Um, thanks. Do you think I could have my clothes now? I promise I won't leave."
That sounds nice. Don't leave. Ever. But on the other hand, did he really want to give Clark his clothes back and cover up that gorgeous skin? Not really, but he did promise not to leave. Oh right, Clark's still waiting for an answer. "Uh, sure. I'll go find Hildy and see what she's done with them." A few minutes later Clark was once again fully clothed. Damn.
It was Clark that started the conversation this time. "So you've heard about my life. What's new with you? Besides LexCorp Tower, I mean."
"Well, I guess you've probably heard that Lana and I broke up."
A nod.
"I am sorry about that Clark. I really am. I did care for her, but I'm sorry that I hurt you. I woke up in the hospital after everything happened and we realised that we weren't right for each other. She left town. The last I heard, she had met up with Pete in Wichita and the two are seeing each other. Other than that I've mostly been focusing on expanding LexCorp and running LuthorCorp. My father is still the magnificent bastard that he is. He was beaten up badly in the riot and has significant gaps in his memory for the year before it happened. I think Zod might have done something to him. For instance he can remember being kidnapped with your mom by that Saw-wannabe, but he can't remember how they escaped. Weird things like that." Lex shrugged. "What about you? Do you have any idea what you're going to do now that you don't have those jobs?" Lex was already planning miraculous scholarships in his head.
Shrug. "I don't know. This month's rent is already paid so I can finish finals, but after that, I don't know."
"You could, I mean, if you wanted to, you could live here. If you want." Lex offered. Jesus, listen to him. He sounded like a 12 year old girl, not one of the most powerful men in the world.
"That's an awfully long commute to Gotham U, Lex."
"You could transfer. To Met U."
"Lex, I appreciate the offer, but I want to do this on my own. I need to prove that I can. I'm trying to be responsible for myself. I want to make my dad proud."
Oh. "I'm not trying to imply that you aren't capable. But," he took a deep breath "I'd like it if you'd stay. It's kind of lonely here and I could use a friend. And a roommate."
"Well…"
Lex decided to play his trump card "And I'm sure that your mom would be glad to have you closer to home."
Clark blew out his breath in a rush. "Yeah. Okay. I mean, that'd be great. But I still need to do this on my own. I'll find another job and pay for my own tuition. I don't want any made-up scholarships coming out of nowhere. And I'll pay rent."
Inwardly he was shouting 'Clark said yes! Clark said yes!' Outwardly he merely nodded his head. "Sure. Fine. No scholarships. Keep my money to myself. I can do that. But Clark, you don't have to pay rent. I own the building. I certainly don't need anymore money."
"But-"
"-Can you cook?"
Clark just gave him a Look. "Are you serious? Do you really think my mom would let me loose into the world without making sure I could cook?"
"Excellent. Hildy is a housekeeper, not a cook and I don't cook for shit. I was looking at having to get a live-in cook. Instead, you can cook. You get to earn your keep, and I get to eat something besides take-out. Everyone wins."
Clark gave Lex one of his ear-to-ear grins, and suddenly, Lex was home. To some people gaining a roommate was not that big of a deal, but to Lex, having Clark back in his life was cause for celebration. Things weren't perfect. There were still discussions and fights that needed to happen them, but for now? Lex was home.
Fin