without the glasses, a superman fanfic

Title: without the glasses

Prompt: lex/clark, secret identity

A/N: Well, this is something I never expected to write. For the DC/Marvel Bingo Exchange, for justanotherray. Let me know if the ending isn't fluffy/happy enough for you—I tried to avoid being ambiguous since that was in your dislikes section. 😊

Summary: He was Lex Fucking Luthor, he should have put two and two together and realized that Clark Kent was Superman.

...

"I should have told you earlier," Clark Kent said, his expression as guileless as ever. Whatever name he took, whatever persona, he was ever the boyscout and maybe that should have given it away.

A lot of things should have given it away. He was Lex Fucking Luthor, he should have known it from the start. It angered him just how obvious it was in hindsight, just how many little things he had ignored. The glasses didn't really hid anything, nor did that slicked back hair, but despite his above normal IQ, he couldn't put two and two together and realize that Clark Kent was Superman.

"I should have noticed," Lex laughed hollowly, rubbing his scalp. Assumptions. He had learned in school to not assume, to use empirical evidence and yet that had been his downfall here. Assumptions. Superman was an alien, a superior being, he should have been in the Justice League watchtower or his fortress of solitude or even just laughing as he watched them from space. Instead he was a farm boy who had dinners on Wednesdays with his parents and overworked himself while chasing a story.

A story he could have easily written up if he'd just used his powers. Lex would have. Irritated, he glowered at his boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend. How the fuck were they dating. "You must think I'm stupid."

"That's not it." Clark bit his lip, clearly uncomfortable. Good. He should be. Considering the bomb he'd just given, he should at least feel as unnerved as Lex did.

"Then you must have been laughing at me," Lex corrected, rubbing his forehead. A headache was forming and he only hoped it would overtake whatever other pain he was feeling.

"Never." Clark reached out to touch him, to grab him, as he had done so often in the past but Lex wasn't having it.

Stepping back, just out of reach, he pointed at the door. "Get out."

"Lex—" Clark made a strangled noise and it was ironic that Lex could finally hurt him.

"Out." A thought hit him and he smirked, pointing at the window. "Or you could go out the window, you can fly after all."

"I'm sorry." And then there was only the wind, a breeze signalling the departure of his long-time foe. Long-time lover.

-x-

The scenery outside his window remained the same and Lex crossed his arms as he leaned against his balcony rail. The last time he had been out here, Clark had been behind him, a glass of wine in each hand. Mozart quietly streamed out of the bedroom, background music as they—

There was no point to following that thought, just as there was no point to lingering in his bed every morning, waiting for a warm arm to drape over his waist. He was used to breaking up with others, to extracting effortlessly from his previous flings, but somehow Clark had integrated into his apartment, his life. There was the coffee maker he had brought when he started staying over, the apron when he cooked their anniversary dinner, and even his toothbrush was still in the bathroom, waiting to be used.

Despite the weeks that had passed, Lex hadn't been able to remove any of those things. Even his usual plots felt like too much effort. Superman wasn't human, was too powerful to understand humans, and so Lex had to do what others couldn't and remove the threat.

But Clark was human, was all too human. He laughed and talked and made love like a human. An alien couldn't blush like that, a trail of red from his cheeks to his ears.

Lex rested his forehead against the rail, pressing the cool metal against his hot head.

-x-

Lex blinked as the sun overhead was suddenly blocked, a bright blue uniform and red cape suddenly filling his vision. His lips curled with distaste at the uniform, an instinctive reaction by this point. There really was only one person who'd find him on the roof of his apartment. "Superman."

He flinched as he floated down, his feet gently hitting the ground. For such a powerful man, he looked so small. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Lex sneered, his pride still wounded. "I should have noticed." After a moment, he finally asked the question that had been on his mind since the reveal. "Why?"

"…I don't know." Superman ran a hand through his hair, and Lex didn't have to even imagine to know what that felt like. To remember the sensation as his fingers curled in Clark's short locks. "At first, I thought you were trying to trick me, so I was just waiting for the other foot to drop. To find out what ploy it was." He smiled softly. "And then…I don't know. Everything changed."

Everything changed. Like the farmboy he was, he didn't know how to word anything precisely or properly. Lex snorted. "That's how you'd put it."

"You know me, I'm not really a poet." Superman chuckled, shrugging. "I fell in love. I thought you did too."

Lex gritted his teeth and looked away. He wasn't sure what was worse, that it had been that innocent and simple from Superman's side, or that he was right.

Despite it all, some part of him had gotten attached to someone. No, not just to someone, but to Clark Kent. To Superman. It was easier to think of them as two separate beings. He clenched his hand around Clark's spare glasses. Earlier he had planned to toss them, to break them, but now he was glad he'd brought them up. "Come here."

"Huh?" Superman blinked, his expression un-guarded and Clark-like.

"Now," Lex repeated, tapping his foot. Obediently, his old foe stepped forward until they were facing each other. Opening the frame, he reached up and put the glasses back on Superman's face. Not quite Clark, not quite Superman. He ran his hands through Superman's hair, mussing it until it was as messy as Clark's.

Not-Superman had closed his eyes throughout this process and Lex remembered how Clark had liked it when he'd played with his hair. Strange. Utterly strange. He wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss or kill the man standing in front of him. Maybe both. He slipped off his tie and carefully looped it around not-Superman's neck.

"Can we try again?" Almost-Clark asked and Lex could smell his mint aftershave off him. He'd missed that scent, just as he'd missed Clark.

And maybe it wasn't just Clark he couldn't recognize anymore but himself. "I'll consider it."

Judging by how Clark's expression lit up, he'd seen through Lex's lie. Within seconds, he'd engulfed Lex in an almost bone-crushing hug. Slowly, Lex looped his own arms around Clark's bigger frame. It had been too long since he'd last done that.

If things didn't work out, he could always go back to giant robots and kryptonite. For now, his bed had been cold and he knew exactly how to change that.