Author: Mitch
Title: Operation: Humbug
Series: Part 1
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Spoilers: One for Nicodemus that is so vague I'm not even sure why I'm mentioning it.
Feedback: 'Tis the ****ing season, as Lex would say. Give me the gift of validation. :)
**********
December 7, 2002
4:30PM
Lana looked up from her seat behind the bar as Lex entered the Talon in a flash of bright light and black trench coat. Shielding her eyes form the sun's reflection on the snow outside, she called out to him.
"Lex? I thought you were busy this month."
"I decided to take a coffee break," he replied, seating himself at a barstool.
"But I thought you were 'busier than busy has every been,'" Lana pushed.
"I made time," he stated.
"Something along the lines of 'If you have an emergency, call Clark, call Nell, call on the Devil himself if you have to, as long as it's not me, because I'll be too b--'"
"I'll ask you to keep in mind, Lana, that I am still a partner in the business. Now you can either stop making fun of me and pour me a cup of coffee, or try and talk it out with the guy operating the wrecking ball. And I'll tell you up front, he's hard of hearing."
Lana smiled innocently. "Just so we're clear, boss."
Lex squinted in return and she poured his coffee. Then she returned to her own seat and looked at him for a moment.
"To tell you the truth, I'm glad you came out," she said. "Being locked up in that lonely old mansion for days on end can't be good for you."
Lex perked up at this. "What do you know about my lonely old mansion?"
"The words cold and desolate come to mind. I'm guessing you don't even have any Christmas decorations up."
"As a matter of fact I don't," he said, leaning in conspiratorially. "I wish I had... a little something to brighten up the place."
Lana lifted her eyebrows. "Yeah. You'll have to get on that," she said, confused.
Is it her? Lex thought. Seems like something she would do. But why the secrecy? Unless she has feelings for me...
Lex shivered at the thought and decided to let it go. Lana was a nice enough girl, but not even close to what he was looking for. Besides the fact that the one he was looking for was too busy looking for Lana to acknowledge anyone else's existence.
It was on this joyous note that the little bells hanging from the door jingled again as Chloe entered with Pete in tow. Chloe's face lit up when she saw Lex.
"Hey, Lex! Welcome back to the world of the living!"
"Chloe, it's only been a week."
"And that's an abnormally large amount of time for your name to stay out of the papers. I hate to say it, Lex, but I think you're losing your edge."
Lex smiled good-naturedly as he became even more confused. Had Chloe always been this friendly? Maybe she was the one who sent the gift. She seemed to fit the role of a secret admirer a little better than Lana. But then again, maybe he was just projecting. Everyone was a little friendlier around the holidays.
Pete sat at the stool next to him and slapped him on the back. "Hey, man. I'm glad you're here."
"Huh?" Lex gaped at Pete in disbelief. Oh, God no.
"I mean, not that I don't enjoy the extra time with Clark, but I think he's going into withdrawals."
"Excuse me?"
"'Lex this' and 'Lex that' and 'Lex always says' and 'one time, me and Lex.'" Pete laughed. "He's like a lost puppy."
Lex's insides melted as he tried to stifle the heat that was creeping up his cheeks. He got a visual of Clark on his hands and knees, sticking out his tongue and panting like a puppy, and the heat in his face quickly traveled elsewhere, startling him out of his reflection.
He blinked at Pete, who was still looking at him warmly, waiting for a response.
Why the hell is he being so nice to me?
"Pete, don't take this the wrong way. But you haven't been sneezed on by any exotic flowers recently, have you?"
Pete chuckled. "Come on , Lex, it's Christmas. And I decided that if Clark trusts you, I can trust you. You're not responsible for your father's actions."
He slapped Lex on the back again, and just as Lex was about to choke on his own tongue, he noticed Pete's other hand next to Chloe's, their pinkies loosely linked. Suddenly it all fell into place. Pete hadn't turned over a new leaf at all. He was just seeing the world, and Lex, through Chloe-tinted lenses. Or more appropriately, he was ass-over-teakettle in lust.
Well, that was all fine and dandy, but it didn't help Lex. Lana didn't send him the gift. Neither did Chloe and thankfully, neither did Pete. Who else was there? His list of friends in Smallville wasn't exactly lengthy.
He was distantly aware of another round of jingling bells and then he heard Lana say, "Oh, hi, Clark."
Feeling his ears begin to burn, Lex turned slowly to the door where Clark was coming in, his face hidden by the stack of small boxes he was carrying.
"Where do you want the pies?" he asked.
"Behind the bar is fine. I'll put them away in a minute."
Clark walked toward the bar, his sense of direction astounding, considering the visual obstruction.
"Hey, Lex!" he intoned, his voice suddenly filled with excitement.
Lex, still unable to see Clark's face, froze with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth. Clark put the boxes down behind the bar and popped back up, eyes twinkling with a smile more blinding than the snow.
"Clark, how did you know I was here?"
Clark's eyes shifted almost imperceptibly and his smile brightened. "Your cologne. I'd recognize that $200 toilet water anywhere."
Lex exhaled in mock annoyance. "Eau de toilette, Clark."
"Ooh, pretty." Clark's twinkling didn't weaken a single watt and Lex wondered how long he could look at it before completely losing his sight. Not that having such an image burned onto his retinas for all eternity would be such a bad thing.
But presently, Clark had broken eye contact to join Lex at the front of the bar, taking the stool to his right. Pete and Chloe returned to their own googly-eyed dimension, and Lana got to work putting away the pies.
"Merry Christmas, Lex," Clark said, and Lex would have bet his life that he had never heard that tired phrase offered with such sincerity.
"Humbug," Lex replied, quickly covering his smile with a sip of his coffee.
"Oh, right. I forgot. You're too busy skinny-dipping in your money bin to celebrate Christmas. Isn't that right, Ebenezer?"
"Clark, even I have enough knowledge of pop culture to know that Scrooge McDuck was the one with the money bin, not Ebenezer Scrooge. And secondly, what makes you think I swim naked?" Clark's jaw dropped.
Score on for Luthor, Lex thought as his statement put a halt to Clark's teasing. Temporarily anyway.
"So what are you doing for Christmas, Uncle Scrooge?"
"Actually, Clark, I'll be doing the same thing I did last year, the same thing I should be doing right now, which is going through the hordes of unopened mail on my desk. So if you'll excuse me..." Lex got up to leave, and Clark's demeanor jumped from playful to urgent in about 0.2 seconds.
"Lex, wait!" He grabbed Lex's arm, perhaps more firmly than intended. But Lex wasn't hurt. Only startled.
"Clark?"
"I haven't seen you all month."
"And so far, this month has consisted of seven days. It's not like I've abandoned you."
Clark shrugged. "I know, but still. A week is a long time for us."
"Clark, I'm sorry. But--"
"Please?" Clark grabbed his arm again, this time squeezing gently. "Can we please just hang out for a little while?"
The warm pressure on his bicep and the dark pleading eyes in front of him were too much. Lex caved.
"Fine. But just a few hours, Clark. I mean it."
"Great!" Clark jumped off his stool and advanced like he was going to hug Lex in his excitement. He stopped himself, however, and put one arm around Lex instead, leading him to the door. "You can come with me to make my next delivery."
"Where's that?" Lex asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You'll see." Clark flashed a mischievous smile, and Lex found, as he seldom did with anyone but Clark, that he didn't mind putting himself in someone else's hands.
That was the thing about Clark Kent. Not only could he make you cancel a prior engagement to fly by the seat of your pants to some unknown destination, but he could make you happy to do it. Shirking responsibility with a smile on your face and a spring in your step. And it was almost like Clark wasn't aware of the power he possessed.
Well, that's not entirely true, Lex thought. I think Clark is very well aware that he isn't like other teenage boys.
But he did his best to put his suspicions aside. Clark would tell Lex the truth about that when he was ready. Hopefully.
**********
Clark parked the pickup truck and turned to Lex, as if waiting for his blank expression to be quickly replaced by one of complete understanding. It wasn't. In fact, it became even more blank if that was possible.
"The Smallville Community Center?"
"Yup," Clark answered, smiling.
"You're making a delivery to the Smallville Community Center?"
"Yup," Clark nodded excitedly, waiting for Lex to catch on.
But Lex merely scratched his head. "I didn't know Smallville had a community center."
"Leeeex!" Clark gave him a frustrated shove.
"What, Clark? I'm obviously not getting it. Just tell me why we're here."
"Think about it. What do community centers do?"
"I don't know, community stuff? Activities?"
"Right. And what time of year is it?"
"Christmas, Clark, but I don't see--"
"So who in the community would most enjoy Christmas activities?"
Lex thought a moment longer, and his eyes widened. "Clark--"
"It's the annual Christmas party for all the kids in the area! Come on, help me get the apple cider out of the back!"
"But, Clark, I--" Before Lex could finish, Clark had hopped out of the truck and was taking a large thermos from the back. Lex opened his own door and jogged as calmly as he could to Clark's side. "Clark, I don't think--"
"Here, Lex, could you take this for me?" Clark pushed the thermos into Lex's arms and reached for the other one. Once he had it against his chest, he started toward the entrance.
"Come on, I think the party's already started."
"Clark, stop!" Lex's voice cracked and Clark turned around, concerned. Lex took several paces forward, thermos firmly clutched, and spoke in a quiet, controlled voice. "I can't go in there, Clark. I... I don't do kids."
The concern melted into amusement and Clark held back a laugh. "You mean the same way you don't do Christmas?"
"I'm serious. Kids and I just don't get along. They're like a pack of drooling wolves."
"What? Lex, knock it off."
"Fear, Clark. It's all about the fear. They can smell it, you know."
Clark came toward Lex, bridging what was left of the gap, and put on his most understanding face. "We'll just be in and out, Lex. Two minutes at the most."
Lex took a breath and cautiously nodded. He followed Clark into the outer hallway of the center and felt his stomach lurch at the lilting sound of the kids laughing in the common room. He had put up a front for Clark, pretending that he just didn't like kids and using fear as a joke. But the fear was only too real.
Kids hated Lex. They had hated him for as long as he could remember. Hell, they hated him when he was one of them. He blamed it on his baldness and before that, his name, and before that, he had trouble remembering. He had dim memories of his own Christmas party at the age of 6, a party his parents had thrown for him. His mother had wanted him to be happy. His father had wanted him to be normal and fit in.
When most children were counting the days left until Christmas and writing letters to Santa, Lex was studying. Christmas seemed like a dream, something a young scholar had no time for. Lionel only conceded to the party when the headmaster of Lex's school informed him that Lex wasn't making any friends.
But he only succeeded in making Lex feel more ostracized. The other children came only because their parents wanted the scoop on the Luthors and their home and they paid no mind to Lex except the occasional snicker at his curly red hair and expensive clothes.
Forcing himself back to the present, Lex stopped Clark's arm from reaching for the door to the common room. Clark looked at him inquiringly.
"What age are these kids?"
Clark thought about it. "I'm sure there's quite a range, but the majority will be around 6 or 7. Why?"
"Just wondering," Lex replied, as what remained of his stomach turned to mush. It wasn't just the kids he feared. It was Clark seeing their reaction.
They really were a pack of wolves. Canines are known for their ability to smell out anything foul or unclean. Children are the same way. Lex knew he could never dream of being as good and pure-hearted as Clark, and he feared Clark would finally see that when the kids reacted to him badly, as he was sure they would. He stopped Clark one last time.
"In and out, okay?"
Clark merely smiled and entered the room. Holding his breath, Lex followed and he felt his heart go out of rhythm as the children stopped what they were doing to look at the newcomers. As if on cue, they all shouted at the same time.
"CLARK!!!" Suddenly they were flocking in Lex's direction, their little feet pounding like thunder, their high-pitched giggles like the screech of circling vultures. He closed his eyes and waited for the end. But what brought him back to reality was the sound of Clark's warm laughter.
He opened his eyes and saw that all thirty-something of the kids had attached themselves to Clark's legs, laughing loudly.
"Hey, everyone!" Clark yelled. "Who wants cider?"
"Yay!" All the kids started jumping up and down and the pounding sent Lex's heart into another round of stops and starts.
Clark managed to free himself from the living web, and carried the thermos to the refreshments table across the room. Relieved to have something else to focus on, Lex followed suit.
Once the task was finished, he took a deep breath and looked at Clark as if to say, "Okay, let's go." But before any such words could cross his lips, one of the little boys grabbed
Clark's arm fiercely.
"Clark, come play with us!" Clark made an apologetic gesture, but the rest of the group join in. "Yeah, Clark, come play!" Before either of them knew what was going on, Clark was being dragged to the other side of the room, now aiming his apologetic expression at Lex. Lex merely shrugged his shoulders in reply and sighed, relieved that at least the kids were too distracted with Clark to notice him.
He jumped slightly as he heard what sounded like a tiny throat being cleared. Turning around, he saw a young girl, Cindy according to her nametag, with a red sweater, thick glasses, and a look of death in her eyes. He looked desperately in Clark's direction, but saw that Clark was currently being blindfolded and spun around for a game of Pin the Antlers on the Reindeer.
Turning back to Cindy, Lex smiled politely, but the cold expression on her face remained, nearly as cold as the sweat running down the back of his neck.
**********
After purposely pinning the antlers on all the wrong parts of the reindeer's body (and getting a good amount of teasing for his efforts), Clark eventually feigned exhaustion and told the kids he had to go. Several of them let out a deflated whine, but were soon distracted as the game picked back up.
Clark glanced at the refreshments table where he had last seen Lex, apparently in some sort of face-off with little 7-year-old Cindy Jacobsen. They weren't there and Clark laughed to himself. Cindy was a quiet girl, a loner most of the time, but if she had something to say, she said it and from the look on her face, Clark was pretty sure Lex was getting an earful by now. Wherever he was.
He left the common room and found Lex and Cindy in the hallway. They were sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing each other and they seemed to be in the middle of a very important discussion. They didn't notice Clark and he stayed where he was, wanting to hear what they said.
"Let me get this straight," Lex said in his most professional tone. "This 'Santa' person sees you when you're sleeping, and he knows when you're awake?" Cindy nodded slowly and seriously. "Now that is more than a little frightening."
"Tell me about it," Cindy agreed, her thick lenses making her wide eyes even wider. "And you know what else?"
"What?" Lex was all ears.
"I heard he can even read minds." Cindy pulled back to emphasize this statement, and
Lex's face melded into flawless, perfectly crafted shock.
"Isn't that illegal?" he asked quietly.
"Doesn't matter." Cindy shook her head gravely. "He's not even an American citizen. Besides, who would arrest Santa Claus?"
Clark snorted softly and Lex and Cindy both turned to look at him. "Sorry," he said coming forward. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
"It's okay, Clark," Lex said as he got to his feet. "Cindy here was just filling me in on some North Pole politics."
Clark nodded. "Well, there's not a better time to be in the know."
"I can tell you more," Cindy said, standing up quickly, her eyes never leaving Lex.
"And I'd love to hear it," Lex replied. "But Clark and I need to be going. That is if you're ready, Clark."
Clark stared into space for a few seconds. "Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah. I'm ready."
"Okay. Well, Cindy, it was very nice meeting you. I'll think seriously about everything you said."
"We'll talk again, right?" she prodded eagerly.
"Absolutely."
She smiled. Clark walked slowly to the truck as Lex and Cindy finished their goodbyes. He plopped into the driver's seat and seconds later, Lex joined him, noticing his faraway look.
"You okay?"
Clark remained silent a while longer until his lips finally parted in a soft smile. "You really made her day, you know."
"She reminds me a lot of myself at that age."
"Well, I'm proud of you," Clark said, starting the truck. "I know it wasn't easy."
Lex forced a smile onto his own face. "Clark, you know I was kidding about the whole fear thing, right?" On Clark's skeptical look, Lex dropped the act. "Okay, I was terrified."
Clark nodded understandingly and looked out at the passing scenery. The shining snow looked too perfect to be real. It was all so untouched. Clark smiled as another thought came to him.
"I'm also proud of you for passing the mission."
"The what?"
"You think I didn't know you'd be uncomfortable around all that merry-making and screaming children? Why do you think I brought you with me?"
"I don't think I follow."
"Lex, sometimes I think that castle is warping your intellect." Lex shrugged, clueless. "Christmas, Lex! It's all part of my master plan to get you in the holiday spirit!"
"Your master plan?" Lex chuckled. "You mean this was premeditated?"
"Well, the community center was kind of spur of the moment, but yeah. I've been trying to think of ways to get you out all week. I call it Operation: Humbug."
Clark gave Lex his brightest smile that day and Lex felt his toes curling painfully in his leather shoes. "Well, I appreciate the gesture. But I should tell you, I'm immune to the Christmas spirit."
"We'll see," Clark said with a wink. More than Lex's toes started to curl and he shifted his focus to the road ahead. They sat in silence for about half a mile and despite Lex's desperate attraction to the young man next to him, he was actually very comfortable. The snow-covered cornstalks flew by outside, the heater blew drowsy warm air inside, and he was surrounded by the intoxicating smell of Clark Kent, feeling only inches away from perfect bliss.
As they were nearing the Talon, Clark turned on the radio. He was only half listening to the news broadcast that came on until the reporter mentioned the name Brandon Emmett. He turned up the volume.
"Clark?" Lex turned to him.
"Ssh." Clark held up one finger, still listening intently.
"...disappeared last night some two weeks after his father's death," stated the reporter. "But before he vanished, he apparently beat the doctors in charge of his father's case, brutally sending two of the three to the ICU where they remain in critical condition. The third doctor, wounded but conscious, made comments about Brandon's super human strength.
"There have been no further sightings of him as of yet, but we warn our listeners to take extra care. Brandon is to be considered very dangerous..."
Clark clicked off the radio, grimacing. Lex remained silent until they pulled into the parking lot of the Talon.
"You know him?" he finally asked.
"Not personally," Clark answered softly. "He goes to Smallville High. I knew he was upset about his father, but... wow."
"How did his father die?"
Clark hesitated. "Cancer. I heard they were trying some experimental treatments on him, but I guess it didn't work out."
"Guess not," Lex echoed, more than a little disappointed about the change of atmosphere.
But that's Clark, he thought. Always thinking of others.
There was something about the situation that intrigued him, though. "What do you make of his strength?"
Clark continued to look out the window and shook his head. "It's, uh, probably just an exaggeration."
"Maybe. But around here it could just as easily be something more."
"Ever the scientist, aren't you, Lex?"
"Not just that, Clark. Whatever's happened to that boy, he's probably feeling very alone right now." Lex waited for a response and when he got nothing, continued. "Kind of makes me thankful I have such a good friend like you. Someone I can trust completely. With my life. You know you can trust me too, don't you, Clark?"
Clark may have seen the lure, but he wasn't biting. "You better get back to work, Lex," he nearly whispered. "Your mail, remember?"
"Yes. I remember." Not sure of the diplomatic way to say goodbye, and partly afraid he might start screaming if he so much as opened his mouth again, Lex got out of the truck without another word.
As he approached his car, he heard Clark speeding away behind him and resisted the urge to pound a dent in his car's hood.
"Damn it!" He got into the car, his anger taking on an edge of sadness (as it often did when it involved Clark), and turned the radio up loud enough to shake the windows as he drove away. But no matter how loud the music or how throbbing the bass, he couldn't block out the question that plagued his mind more and more with every passing day.
Why doesn't he trust me?