Warning, guy and guy lovin stuff... don't read if don't like that weird funky kind of stuff, thank you!
He'd made Lex mad at him again. This time not because of what he'd said, but because of what he hadn't said. So what? It's not like he hadn't told Lex every other damn thing about himself. For all he knew, Lex could have been planning a ton of crap behind his back earlier while he had been pretending to have coffee at the Talon. Why did he really have to tell Lex his life story to get his help anyway? Lex would do what ever the hell Clark wanted him to do because he loved him and Lex- God, he needed to calm down.
The wait gave him some time to think rationally and Clark came up with the final conclusion that Lex was mostly just worried about him and detested the fact that Clark did have a weakness that Elizabeth, and any other of his enemies, could find out about. 'Simple as mom's home made apple pie.' His parents! Clark kept forgetting about them during these away adventures, mostly because Lex had the resources to help him way more than his mom or dad ever could. They would know that he hadn't gone to school by now and would be worried sick about him. He had been neglecting his parents and other friends the past few days and feeling more guilt he promised himself to rectify that tomorrow no matter what.
A chauffeured black limousine smoothly pulled up to their position on the pavement and took them, at Clark's request for food, to a nearby Japanese restaurant, where they now had their own private paper windowed room to themselves.
"I don't believe in coincidences. Think really hard Clark, how many times have you been having unforeseen vertigo?"
"Well, the first time would have been on the second- No wait, third Friday night. Then, it has happened at least once or twice a day after that, always at different times." Shaking his head and eating a large mouthful of white rice with a fork Clark continued, "I really don't think that I can remember all of them correctly, some of the instances I may have been near kryptonite or thought that it was just nerves finally getting to me from all the stress."
"Is that all you can remember?"
Not knowing where Lex had gotten all of his energy from such a small bowl of weird chicken-ish tasting soup, Clark glanced at his friend's constant movements around him. He guessed that Lex didn't want to try using chop-sticks with his right hand and that eating the food with western cutlery would have been beneath him in some way. 'Rich snob.' So, Clark continued eating his main course alone.
"You do know that this is kinda stressful right now. I may have sounded perfect to you before in my speech earlier today, but I can't do everything instantly on demand. Even with all of my 'amazing' powers." Clark groaned.
Lex sighed. Clutching at his left arm in definite pain, Lex continued to pace near him. Lex was in pain because of him. And because of him, his friend might even die again today. 'Damn it.' Maybe he felt guiltier about Lex getting hurt then he had previously thought. He now knew how afraid he really was and that's what was mostly stressing him out so much. Afraid for and of Lex at the same time. Quickly shutting his eyes and taking a sip of green tea, Clark tried to think of something that could make Lex feel better and wondered if his friend should take some more pain killers as he anxiously looked back up to peer into Lex's bright blue eyes. Blue.
And then Clark remembered one of the last things he had seen from the night before, "Elizabeth. I felt sick around her at the bar yesterday, especially after she went all glowing eyed on me. I suppose they could be connected in some way."
Lex finally stilled and sat back down, "That could be a definite possibility."
"Where is she anyway? You told me you knew where she was. "
"I originally located Elizabeth at her residence this morning and I've had a couple of my men tracking her since then. They've been ordered to-" Cutting himself off, Lex looked at Clark stunned.
'That's strange.' Clark asked, "To what?"
A couple of silent beats went by, in which Lex stared thoughtfully at Clark before he answered, "Subdue her once she is alone."
"What?" Clark bolted out of his small wooden seat in a fit of anger. "Lex, I can't believe you. I should have known you would try to do something behind my back. She's gonna find out that they're connected with you and get even more pissed." The only thing stopping Clark from shaking some sense into his friend was Lex's injured arm. He had to see Elizabeth now; damn he'd been procrastinating too long already. Why didn't he make Lex tell him were she was when he was back in Smallville? Why, because he was too busy thinking with his dick. 'Fuck this.'
Intent upon tearing though the flimsy door in front of him, Clark began to stride towards it. Lex intervened by grabbing onto his sweater which grotesquely stretched out of shape, while pleading to him, "Clark. Stop! You have to understand that I'm trying to help you. You think I'm just going to stand by and let you go after her- alone? I'm your friend. Please-"
"Lex, you want to know why I pushed you away before? Because I'm scared shitless. For you. About you. And, I won't let you die again."
"I'm willing to take that chance. It's my choice to want to die with you than to let you sacrifice yourself on your own." Lex hugged him. Now face to face, Clark could see un-shed tears in his friend's sorrowful eyes.
Whispering softly, Lex continued, "All the best tragedies end that way, and as a bonus we would be remembered as heroes for saving this miserable planet. In memoriam, parties and celebrations would be held for centuries. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow." Lex smiled teasingly at his ironically wrong statement. "Odds seem to favour the chances that we'll most likely get to try this all over again anyway."
Clark felt safe in Lex's arms, and gently lowered his head resting his chin onto Lex's right shoulder. This whole situation was kinda funny. He didn't want Lex going anywhere near Elizabeth and Lex didn't want Clark going near her either, but at the same time they both wanted to have a fateful rendezvous with one femme fatale.
"I wish this could be over with already."
Clark sighed and closed his eyes as he felt Lex nod in agreement. "There are more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
'Hamlet? Lex loved the tragic hero didn't he?' Then again the Luthor's were a rather tragic family. William Shakespeare would have had a field day writing a play about them.
At the very least, Clark had to find out something of value about Elizabeth. She was so livid with him the last time he saw her, she hadn't really told him very much of value. 'What would she do next?'
Continuing to hold on to Lex with affection, Clark smiled. Whatever happened, they were going to face their destinies together.
Centennial Park, one of the city's most picturesque areas, was located in the heart of Metropolis. A sea of green grass surrounded by tranquil forest and small man-made lakes, with many different types of fowl, gave the false impression of security. The park had quite a few people in it for a warm spring Friday afternoon. There were people playing tennis and baseball while the playgrounds overflowing with school children. A zoo and an art museum were also within a short walking distance and in this nice weather many individuals were strolling through the park on their way home from work or other errands.
Clark looked off into the distance and saw a beautiful silhouette of a woman in bronze that was gracing the center of a large fountain where a few couples and children were wading in up to their knees. They looked so happy and innocent. These people here were just trying to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life not realizing that they could just as easily get robbed or murdered. 'Stop being so morbid.'
He turned to glance at Lex who stood nearby, wondering how much longer it would take before he ran screaming back to Smallville. Metropolis could never be his home, this was Lex's world not his. Lex, whose smell lingered all over his clothes and wouldn't stop bringing thoughts of arousal into Clark's fevered mind. Now staring, he watched as his friend stood passionately talking into his high-tech cell phone, before looking in front of himself at his moving target.
By an old cobblestone pathway still used by horse-drawn carriages, Clark watched Elizabeth, carrying what appeared to be grocery bags, gradually walking away from him till she rounded a corner and disappeared from his sight. Using his x-ray vision, he surveyed the area around them looking for Lex's men. Peering through assorted vegetation, natural landmarks and other people it took him almost a full minute to figure out which ones they were. There where three men, two far ahead of her and one off to the side, all carrying an assortment of weapons. At least his friend seemed to have hired professionals, this time; some of his past acquaintances weren't always quite so subtle.
"No one will be entering from the west-side due to a 'gas-line rupture'? Good. Make sure that we are not interrupted. Fifteen minutes." Lex abruptly turned his phone off and joined Clark at his advantage point which was on a small incline at the end of a grove of bushes. "Are you ready?"
"Yes. Do you still insist on coming with me?" Clark felt apprehensive about meeting her again, but pushing any lingering fear aside Clark was intent to end this confrontation today with some sort of resolution.
"Yes."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Clark stepped forward and strode onto the pathway at a pace Lex would hardly be able to keep up with. Strangely, his friend didn't complain for the first couple of seconds.
"You know I was always partial to the method of 'shoot first ask questions later.' This is too unpredictable." Lex huffed behind him.
"Is that what happened with Roger Nixon?"
Lex sounded generally disconcerted. "No. There wasn't any time for questions."
"Sorry, I'm very grateful that you saved my dad and me, even if you knew each other in some way." Clark replied offhandedly, trying to focus up ahead. "She shouldn't be too far in front of us. Try to let me do the talking."
As they walked around the bend of trees, the path in front of them turned into a long straight line that was void of people. A dozen or so yards ahead lay a couple of abandoned shopping bags. 'This is so not good.' Looking to either side, Clark couldn't see any identifiable paths leading off of the one they were currently on, and a prickling sensation ran down his spine as Clark failed to locate Elizabeth. It was like she had magically ceased to exist.
The dialing of a phone behind him made Clark quickly turn around and grab for Lex's cell phone.
"What are you doing?"
"Contacting Mr. Rousseau, why?"
Clark hung up the phone and tensely answered, "Don't, I need to think."
"Great, this is just great. We're screwed. She must have rabbit'ed. I knew I should never have listened to you." Lex angrily snatched the phone back and advanced towards the bags like they held nuclear bombs, first poking them a bit before finally opening one of them to look inside. "Eggplant, tomatoes, onions, garlic, thyme, parsley, lamb- maybe she was planning on making Mousekka for dinner?"
"She's still nearby. I'm sure of it." The trees surrounding them grew quiet making Clark even more nervous as the sound of insects seemed to disappear. Closing his eyes, he narrowed his hearing to search for something normal and he was glad to hear the sound of a nearby water fountain over the noise of Lex rifling through the plastic bags. Then a bizarre whining reverberation filled his ears.
"Lex Luthor. I can't understand why you are always with this boy?"
Clark twisted his body around to see a startled Lex kneeling in the dirt with Elizabeth standing directly above him. Unless she teleported, there was no way she could have done that. Fear coursed through his veins as Clark panicked about Lex's safety. Watching Elizabeth, with eyes glowing blue, reach out and touch Lex's injured arm, Clark screamed. "Get away from him!"
Super-speeding with the intent to shove her away from his friend, Clark hit into some kind of invisible barrier inches away from her and rebounded backwards onto the ground. She turned to glare down at him with an outraged expression coming from her glowing blue eyes, when a sudden and piercing blast made Clark grab onto the sides of his head. His over-sensitive ears protested the assault but it wasn't actually painful. Lex and Elizabeth on the other hand were convulsing on the ground in agony. 'What the hell was going on?' The shrill ringing continued on in the same amount of wave-like force as Clark got up and swiftly ran over to the couple laying on the ground next to each other in fetal positions. Trying to locate the sound, Clark was astonished to find that the noise seemed to be coming from Lex. Stooping over him, Clark pin-pointed the sound's source in his friend's left jacket pocket. Horrified to see actual blood start to seep out of Lex's ear Clark seized the object and crushed it. It had been his fucking cell phone.
Moaning and sweating profusely, Elizabeth pushed herself up onto her haunches and shrieked, "Bastards!" Her blonde hair was now matted against her skull and wild darting eyes made her appear even sicker than Lex who lay unconscious on his lap, while her floral dress was wrinkled, dirty and had hiked up to her knees.
Clark couldn't believe Lex would do something so stupid as to cause self-inflicted pain like this. And Lex was complaining to him about self-sacrifice.
Lex was out of commission, but not only that, it would be damn near impossible to talk to her now. Conflicted, he wasn't sure what to do, tend to Lex or the crazy women next to him. There was also the probability that Lex's men would be jumping out of the bushes any second now. What was he supposed to do?
"Who are you?" She hissed.
"My name is Clark Kent. I'm really sorry about what just happened, my friend is a little over-protective of me. He's dangerous when startled."
"Dangerous?" Her laugh was full of malice and certainty, "You know nothing about him."
"Oh, and I'm sure you do. Everyone thinks they know Lex, and say they know he'll do all of these lousy things and be like his father, but no one takes the time to get to know him."
"Time?" She laughed bitterly.
"You don't have the right to say that." 'Stop provoking the emotionally unstable woman, who can kill you by doing that glowing eyes thing.' Clark's internal voice yelled at him. And how could she claim to know anything about Lex? Clark knew him better than anyone.
"I can do whatever the fuck I want and you… Both of you were stalking me!"
"I just wanted to talk to you."
"About what? The weather? Or the birds and the bees? Mr. Shit-for-brains Kent, I don't want to talk with you or your little rich bitch."
Lex began to stir. This was going nowhere, and she would soon be strong enough to do what ever it was she could do. "Elizabeth, isn't there some other way to save your husband then doing this?"
"No. It's inoperable."
'It's inoperable?' Of course, this was a brilliant moment for Lex to come back to reality. Roughly pushing himself out of Clark's embrace, Lex shakily stood and took an offensive stance next to him before saying, "I can have the finest doctor's in the state give you both a second opinion."
"I've already got a second and a third, there isn't time. I don't need you." Dragging herself off the compacted soil, she screamed, "Stop bothering me!"
Now standing up as well, Clark was at a loss of what to say.
Lex wiped the underside of his nose as a small trickle of blood ran down the side of his top lip. "You can't keep doing this forever, it simply isn't logical. If he's suffering in anyway, all you're doing is prolonging his torment. Wouldn't it be best to let it end now before drawing it out even further?"
Elizabeth looked like a lost child. "He's not in any pain. It… it comes sudden and swift and just sucks the life right out of him so fast… and, and he doesn't have time to feel much pain before it's over with."
'Oh my God! She watches her husband die every night?' That's wrong on so many levels. There was no way he'd be able to watch anyone he loved die over and over knowing that there was no way to truly save them. Clark had no idea what to say to that.
Hearing approaching foot steps, Clark looked and saw that Mr. Rousseau and friends would be making an appearance shortly.
Seemingly detached, Lex narrowed his eyes and replied, "You're sick. In a vain attempt at mercy, you have turned your husband into a modern Prometheus while you have become an egotistical murderer who has no understanding of what consequences your choices may have."
Silently, Clark shrieked inside his head at his friend. 'Lex why did you have to go and say that?'
Elizabeth scowled at Lex before advancing towards them like a vulture. Clark struggled to move as her eyes gleamed blue, but his feet along with the rest of his body refused to budge. Beside him, Lex appeared to be having the same problem.
Moving forward she violently grabbed on to their upper arms, Lex's left and his right and stated, "You think you're so mighty and perfect? Let's see what your futures hold."
They both howled as strobe-like memories exploded into Clark's mind, impairing him from thinking about anything else as it was overloaded with too much sensory information.
Blackness became an intense white light. Love. Strong wind pushing past his face. Warm sun in an endless sky. Stars and planets passing him by that were extremely too close; he was flying towards the sun. An enchanting crystal palace surrounded by a blizzard of snow and ice. People dying. Mudslides and earthquakes. Everyone caught in these natural disasters called for some sort of super-man. A strange pentagonal shaped image with an S was on his chest. Him. They wanted him. Lana in a beautiful flowing white grown standing at a church alter; he watched her with the rest of the guests from afar. Joyful. Smiling, asking questions to some politician and writing in a notebook. War. Explosions from continual bombings and gun-fire. Death and hate. A strange masked man wearing all black with a long flowing cape. He had a cape on too, it was red. They were standing on the top of a skyscraper monitoring the city's people like sheep. Pride and envy. Woman wearing a golden crown with long dark hair calling him Kal-El. Nervously pushing a pair of glasses up his nose. Famine. The earth was dying. It was poisoned. Air, water and land had become deadly to anything living. Metropolis from above shinning an eerie green. Home. Smallville. Friends and family all gathered around cheering. He was their hero. Pain. Full of grief and despair. A casket lowering into the ground in front of him, while his mother sobbed in his arms. The marble tombstone had has father's name engraved upon it. An over-welling feeling of loneness engulfing his heart. Failure. Long past broken friendship now bitter enemies. Lex brandishing an unknown weapon while sneering at him in disgust. 'Quod incepimus conficiemus.'
The last vision ended with another blinding flash of light. Lex had been saying something to him in Latin but he had no idea what it meant. Clark took note that they were now both sprawled together on the ground again, in a tangle of limbs and clothes, before he become aware of the commotion happening a few feet away from them.
Elizabeth, who had at some point joined them in the dirt, was trying to weakly fight off two large men while a third guy with curly reddish brown hair watched and was giving some kind of orders over his cell phone. Both men standing nearest to her were holding pistol shaped weapons. She was moving in a disjointed manner first towards one man and then the other cursing and mumbling incoherently. A faint mechanical humming happened at the same time as Elizabeth's whole body went into a spasm of twitching and jerking motions. They had to be Taser guns. Realizing this, Clark could finally see the thin metal wires that ran from the launcher to around her midsection where four tiny darts had imbedded into her clothing and skin. By the looks of it this must have been at least the second time they'd zapped her with electric shocks.
"Stop it!"
Clark disarmed the two men before they could press their triggers a third time and freed Elizabeth from her torturous restraints. She fell limply into his arms. Holding her easily, Clark began to contemplate his next move.
The man with the phone that was still at the side of his head, appeared stunned as his sudden movements, "Mr. Kent. We have orders to incapacitate this woman if any harm were to befall you. We are sorry that we weren't able to arrive sooner." This must be Rousseau. The man continued forward while looking behind Clark with open concern, "Mr. Luthor, are you in need of medical assistance?"
"No. I'll be fine." Lex approached Clark from behind and once he was within view he appeared far from fine. Covered in blood and dirt wasn't what made his friend look the worst, it was his eyes. They were staring right through him in a disturbed way. 'What had Lex been forced to see in his future?'
"Clark, it's your choice. You can do whatever you want with her, I don't care." Lex's left arm hung limply to his side as he walked past him without any other emotion, causing Clark to feel somewhat rejected by his friend. Not knowing why Lex was suddenly acting aloof towards him, Clark frowned down at the comatose woman in his arms wanting to just let her fall to the ground and run away from this whole crappy situation in this whole crappy world.
"It doesn't really matter what I want, does it?"
Lex stilled his back that was towards Clark, while he awkwardly leaned to one side, "You always want something."
'What the hell did that mean?' Ignoring Lex's statement, Clark tried to convey the importance of the situation, "This is just something I have to do. Humanity in peril and all that. We… we're still in this together, right?"
"If that's what you want." Lex actually sounded defeated.
"What I want! Would you like to know what I really want?" Clark unceremoniously threw Elizabeth over his shoulder, standing in Lex's personal space, he passionately began his list, "I want to wake up tomorrow and find that this past week was just some horrible nightmare. I want to be a normal human being whose worst secret is waking up from a wet dream and having to hide the dirty sheets from my mom. I want to go to college and get a job and maybe have a family and a clichéd white picket fence around my wonderful house and be happy and perfect forever. I don't want to have to worry about the whole damn world or be its savior. I don't want to watch everyone I care about die and be left all alone. And I don't want to constantly hide who I am for fear of what may happen if I don't."
Clark needed to take a moment to breathe before he said in a hushed voice full of passion, "But I'm not stupid and I know that I'm probably not going to get any of those things. She showed me that and Cassandra did too. So, right now, what I realistically want is for us to be friends, because you mean a lot to me, and for you to help me figure out how to fix things because I don't know how much longer I can take it."
Slowly, Lex's eyes finally met his and it was disheartening for Clark to see such fear in them, "I don't want there to be a time when I hate you as much as I-"
Clark wanted his friend to say how much he loved him, but now wasn't the place nor the time for anymore sentimental jargon so Clark silenced Lex with his lips with an affectionate kiss before saying, "We'd better get out of here. Someone may have heard our rather loud disturbances and could have called the police. We're in the middle of a kidnapping here so I'd have to think the cops would frown on that quite a bit."
As the group of people silently made their way to the closest vehicle, Clark hoped for the best, and once again he had no idea what was going to happen next.
A lot can happen in two hours. A nation can be annexed. A new American Idol can be crowned king or queen. A man can stand in front of an advancing tank and make history. A woman can give birth to quintuplets. Clark, in contrast, didn't get quite as much accomplished. A ton of watching and waiting while Lex did all the important stuff made Clark feel like he was mostly in the way and unneeded. No longer outside, his white bland surroundings of yet another hospital visit made him bored beyond belief. At the very least he felt more relaxed now than he had all day. 'Thank God.' There was a chance, however scary that may be, considering what he'd said and done so far today, that tomorrow could be Saturday.
Sitting mostly alone in one of the so called activity rooms, Clark flipped through a 'Time' magazine while 'Matlock' played in the background. 'Old people never watched anything good on TV.' Lex was attending to business in another room; his wounded arm had needed re-bandaging as a couple of stitches had come out. It had been good to see his friend in a new set of clean clothes and baring a more positive attitude. Something about Elizabeth must have totally gotten to his friend, because Clark didn't see him get that openly upset that often.
Having overheard several of Lex's 'personal' phone conversations, Clark learned that Lex was having Elizabeth, who had been highly sedated the last time he saw her, sent to a research facility called Cadmus Labs. That name sounded vaguely familiar. Also, it was located far away, somewhere in the mountains some fifty miles from Metropolis. By the time he saw, Lex's skeleton finally exit the room that his friend had been discussing essential matters with some officials, Clark was dying to find out more of Lex's little secrets.
"Everything's going swimmingly?" Clark grinned eager to question his friend further.
"Exceedingly so."
Seeing Lex holding a brand new cell phone, Clark remembered the first part of their clash with Elizabeth, and the noise Lex's other phone had made. Clark asked, "By the way, what the hell was wrong with your phone?"
"I had a personal safety devise implanted into it a while ago, it emits a high frequency pulse, supposedly to deter an attacker. A few too many kidnappings can make a person paranoid, and I thought it was a good time to use it."
"Having something for defense is great, but wasn't that a bit excessive? It was hurting you." Clark patted the very ugly seat next to him.
Sitting down, Lex replied, "I had it on maximum. I was hoping that would be enough to incapacitate her as well, plus I wanted my men to be able to hear it."
"Santa Claus most likely heard it." Clark looked at Lex disapprovingly.
Lex ignored his concerned stance, "Touché."
'That was one question answered, now on to number two.' "What's up with Cadmus labs?"
"About two years ago, after Hardwick Enterprises went bankrupt, I decided to take a rather inexpensive gamble and bought over fifty percent of their stocks. The company was worth almost nothing at the time and from past experiences I have learned that sometimes it is best to not look a gift horse in the mouth." Lex actually seemed excited to be telling him this next to him.
It was cool how cute Lex appeared with that tiny little smile on his lips and sparkle in his blue eyes. Almost dazed, Clark knew that he was now staring at Lex's mouth a little too intently. 'Unsexy thoughts. Old guy watching Matlock. Gross hospital smell. Lights shining off of Lex's head… licking Lex's smooth head… no wait that's sexy.'
"Oh?"
"My proficiency in science not withstanding, I still like to dabble every once in a while and it's nice to have a little something on the side that my Father wouldn't know anything about. I'm sure he does now, but it still has its uses, like at the present time for instance. Lex relaxed while stretching his neck from side to side. "I trust that they'll be able to contain Elizabeth for the time being."
"So what do you plan on doing next?" It was great not having to think about that himself. Letting his friend take over was a dream come true.
"I've asked permission to use some of the facilities here and I contacted one of the best doctors in Metropolis, Dr. Kaplitt, who just arrived, to give Mr. Michel Hoffman a thorough physical examination."
"I guess it would be a good idea to find out what's wrong with him, but how are you going to get him to come over here? Another kidnapping perhaps?" Clark joked, more interested in gazing at Lex than in what he was actually saying.
"No. I think you enjoyed carrying Elizabeth to the car a little too much I dare say?" Lex gave him a smug expression. "Mr. Hoffman is coming over on his own free will. I explained as much to him over the phone that I felt was appropriate. The rest will be done in person, which should be in about five minutes. Care to join me for a leisurely stroll to the emergency room?"
"Sounds like fun."
As they made their way down one of the many long hallways on the second floor, Clark began to feel a bit uneasy about meeting Elizabeth's husband. "So was he pretty pissed off?"
"A bit at first. I caught him on his cell phone just as he was leaving his house. By three o'clock, when Elizabeth was over an hour late, he was quite worried and was going to go out looking for her. I told him that his wife had been involved in an incident and that she was currently being rather uncooperative. Also that she had made some strange claims about his life being in danger, so as a precaution we would like to ask him some questions and do a few rudimentary tests."
They were now walking down an open flight of stairs to the main floor and then to the emergency doors.
Clark wondered what kind of man could influence someone into literally stopping the world for them. "What were your first impressions of him?"
"By agreeing to come here, I'd have to say he seems to be a very reasonable man under the circumstances." Clark gave Lex a bit of a motion for him to continue. "He was nice, friendly and sincere. I did get a feeling that he was hiding something, but other than that nothing unusual."
'That's good news.' Clark held Lex's judgment of people in high regard since he was usually quite accurate. The bright neon emergency sign signaled them to stop. Standing tall next to his friend Clark waited for Lex's personal escort, which turned out to be a black Lincoln, with Michel Hoffman inside it to arrive.
As Elizabeth's husband stepped out of the vehicle, Clark finally got to scrutinize him from the inside out. The inside appeared healthy, other than knowing what broken bones and bullet holes looked like Clark wasn't a certified medical examiner so he had absolutely no idea what was wrong with him. The outside of him was rather attractive. 'Attractive?' About six foot tall with a lean but a well toned frame, and somewhere between the ages of 25 to 30. From the looks of his hands, Michel had never done much manual labor in his life, being a so called 'Rocket Scientist' he must use the computer a lot and do other nerdy things. He had short light blond hair and blue eyes and strangely his black jacket, blue shirt and black pants were similar to what Lex was currently wearing. 'Did wealthy people often dress alike?'
"Hello Mr. Hoffman, I'm Lex Luthor and this is my associate Clark Kent."
The man appeared nervous as he shook Lex's hand and gave Clark a nod of acknowledgment. "Where is Elizabeth?"
"Mr. Hoffman, we believe that your wife is suffering from a severe case of dementia. Unfortunately, she became so hysterical and violent that she had to be given some medication to calm her down. I don't think it would be a good idea to see her quite yet."
Michel asserted himself with a bit more confidence, "How are you qualified to make an assumption like that? I'm certain you're not a doctor. Where is she?"
"Please try not to worry. I'm giving you my word that she is being treated by professionals with the utmost respect and care. I know how much she means to you." Lex was either being very genuine or highly deceptive. Since his friend may have already lied on several occasions to Michel so far, Clark couldn't quite figure out which one it was yet.
"You have one hour before I contact the authorities." Michel threatened as he continued to give Lex his full attention. "What did you want to ask me?"
"Does your wife have any special abilities that we should know about?" Lex's eyebrow rose a tad.
Michel sounded a bit defensive, "What do you mean?"
"Well, first, I've personally seen her appear out of nowhere. When she touched me her eyes actually glowed and she made me see some rather disturbing hallucinations. Does any of this sound familiar to you?" Lex shrewdly waited for Michel's response.
Clark frowned, once again curious about what Lex had seen, and he started to feel a bit awkward standing in such a public area.
"She's different. I know that. But she's not dangerous." Michel seemed convinced of that. As he continued to zealously defend his wife, Clark was surprised how much the man reminded him of Lex. They both shared the passion and drive to protect their loved ones. No matter what happened, their believes, about the ones they loved being unable to do no wrong, were almost impossible to sway.
Standing his ground, Michel finished with, "I know for a fact she'd never hurt anyone."
"And I know for a fact that she has." Uncharacteristically, Lex was starting to show traces of anger as he bristled a bit next to him.
Clark watched the clash of wills in front of him with trepidation. 'This really needed to stop.' A passing elderly couple that must have been eavesdropping stared at the three of them with expressions of astonishment. Annoyed, Clark decided to take some initiative.
"She can control time in some way." Clark paused for a brief second before asking, "Where did she get her powers from and can they be turned off?"
Michel recoiled at Clark's sudden declaration, taking a step back he glared at Clark with dread.
'Gotcha!' Clark grinned at Lex who deflated slightly. His friend proceeded to mutely lead them quickly anyway from the growing number of watching eyes and into a private waiting area where a man in a doctor's garb stood sifting though a folder of papers with Michel Hoffman's name on them.
Lex stated, "Mr. Hoffman, I believe your wife has been making this day, Friday May 28, 2004, somehow repeat itself continually for over a chronological week. And she's doing it because something fatal happens to you sometime after midnight tonight."
"That's insane!"
"And yet it's true. You agreed to a physical examination and upon completion of it, if you get a clean bill of health, I'll send for Elizabeth to meet with us here. I'm sure we'll be able to negotiate some sort of compromise that everyone will be happy with. Then we can go back to pretending how great our so called normal lives are and blissfully forget this ever happened." Lex was a professional, and very threatening, but in a totally professional way.
Elizabeth's husband seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before looking at Lex and giving him a positive nod.
'Maybe Michel did know more than he was letting on about Elizabeth?' If he honestly didn't believe any of their 'nonsense' Clark just didn't see why he would willingly choose to have anything done to him. Clark sneaked a peek at Dr. Kaplitt's chart for Michel Hoffman, and a full body scan, which Lex had told Clark, could be done within minutes and it screened for the presence of heart disease, certain cancers, as well as other abnormalities as well as some CT and MRI scans didn't sound like much fun. Ever since finding out about his extraterrestrial origins, getting poked and prodded had become one of Clark's top phobias and the thought of anyone having to endure being treated like a lab rat brought out his more sympathetic side.
Michel sighed, seeming to accept his fate he replied, "I hope that you are a decent enough person to treat Elizabeth well. We've been together since her parents died and I'm all she has left. I'll always love her for who she is no matter what." Gesturing towards the doctor he asked, "What do you want me to do?"
Clark felt tremendously uncomfortable after hearing Michel's confession of love and devotion. They had basically abducted this man's wife and were now holding her hostage against her will. They should be in jail right now and not be allowed to continue to harass this poor man who hadn't done a single thing wrong to either of them
Dr. Kaplitt, who appeared to just notice them standing there, frowned over a pair of stylish glasses, "I don't have all day, so if you'd follow me we can get started right away."
As the two men left the room Clark turned to Lex and said, "I'm gonna get a snack."
"Is there anything in particular that you'd like me to get?"
"No. Junk food is fine. I saw some stuff outside." Clark knew that he was giving off the 'leave me alone' vibe and he vehemently hoped that his friend would pick up on it.
Sinking further into self loathing, Clark left the room to buy a soda and a chocolate bar from a nearby vending machine. Afterwards he sat down in the adjacent waiting area. Isn't that all he'd been doing for the past week? Desperately waiting for something to happen? Whenever he tried to actively do anything, the day still ended up terribly and then he'd have to repeat it again only to make a different mistake in another atypical situation. How much longer could he take this before going bonkers? He needed to have some time off really soon. If tomorrow was Saturday, great he'd go out and have some serious fun, if not then it was time to take advantage of this improbable opportunity and do whatever he wanted. Elizabeth could have her husband, and he could be purposely reckless and spontaneous for once.
Munching on an 'Oh Henry' bar, he watched the 20 inch television with disinterest as an update of the earthquake in Asia was being re-broadcast. Clark was content to monitor Lex's actions and discussions on his cell phone from a distance. So far, Michel's full body scan had revealed his heart, lungs and other major arteries to be in perfect health, and at the moment he was in the middle of getting a MRI done. 'Lucky him.'
Clark wasn't sure how long it had been when he unexpectedly heard Lex shouting at someone, "What do you mean she just disappeared?"
That sounded seriously bad.
Rushing over to his slightly panic sounding friend, Clark stumbled as the room began to spin and whirl around him. The dizziness that hit him was so strong that it bordered on being painful and the bright neon lights above him made his motion sickness worse. As Clark collapsed onto the tile floor, a nurse ran towards him and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Do I look okay to you?" came out as a mumbled groan.
Making him feel violated by the unwanted presence, the strange women touched his shoulder and forehead, and damn did he hate the small crowd of people that had now enclosed around him. When she tried to pry open one of his eyes he lashed out, "Don't touch me! Get away from me."
Clark may have slapped her aside, but he wasn't sure due to the fact that he still hadn't opened his eyes.
When he finally did he regretted it immensely. Four or five people in uniforms and street clothes where all gawking at him, trying to ask him questions and circling around him, making him feel even more trapped in this twisted version of hell. The nurse who had first tried to help him was a fair distance away, he saw her glaring at him and holding onto one of her arms in discomfort. Shutting his eyes tightly closed again, Clark squirmed over onto his side to dry heave and having the displeasure of tasting a gross version of milk chocolate in the back of his throat. Never before had he wanted to hug a toilet this badly in his life, and he was so close to actually puking that it freaked him out to the max.
Calling out for the only person he trusted and wanted near him, Clark screamed, "Lex!"
Within moments, relief in the form of a tender voice and familiar tantalizing hands brought a feeling of peace to Clark's heart, which quickly enveloped the rest of his body, making him feel a lot better physically as well as emotionally. When the worst had finally past, Clark grabbed onto his friend for dear life and delicately tried to soak up the essence of the man he couldn't stop yearning for. Beginning to kiss the side of Lex's mouth, Clark opened his eyes and saw the clear look of devotion in his friend's face aimed purely at him. Using his unique eyesight, Clark grinned at Lex's special-ness after seeing how un-naturally healed his friend's arm now was. If it hadn't been for the crowd of people around them and the nagging feeling of wanting to know what had upset Lex so much, Clark would have started humping Lex right there on the floor.
"What's wrong?"
"I should be the one asking you that." Lex smirked as he casually ran his fingers through Clark hair.
Clark grinned at Lex's public gesture of affection. Yes, they were both very much in the public view, which once Clark had a couple more seconds to think about, wasn't such a great thing.
"At the moment, I'm starting to feel better." Still smiling and hugging onto Lex, Clark began to stand up, "Let's get off of the floor, I think we've done this a few too many times today."
Lex's expression turned thoughtful as he lightheartedly replied, "You're not wrong. We need to find out what's causing this."
Clark nodded in absolute agreement.
The nurse that Clark may have hit came forward and complained that he had just had a violent seizure and should be taken to the emergency room and put under observation.
"My friend just had a panic attack. It's happened before. I believe today may have been a bit too stressful for him and I'll be taking him home shortly."
"Do you want me to get some Xanax for him Mr. Luthor?" She still appeared mildly unhappy.
"No I have everything he needs." Lex held Clark's hand as they quickly left the area.
Thankfully, Clark observed that the group of onlookers began to disperse as they were left to wonder why Lex Luthor and some farm boy were acting so gay towards each other. "I heard you say something about 'her disappearing' does that mean what I think it means?"
"I'm sorry to be a harbinger of bad news." Lex's grip tightened around his hand. "However, I've been informed that Elizabeth has some how escaped and is most likely hunting us down at this very moment and that Michel's condition is indeed rather bleak." His friend glanced at him while apathetically listing off some medical terminology, "He has a significantly large fusiform aneurysm deep within his cerebral cortex, which Dr. Kaplitt says is practically impossible to operate on it without killing him. Neither metal clips or microcoils would suffice." Noticing Clark's confused stare, Lex pulled out a small folder from his jacket pocket Lex waved it at Clark as he explained. "It seems Mr. Hoffman had a traumatic head injury over ten years ago riding a bicycle without a helmet causing an irreversible weakening of one of the major arteries in his brain."
Nervously, Clark let Lex guide him down the hallways and to the hospital's parking lot. Suppressing a smile, Clark couldn't get over the feeling of holding hands with Lex which was such a nice and novel experience, and something quite uncharacteristic of his friend. Grinning a bit, Clark was happy to recall never having seen Lex walking while hold hands with any of his past girlfriends or wives. Clark said, "Did Michel have any idea that he had it?"
"No, often there are absolutely no symptoms."
"That sucks."
Elizabeth Hoffman was on her way to most likely kill them, maybe maim them first then kill them, and all he could think about was how warm and tingly Lex's hand felt rubbing up against him. 'Simply pathetic.'
Clark glanced at Lex with love. He didn't want to have to deal with this all over again tomorrow. No more death and ranting super-women bent on world domination. If he could just have one day off to relax and have nothing horrible go wrong, he'd be so happy. Maybe he could visit with Chloe and Pete a bit? The idea of a Lex not remembering this day or yesterday or the day before that almost made him want to sob at the unfairness that he, Clark Kent, could. It was beginning to become an emotional as well as mental torture to have to start fresh everyday. 'Elizabeth is a big ass bitch!'
Taking a breath, in an attempt to spew out something helpful-ish, Clark was surprised to see Michel standing next to a silver Sunfire about a hundred yards away.
"What are you looking at?" Lex looked at him questioningly.
Before he could answer Lex, Clark stopped dumbstruck as his field of vision momentary turned into a fuzzy haze before everything halted altogether including all sound. The world around him was eerily similar to when he used his super-speed, except right now he wasn't. 'What the hell?'
It became clear what was happening when Elizabeth appeared suddenly behind Michel and instantly everything went back to normal as she tried to give her husband a hug.
"Crap." Clark couldn't stop staring at his personal antagonist as Michel shrugged off her embrace and confronted Elizabeth by fervently disagreeing with her actions. Her clothes were a mess and the strange marks on her arms made Clark speculate on whether she had been forced into a straight jacket or not.
"How could you? You're not saving me… you're slowly killing yourself. Why would you think I'd ever want something like that?"
"I have to. What would you do if it was me?"
Michel appeared to contemplate what his own actions would be if their situations had been reversed, "I don't know. But I'd at least try to live the rest of my life to the fullest, because I know that's what you'd what me to do."
She sighed. "I've never been as strong as you."
"Elizabeth."
"I'm sorry." From this distance, Clark could still see as her eyes began to glow a bright blue
"Clark, what's going on?" Lex's hand ran up the side of his arm before his friend must have seen what Clark was still staring at, "Fuck!"
'My sentiments exactly.'
On some sort of instinctual impulse, Clark seized Lex and passionately kissed him as the wheels of time were unnaturally turned backwards for the tenth time in a row.
TBC
Author's Notes:
I'd love to know how much sex stuff can I post? I need to know where the line is on this place so that I don't cross it. If you could let me know that would be a big help.
BTW: Zine lady has last chance to reply to me this week, just sent her another e-mail. sighs I really hate being ignored.
Feedback from: Kaei Kon, Kaisu, My Original Intent, Squeaky Piggy, Clexy Clexeness, Fire + Ice, Classics 85, and Zeynel. Thank you bunches, I loved reading what you had to saya ton and a ton and a ton! big ass grin
And once agian, no worries that story is finished, I feel that it won't be zined anyway, I only let myself be ignored for so long, and I hate false promises.
Later,
Liz