The Artifact

Title: The Artifact

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money made.

Pairing: Clex, Lexionel

Warning: AU, Incest, Slash

Spoilers: Sort of Lineage, but my own very, very AU take on it.

Summary: Clark tells Lex his secrets as a wedding gift before Lex marries Helen. True feelings are revealed, but Clark's blood is tested and shows that he's human and a Luthor. Then a mysterious artifact is found and Lionel is killed and Lex is suspected. Did Lex kill Lionel to protect Clark? Or was it the other way around? Or did something else altogether happen?

CHAPTER THREE: TRADING IN TRUTH

Two months before Lionel Luthor’s death …

Lex’s POV

Lex made a beeline to the liquor cabinet in his study. He could feel Clark’s concerned eyes on him as he poured himself a generous serving of scotch and drained half of it in one swallow. He then topped his glass off before retreating behind his desk as if it were a shield or battlement. At least it would be an obstacle between them. Something to consider before he leapt across it and grabbed the boy and explained why Clark’s fears that he was being put aside for Helen were baseless.

Such an explanation would involve as much action as talking. Lips like Clark’s were made for more than just conversation. He shivered and swallowed another fiery mouthful of scotch. He shouldn’t think this way about his young friend. Shouldn’t but did. And then there were the other things he felt for Clark that made him want to be less a Luthor and more like one all at the same time.

Clark picked at the hem of his jean jacket, pulled at the white threads, while he obviously debated what to say. It was a nervous tic that Lex had noticed before. Whenever the boy was nervous or anxious or distressed he couldn’t still the movement of his hands. Lex knew every one of Clark’s tells and what each one meant.

He took another sip of scotch, relished the burn as it ran down his throat. He was grateful that the drinking stopped him from speaking, because seeing that hurt and bewildered look on Clark’s beautiful face made him want to make everything all better, say whatever it was that would cause the boy to give him a megawatt smile and launch himself at Lex with puppy-like enthusiasm. But no, that couldn’t be this time. He was trying to protect Clark. Protect the boy from himself. The only thing that was wrong about this whole picture was that Clark wasn’t acting exactly as he usually did. There was a firmness in his stance even underneath the anxiety that was perplexing Lex.

“Lex, why are you pulling away from me and marrying Helen?” Clark launched the question into the air like it was a rocket.

Lex hid his surprise just barely at this uncharacteristic bluntness, which was another bit of evidence that all was not normal in Clark-world. He wondered if the boy knew how closely those two things were interrelated. He said with a blitheness he did not feel, “When one ties the knot one has less time for one’s friends. Even a best friend.”

But Clark was shaking his head halfway through Lex’s rehearsed statement. “That’s why I thought, too, at first, but … that’s not what’s going on here. I want you to tell me the truth … no matter what it is.”

Lex gave a bitter laugh that sounded almost like a squawk. The boy had balls after all the lies he’d told to Lex over the years. “Truth? You’re asking me for the truth?”

Clark put up a placating hand, his expression falling slightly. “I know. I’m hardly the one that should be asking for the truth from you or probably anyone.”

Whatever Lex had been about to say dried up in his mouth. Clark was actually acknowledging that he had lied. This was new. Dangerous and new. He went to grab his glass, but when he moved his hand those few inches to grasp it, the glass was gone. It was no longer where he thought he had placed it, matter of fact, it was nowhere on his desk at all. Instead, it was in Clark’s hand and he was halfway across the room. But Lex hadn’t seen him move. Lex’s mouth fell open. ‘He’s faster than I guessed.’

“I’ll make a deal with you. Truth for truth, Lex.” With a frown Clark deposited the glass on the coffee table as if it were something unclear rather than 30-year-old nectar of the gods.

“Are you offering to tell me your secrets if I tell you mine?” Lex asked with a painful twist of a smile.

“Yes … well, actually, I’m willing to tell you my secrets without you having to say anything. That was my plan anyways.”

“You had power over me there, Clark, and you gave it away. You shouldn’t have. I thought I taught you better than that,” Lex said softly. He expected his mind to churn with questions now that he had a chance to ask them. But he had no desire to ask anything about Clark’s powers. Not at this moment. Even though half of what he thought he wanted from Clark was in the palm of his hand.

Clark shrugged his broad shoulders and a small sad smile appeared on his face. “I think you’ve got things the other way around. It’s you who’s always had power over me. But … I don’t think this is about power. This is about … saving us.”

“Saving us?” Lex’s stomach clenched. “I … I don’t know what you mean, Clark.”

But he did. All too well. In the beginning, he had believed that Clark would be the one to save him from Lionel and his own darker impulses, but that had been a fantasy. Lionel would never let him go. And part of him relished that even though he knew that made him unclean and unnatural in so many ways. So now he believed the only saving that could be done was to separate himself from Clark to protect the boy.

Clark walked over and spun Lex’s chair to the side. Then the teen knelt down in front of him. Lex gave a little gasp. The surreal feeling that had been nibbling at him since he found Clark unmoving in the driveway washed over him stronger than ever. For Clark to be on his knees before him meant that this was either the beginning of one of his lurid master/slave fantasies, which was highly unlikely or … but that was just it, he didn’t know what the alternative was.

“Clark … this is … Clark, I need …” He tried to rise from the chair, but the teen pressed him back down into it and kept a hold of him. He could feel tremors coming from Clark’s hands over his own. The boy wasn’t as calm as he was pretending to be.

“You need the truth.” Large green eyes looked up at him. “I … I knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, but … but you’ve got to hear me out and then … then you’re going to tell me why you’re … going away from me.”

Lex was still, frozen in his seat, not even the warmth of Clark’s body so near, the heat of those large hands on his. “We shouldn’t do this.”

“Why not?”

“Because it doesn’t matter what your secrets are! They aren’t the reason I’m pulling away!”

“So you admit you are?”

And there was something a little broken in Clark’s voice that Lex had never wanted to hear. Even though Clark clearly already believed that he was drawing away somehow hearing it from Lex for certain hurt the boy. There were actual tears welling in Clark’s eyes and it … it was too much. Lex couldn’t bear this. He fisted his hands in Clark’s soft hair and pulled the boy’s face to be level with his own.

Clark’s eyes went wide and he stuttered out, “Lex?”

Lex moved so that his lips were almost touching Clark’s, desperately desiring to take a kiss he could never have. “I’m pulling away from you and marrying Helen, because I … want … too much.”

“What do you want?”

Lex smiled tightly. “Everything. And I mustn’t have it. Mustn’t have you.”

And then Clark gave a soft cry and was moving forward. The teen pressed his lips against Lex’s in a sweet kiss. It was completely chaste, no tongue and closed-mouth, but Lex drew in a sharp breath after it, taking in Clark’s exhale as he did so. He slipped back down into the chair. He was dizzy from a simple kiss. He trailed his fingertips over his mouth. It tingled.

“You can have everything, Lex,” Clark said and there was this dawning smile as if a weight had left the boy. “I feel the same way as you do.”

“You can’t. You just think you do. You could never feel the things I do, because … you’re not dark … like I am inside.”

“I know what you are inside, Lex. And I’m still here.”

Lex waived those statements away though it warmed him inside. “You’re too good-hearted. You see what you want to see.”

“Even if that’s true … I do know you. And you’re not as black as you paint yourself. Or that you fear you are.”

Lex just shook his head. He could never convince Clark of the truth about himself. The boy saw him … like he wanted Clark to see him. Or perhaps he just saw that last part of his soul that Lionel didn’t own.

“Don’t do this to yourself.”

“Do what?” Lex said as he rubbed one tired hand over his skull.

“Hate yourself.”

“Even if it’s deserved?” He could hear how bitter he sounded. ‘Pity yourself much, Lex?’ He felt more disgust rise inside of him.

“It’s not deserved. Never could be.”

Clark suddenly caught him by the shoulders and pulled him into his embrace. Lex was being cradled in Clark’s arms. He was rigid for about one second and then he found himself clutching Clark back. It might be his only chance to have this. Warmth and strength and the scent of the sun enveloped him.

“Tell me you don’t love me. Tell me that you don’t want us to be together. Because I know you’d be lying if you say those things. I can always tell,” Clark said.

“So bold, Clark. So confident in your assumptions,” Lex drawled even though every word the boy said was true. He rubbed his face against the velvety skin along the side of Clark’s neck.

Clark pulled back until they could look at each other. He was biting his lower lip and his eyes were shaded with a bit of fear, but also a quiet determination. “I admit that before I came here tonight … I thought you didn’t want our friendship anymore. And now I’m assuming you want a whole lot more. But I … I am right that you want more than friendship, aren’t I?”

“You’re right.” Lex brushed the back of one hand down Clark’s right cheek. “But this still can’t be, Clark. I’m going to marry Helen and—”

“You can’t! You don’t love her. I know you don’t!”

Lex shook his head and gave a wry smile. “I never expected to marry for love. Just for offspring. Someone appropriate for the tabloids to write about. And after Desiree, I added that any appropriate candidate could not be homicidal to the list. That’s about it.”

Clark looked as outraged as only a romantic teen could. “Lex, that’s not … that’s terrible! You can’t want that! You deserve more than that.”

Clark was right again except about the last part. But this wasn’t about want or even deserve. It was about what he could have. What Lionel would allow. And he would never allow Clark even if Lex could trust himself with the boy.

And it was like saying the Devil’s name and watching him appear, because at that moment the doors to the study were thrown open and Lionel strode in, his long coat flowing out behind him like a pair of dark wings. His tawny eyes flickered over the tableau they made: Clark on his knees between Lex’s thighs and one of Lex’s hands still curled in Clark’s hair.

Lex felt like he was dropping into one of his nightmares as his father’s eyes met his own. A cold, tight smile appeared on Lionel’s handsome face.

“It seems I’ve arrived just in time,” Lionel said softly.