Jun 19, 2008 22:50
Title: The Song Of The Belle (1/1)
Author: BradyGirl
Pairings/Characters: Clark/Lex
Continuity: Smallville
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Spoilers: For "Asylum", "Memoria", "Onyx", "Vessel", "Zod", "Nemesis", "Fracture", and "Arctic"
Summary: When Lex finally holds the secret of Veritas in his hands, he reflects on the journey to get him this far.
Date Of Completion: June 17, 2008
Date Of Posting: June 19, 2008
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, DC does, more’s the pity.
Word Count: 852
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
He had always heard the Song.
Most would call it the Song of the Siren, though he called it the Song of the Belle.
Lex looked down at the object he held. Veritas’ final secret.
When he was a child, the Song hadn’t really scared him. It was sweet and gentle, the whispers not loud, except after Julian had died, and then his mother.
Then had come Smallville.
He had disliked being awake after the meteor shower, the voices raucous, then settling back down to silence.
It wasn’t until he was much older that the Song began to scare him.
With good reason, as he was drowned more than once in antiseptic white, Darkness so bright and sweet. He tried hard to drown the voices with drink and other music, but it was all empty.
And then came Smallville again.
And the Brightness was there, so bright it hurt, but a good hurt. The Song was silent, too, and a different Song played, one from his heart.
Clark was sunlight and warmth and innocence, and Lex began to believe he would never hear the Belle gain. He began to hope for Love.
But, of course, a Belle of the Ball never liked to be ignored.
Split in two, Darkness against Light, and did he see his future?
There there was waterfall, rainfall, summerfall…
Everything white again, searing his retinas, his brain, his baby brother, his Baby Julian, in his arms (“I’ll never let you die, Julian; I’ll always take care of you.”) and worried green eyes looked at him, eyes desperate and regretful and in pain.
Lex still stared at what he held in his hand.
They had patched him up with spit and baling wire, and Clark was there, but Lex made a mistake: angry words, the seeds of mistrust sown, and a part of him screamed, missing games of pool and Friday movie nights and football games and easy friendship.
Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, but it sure killed a friendship.
He still loved Clark, wanted Clark.
Then Zod took him.
Stifled, suffocated, Darkness curling around his brain like a malevolent vine, the arrogance, the power…just a handful of Kryptonians could conquer them all before breakfast. Lex struggled but was so weak, Zod scornful of his human host.
What had lain dormant since the first meteor shower was triggered.
“Kneel before Zod,” and Clark knelt.
In that moment, Lex had pushed aside Zod, Lex had stood there, power not on his mind, at least not world power…he wanted Clark to look up with those beautiful green eyes, wanted him to open his mouth…
Clark hadn’t killed him back in the barn when Zod had first possessed him, even knowing what was at stake. He knew that Clark wanted, loved him, too.
Clark had tricked Zod, casting him out of Lex’s body, but Lex had cried inside.
He’d felt the baling wire unravel.
It all got worse: more lies, more accusations, more mistrust.
He despaired of ever having Clark, so he took Lana instead.
The Song was growing louder now, and 33.1 was set up, fear driving him, remembering Zod, remembering the other Kryptonians, and all the chances lost: locked with Clark in the panic room, trapped with him in the mines, and Clark right there after he woke up in the hospital after the confrontation with Curtis Knox.
And then Clark saw him, exposed and raw, his deepest, darkest secrets, and he felt his old friend’s compassion as little Alexander held Clark’s hand and said, I’m your best friend, Clark.
And Clark had smiled.
Don’t pity me!
But of course he wanted Clark to know him, understand him, forgive him…
Had an Angel saved him from drowning a second time? Was Redemption his to hold?
God help him, he had wanted that Bizarro Clark, who read his heart and knew.
But the Song grew louder, the Darkness grew bigger, and blood was on his hands, over and over and over, twisted games he couldn’t quite remember with them all, with Lana, playing Dr. Frankenstein (I promised you that I would never let you die, Julian), fragments of memories from long ago cracking open like an eggshell ready to make an omelet, or maybe scrambled eggs would be more apropos.
You’re a meteor freak, Lex. You heal faster than normal humans, the Belle whispered.
I have to save the world! His hand trembled as he clutched the device. The aliens are superior to us. We have to prepare against invasion. Why won’t anyone understand that?
Dear Lex, you’ve been with us before. We’ll welcome you back.
Smallville is where it all began. The Traveler’s arrival, the meteor shower marking me, meeting Clark…can I still have Clark?
Yes, you may have him.
The Veritas device began to glow.
Lex suspected…well, it didn’t matter. He still loved Clark.
The Song grew louder as the bright light enveloped him, whiteness everywhere…
All meteor freaks eventually went insane. Zod’s possession had triggered what had lain dormant for years.
The Song of Belle Reve crooned her siren song as the white cold sparkled all around him.
the song of the belle,
clex,
clark kent/lex luthor,
smallville,
superman/lex luthor