Smallville Fic - The Story of Us #7 - Hell
Title: Hell
Author: emerald_night
Claim: Smallville - Lois and Clark
Table: Buffet #1
Rating: PG
Prompt: #46 / Harsh revelation
Word Count: 2307
Spoilers: Spoilers through 10x10 - Luthor
Summary: Clark winds up in an alternate universe. Some disturbing and heartbreaking revelations await him.
A/N: Written for the fc_smorgasbord challenge.
Clark Luthor.
His head was still spinning from that particular revelation. As if apparently being transported to an alternate universe and waking up in the Luthor mansion wasn’t enough of a shock, finding out that, in this world, his spaceship had been found by Lionel Luthor had pretty much stunned him into silence.
Which probably worked to his advantage when Lionel had walked into the room and called him son. He’d managed to escape that confrontation without Lionel catching on, only nodding at what he assumed were appropriate points judging by the elder Luthor’s pauses and pointed glances at him. He’d seemed satisfied enough with that, dismissing Clark with a wave of his hand.
Wasting no time, Clark quickly left the room, wanting only one thing.
To get out of there.
He needed to get his bearings, figure out what was going on.
More importantly, he had to figure out how to get home.
He knew the long hallways well, having been a frequent visitor there during both good and strained times throughout his relationship with Lex. Distracted, his heart racing at the implications of what was going on, he didn’t even notice her until she was falling back from the impact of colliding into him.
“Hey, watch it!” she snapped.
His eyes widened as he instinctively reached to grab her.
A smile lit up his face, watching as with a puff of air she blew her bangs off her forehead.
“Lois,” he whispered, immediately pulling her close and burying his face in her neck. He closed his eyes, the scent of her perfume surrounding him, grounding him in the first moment of clarity he’d had since he’d found himself in a nightmare.
He heard her breath catch, relaxing for a moment into his arms.
But only for a moment.
Suddenly, her hands pressed against his chest, he felt her pushing him back.
Surprised, he let her, his mouth dropping slightly in shock at the anger flashing her hazel eyes.
“Get the hell off me,” she spat, giving him one last push for good measure. “What, trying to butter me up so I don’t bury your father on the front page? Don’t worry, this assignment is purely a punishment from your sister. I’m sure anything negative in my copy will mysteriously disappear before it hits the presses.”
Clark let out a sharp breath, his eyes narrowing in confusion, latching onto the one thing he could almost handle - which wasn’t Lois’ attitude towards him.
“My…sister?”
Oblivious to his shock, Lois continued, reorganizing some of her papers that had gotten shuffled a bit when they’d bumped into each other.
“Yeah, Tess got wind of the fact that I found a little dirt on your father’s experiments at Cadmus Labs, and so she sent me here to do a puff piece on LuthorCorp’s charity auction next week. Not that that will stop me from exposing what Lionel’s really doing. Or you for that matter.”
She began to brush by him, clearly done with him. Through the haze of panic and bewilderment, he managed to grab her hand as she walked past him, turning her back toward him.
He was rewarded with a glare that he was sure would kill a mere mortal on the spot.
“What the hell is with you today? You lost your right to touch me a long time ago,” she snapped, trying to pull away from his grasp.
He only held onto her tighter.
“Wh…what?” he managed to stutter out in a choked whisper.
She rolled her eyes, frustration and fury evident in her features. “I don’t have time for this, Clark. Let me go.”
“I can’t…”
She must have heard the desperation in his tone, because her expression softened, even if it was just from anger to bemusement. Her eyes roamed his face, and he felt her hand relax slightly in his grip.
“Well, if it isn’t the lovely Miss Lane,” Lionel’s characteristically silky voice came from the doorway at the end of the hall. Clark watched as his gaze immediately fell to his and Lois’ still joined hands. Looking back Clark, he chuckled in that way Clark knew meant that whatever was about to come out of his mouth wasn’t funny, but was in actuality a very serious message.
“Now son, I doubt Mr. Queen would be happy to see you’ve taken an interest in his fiancée again.”
The words hit him with a force that actually knocked him back a few steps, his hand loosening enough to allow Lois’ hand to drop to her side.
And that’s when he saw it. Glittering on her left hand. Breaking his heart into a million pieces. Of all the revelations that had been tossed at him since he’d found himself in the midst of this bad dream, this?
This was by far the harshest.
His eyes rose to meet hers, seeing, for the first time, the barest hint of concern, even compassion in their hazel depths.
“Miss Lane, I’m a busy man, so if you’ll just follow me…”
“I need a minute with her,” Clark said, managing to make his tone somewhat forceful despite his shock.
“Now son…”
“Mr. Luthor, no doubt the suck up questions your daughter instructed me to ask you won’t take very long. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind waiting a minute or two while I speak to your son.”
Lionel cleared his throat, obviously somewhat annoyed by Lois’ dismissal. Clark saw the glare Lionel shot at her before turning a warning glance to him.
“I’ll be in my office,” he said, his voice dripping with courteousness Clark knew was fake. Lois watched Lionel go, waiting for the click of the door before whipping back around to face him.
“You wanna tell me why you look like a kid who just found out there’s no Santa? Because this?” she said, holding up the hand adorned with a very large diamond, “Is hardly news to you.”
He had the overwhelming urge to use his heat vision to pulverize the offending rock into tiny shards of crystal, forever erasing it from her hand. Raking frustrated fingers through his hair, he exhaled loudly, attempting to calm himself to the point he could actually find out what was going on.
And why everything was so wrong.
“I just…I don’t understand,” he said, every syllable drowning in bewilderment.
“You don’t understand? Are you kidding me?”
His jaw dropped at her fresh onslaught of anger. She stepped closer to him, so close that he could see the slightest hint of wetness in her eyes.
“You made your choice Clark. When you chose to let yourself become the number one suspect in the murder of my cousin, a murder we both know you didn’t commit. When you tried to stop me from getting justice for Chloe at every turn to cover for that monster,” she snarled, gesturing her head toward the closed door of Lionel’s office. “When you chose to protect your bastard father over loving me, you gave up on us.”
She angrily wiped at her face, a single tear having escaped despite her best attempts to hold them back. He watched as she back away in stunned silence, processing the tirade she’d just laid on him.
“I would have stood by you,” she said quietly, her voice shaking with emotion. “But I guess the joke was on me, huh? Falling for a Luthor. A mistake I don’t intend to make ever again.”
She turned, knocking on Lionel’s office door, and disappearing quickly inside. He stared at the spot she’d just left, stumbling back a bit until his back hit the wall. Sliding down slowly, his face fell into his hands, a strangled gasp escaping his throat.
This wasn’t an alternate universe.
This was hell.
Author: emerald_night
Claim: Smallville - Lois and Clark
Table: Buffet #1
Rating: PG
Prompt: #46 / Harsh revelation
Word Count: 2307
Spoilers: Spoilers through 10x10 - Luthor
Summary: Clark winds up in an alternate universe. Some disturbing and heartbreaking revelations await him.
A/N: Written for the fc_smorgasbord challenge.
Clark Luthor.
His head was still spinning from that particular revelation. As if apparently being transported to an alternate universe and waking up in the Luthor mansion wasn’t enough of a shock, finding out that, in this world, his spaceship had been found by Lionel Luthor had pretty much stunned him into silence.
Which probably worked to his advantage when Lionel had walked into the room and called him son. He’d managed to escape that confrontation without Lionel catching on, only nodding at what he assumed were appropriate points judging by the elder Luthor’s pauses and pointed glances at him. He’d seemed satisfied enough with that, dismissing Clark with a wave of his hand.
Wasting no time, Clark quickly left the room, wanting only one thing.
To get out of there.
He needed to get his bearings, figure out what was going on.
More importantly, he had to figure out how to get home.
He knew the long hallways well, having been a frequent visitor there during both good and strained times throughout his relationship with Lex. Distracted, his heart racing at the implications of what was going on, he didn’t even notice her until she was falling back from the impact of colliding into him.
“Hey, watch it!” she snapped.
His eyes widened as he instinctively reached to grab her.
A smile lit up his face, watching as with a puff of air she blew her bangs off her forehead.
“Lois,” he whispered, immediately pulling her close and burying his face in her neck. He closed his eyes, the scent of her perfume surrounding him, grounding him in the first moment of clarity he’d had since he’d found himself in a nightmare.
He heard her breath catch, relaxing for a moment into his arms.
But only for a moment.
Suddenly, her hands pressed against his chest, he felt her pushing him back.
Surprised, he let her, his mouth dropping slightly in shock at the anger flashing her hazel eyes.
“Get the hell off me,” she spat, giving him one last push for good measure. “What, trying to butter me up so I don’t bury your father on the front page? Don’t worry, this assignment is purely a punishment from your sister. I’m sure anything negative in my copy will mysteriously disappear before it hits the presses.”
Clark let out a sharp breath, his eyes narrowing in confusion, latching onto the one thing he could almost handle - which wasn’t Lois’ attitude towards him.
“My…sister?”
Oblivious to his shock, Lois continued, reorganizing some of her papers that had gotten shuffled a bit when they’d bumped into each other.
“Yeah, Tess got wind of the fact that I found a little dirt on your father’s experiments at Cadmus Labs, and so she sent me here to do a puff piece on LuthorCorp’s charity auction next week. Not that that will stop me from exposing what Lionel’s really doing. Or you for that matter.”
She began to brush by him, clearly done with him. Through the haze of panic and bewilderment, he managed to grab her hand as she walked past him, turning her back toward him.
He was rewarded with a glare that he was sure would kill a mere mortal on the spot.
“What the hell is with you today? You lost your right to touch me a long time ago,” she snapped, trying to pull away from his grasp.
He only held onto her tighter.
“Wh…what?” he managed to stutter out in a choked whisper.
She rolled her eyes, frustration and fury evident in her features. “I don’t have time for this, Clark. Let me go.”
“I can’t…”
She must have heard the desperation in his tone, because her expression softened, even if it was just from anger to bemusement. Her eyes roamed his face, and he felt her hand relax slightly in his grip.
“Well, if it isn’t the lovely Miss Lane,” Lionel’s characteristically silky voice came from the doorway at the end of the hall. Clark watched as his gaze immediately fell to his and Lois’ still joined hands. Looking back Clark, he chuckled in that way Clark knew meant that whatever was about to come out of his mouth wasn’t funny, but was in actuality a very serious message.
“Now son, I doubt Mr. Queen would be happy to see you’ve taken an interest in his fiancée again.”
The words hit him with a force that actually knocked him back a few steps, his hand loosening enough to allow Lois’ hand to drop to her side.
And that’s when he saw it. Glittering on her left hand. Breaking his heart into a million pieces. Of all the revelations that had been tossed at him since he’d found himself in the midst of this bad dream, this?
This was by far the harshest.
His eyes rose to meet hers, seeing, for the first time, the barest hint of concern, even compassion in their hazel depths.
“Miss Lane, I’m a busy man, so if you’ll just follow me…”
“I need a minute with her,” Clark said, managing to make his tone somewhat forceful despite his shock.
“Now son…”
“Mr. Luthor, no doubt the suck up questions your daughter instructed me to ask you won’t take very long. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind waiting a minute or two while I speak to your son.”
Lionel cleared his throat, obviously somewhat annoyed by Lois’ dismissal. Clark saw the glare Lionel shot at her before turning a warning glance to him.
“I’ll be in my office,” he said, his voice dripping with courteousness Clark knew was fake. Lois watched Lionel go, waiting for the click of the door before whipping back around to face him.
“You wanna tell me why you look like a kid who just found out there’s no Santa? Because this?” she said, holding up the hand adorned with a very large diamond, “Is hardly news to you.”
He had the overwhelming urge to use his heat vision to pulverize the offending rock into tiny shards of crystal, forever erasing it from her hand. Raking frustrated fingers through his hair, he exhaled loudly, attempting to calm himself to the point he could actually find out what was going on.
And why everything was so wrong.
“I just…I don’t understand,” he said, every syllable drowning in bewilderment.
“You don’t understand? Are you kidding me?”
His jaw dropped at her fresh onslaught of anger. She stepped closer to him, so close that he could see the slightest hint of wetness in her eyes.
“You made your choice Clark. When you chose to let yourself become the number one suspect in the murder of my cousin, a murder we both know you didn’t commit. When you tried to stop me from getting justice for Chloe at every turn to cover for that monster,” she snarled, gesturing her head toward the closed door of Lionel’s office. “When you chose to protect your bastard father over loving me, you gave up on us.”
She angrily wiped at her face, a single tear having escaped despite her best attempts to hold them back. He watched as she back away in stunned silence, processing the tirade she’d just laid on him.
“I would have stood by you,” she said quietly, her voice shaking with emotion. “But I guess the joke was on me, huh? Falling for a Luthor. A mistake I don’t intend to make ever again.”
She turned, knocking on Lionel’s office door, and disappearing quickly inside. He stared at the spot she’d just left, stumbling back a bit until his back hit the wall. Sliding down slowly, his face fell into his hands, a strangled gasp escaping his throat.
This wasn’t an alternate universe.
This was hell.