The Drugs Don’t Work by laurab1
This is for the Kryptonite challenge. Thanks to mskatej for letting me bounce ideas off her!
Title: The Drugs Don’t Work
Author: laurab1
Length: 1181 words
Rating: teens
Summary: Just forget. Just let go. Or not.
Characters: Lex, Clark, Lois
The Drugs Don’t Work
by Laura
Clark had only been Superman for six months when Lex saw the cracks in his armor start to appear.
The constant, large scale rescuing was clearly affecting him. It came out again in angry words in his story in today’s Planet, where he interviewed himself for the umpteenth time. The strain of being Superman was obvious. At present, it didn’t seem that it would take very much for those cracks to become much bigger, and maybe shatter. Lex knew just how he could make that happen. “You’re a creature of habit, Clark. You always resorted to the same thing when you couldn’t cope,” Lex said to himself.
As Lex knew only too well, sometimes, just forgetting about everything and everyone, letting go, losing yourself in a chemical haze was the only thing to do. It may not actually help the situation, but God did it feel good. Drink and drugs had no effect on Clark, but something else did. It gave him attitude, sensuality and a lost summer. It made him talk about running away together. But the red Kryptonite also made him violent and uncontrollable. So it was just as well that Lex also possessed the green variety, in the ring he wore to keep Superman at bay. If Lex did something now, maybe he could put Superman out of action before he’d really got going. Make Clark forget about his responsibilities. “No Superman. That really would make my life so much easier.”
Lex called the Planet to announce that he wanted to be interviewed, provided it was by Kent and Lane. Then he called his jeweller. The next time Clark Kent visited Lexcorp, there’d be a surprise waiting for him...
A week later, Lex sat at his desk and examined the jewellery that Herr Schumann had just delivered. The choker’s red and silver beads glinted under the office lights. The intercom sounded, and Lex quickly replaced the choker in its lead lined box. “Lex,” his secretary announced, “Lois Lane and Clark Kent are here.” He slipped the ring off and placed it in the box as well, and then hid the box in one of his desk drawers. “Thank you, Sarah. Please show them in,” Lex replied. The door opened and the Planet’s top investigative reporters entered his office. Shaking their hands in turn, Lex said, “Ms Lane, Mr Kent, thank you for coming. Please, have a seat and lets get started.”
An hour later, the interview concluded. Lois and Clark rose from their seats and prepared to leave. Lex then said, “Mr Kent, could you stay? I have a few more things I want to discuss with you, alone. Ms Lane, thanks again.” To their credit, both Clark and Lois managed to maintain poker faces, despite the odd nature of the request. “Go, Lois. I’ll be fine,” Clark said, sitting down again. “OK, Smallville. See you back at the office. Goodbye, Lex,” Lois said. “Goodbye, Lois,” Lex replied. She left the office and Lex focussed on Clark. “What do you want to talk about, Lex?” Clark asked.
What did he want to talk about? Clark’s apparent inability to successfully integrate the two aspects of his life? Lex retrieved the small box from his drawer and placed it on the desk. “I want to talk to you about the difficulties of your other career. There’s no point lying to me, Clark, or denying it. Did you really think I wouldn’t recognise you? I remember what happened at Edge’s house. I knew it was you as soon as Superman took to the skies, desperate to save us from ourselves,” Lex sarcastically said, opening the box and slipping on the ring. He rose from his chair and walked round the desk. “I have a gift for you, Clark. I do hope you like it,” Lex said. Before Clark’s normally lightning quick reflexes stopped him from doing so, confused as they were by the effects of both red and green Kryptonite, Lex bent down and reached around Clark’s neck. The choker’s magnetic clasp snapped together. Lex stood up straight, and watched Clark’s eyes. They burned red, as much from the Kryptonite as from the heat which naturally coursed through his body. Lex flicked down the ring’s recently added lead shield and sat down beside Clark to enjoy the show.
The change happened immediately. “Lex,” Clark breathed. “Clark,” Lex replied. “Not Clark, Lex. Kal,” Clark said, his eyes glowing. Lex had almost forgotten just how sexual red Kryptonite made Clark. But it also made him very dangerous, so Lex had to work quickly. He should be more receptive in this state, so Lex said, “I want you to do something for me, Kal.” “What is it, Lex?” Clark/Kal asked. “I want you to give up being Superman. It’s clearly not working for you, and it’s playing hell with a lot of Lexcorp projects,” Lex said. “No, Lex. I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Clark/Kal growled. “Many Lexcorp projects will have the eventual result of harming people. I have to stop them before they do.”
Well, this wasn’t going to be as easy as Lex had thought. Clark wasn’t going to break. His cracks weren’t going to get bigger. He wasn’t going to give up being Superman. Lex flipped up the shield on the ring, stood up, walked behind Clark and pulled the choker off.
“Lex! What the hell was that?” Clark asked, the heat in his eyes being replaced by fear and pain from the green Kryptonite. “It was me trying to drug you into giving up being Superman, Clark. Wasn’t I obvious enough?!” Lex said, turning to face Clark. “I was being rhetorical, Lex. And you were all too obvious. Flip that shield down, just for a minute,” Clark sighed, watching as Lex did so.
“Did you really think that would work? That I’d roll over and give it all up, just like that? Let me tell you a couple of stories, Lex. The summer you were declared ‘dead’, I went to your ‘funeral’. I was lost, and abusing red Kryptonite, and I managed to push past all of that pain for a while. Alicia drugged me in the same way you just did and I wouldn’t sleep with her unless we got married. The red Kryptonite suppresses my morals, turns me on, gets me high and makes me angry, violent and uncontrollable. It doesn’t make me forget, though. Every time, I knew exactly what had happened, what I’d done, who I’d hurt. Yes, being Superman is hard work. You, especially, don’t make it any easier. But I don’t want to give it up. I want to get better at it. And I will. Now, I can hear someone who needs help, so I’m going to go and help them. That’s what I do. Could you open the window so I can fly over to the Planet’s roof? Thank you,” Clark said.
Lex opened the window and let Clark leave. He needed another way to get rid of Superman. In the meantime, he’d wear his ring, bide his time and enjoy the battle.
-end-
Title: The Drugs Don’t Work
Author: laurab1
Length: 1181 words
Rating: teens
Summary: Just forget. Just let go. Or not.
Characters: Lex, Clark, Lois
The Drugs Don’t Work
by Laura
Clark had only been Superman for six months when Lex saw the cracks in his armor start to appear.
The constant, large scale rescuing was clearly affecting him. It came out again in angry words in his story in today’s Planet, where he interviewed himself for the umpteenth time. The strain of being Superman was obvious. At present, it didn’t seem that it would take very much for those cracks to become much bigger, and maybe shatter. Lex knew just how he could make that happen. “You’re a creature of habit, Clark. You always resorted to the same thing when you couldn’t cope,” Lex said to himself.
As Lex knew only too well, sometimes, just forgetting about everything and everyone, letting go, losing yourself in a chemical haze was the only thing to do. It may not actually help the situation, but God did it feel good. Drink and drugs had no effect on Clark, but something else did. It gave him attitude, sensuality and a lost summer. It made him talk about running away together. But the red Kryptonite also made him violent and uncontrollable. So it was just as well that Lex also possessed the green variety, in the ring he wore to keep Superman at bay. If Lex did something now, maybe he could put Superman out of action before he’d really got going. Make Clark forget about his responsibilities. “No Superman. That really would make my life so much easier.”
Lex called the Planet to announce that he wanted to be interviewed, provided it was by Kent and Lane. Then he called his jeweller. The next time Clark Kent visited Lexcorp, there’d be a surprise waiting for him...
A week later, Lex sat at his desk and examined the jewellery that Herr Schumann had just delivered. The choker’s red and silver beads glinted under the office lights. The intercom sounded, and Lex quickly replaced the choker in its lead lined box. “Lex,” his secretary announced, “Lois Lane and Clark Kent are here.” He slipped the ring off and placed it in the box as well, and then hid the box in one of his desk drawers. “Thank you, Sarah. Please show them in,” Lex replied. The door opened and the Planet’s top investigative reporters entered his office. Shaking their hands in turn, Lex said, “Ms Lane, Mr Kent, thank you for coming. Please, have a seat and lets get started.”
An hour later, the interview concluded. Lois and Clark rose from their seats and prepared to leave. Lex then said, “Mr Kent, could you stay? I have a few more things I want to discuss with you, alone. Ms Lane, thanks again.” To their credit, both Clark and Lois managed to maintain poker faces, despite the odd nature of the request. “Go, Lois. I’ll be fine,” Clark said, sitting down again. “OK, Smallville. See you back at the office. Goodbye, Lex,” Lois said. “Goodbye, Lois,” Lex replied. She left the office and Lex focussed on Clark. “What do you want to talk about, Lex?” Clark asked.
What did he want to talk about? Clark’s apparent inability to successfully integrate the two aspects of his life? Lex retrieved the small box from his drawer and placed it on the desk. “I want to talk to you about the difficulties of your other career. There’s no point lying to me, Clark, or denying it. Did you really think I wouldn’t recognise you? I remember what happened at Edge’s house. I knew it was you as soon as Superman took to the skies, desperate to save us from ourselves,” Lex sarcastically said, opening the box and slipping on the ring. He rose from his chair and walked round the desk. “I have a gift for you, Clark. I do hope you like it,” Lex said. Before Clark’s normally lightning quick reflexes stopped him from doing so, confused as they were by the effects of both red and green Kryptonite, Lex bent down and reached around Clark’s neck. The choker’s magnetic clasp snapped together. Lex stood up straight, and watched Clark’s eyes. They burned red, as much from the Kryptonite as from the heat which naturally coursed through his body. Lex flicked down the ring’s recently added lead shield and sat down beside Clark to enjoy the show.
The change happened immediately. “Lex,” Clark breathed. “Clark,” Lex replied. “Not Clark, Lex. Kal,” Clark said, his eyes glowing. Lex had almost forgotten just how sexual red Kryptonite made Clark. But it also made him very dangerous, so Lex had to work quickly. He should be more receptive in this state, so Lex said, “I want you to do something for me, Kal.” “What is it, Lex?” Clark/Kal asked. “I want you to give up being Superman. It’s clearly not working for you, and it’s playing hell with a lot of Lexcorp projects,” Lex said. “No, Lex. I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Clark/Kal growled. “Many Lexcorp projects will have the eventual result of harming people. I have to stop them before they do.”
Well, this wasn’t going to be as easy as Lex had thought. Clark wasn’t going to break. His cracks weren’t going to get bigger. He wasn’t going to give up being Superman. Lex flipped up the shield on the ring, stood up, walked behind Clark and pulled the choker off.
“Lex! What the hell was that?” Clark asked, the heat in his eyes being replaced by fear and pain from the green Kryptonite. “It was me trying to drug you into giving up being Superman, Clark. Wasn’t I obvious enough?!” Lex said, turning to face Clark. “I was being rhetorical, Lex. And you were all too obvious. Flip that shield down, just for a minute,” Clark sighed, watching as Lex did so.
“Did you really think that would work? That I’d roll over and give it all up, just like that? Let me tell you a couple of stories, Lex. The summer you were declared ‘dead’, I went to your ‘funeral’. I was lost, and abusing red Kryptonite, and I managed to push past all of that pain for a while. Alicia drugged me in the same way you just did and I wouldn’t sleep with her unless we got married. The red Kryptonite suppresses my morals, turns me on, gets me high and makes me angry, violent and uncontrollable. It doesn’t make me forget, though. Every time, I knew exactly what had happened, what I’d done, who I’d hurt. Yes, being Superman is hard work. You, especially, don’t make it any easier. But I don’t want to give it up. I want to get better at it. And I will. Now, I can hear someone who needs help, so I’m going to go and help them. That’s what I do. Could you open the window so I can fly over to the Planet’s roof? Thank you,” Clark said.
Lex opened the window and let Clark leave. He needed another way to get rid of Superman. In the meantime, he’d wear his ring, bide his time and enjoy the battle.
-end-