seagull2eagle.livejournal.com posting in

tallihensia

For

jlvsclrk for

help_haiti.

Title: Magnetic Reconnection
Author:

tallihensia
Fandom: Smallville - Pairing: Clex (Lex/Clark)
Rating: G/PG - Size: 3,470
Type: short, drama, romance, post-rift
Warnings: none
Spoilers: general SV (seasons 1-3)
Summary: Superman comes in the middle of the night to bring his enemy to a remote Northern location. Lex wonders why.

Feedback: Comments, critiques, suggestions, etc, all welcome.
Disclaimer: Only mine in my dreams. ;-) This story was written for free entertainment purposes only and may not be reproduced for profit or altered without permission.

Notes:
Post-rift AU, canon only from first few seasons (with some borrowing from later as I feel like it). Additional mixing and nods to DC canon, though don't take it all as fact, they're just references. ^^;

Request from

jlvsclrk who won me in the

help_haiti auction. Prompts at the bottom of the fic because they're slightly spoilery. ^^

I wrote a chunk of this while watching the 'Hope For Haiti Now' show and listening to the music and the interviews with people in Haiti. Our hearts and prayers and thoughts go out to everybody in Haiti who were in the earthquake, those who know people and have lost people, and for all those helping. May the care go on.

Magnetic Reconnection

Flying back from the Fortress, Superman suddenly stopped mid-air and hung motionless for a minute as he watched the sky. Then he disappeared so quickly a sonic boom echoed across the land.

---

At 2am, Lex Luthor was home in his penthouse, not asleep. The day had been long, with inspections of the underground labs and then catching up on the above-board business as well. He was at his desk reviewing the schematics of the most current plan for peering into the Fourth Dimension when a sudden knocking at the window had him exercising his utmost in self control.

When he was sure nothing showed on his face or body language, he stood up and headed towards the balcony. The door, however, was wide open and Lex frowned at the broken lock before he turned.

Rummaging through Lex's closet, Superman tossed a heavy coat, gloves, hat, and fur-lined boots in Lex's direction. "Hurry! We don't have much time."

Lex blinked. Then he moved to put the items on. Lex wanted to rule Earth, not destroy it, and the heroes took full advantage of that during battles. In extreme measures, the Legion of Superheroes recognized his genius and called on him for help. The last time, Lex had built a machine for them to fight against Libra. He hadn't, however, heard of anything currently happening… A dozen scenarios and questions raced through his mind, none of which Lex bothered asking. He would find out when Superman chose to tell him.

When Lex was dressed, Superman picked him up in a close carry and flew out.

They were going faster than Superman normally flew with a passenger. After one glance where his eyes burned at the wind and he couldn't see a thing, Lex tucked his head into Superman's blue chest. The warmth of Superman's body was a protection against the chill of the air, which got colder as they went along. Lex was thankful for the extra layers Superman had him put on.

They landed with a distinctive crunch, settling onto a snow layer. They were far enough North, then, that late Autumn included frozen ground. Lex took as short a time as possible to get his balance before stepping away from Superman's grasp. He turned to look around and his attention was instantly caught by the sky.

Green, gold, red.... Whipping across the night, overlaying the stars. Rippling in sheets from the horizon up towards the zenith. It was one of the most beautiful auroras Lex had ever seen. He stood for a moment, rooted solid as he watched the striking show. Then he shook himself out of it and turned his attention elsewhere.

They were in an empty clearing edged by trees on the East and West, mountains on their South, and only snow stretching into the horizon on the North. The ground lit up with flickers from the aurora borealis overhead, the frozen lake at their feet reflecting it. There wasn't a sign of civilization anywhere. Nor any enemies that he could see.

Lex frowned and looked over to Superman. "So?"

Superman's attention was on the sky. He glanced over at Lex. "What?"

"What's the emergency?" Lex asked with some impatience.

"Oh," Superman turned back. "No emergency -- I just thought you’d like to see this."

It took almost a minute before Lex regained his voice, fury stilling his vocal cords. "You snatched me out of my home with no word and no explanation for a LIGHT SHOW!?"

"I thought you'd like it," Superman repeated. "Shh... it probably won't last long."

"Encountered any red rocks lately?" Lex asked sarcastically.

Superman snorted. "No. Do you really want me to take you back right now?"

Reflexively, Lex opened his mouth to say 'yes', and then he slowly closed it. Swallowing, he turned back North.

It really was incredible. Lex had seen the Northern Lights before. There was a research station up near Whitehorse and when Lex was there he went out every night to look for auroras. The flickers in the skies, the green hue barely seen over the stars. The richer reds and yellows, dramatic against the black, shaking as if to come down upon the Earth. During the peak of the eleven year cycle in solar flares, he had heard there could be almost a continuous presence.

They weren't at a peak season now -- this was actually a period of relatively quiet sun activity. And yet, this was the most incredible display he'd ever seen.

The light was in distinct arcs; the sheer wall of green on the horizon, a thinner border of yellow, a fiery top of flaming red, cusped by a deeper purple that blended with the back sky. The arcs moved; undulating in the sky, waving to the mortals below. They dipped into each other; flares from below pushed them up to the next. Three-dimensional, not flat like a photograph, the yellows seemed to reach towards him, flickering with such draw that Lex raised his hand in response.

Dropping his hand, Lex softly quoted:

With a brilliancy that grew and grew, blazed up the Northern Lights.
They rolled around with a soundless sound like softly bruised silk;
They poured into the bowl of the sky with the gentle flow of milk.
In eager, pulsing violet their wheeling chariots came,
Or they poised above the Polar rim like a coronal of flame.
From depths of darkness fathomless their lancing rays were hurled,
Like the all-combining search-lights of the navies of the world.

Next to him, Superman stirred. "What's that from?"

"Robert Service. 'The Ballad of the Northern Lights'." Which wasn't as pleasant a tale as the title might indicate, but it did describe the rugged Yukon well.

They lapsed back into silence, the lights more commanding than speech.

The colors danced before them. The green looping into a swirl, patterned into a wave, changing to a sheet wafting through the air, tightening to a scarf, streaming up from the horizon into the stars. Above it, the red hovered like clouds, struck through with light rays, the yellow dashing up, the purple drawing down; living stalactites and stalagmites in a cave of fantastical beings.

Eventually, Lex took a breath and wrenched his gaze away. His neck was stiff from looking up for so long. He could barely move his limbs. His thick coat was for cold weather -- not freezing. Looking around the clearing, he spotted a large rock and headed for it.

"Lex?" Superman turned to him.

"You would pick a location where there's nowhere to sit."

"Oh... Hold on." Superman sped past him and the rock to a larger one beyond. There was a flurry of activity around it and rock chips flew. Within a short time, Superman flew back and put the carved rock next to Lex.

Lex's lips involuntarily twitched. It was more than a simple bench. The rock was carved almost into a small couch -- a small *reclining* couch, back tipped for a prime viewing, the leg section spread out for comfort. It was big enough for two men, barely.

Stepping to it, Lex stopped as Superman placed a hand on his chest. The air between Superman and the rock shimmered in an inferior mirage, similar to the aurora swirling above them and yet wholly different physics.

"Well, you seem like you're okay," Lex remarked, watching the rock steam as it warmed up.

With a sigh, Superman sat down and looked up at Lex. "I swear, Lex -- no red rocks. Or purple or yellow or pink or chartreuse..."

Lex snorted. Sitting down in the warm stone couch next to Superman, he leaned back to look at the sky that was still dancing around them. "From the solar flares. If we're having this intense of an aurora, the sun must have kicked out one hell of a flare, powerful enough to tear the tail plasma and set up this magnetic reconnection."

"Oh. No." Superman also leaned back, stretching out his arm along the stone, around Lex's shoulders. Lex refused to give him the satisfaction of a glare and didn't acknowledge it. Neither did he acknowledge how nice it felt.

Thoughtfully, Superman remarked, "I don't have as many problems with solar flares as I did when I was young, yet..." he paused for awhile. "No, I've never had any problems at all when the Northern Lights are on. Southern either if I'm down there."

This time, Lex did twist around to look. "Humm." He thought about it. "Probably has something to do with the currents the magnetic storms carry in the atmosphere. In 1859, the telegraph worked for two hours with no batteries hooked up at all. Though you also have weird reactions to electricity sometimes. Do the two cancel each other out?"

"Lex," Superman sighed, "Go back to watching the sky."

With a huff just to show he wasn't intimidated, Lex did so, leaning back into the curve of Superman's arm and his side to make a better pillow than the hard stone.

Vertical striations from the ground to the zenith danced as they wove their way up. The green horizon undulated, now dipping low on the left in an arc while steady on the right, now raising to smoothly lie parallel to the ground. Above the green, the red stretched out into the night, reaching for the gods, bringing fire to them as ethereal and mysterious as the stars themselves. The colors floated in mid-air, almost seeming as if one could reach out and touch them, however always too far away. Chasing a rainbow, looking for that pot of gold.

The goddess of the dawn, Aurora, dancing in the sky with her cousin Iris the Rainbow. The two together making merry while Apollo slept on the other side of the world. Lex smiled as his thoughts took him to pornographic scenes between Aurora and Iris that the stories never envisioned. Or perhaps they did -- those old Romans having been a rather lusty bunch all around and gay relationships not unknown by them. He snickered at the thought of what then the Northern Lights might be, product of such a tryst, rolling down across the window of the sky.

Superman's hand tugged on his shoulder, bringing Lex more comfortably against his chest.

Again, Lex permitted it; wondering a little at himself as he did so.

"What is all this about?" Lex finally asked, the question rising above the wonders in the sky.

"Um?"

That was an evasive noise, not a distracted one. Lex sighed, annoyed with the remembrances of twelve years past when he used to hear that same sound all the time.

"I just..." Superman shifted uneasily beneath Lex, holding him a little tighter. "I thought you'd like to see it. I didn't actually think it would last this long; normally they don't stick around more than a half-hour at most."

It wasn't the time Lex was worried about. Though, reminded, he twisted to look at his watch. A quarter past four. They'd been there for two hours already, watching the dance. "Why?" Lex left it up to his enemy to come up with a question for the 'why'; there were so many different ones it could be.

"I just..." Superman turned his head to look at Lex, though Lex continued to watch the sky, refusing to focus on his peripheral vision.

"I remember you going on about how spectacular the display in 2001 was, and you were moaning that you'd missed it stuck in nowhere Kansas, and then you told me about how beautiful they could be, describing them in poets' terms and quoting your bits to weave tales. I saw this one tonight... and it reminded me of you. Actually, I'm always reminded of you. But tonight; there was something about tonight's. I didn't want to be alone to watch it, and the only person I could possibly bring was you. I shared one once with someone else and it was wrong. So tonight I had to find you."

In Clark's arms, Lex stilled. He barely breathed, his attention was so focused on the words, the feeling of Clark pressed up alongside him, his hand on Lex's shoulder. Clark. It was Clark who had brought him here, not Superman after all. Clark who had never in twelve years ever *admitted* he was Superman. And did so now without saying it, but it was clear.

It took Lex several moments to figure out that Clark was done talking. That Clark was, in fact, shivering, and obviously not from the cold. Those big green eyes, darker than the aurora, were staring at Lex. Lex knew if he turned to look, he would see an old familiar expression in them, worried and anxious and hoping. Lex wasn't sure if he wanted it.

"Twelve years," Lex finally said. "Twelve fucking years!" He closed his eyes to the sky, not seeing out of the corners of his vision. Behind his lids, reds and greens danced, a retina after-image that was as solid as the aurora.

Beside him, Clark was silent.

"When you..." 'Kidnapped' wasn't exactly correct. 'Lured' would be more to the point, however Lex winced at the thought of saying it, it sounded so... gothic romance. "...collected me, I was going over the plans to rip a hole into the fourth dimension." It wasn't so much of a hole as an image recorder, but close enough to disturb any righteous do-gooder.

"Oh." A little silence. "Um, why?"

"Why?" Lex repeated, amazed. "You're asking me why?"

Clark didn't misunderstand the emphasis. "I guess I haven't done well at asking that."

"No," Lex agreed with the weight of years behind it, "You haven't."

Years of accusation in his voice, Clark responded, "But Lex, you---" Clark cut himself off. Lex could hear him breathing, controlling his anger.

The accusations were not, completely, unfounded, Lex admitted. Silently. Though more early 'why' questions honestly asked could have headed off most of them. Lex's most destructive plans were usually mutations of fairly harmless ones after he'd been pissed off.

The silence stretched out. The show in the sky continued and Lex went back to watching it. He didn't stir himself out of Clark's embrace and Clark didn't relinquish it.

The reds started fading out first, shrinking down to dance upon the yellow border. The greens receded up to meet them until there was only a wide swath of color dancing between the blackness of the sky, the points of lights winking in and out as the ladies' scarf floated by them. It reminded Lex of the dance of the 30 veils, each one coming off in its turn. Betrayal, hidden by lust.

As the last veil danced, Clark spoke again. "Lex, I've missed you."

Here and now, removed from what their lives had become, Lex could admit that he'd missed Clark too. He'd missed him with an intensity that made his life unreal. How could he miss the person that tormented him so? That foiled him at every step. Who danced with him as easily as if they were on a dance-floor, despite how deadly their moves had become.

The veil faded, leaving hints of green behind. The stars came out to take their rightful place, secure in their solidarity. Guiding lights that had been there for thousands upon thousands of years and would be there for thousands more. Not at all like the aurora that appeared and disappeared upon a whim.

"There's Polaris," Lex pointed. The easiest of all stars to find.

"Follow the bowl of the Dipper out twice its length, and no matter where the Dipper is in the sky, it will always point to the North Star." Alongside him, Clark relaxed as he spoke, his voice hopeful.

Lex moved his finger south east of Polaris, inscribing a short circle, then at the eastern edge of the circle dipping down sharply and up again.

"Auriga and Taurus" Clark responded happily. "The charioteer that runs into the bull, which was brilliant of that charioteer. Though I still can't see a bull in that simple V."

Lex snorted; Clark always did have a tendency to nitpick on the shapes. "Can you see M81?" he asked curiously. It was a galaxy that was between Ursa Major and Polaris, visible only with binoculars, and very clear in telescopes.

"Yes," Clark's voice was low and dipped lower still. "It's beautiful; facing us directly, the eye in the sky watching us. Perfect spiral arms reaching out clearly around the oval, stars popping out around it, bright against the universe. Messier 82, next to it, is on its edge, looking away from Earth but also beautiful; more colorful than its neighbor." He paused. "I wish you could see them too."

"That's what telescopes are for," Lex dismissed the thought. He was a human, and a human he would stay. He would match alien abilities with human ingenuity and that was something that couldn't ever be taken away.

Casually lifting Lex's weight, Clark shifted their positions again so he was lying mostly on the stone couch and Lex was reclining on top of him. Lex could feel himself moving with Clark's every breath, rising and falling on his chest. Clark's arm encircled him, resting in the center of Lex's chest. With an equally casual move, Lex brought his own gloved hand to touch Clark's bare hand.

"Lex, do you think we can find our way home from here?" Clark asked in a small voice, barely heard.

The sky in the east was starting to lighten, turning from black to dark blue above the trees. As it turned to a lighter blue, a hint of color also drifted across the sky. Aurora, back again. Still beautiful, yet no longer playing with the wild release of night. Instead seriously going about her duties of the dawn, heralding the arrival of Apollo the day.

"We know where Polaris is, and I can build a sextant," Lex finally replied. "If you provide the brawn to get us there, I think I can supply the brains."

Clark let out his breath. With the movement, Lex realized that Clark had been holding it ever since he'd asked the question, thereby proving his utter alienness. Only an alien or a pearl diver could have held it that long.

"Can you find me a pearl?" Lex asked, whimsically.

"What sort of pearl?" Clark asked, cautiously.

"We can go by one of those $15 stalls and you can pick me out an oyster with a nice dark grey one inside, at least a 4 millimeter."

"You want me to use my x-ray vision to cheat and get you a pearl?" Clark's voice was wavering between disbelief and hilarity.

"It's just a thought. I could make it into an earring."

"Did pirates navigate by the stars?"

"When stealing hearts far from home, yes they did."

Clark's hold on Lex shifted so that he was sortof petting Lex with his whole body.

As nice as this was... "Clark, can we go home now? My feet are numb."

"Oh!"

Quicker than the word, Lex found himself bundled up in Superman's cape, held in a carry position. Clark hovered over the snow, looking around somewhat indecisively.

The clearing was losing much of its nightly mystery in the dawn and was no longer the place they'd spent the night looking at dancing skies. Lex poked an arm out of the cape. "South is that way."

With a laugh, Clark took off, flying over the trees towards home.

When Lex was standing again on his own carpet in his own penthouse, he took off Superman's cape. He held it so that Clark had to step in closer, and then Lex took a step himself. He looked the inch up needed for this close to each other, seeing familiar green eyes with a familiar hopeful expression.

"Thank you for a wonderful night," Lex whispered, and kissed Clark chastely on the lips.

As Clark reached to draw him in for a deeper kiss, Lex withdrew. He handed Clark his cape. "Dinner tomorrow?"

Clark laughed, darting in for another kiss before taking his cape. "Tomorrow," he promised then flew away into the sky.

Lex watched the bright colors disappear, then returned to his desk and the abandoned plans. He hummed happily under his breath. For the first time in twelve years, Lex was looking forward to a tomorrow.

...

The next day, Clark brought with him an opal. It was a black jelly opal, with flashes of red and green and yellow and purple as the stone turned in the sun. "I couldn't find a pearl," Clark said. "Will this do?"

Lex looked at the promise of all their tomorrows and accepted it. He may not ever conquer the world, but he had Clark now, and that was enough.

END

Prompts:
"Clex, any scenario. It would be great if you could bring one of your special interests into it (eg, Clex talking about astronomy or opals.)" and "I was thinking of the great aurora borealis display from November 2001 - it's probably cheating for it to be seen as far south as Kansas but I have this image of Clark waking up Lex to show it to him."

Current Mood: hopeful

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

sue-dreams.livejournal.com

Ooh, lovely.

Trust will get me every time: A dozen scenarios and questions raced through his mind, none of which Lex bothered asking. He would find out when Superman chose to tell him. I love that, the history shown and implied between them, Luthor and Superman.

And then to flip that later, with the subtle revelation, leaving us with just Lex and Clark... beautiful.

Clark let out his breath. With the movement, Lex realized that Clark had been holding it ever since he'd asked the question, thereby proving his utter alienness. Only an alien or a pearl diver could have held it that long. That was a great segue. Nicely done.

And sweet: Actually, I'm always reminded of you.

And this makes me happy:
"Oh." A little silence. "Um, why?"

"Why?" Lex repeated, amazed. "You're asking me why?"

Clark didn't misunderstand the emphasis. "I guess I haven't done well at asking that."

Sometimes, you just need to ask the right questions. ^__^

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Fic: Magnetic Reconnection 1/1 (Smallville)

Magnetic Reconnection

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