c a v e a t . e m p t o r . e p i l o g u e

Caveat Emptor
[by victoria p.]

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Let the buyer beware.

Notes: Thanks as always to Jen, Pete, Dot, and Meg, who have followed me through myriad obsessions now. Also, thanks to Jenn, because it was during a chat with her that this plot bunny was born. She's a bad influence. Does no one see that? *g*

This story was originally longer, but Pete and Jen convinced me that it should end where it does. For those of you kind enough to actually visit this website, you get to read this epilogue, if you want.

Date: December 6, 2001

Epilogue

He ran over to the castle, desperate, ready to beg forgiveness, plead for absolution. He prayed he wasn't too late, though he'd never been much for praying until that moment.

He found Lex in the driveway, gloves on, getting into his new black Porsche.

"Lex. Lex!"

Lex turned, and he could see the purply-black bruise on his jaw. It brought him up short.

"You're remarkably chipper this morning," Lex said.

"I'm so, so sorry," Clark began. "I, I can't even--"

"Then don't."

"What?"

"Don't. I don't want to hear it." Lex's voice was cold, devoid of emotion.

"I was wrong, I--"

"No, you weren't. I got what I wanted. So did you. It was business. That's how it works."

Clark closed his eyes against the pain Lex's words caused. "Not with us."

"So you'd think, right? But in the end, when you're a Luthor, everything is business," Lex said, and he looked older than his twenty-four years at that moment, old and tired.

"I'm not a Luthor. I don't accept that."

"You got what you wanted. And really, what did it cost you? You should be thanking me." He shook his head and turned to get into the Porsche.

"I am. I do. Thank you." Lex didn't look up. "Lex, please," Clark said, aware that he was begging and not caring. "I just, I didn't believe it, not really. But you --"

"It doesn't matter. In the end, we're always exactly what people think we are, even if we try not to be. So," an elegant shrug, "why bother trying anymore? I'm a Luthor. That's what I'll always be, no matter how much--" He stopped, and Clark could tell he was shaken at revealing so much of himself.

Joachim came out of the house before Clark could say anything. "Mr. Luthor, the movers are ready to go." Lex nodded.

"Movers?" Clark asked.

Another nod. "This is goodbye."

"No."

"Yes. I owe you a thank you, as well. At least for a little while, I could forget who and what I am." He pulled the car door closed. "Good luck with the farm."

"Lex, please--" Grasping at straws, he said, "I'll come see you in Metropolis."

A strange glint in those blue eyes -- clear as glass and yet completely unreadable. Clark thought he knew Lex -- brother, friend, and now lover -- but at that moment, he was looking at a stranger.

"Don't. You won't be welcome."

That hurt even more. "How can you say this didn't mean anything?"

"I never said that. It means a lot. It just can't go on anymore." Lex looked straight ahead; he had the thousand-yard stare Clark had seen on some of the Vietnam veterans who hung out in the park in town, men who had seen and done terrible things, and lived with the memories always hovering beneath the veneer of reality, ready to burst forth and drive them mad if they allowed themselves to remember. Clark wondered what memories haunted Lex. "I learned something last night. You and I -- we're not meant to be together. We're natural enemies, and it's about time we realized it. You help people and I, I just--"

"No. No, Lex. You helped my family. You can help other people, too. Lansing -- that was your mother's name, wasn't it? You're not all Luthor. There's more to you than that, don't you see?"

Lex smiled sadly. "I see a lot of things now, that I didn't see before. So, if you'll just let go of my car, I can be on my way out of this miserable town."

Clark leaned in the open window and pressed his lips to Lex's forehead, his ear, his cheek -- any part of him that he could reach.

"How can you say this isn't costing me anything? I'm losing you," he said softly.

Lex swallowed hard. "Clark," he whispered. "Oh, Clark." And they were kissing, desperate, trying to stave off the foreshadowing of doom hanging over them. Clark could taste the pain and hurt in Lex's mouth, feel his resolve in the set of his jaw.

Lex pulled away first, as they'd both always known he would. "Goodbye, Clark."

Clark could feel the tears burning his eyes. "I'm coming to see you in Metropolis," he repeated.

And this time Lex said, "Yeah." He ran one long, slim finger over the curve of Clark's cheek, sweeping it down along his jaw before tracing his lips one last time. Clark shivered at the gentle caress, cool leather against his heated skin. "You do that."

Then he gunned the engine. Clark backed away; Lex pulled out of the driveway and sped along the road. Clark watched until the Porsche and the trucks following it disappeared into the haze, stood staring at the horizon as his future drove away, leaving him behind.

End

~*~

Back to Caveat Emptor

Back to Smallville Stories Index

Back to Main Stories Index

~*~

Disclaimer: All Smallville characters belong to Warner Bros., DC Comics and/or Tollin-Robbins. I do not own them and do not intend any infringement on their copyright.