We Are Not Alone
By: Arian

Disclaimer: don't own, don't profit, just like to play

Notes: Written for CLFF 19, Gossip; prompt was giggling receptionist by the water cooler.

***

Clark started as an intern at the Daily Planet during his second year at Metropolis University. Once he graduated, he was hired on full-time. He started where everyone started; the basement. In one years time he had worked his way up to the illustrious hallows of the sixth floor, splitting his time between human interest stories and the gossip page. Clark, who was the least likely person to gossip mindlessly about this socialite or that actor and who they were currently having an affair with, did not miss the irony of the situation.

When Perry White took over as Editor in Chief of the Planet during Clark's second year of employment, Clark declined his offer of being moved to a different beat. If he was going to make his way up, he explained, it had to be on his own merit. Perry had laughed and told Clark to let him know when he came to his senses and decided to use whatever connections he could to get ahead in the game.

It was during Clark's stint working the gossip beat that Lex Luthor publicly acknowledged his bisexuality for the first time since his teenage sexual escapades. Not that any paper except the Inquisitor had printed those stories; which had always given Lex something to laugh about as the Luthor's owned the Inquisitor.

The news was not shocking to Clark. He'd known about Lex's preferences since shortly before he started at Met U. At the time, he'd thought it was because Lex was trying to return the honesty Clark had shared with him. Clark had figured that Lex letting a potentially vulnerable side of him show would communicate to him that his honesty was appreciated. It wasn't a wholly incorrect assumption; Clark just seemed to have missed the point.

Lex spent two years after he and Clark had come out to each other – Clark sharing the secret of his origins, Lex sharing what he thought was a way to express to Clark that he was in love with him – living an almost monk-like existence. After those first two years, however, he had started to date. Since Clark's recent twenty-fifth birthday, Lex's penthouse had practically become a brothel. There was a different man or woman every weekend (Lex was, after all, a successful business man with an equally successful company to run, sometimes two or three in the same night, but never the same person twice. Clark hadn't commented, but he had started to pull away and hardly ever headed over to the penthouse anymore, which seemed to make Lex even more inclined to fuck anything that moved.

The day Clark's apartment building blew up was the day Lex stopped fucking around and took matters into his own hands. He was waiting outside the police department when Clark emerged, looking drawn and tired with soot still smudged across one cheek. Lex gripped the steering wheel tightly, fighting the urge to reach across and wipe it away as Clark settled in the seat next to him.

"I know you're alright, Clark, but are you okay?"

"Yeah, I... No. There were people inside that I couldn't get to in time."

Lex studied his friend's profile for a moment, then threw the car in gear and pulled away from the curb, ignoring the sound of a horn blaring behind him. "We'll be at the penthouse in a few minutes, Clark. I cleared my schedule for the rest of the week." The quiet "thank you" he received was so unlike Clark that Lex had reached across and grabbed his hand, squeezing reassuringly before he even realized he'd moved.

The penthouse was dark when they arrived. Lex entered first, flicked on the hall light and was hanging up his suit jacket when the thump of Clark 's body hitting the floor made him turn, letting the jacket slip from his fingers. In an instant, he was on his knees and pulling Clark against his chest while sobs wracked the younger man's frame.

It was twenty minutes before Clark calmed enough to speak. "It's my fault, Lex," he said quietly.

"How?" He already knew what Clark would say.

"They were targeting me. My series on the remnants of Edge's crime ring in Suicide Slums angered all the wrong people. I've been getting threats for weeks, and they've been getting worse as more information comes to light."

This was nothing Lex hadn't already known, of course, but he didn't think Clark needed to hear that he'd been watching him just then.

"This isn't your fault, Clark. If you hadn't exposed the story, they would have slipped up again and someone else would have."

"People died today, Lex," he whispered, dropping his head into the crook of the other man's neck. "So many people were hurt, their lives destroyed because of me."

Lex held him silently for a few more minutes. "Come on," he said gently. "You're exhausted. Lie down, and get some sleep."

"No, there's too much to do. Superman would have been expected on the scene hours ago to help clean up."

"The Justice League will cover for you, Clark. You need to rest, you're running on empty."

Clark smiled bitterly. "I don't have an empty, Lex. I don't need sleep or food. I can go on forever."

The finality with which Clark spoke sent a chill racing up Lex's spine. "Sleep, now." He tugged Clark to his feet, ignoring his protests. He led him down the hallway to the guest room he always stayed in while at the penthouse overnight. Walking in, Lex was struck with the thought that Clark hadn't spent the night in more than a year.

"It hasn't changed at all in here." Clark's voice urged him into action, and he moved to the bed and pulled the covers back.

"There are pajamas in the drawer and fresh towels in the bathroom. You should take a shower, it'll help relax you." He turned and nearly stumbled as he walked back towards Clark. He looked like living death. There were bags under his eyes and his face was pale. His whole countenance gave evidence of a bone-deep weariness.

Lex left to make coffee as Clark shuffled in the direction of the bathroom. When he returned, the shower wasn't yet running.

"Clark?" he called, moving towards the partially open door. Clark stood with his forehead pressed against the stall door, still fully clothed. "Maybe skip the shower and go right to sleep?"

Clark nodded and turned. He sat on the edge of the bed, limbs pliant as he let Lex strip him to his boxers. He moved sluggishly when Lex steered him to the head of the bed. Lex smiled slightly and brushed an errant lock of hair from above Clark's eye and then pulled the covers over him. Lex resisted the urge to lean down and kiss him with every fibre of his being.

"Thank you."

"See you in the morning, Clark."

***

"I think you should move in here."

"Here?"

"As in this building. I own it, Clark, it's safe. And I keep the two floors below me empty. You could move in on the next floor down and not have to worry about anyone downstairs noticing your coming and going at all hours."

"I can't afford something like this, Lex."

Lex arched an eyebrow. "Who said you had to?"

"I can't just live here at your expense, Lex. I wouldn't feel right about it."

"Then move in with me. At least until your building becomes inhabitable again."

Clark opened his mouth to protest and shut it again a moment later. "Okay. Thanks, Lex. I really appreciate it."

"It's no problem, Clark." He stood and clapped Clark on the back before retreating to his office to get very drunk and contemplate just what he had gotten himself into.

***

They had been living together for three months when Lex decided something had to change or he would lose his mind entirely. Clark had recently noticed the sudden full-stop with regards to his social life, and all he'd said was he'd be happy to make himself scarce if Lex had a date.

He stewed and plotted for two months before deciding on a course of action. It wasn't one he was proud of, but it seemed to be the only thing he could do. He had to make Clark dependant on him. Which meant getting him fired. And then blacklisted from all the other publications in Metropolis.

It took Lex another month to work up the nerve to actually pick up the phone and summon Perry White to his office for a meeting. Perry, of course, laughed in his face. Until Lex reminded him that he could have Perry writing the obits for a small-town weekly with just a couple phone calls.

"How the hell do you expect me to fire him, Luthor? Clark excels at his job; he's on the way to becoming one of my best reporters. You two have been friends for years. What I can't understand is why you'd want to destroy his career."

"That's none of your business, Mr. White."

"The hell it isn't! It's my paper you're trying to screw around with, and–"

"I'd be careful how you finish that sentence." Anyone who'd ever been on Lex Luthor's bad side knew that tone of voice meant stop now or face total annihilation. "See that it's done by the end of the day. Good-bye, Mr. White."

Perry stood as Lex went back to the files stacked on his desk. He paused in the doorway and almost said something before snapping his mouth closed again and storming towards the elevators.

An hour later, Mercy appeared to inform him that Clark was on his way up to the penthouse. Lex tidied his files and packed his laptop away, slinging the strap of its case over his shoulder. Staff members who encountered him on his way to the elevator took immediate note of the small smile playing at his lips and the slight bounce to his normally rigid steps. In less than two hours, the gossip mills had started to churn and the main speculation seemed to be that perhaps their boss had recently gotten laid.

***

When Lex entered the penthouse, he acted surprised to find Clark home in the middle of the day.

"Lex, I wasn't expecting you back for hours."

"I decided to work from home this afternoon. Is everything alright?" Clark remained silent. "Clark?"

"I got fired."

Lex let his laptop and suit jacket slide to the floor, performing the perfect imitation of concerned friend as he moved to sit beside Clark on the couch. He was genuinely concerned, of course. He best friend and potential love of his life had gotten fired, after all. The fact that he had engineered the event was hardly important. "What do you mean you got fired?"

"Budget cuts. Perry said they had to trim some staff to get through a rough financial period, that he had no control over who was let go. He said my excessive absences were an issue, a deciding factor in my termination."

"Clark, I'm so sorry."

"Perry told me that if it had been up to him, it would never have happened. That I was one of the best reporters on his team and he didn't want to see me go; but he had no choice."

"Do you want me to step in?"

"What? No, Lex, you don't need to do that. I think I'll use this as a chance to take some time off. Get centered. Find an apartment, since my building was condemned. I can't stay here forever, after all. Do you think you could..." his voice trailed off.

"Anything you need, Clark."

"Do you think you could help me look? For a place to live?"

"Of course. You know you can stay here as long as it takes to get back to work."

"I know. I've got some savings and the payout from the insurance company. I'll be alright financially for a while."

***

After his thirty-third rejection for an apartment and the fortieth "we've hired someone else but will keep your resume on file" letter, Clark was ready to snap.

"You know, Clark," Lex began one Saturday over their traditional lunch at Clark's favourite diner. "I have a couple positions opening up in two weeks in my PR department. Copy writing, press releases, speeches for public engagements; with the possibility to advance. I'd be happy to give your resume to my head of HR."

"And persuade the poor person that not hiring me would be detrimental to his career?"

Lex laughed. "I will say nothing of the sort, Clark. I promise."

He had Mercy do it instead.

Two weeks later found Clark starting his first day at LexCorp. He had the official tour and meet-and-greet with HR and his new department, followed by an orientation lunch with his new boss and the two other people who had been hired at the same time. By the end of the day, Clark felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It wasn't reporting the news, but it was still writing. He could deal with that.

Once a week, Lex would clear his schedule and the two would head up to the penthouse for lunch. As time went on, Clark found himself looking forward to these lunches. He and Lex didn't see much of each other anymore, and he found he missed his friend more and more.

Shortly before his twenty-sixth birthday, Clark caught himself watching Lex closely, taking note of the way his scar moved when he smiled, the sound of his laugh, the way his pants stretched across his ass and crotch when he slipped his hands into his pockets. It was with that last observation that Clark had a moment of clarity. He thought back over the last year. They spent almost all their free time together, even what little of it they had lately. Clark would rearrange his schedule to suit Lex's. He couldn't even estimate the number of times they had ended up sprawled across the couch watching a movie and debating its merits. Their customary lunches and the fact that they both made the effort to be home to have dinner together. The way Clark had realized how closely he was suddenly paying attention to everything about Lex.

"Shit," Clark whispered to his reflection in the bathroom mirror one morning. "I'm in love with him."

***

Clark's twenty-sixth birthday party was an event not to be missed. Friends from the Planet, from LexCorp, and from Smallville were all crammed into the diner he and Lex went to every week and which Lex had booked for the night just for Clark's celebrations.

If the LexCorp employees thought it odd that their boss was attending an employee's birthday party, they didn't say anything. At least not anywhere near Lex or Clark.

In fact, Clark would have been clueless to their gossip if one week later he hadn't been avoiding a co-worker who had been flirting shamelessly with him since her drunken admission at the party to having a crush on him. Before heading to the break room, Clark extended his hearing and flipped to x-ray vision. What he heard caused him to stop in his tracks.

"So have you heard the latest rumour about Lex Luthor's love life?" He could see Clare, the department receptionist standing next to the water cooler with Maria from Finance.

Maria pushed her hair back behind one ear and folded her hands in front of her chest. "Not yet, spill it!"

"Well, you know Clark Kent, right?" Clare said, leaning in and letting her long hair fall forward as if to hide their conversation from other staff members scattered about the room.

"Sure, tall guy with a smile that could blind you."

"Well, Lex went to his birthday party last weekend and seemed pretty chummy with him. And I found out from Natasha in HR that Clark's address is a LexCorp Tower one!"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"According to Miche, the latest consensus is that Lex and Clark are shacking up! She saw them having lunch together two weekends ago! Think about it, sweets. Lex had a serious playboy reputation until almost exactly one year ago. I was talking to Becky and Rachel a while back, and they said that there hasn't been a single story about Lex's flavour of the day in months."

Maria quirked an eyebrow, skeptical. "And all that makes you think that Lex Luthor, CEO of a fortune 500 company, is dating Clark Kent, former Daily Planet reporter. Reporter being the key word there."

"Come on, Maria! All the signs are there! Lex has been in a great mood for months now, even during that little incident with Wayne Enterprises trying to buy Cadmus out from under his nose."

"And?"

"Okay, okay. You didn't hear this from me, alright?" Maria nodded. "According to Allie's assistant, Kristi," Clare dropped her voice to a whisper. "Mercy Graves paid Allie a visit and let her know in no uncertain terms that Clark was to be hired with no questions asked!" She giggled again.

Clark had been rooted to the spot up until now, but this last statement spurred him into action. Since starting at LexCorp, he had always accessed Lex's office through the private elevator in the penthouse. After all, he didn't want anyone to be suspicious of him heading up to the Executive floor with no apparent valid reason to be doing so. Today he decided he didn't care. He stormed towards the elevators and punched the button for the correct floor a little harder than was necessary. At least it was stainless steel and didn't seem any worse for wear.

By the time the elevator carried him upwards, he had calmed down enough to step sedately off the elevator and walk down the hall towards Lex's office. Upon arriving, he walked past Karen, Lex's assistant, and threw open the double mahogany doors to find his friend studying his computer screen intently. Karen followed close on his heels, apologizing to Lex for his unannounced arrival.

Lex looked up at the intrusion and smiled. "It's fine, Karen. Clark, what can I do for you?"

Now that he was face-to-face with Lex – a man he admittedly had feelings for – Clark wasn't sure what to say. His anger at Lex's influence over obtaining his job was forgotten. He dropped his eyes and lowered his head, shuffling forward. "Lex, I... I overheard something just now. Gossip. About you. And me. Um, about us."

"Us?" Lex could feel his heart speeding up.

Clark glanced up quickly from under his lashes. "Yeah. People are saying that you've been in a really good mood lately. And uh, they think that it's because..."

"Go on, Clark." Lex stood and came around the desk to stand in front of his friend, striving to look outwardly calm.

"They think it's because you are I are together. Dating, I mean," he said in a rush. Clark brought his eyes up to meet Lex's finally. "But, that's crazy, isn't it? I mean, why would you be with me when you could have anyone?"

Lex moved a step closer, putting his hands on Clark's shoulders. "Why would I bother with just anyone," he said, squeezing gently. "When the one person I want is standing right in front of me?"

Clark's green eyes went wide and hopeful. "You mean that?" he whispered, his voice dropping an octave.

Lex leaned in and kissed him gently, briefly. "I mean it," he whispered back, letting his free hand slide up to tangle in Clark's dark hair. "I've been in love with you for eleven years, Clark."

"Why didn't you..."

"Say something?" Lex laughed, pulling Clark into a tight embrace. "I did, you idiot, eight years ago."

Clark's arms circled Lex's waist in turn. "You mean, when you told me you were bisexual? Lex, I'm not a mind reader!"

Lex laughed again. "Did you really think the biggest truth I could give you in return was that I was into guys, too? No, doofus, I was trying to tell you that I was in love with you."

Clark pulled back and peered into Lex's eyes. "I guess we have a lot of time to make up for."

Lex kissed him again, fiercely this time. "Damn right," he murmured against Clark's lips as he walked them back to collapse on his sleek, black leather couch.

Mercy poked her head in the door then. "I'll have Karen clear your afternoon."

Lex pulled back just enough to issue one final order. "Better make it the rest of the week."

"Hey, Lex?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think I've ever heard you say doofus before."

"And I can promise you never will again. Now stop talking and kiss me some more."

-end-