Strange World
prompt: Lost! (for the November 2010 ficgrab at eyesskyward.com)
'verse: Smallville
spoiler warning: This is a spoilery speculative ficlet about the episode 'Luthor'. So be warned. (Wrote it before it aired.)
word count: ca. 1,560
diclaimer: I don't own Smallville or any of its characters. I wish I did. But I love Clark Kent, Lois Lane and the show so much that I had to write something about it, just to get over the week without a new episode. So this story is only for entertainment, mine and my readers'.
Enjoy and please don't forget to tell me what you think. It's the only way for me to get better.
*~*~*
The moment he woke up Clark felt something was not right. It smelled different and the light was not coming from the side he was used to. Also the room didn't feel as warm and cozy as his own room and the sounds were nothing like farm.
Cautiously he opened his eyes to slits but the image he saw made him pop them open widely. He was lying in a huge bed under silk sheets in a room that looked like one of the Luthor mansion. In each arm he felt the warm body of a woman but none of them felt or smelled like Lois. Terrified he turned his head right and left realizing that they both slightly reminded him of the woman he loved but none of them was her.
Scared about the situation he quickly but cautiously climbed out of the huge bed hoping he wouldn't wake them up. He made it to the bathroom barely keeping himself from using superspeed. When the door finally closed behind him he looked at himself in the mirror. At least he was still in his own body and didn't get transferred into Lex. Keeping his memories of an earlier body transferal with Lionel Luthor at bay he concentrated on his breathing and opened his superhearing to the world glad that he still had his powers.
First he heard the noises of the two awakening 'ladies' next door in the bed. Relief washed over him when he heard them leaving murmuring about Clark Luthor not being 'like what they said'. Just for the moment he ignored the family name they used for him and listened to the other sounds in the house.
There were several servants at work in the kitchen and around the house doing the work they probably had been hired for. Opening his sense further the sounds of cars, animals and strangers outside filled his ears until, finally, he recognized a familiar heartbeat coming from Metropolis. Concentrating more he could locate it's surroundings, the basement of the Daily Planet.
Lois was there. She was in this strange world, too. Taking a deep breath he exited the bathroom and got dressed quickly. Some black slacks and a black shirt, somehow the huge closet held mostly black or other dark colors, would have to do it. Then he sped away to find the woman he loved.
Close to the Planet building he stopped in a small alley to re-orientate. Somehow even Metropolis seemed like under a spell. The people in the streets irradiated sadness, fear and despair. Almost like the ones he had seen in Lois' visions of a future under Zod's reign.
Stepping out of the blind alley he saw some people flashing him looks with hatred and apprehensibility. Slowly he walked down the street and stopped at a Daily Planet vending point. The huge headline “More takeovers by Luthorcorp” above a picture of himself, or this world's version of himself, with Lionel Luthor and some businessmen caught his eye. Scanning the article he found a few explanations: He was Lionel Luthor's adopted son. Together they were running Luthorcorp as president and managing director and had recently taken over some of their competitors. Most of them had been hit by attacks of the mysterious Blur who was supposed to be responsible for the deaths of several managers and stockholders of Luthorcorp competitors.
The information made Clark close his eyes for a moment in order to keep his composure. But he felt the color leaving his face. What kind of a world did he fall into? What in all universes could possibly turn him into a murderer?
He had to find Lois! Putting the paper back he turned resolutely and headed for the Daily Planet again.
Entering the partly familiar building he felt uncomfortable under the looks of people he usually called colleagues. None of them seemed happy to see him there. Like many times before he took the elevator down to the basement where Lois' heartbeat waited for him. Already focusing on it he took in her voice and realized that she was talking on the phone.
'Yes, I know that it's dangerous, sweetheart. But you know me. I HAVE to go for the story.'
Hearing this Clark couldn't stop the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. But a slight feeling of worry filled his stomach. She called someone 'sweetheart' and he was pretty sure that it was not himself. But before he could make out the voice at the other end of the line the elevator reached it's destination and Lois ended the call with a quick 'I'm always careful.'
When Clark rounded the corner and fully entered the bullpen the usually turbulent room fell quiet. While he only had eyes for Lois who frantically typed on her computer his ears picked up some whispers.
'What is HE doing here?' - 'Will he finally fire her for her blatant articels? Or are the rumors true and he gets her for a not so secret date?'
When Clark sent a quick dark glance through the bullpen the gossipers stopped and busied themselves. So he approached a seemingly unaware Lois and watched her for a second. She was as beautiful as his Lois.
Suddenly she turned around smiling a smile that wasn't honest:
“Mr. Luthor, you may be the one who signs my pay check but that doesn't give you the right to stare at me like I was yours. I'm not. I'm engaged to Oliver Queen, the guy you and your brother had trouble with at boarding school. Remember?”
And she held up her left hand showing a sparkling diamond on top of a beautiful engagement ring.
Startled Clark came out of his dreamy observation. He felt a sting in his heart about the ring and Oliver being the one who gave it to Lois. But somehow he managed to pull himself together and asked her calmly:
“Miss Lane, I didn't mean to bother you. But could we please have a talk in private?”
With this the whispering throughout the bullpen rose anew but Clark didn't care. He needed Lois to find his way back. He needed her to help him understand what had happened.
Harshly Lois replied:
“No. If you want to talk to me, do it here and now.”
He could hear her heart beating furiously. Clenching his jaw and blinking back the hurt of her words he pleaded:
“Please, Miss Lane! It's important for me.”
Laughing disbelieving Lois replied:
“And it is important for me to stay in a public area.”
Quieter she added:
“It's safer.”
What had he done to make her fear him? What a monster was this world's Clark K... - no Luthor? Was that the reason of all the mistrust he could sense?
Quietly he turned around and left the Daily Planet. Taking the stairs up instead of the elevator. He felt so lonely that he wished he could hide somewhere and cuddle up into something warm, arms of someone he loved preferable.
When a thought crossed his mind his pace quickened and reaching the streets he changed into superspeed heading for Smallville. Passing the gate of the Kent farm he slowed down and walked the rest. The yellow house looked sallow. Even the plants seemed sad. They didn't grow as upright and healthy as he remembered them.
The sounds of someone working in the barn caught Clark's focus and when Jonathan Kent stepped out of the door he couldn't suppress a cheer:
“Dad!!!”
The farmer looked up and immediately his features darkened.
“What are you doing on my farm, Luthor?”, he barked.
“Leave immediately my property! I told you a thousand times that I'd rather die than sell you the soil of my fathers.”
The angry speech took Clark aback and he stumbled away hearing Jonathan mumbling: “This can't be! I might have to call my lawyer...”
Then suddenly it hit him like a years ago Lex' car did on the bridge: the feeling of loneliness. It took his breath away and left only emptiness. The people he cared most about suspected and hated him in this world. Lois, who made him feel normal and accepted like nobody else could, feared him. His father, the man he respected so much, the one he could always turn to for advice, didn't want to talk to him for one second.
Tears stung in Clarks eyes but he knew he couldn't sit down and cry like a small child. They wouldn't change anything. Besides nobody would come to wipe them away. There was no shoulder that he could lean his head on to gather himself and his strength.
The emptiness threatened to fill him completely and for a second he had no idea what to do. Who would help him in the world he was used to? Where else would he go to search advice? The fortress? But when it already was a dead place in his world it would be even less alive in this one.
So he set off for the last place where he hoped to find some solace and new strength to struggle his way back to the ones who truly loved him. The only place where he knew that people would fight for the good cause. Even in this world.
*~*~*
END
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