fic: Contingencies 1/7

[xparrot]

I need to start posting this now, before the final eps of the season blow it completely out of the water. Hopefully I'll finish it before they start airing...hope no one minds a bit of fic spamming in the next couple weeks.

This is about my favorite non-futurefic SV scenario, which I've been wanting to try my hand at, though this...got a bit out of hand. It's the classic 'Lex turns up at the Kent farmhouse in dire straits', given a 6th season twist. This is not quite the story I was intending to write. I have a feeling it needs a warning, but I'm not exactly sure for what. Let's see: it's dark, it's angsty, it's sappy, and it may go shamelessly over the top in any of these directions. I can promise a light at the end of the tunnel, but it's going to be a long tunnel.

Major spoilers for the entire series, especially "Solitude" and "Vessel"/"Zod," and all of 6th season aired thus far.

Smallville: Contingencies, 1/7 {5,957 words}
PG-13; Clark/Lex; 6th season; angst, drama, h/c
Lex, forced to his last resort, comes to the Kent home. And Clark must rise to the occasion, as he finds himself questioning his assumptions about his dying enemy.

Read it on AO3

Comments

Re: Love the story so far....

[bonnysprite.livejournal.com]

I think, if the writers have vision, that could be the reason for Lex's loneliness. To gain our sympathy. It makes the entire degradation of their friendship even more epic; Greek tragedy on crack. :)

Alternatively, every time Lex has had a cohort or some kind of assistant they've managed to turn on him. It might be a simple case of self-preservation on top of "If I want things done I've got to do it myself", and the closer her keep things to the heart the less likely for the "aliens" finding out about his counter measures.

Just a thought.

But if our Lex wasn't exactly the way he is, I highly doubt we'd be as addicted. To both of them. Because these two are just too tragic.

Re: Love the story so far....

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

Tragic, yes.

But you see, for me, the betrayal of love -- and I'm using the word 'love' in its most general sense, in other words, the love between friends, or lovers, or family members, so my words don't only apply to the Slash interpretation of the relationship between Lex and Clark. -- uh, where was I? Oh,yes. For me, the betrayal of love is one of the most evil of acts. Far more evil than any unethical business practices. So, if Clark ends up betraying Lex by deserting him when Lex needs him most, if he completely ends their friendship and throws Lex to the wolves, all because of what other people say about Lex, and if Lex isn't truly evil, but is, in fact, confused and trying to be the hero, then Clark has done something far more evil, in my own opinion, than anything Lex might do in the future. And that disturbs me, because Clark is supposed to be Superman, and if he isn't perfect -- because no one is perfect -- then at least he shouldn't be evil.

So, I can't really watch, if that's what the writers are planning. That sort of emotional torture just isn't my thing. But that's only my own perspective, which I realize not everyone shares. :-)))

Re: Love the story so far....

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

The thing is, the way Clark is placed now, I don't think he's deliberately betraying Lex; I think that rather there's some massive misunderstandings going on, because they're not talking anymore. Clark doesn't understand what Lex is really trying to do, and Lex has given up trying to explain it to him, may even be thinking of him as the enemy now. I see Clark as feeling betrayed himself now, and the coldness he shows Lex in 6th season is cover for his anger and hurt.

That's the way I want to see it, anyway; because I want Clark to be the hero! I don't want him to be evil; while Lex, much as I love him, I can accept as the villain. At this point I see Clark as more culpable than Lex in the disintegration of their friendship, but while Clark has made his share of mistakes, I don't think most of them are deliberate. And he was just a kid (I'm getting more frustrated with him now that he's older; at 16 or 17 I can't totally blame him for not being able to handle Lex's darkness; Lex has a lot of scary things in him.) And Lex has screwed up, too...though I think he has better reasons, even if Clark's not in a position to see or understand most of them.

Re: Love the story so far....

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree. I don't think Clark is deliberately betraying Lex. Yet. It's more a matter of one little betrayal at a time, just gradually falling into the pattern of believing that Lex is aways in the wrong. And yes, Clark is just a kid, or was. And Lex has his dark side.

But that's what troubles me.

You're a kid. You let other people influence you to judge someone, to hurt him, to destroy your friendship with him, to lie to him, instead of being honest and trying your best to salvage the friendship. It can't help but affect you, can it? But in what ways? Does the future Clark feel guilty for his part in it all, or does he blame Lex entirely, thus turning Lex into the supervillain that he has to fight to prove his own virtue? If it's the latter scenario, then it isn't very heroic. So, I feel a bit dubious about the SV version of Superman.

All these versions of Superman/Clark and Lex Luthor are beginning to make my head ache. :-)))