fic: Contingencies, 3/?

[xparrot]

Thanks to whoever gave my the virtual lj gift, what a sweet gesture, and I hope my fics continue to entertain! At present I especially hope this fic entertains, as it continues...

Smallville: Contingencies, 3/? {3,775 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

[hils.livejournal.com]

I really am loving this fic and can't wait to see what happens next :)

I really hope Clark and Lex will be able to work through their animosity

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thanks - more to come soon!

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

Even though nothing is resolved, every bit of truth revealed in here is deeply satisfying.

I love Lex being the ultimate pragmatist. And I love that you update so often :P

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I always do work well under a deadline... XD And yes, Lex makes pragmatism sexxxy!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hee, thanks, and more soo~n!

[stitcher2ficcer.livejournal.com]

Evil Temptress!! I am supposed to be reading/editing New Hampshire Rail Trails and filling orders for Southern New England Railroad Depots. But instead I'm sitting on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, succumbing to the super-angst of Lex dying and Clark beginning to realize that he and everyone else may be wrong about Lex and his evil ways... and that maybe he still wants Lex's friendship and whatever else he can't quite identify that brings on "the pounding in his blood when Lex looked at him dark-eyed and intent, the heat that would rise in his face and through his body that even now he hadn't come to terms with."

Well written, taut suspense throughout this story, my dear, not to mention psychological/emotional angst combined with physical suffering--with the constant hope of love and redemption suspended amidst it--as only you can so capably write it. And all wrapped up for the reader in a plot package that's immensely satisfying.... so much more fun than depots and rail trails. But did it have to pop onto my f-list in the ten seconds between a quick response to one message and a quick last look for anything else that might be interesting before I turned my attention to the work of the day? If you had posted 10 seconds later I would not be starting my work day an hour late, disgusted with myself for succumbing to the Clex!! Again.

Great way to start the day! Like everyone else following this tale, I'm looking forward to more in spite of myself. Don't know how you're finding time to write this much with Signe visitng, but am enjoying it. The more awful thing, though, is that even though I haven't followed the show before, I know I'm going to want to watch the season-end eps now just to see how they compare. Damn you!!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

*tempt tempt tempt* But seriously, glad you're enjoying it! Even if you're not getting all the references.

And yup, psychological/emotional/physical angst - my favorite flavor! ^_^

[aerynvala.livejournal.com]

argh! Clark is such a freaking...idiot! I mean, yes, obviously Lex is not pure as the driven snow. But damn it, faced with letting a braniac loose on the planet or taking out a couple of million people, he made the right choice!

This is very good! I'm thoroughly enjoying the ride. It hurts in the good way. :D

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Clark, I think, underestimates the alien threat...and maybe Lex overestimates it. Clark is rather more informed on the situation in general, but he's rather in denial when it comes to loved ones being in danger...

And glad you're enjoying it! ^_^

[ladydey.livejournal.com]

I love that Clark still doesn't get it - that for all his talk of being an adult and above youthful idealism, Lex is still the ultimate realist. Lex knows there's a threat, knows that these super-powered aliens can come again to Earth, if they've come once, and knows there is no guarantee that "Clark" will either be there to save everyone, able to save everyone, or want to save everyone. Heck using his own experiences - Clark seems fickle and operating under a morality that no one could live up to, coupled with how Clark seemed to drop Lex as his best friend for being naturally curious about a major life event (hey why would alien invaders want a populous they are going to enslave to think and be curious, that is certainly not in an invading armadas best interest) - I bet that Lex has zero actual faith in Clark except as it pertains to people that Clark currently values.


I really wonder if Clark and Lex could ever find their way back to each other - Clark will never see himself as a threat (he has good intentions after all and still hasn't seen enough of the world and been out of Smallville enough to temper his world view) and Lex may never see Clark as anything else (Lex has been so compromised by Krypton and Kryptonians - they had a part in taking more of Lex's memory, which he totally hates.)



I am really enjoying this story - such that even if Clark and Lex can't get together, I really am just hoping that Lex survives, because, at least your Lex, really cares about protecting humanity - since Clark isn't quite there yet.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Well, obviously in SV itself Clark and Lex are never going to find their way back together...comicbook destiny is quite, quite against them (of course there's nothing stopping them, in twenty years, or fifty, from figuring it out...!) But yeah...right now Clark is kind of scarily small-minded, for a proto-Superman. He's very good about helping virtual strangers, and trying to fix problems he might've caused (e.g. the Zoners, Dark Thursday) but he doesn't seem to spare much thought to situations he's not pulled into somehow. Meanwhile Lex is just as scarily focused on the big picture...

The trouble is that Lex is operating with insufficient information, information which Clark has. Though at this point I don't know if he'd trust Clark, even if Clark told him that Krypton is gone and there isn't actually an invasion en route to Earth. But Lex is taking somewhat more drastic measures than he needs to...if he only knew the exact nature of the threat, and also knew he could count on super-powered help...

And glad you're enjoying the story!

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

You're just breaking my heart, here, with passages like this:

Once, he wouldn't have been sitting here. He would have been running around the world, back to Chloe or the force-field, or to Oliver or to a doctor or to someone or something that could solve this; sure that there would be a way, must be a way, had to be a way to save his friend. He had been sure he was invincible and anything was possible, and he would not have given up, not for any reason. Wouldn't give up on anyone, but most especially not Lex. Not his best friend, never.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Aww...1st season Clark breaks my heart, because that's really how he seems, to me. It's so sad he loses that loyalty (sad for Clark and Lex alike!)

[lukita.livejournal.com]

Clark should just admit to himself he loves Lex, it'll make everything better, we promise. ♥

Oh Lex, so much to do so little time. I still think there's a possibility that Lex can try and blow up Clark with the rest of Smallville. It can't be that hard to tell Clark a later time to get him in ground zero. Save humanity from the evol aliens and all that, 2.1 million is probably a small price to pay to get the alien, a bunch of mutants and the people who's already been compromised by the alien.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Clark has a serious case of denial. For about the last 6 years!

And yeah, Lex is awful busy, for a dying guy...

[ginxy.livejournal.com]

Nice - now I must back track to read other fan fics that you've posted - I don't know how I missed them before - when I see your name come up I know it's got to be good! =p

And I'm not just kissing ass - I mean that sincerely. ;)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hee, thanks - glad you enjoy the stories! They're all here...there's been, uh, a lot of them, in the last few minutes, easy to miss some!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really, badly want Clark to take some responsibility for Lex in the show itself. Don't know if it's ever gonna happen...but hey, that's what fic's for!

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

Love this new chapter. But oh, I wish Clark would think before he jumps to conclusions. :-)))

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

You and me both! I want him to think more in the show, darn it!

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

Still loving this story, even as it rips out my heart. I absolutely agree with Lex about the risk of the bomb being worth it, given the much greater danger posed by Brainiac. And I still want to smack Clark around for being so blind and self-righteous.

"What could be worth that risk, Lex? What could possibly be worth that, even to you?"

"Six point six billion, approximately," Lex said, flat and cold and pitiless.

The taste of bile was choking and sour in the back of Clark's throat. "So this was all for money. You're already a billionaire--"

I knew exactly what Lex was saying; that Clark instantly assumed he was talking about money infuriates me. But Smallville has pretty much cured me of ever seeing Clark Kent as a hero...except (sometimes) in fanfic. ;)

You have me on the edge of my seat; I hope to see more of this soon!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Lex has a lot of minions out here in the real world, it seems like a lot of folks agree with the call he made with the bomb!

Heh, the 6.6 billion line was one of the first things I came up with when plotting this fic. I don't think it's totally unjustified of Clark to assume the worst in this case...I think Lex has been influencing people to assume that he is all about money & power, because that's easier to explain than Saving the World from Aliens. (and hey, it gives us a good out for the show, because whatever Lex says he's doing, we can argue he's covering his true motives!) Clark's just gullible, is all. Poor dumb hero.

More soon!

[danceswithgary]

Lex pushing Clark's buttons is just so incredible with death hanging over his head. I have to feel a little for Clark in this, he is still so young to be dealing with all of this world-saving and it isn't as though Lex has been particularly trustworthy in the past. Yet, Clark is still there and trying to think of something he can do for Lex.

This is great and you have me on the edge of my seat.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I feel for Clark, too...he's so very emotionally confused. And Lex is not trying to make it any easier for him...

Glad you're enjoying it!

[tasabian.livejournal.com]

Love the intensity of the conversation between the boys! (And Lex being tormented by violent dreams of Dark Thursday makes perfect sense - that's why he and Lana sleep in separate rooms!)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Glad you're enjoying it!

Lex being tormented by violent dreams of Dark Thursday makes perfect sense- that's why he and Lana sleep in separate rooms!

Hee, I was quite pleased to have found a way to fanwank that particular detail ^_^

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Wonderful update!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! ^_^

[yma2.livejournal.com]

A very cool story, I'm enjoying this a lot though I've only just got round to reading this. Just the sort of story I like, I can't wait until the next part!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

So glad you like it! It's my sort of story, definitely - lots of angst in just about every possible way ^^

[morganlilah.livejournal.com]

Augh! You know, at this point I don't even care whether Clark and Lex hook up. I just want to know how Clark defeats Brainiac, how Lex gets cured, and what Lex is really up to with all his alien research. *clings to the edge of my seat*

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

There will be answers! Soon! Right now though I confess to taking wicked enjoyment out of keeping people on their seats' edges ^_^

[bradygirl_12]

I think that the Clex is just a pretty tragic tale right about now on SV. That both lied, that both misunderstood each other, and that both have gone down paths that might never allow them back to each other. Both are guilty for what they've become, but *maybe* there is hope for them in this fic. Great job! :)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Clex will always be one of my ultimate OTPs, but it's painful to watch these days. I just want to shake both of them, make them understand what they're losing, what they didn't have to lose...but hey, that's what fanfic's for!

[lishel_fracrium.livejournal.com]

this fic is painful but I love it more please?

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hee! Glad you're enjoying it, pain or not - & more will be coming soon!

[bonehed.livejournal.com]

Excellent story! Spot on voices. Thanks for sharing!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[tdei.livejournal.com]

So utilitarian!

Actually, those 2.2 million, if Lex had chosen not to do it, is 2.2 million that would've died anyway. So between being passively responsible for 6.6 billion or actively responsible for 2.2 million... And the question I would ask is: How much of a risk was it to set off the bomb? Did you increase the percentage of success as high as you could? Yada.

Great fic, different characterization of Lex but hey.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

By black-and-white superhero morality, deliberately risking 2 million lives or even one innocent life is wrong...but Lex sees in shades of gray and so do a lot of us...

And yeah, the Lex characterization is based on the essays I've been doing on him lately. I believe it's a feasible explanation of the character, if not quite the one the show is going for...!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hee - glad you're enjoying it! I think all of us Clex fans are a little masochistic... ^^;

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Clark can be awful stubborn, when his mind's made up. At one time that was to Lex's advantage, not so anymore... *sigh*

[annakas.livejournal.com]

Aiii Clark is still so willfuly ignortant and blind though he does pat himself in the back for being more mature and wiser now *snicker snort*

Ohh Lex al scientistic and speaking statistic talk was hot. Awww my poor woobie.

And is it very evil of me to wish that Lex called Bruce for a lost goodbye. Oh what cans I say I am a Brex (as lover or friends all is good) shipper.

Can't wait for more. This rift fic is awesome.

annakas

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Clark is growing up, I think...just not into the man one would want a superhero to be. Sigh.

Lex being all science-y turns me on bigtime, as is probably evident from most of my fic!

More tonight or tomorrow, glad you're enjoying it!

[brandil.livejournal.com]

On the edge of my seat ...

[ender24]

honestly, I cannot relate to clark at all here:

//"Six point six billion, approximately," Lex said, flat and cold and pitiless.

The taste of bile was choking and sour in the back of Clark's throat. "So this was all for money. You're already a billionaire--"

"Not dollars." Lex's gaze on him was strange, abstract but too steady to be delirious. "Lives. Six point six billion human beings. My people on this Earth."

Clark shuddered. "No. How dare you--you can't say that now. Not after all the things you've done--is that how you're justifying it? Is that how you've convinced all those scientists, all those people, to work for you? Lex Luthor, trying to save the world. Two million people, Lex, you could have killed two million of those lives. Those human beings. Just because you wanted--whatever the hell you thought the Brainiac could give you."//

first, the assumption that Lex did it for money? how dumb is that??
I guess old habits die hard??
and then, being accusatory because Lex choose 6 billion human lives over 2 million (ok, maybe with the people he knew among them), but still.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Clark's really got a terrible case of denial - he has to think Lex is a bad guy, now more than ever, because otherwise he has to face the fact that he turned his back on a friend and now will lose him forever...

And sacrificing 2 million - or even 2 people - is never the superhero way; they always find another solution that involves no sacrifice. That's what makes them superheroes...we ordinary mortals don't have such luck...