fic: The Right of Truth, part 1

[xparrot]

Next week we (hopefully) will return you to your regularly scheduled fic. For now - gratuitous Clex h/c, set in late second season. If I had been watching the show back then, this is just the sort of fic I would've been writing: slash angst-fluff, pretty much, exploring an issue about Clark's secrets (and in fact most superhero secret identities) that's been bothering me.

Warnings for a bit of good old fashioned Lex!torture in the beginning, and generally woobie!Lex. Also the Kents are perhaps not very nice here, which wasn't my intent, but how it worked out. Hopefully in an IC way, but still. (And may I say *sigh* that being an asshole is in character for SV's Jonathan...)

Smallville: The Right of Truth (1/2)
R, Clex, h/c; second season
Lex is kidnapped and it's Clark to the rescue as usual, but he might not be ready for all he finds.

Read it on AO3

Comments

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I can't wait for your take on their reactions. Not just Lex, Chloe and Lana, too. The Kents were perfectly in character, with their devoted support to Clark and their platitudes covering up the darker depths of what they have to do and are willing to do.

exploring an issue about Clark's secrets (and in fact most superhero secret identities) that's been bothering me.
The problem with secret identities (for superheroes) is that that there's no real alternative for it - if you don't have one, you don't get privacy at best and your loved ones become targets at worst. And it's always a gamble telling someone, and each time someone new becomes a secret keeper, everyone else involved also is put at risk. For example: Lex has proven himself in this fic, but Clark decides to tell Chloe and Lana as well. But can he be sure they'll stay loyal? No. Especially not since he's been raised to trust no one and deny everything ;)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

However else the Kents frustrate me, their devotion to Clark always moves me...

The thing about the secret identities...it is a problem, sharing your secret with too many keepers. But with a secret this potentially dangerous - and Clark is putting people in danger. "Mortal", when the freaks come after his family & Lana to get to him? Whether or not it was Lex's plan, it's still because of Clark, if not his fault. The only way to deal with it fairly is to only get close to people you can trust with the secret. I don't think Clark's obligated to tell everyone - but if there's someone close to him that he feels he can't trust, then there is an alternative: he should cut off ties with them. He shouldn't put them in danger. It's lonely but it's the only way that's fair...later he decides not to tell Lana to keep her safe, but really to keep her safe he needs to break off all relations...

...The problem with SV is that it makes one think realistically about comic book scenarios which really don't hold up well to the difficulties of real life!