scribblinlenore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scribblinlenore) wrote2008-04-19 03:19 pm
scribblinlenore) wrote2008-04-19 03:19 pm
Entry tags:
WIP Amnesty: The Prime Time Crime, Part 2 (SV)
Yes, yes, it IS sad and kind of ridiculous that my WIP amnesty story is so long it needs TWO entries. And yet...
A couple of days went by, and Clark was finding it difficult to make any headway. It was weird. Everyone on the set gossiped all day long about everything else, but no one mentioned a word about Alyssa. Clark had tried all kinds of ways of bringing it up, but no one seemed to wanted talk about it. Maybe Randolph Haynes was right, that Cassie had laid down the law.
Clark spent his time running errands and getting coffee and Evian. It was hardly fascinating work, but he'd struck up something of a friendship with Jimmy Watkins, who was in fact one of the cameramen. He was enlightening Clark about the technical aspects of putting together a television show. Clark had the feeling he'd never want to be behind the camera or in front of it in his own career, but Jimmy had a lot of enthusiasm for what he did and made it interesting.
On Friday, as he was heading out, Jimmy called to him, "Hey, kid. You want to go grab a brew with us?" He was standing with the stage manager Lugo and the key grip Mike and some other members of the crew that Clark didn't really know.
Clark hesitated. "Well--" Of course he wasn't supposed to, but it might be a good opportunity to find out if any of these guys knew anything. "Sure, Jimmy. That's be great."
Jimmy clapped him on the back. "Let's go then. The weekend's already started."
He rode with Jimmy, and they ended up at a place called The Rusty Bucket. Clark stared at its faded neon sign, thinking may this wasn't such a good idea after all. Even from the outside, it was obviously a dive, and if Clark got into any trouble, his parents would kill him. And Lex probably would, too.
Jimmy got out and came around the truck. "Hey, anything the matter, kid?"
"Um. Well, it's just-- I'm not exactly legal."
"No problem, kid. Nobody's been carded in the Rusty Bucket since-- " Jimmy laughed. "Well, I guess that would be never."
They other guys joined them, and they all went inside.
Jimmy waved to the bartender. "Hey, Chuck."
"Jimmy." He nodded to the other guys.
"We've made this our hangout since we've been in town," Jimmy explained, leading Clark to a table in back.
They pulled up a few extra chairs and all sat down. The waitress came over, and Jimmy ordered a round of beers for everyone. True to what Jimmy had promised, the waitress didn't even glance in Clark's direction, much less ask for I.D.
"So does that mean you guys aren't from Metropolis?" Clark asked, once the waitress had served their drinks.
Jimmy and the other guys laughed. "Nah. We're from LA. Cassie hired us away for this gig. She wanted some seasoned professionals in key positions on the crew. Paying us big money, too."
Clark frowned. "Why didn't she just produce the show out in California? I heard her say something about wanting to put Metropolis on the map. But I didn't really understand why she'd go to so much trouble."
The guys traded looks with one another.
"Well, it wasn't exactly by choice," Jimmy explained. "Fact is that Cassie is persona non grata out in Hollywood."
Clark frowned. "Why? I thought she'd had a couple of hits."
[They relate her downfall in Hollywood. Two kids were hurt during the taping of her last show, which was promptly canceled. This has left her with a lot to prove to the studios. If this show is a big success, she'll be welcomed back with open arms. If not, well, where's she going to go from Kansas? Clark gets the sense that ambition may be a motive.]
Clark headed home, feeling--not buzzed exactly, he hadn't had enough to drink for that--just pleasantly loose. Back at the penthouse, he gave the doorman a big smile and ambled over to the elevator, rode upstairs, whistling under his breath.
When he stepped inside, he found Lex sprawled on the sofa, glass in hand, an entire bottle of Scotch on the coffee table beside him. He looked as if he was a pretty foul mood.
"Hey," Clark said.
"Hey."
Clark sat down on the opposite chair. "Um. So. I guess I don't really have to ask how your day was. I thought your lawyers were cautiously optimistic and all."
Lex rubbed his temples tiredly. "They still are. We've hired a team of private investigators. Everything's going forward as planned."
"So why do you look like…this?"
"I had a visit from Allen Bell today. Here at the penthouse."
"Is he supposed to do that? Shouldn't your lawyers have been present?"
"It was strictly off the record. He did all the talking. I was just supposed to listen."
"And?"
"Pretty much the same tired script he's been following on the evening news. No special treatment, and he doesn't care what my last name is, and he won't rest until he's given the Jamison family some kind of closure. I guess he felt the need to practice his campaign speech on me."
"You think that's what this is about?"
Lex shrugged. "What happened to that poor woman was horrible, and I'm sure he does have some legitimate interest in getting justice for her. But, yes, I do think the fact that it's an election year is influencing how he's proceeding with this case. He's a tough law and order guy. That's how he got elected, and I'm sure that's how he intends to be re-elected."
"That still doesn't mean he has any case."
"True. But the longer this draws out, the more damage there will be." Lex pinched the bridge of his nose. "We lost two contracts at LexCorp today. And LuthorCorp stock took a dive." He took a big sip of his drink. "Even if I'm acquitted, I'll still be ruined. Who's going to want to do business with a cold-blooded murderer? My only chance is to find out who the hell really killed that girl."
"We will, Lex. We'll figure it out. Did you see your Dad today?"
"Yes. He was less than pleased about the stock."
"Um. Did you ask him about-- you know."
Lex sighed. "I asked. He evaded. Par for the course with my father."
"Do you think he's still doing cloning research?"
"I can't imagine why he would have stopped. A simple setback like Emily turning out to be a psychotic killer wouldn't have been enough."
"A clone could have used its speed to kill Alyssa without anyone seeing."
"True. But what would be the point?"
"To frame you?" Clark asked, hesitantly.
"You mean at my father's behest?"
"I'm sorry, Lex. I didn't mean--"
Lex waved his hand. "It's not like I hadn't considered the possibility myself, that my father might have had some hand in this. Perhaps to teach me a lesson. But he would have to have known that screwing me would screw his company, too. And he'd never do that. I'm going to have my people check into it further. But I doubt they'll find anything."
Clark brightened. "Hey, I got a lead today."
"Well, at least one of us had some luck." Lex set down his drink and sat up. "So what did you--" He frowned and leaned into Clark, sniffing. "What the hell?"
"What?"
"You smell like a brewery. Clark, have you been drinking?"
"Some of the guys on the crew invited me to go out with them after work. That's where I got my information."
"I cannot believe this, Clark. Your parents trusted me to look out for you. You're seventeen years old. I don't want you out getting drunk. Maybe I should just send you home. I knew this wasn't a good idea."
"Calm down, okay? I had like three sips of beer, which is gross by the way, just to blend in. Don't you want to know what I found out?"
Lex sighed. "Yes. I do want to know."
"Remember that show [name]?"
"No."
"It was one of those daredevil type shows, ordinary people doing stupid stunts."
Lex still looked blank.
"You don't really watch television, do you?"
"Only the news channels."
"Which is why it still staggers me that you actually went on America's Playboy in the first place. Anyway, so the show got yanked off the air after these two kids got seriously hurt doing this [something stupid] stunt. It turns out they didn't really want to do it, didn't feel comfortable, but the show's producer kept pushing and pushing and finally they did it. And ended up in the emergency room in critical condition."
"And Cassie Bennet was the producer."
Clark nodded. "Exactly. The production company was able to settle out of court with the kids' families, but Cassie was pretty much blackballed. She couldn't get a job anywhere in Hollywood."
"So that's when she decided to come here for her new show and try to put Metropolis on the media map."
"Yep."
Lex pursed his lips, his eyes bright, as he considered the possibilities. "Maybe she put Alyssa up to going backstage?"
"That's what I was thinking. A stunt to put a little punch into the show, pump up ratings."
"Ambition can make people do desperate things."
"You think she engineered Alyssa's death?"
"It's something to explore. I'll have my people look into that, too. Get some more background on what happened on [other show]. Check into the financials on *America's Playboy*. Maybe one of the investors is involved somehow."
"So that was helpful, right? Worth a trip to the Rusty Bucket."
Lex winced. "The Rusty Bucket. Jesus, Clark. Never again. I mean it. I don't care what you might find out."
"Okay, Dad."
Lex glared at him. "And no more comparing me to your father."
Clark laughed. "Because you're nothing alike. I mean, neither one of you is proud, stubborn or convinced you're always right."
Lex picked up a pillow from the sofa and threw it at him, but he was smiling.
***
Clark has another unpleasant encounter with the contestant who seems familiar to him. she's always giving him a hard time, and he has no idea why. He can't shake the feeling that she reminds him of someone. Randolph Haynes witnesses the encounter and comes over to give Clark some goofy advice about women. Clark is getting ready to home when he suddenly realizes who the woman is. He superspeeds out to the parking lot and follows her home to a swanky condo.
At the front desk, he gives his name and says, "I'm here to see Miss Bryce."
The doorman calls upstairs and gets permission to send Clark up. She lets Clark in and coyly pretends to be surprised to see him.
"I know you're Helen's sister. What's your agenda?"
"Nobody makes a fool out of the Bryce sisters."
Amanda relates her own sad past, the fiancée who left her because he'd discovered he was gay.
Clark is confused.
"Sisters talk, farmboy. I know all about you and your bald playboy."
Clark just frowned harder. He was beginning to think Helen's sister was kind of crazy.
She started to laugh. "But you don't know, do you? It's a one-sided little affair, I guess. Well, let me be the one to clue you in about what your good buddy Lex Luthor really wants. There's a locked room in his creepy little castle, with all kinds of displays, all having to do with you. A high-tech masturbatorium, where little Lexy goes to get closer to you."
Clark felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. It probably shouldn't have surprised him that Lex had such a room. After all, he was a collector by nature and had even shown Clark the ruined wreck of the ruined Porsche. But it hurt. God. It hurt.
Amanda laughed. "Yeah. It's rather nauseating, isn't it? Poor Helen. She tried to tell me it was just some kind of research. That it didn't mean anything."
"You're the one who convinced her to leave Lex?"
"Damned straight. No pun intended. Better that than have him leave her when he finally made up his mind that he'd rather be with his boyfriend."
Clark's face felt hot. "Lex is not my boyfriend. And you have no idea what you've done. That room-- Well, there are things Lex wants to know about it, but it's not-- And Helen leaving him totally broke his heart. That's why he went on that stupid show in the first place, why he's in trouble now. It's all your fault!"
Amanda pulled herself up to her full height and took a step toward him. "Then how do you explain why he has a gigantic photograph of you that looks like something out of a gay porn magazine according to Helen, right there in the middle of the room, dominating everything. Can't he remember what you look like?"
Clark blushed fiercely.
"Why ever Luthor decided to go on that retarded show, it wasn't because he's pining for Helen. Trust me."
Clark's thoughts raced back to that conversation. Lex had never actually said it was because of Helen, only that he couldn't have the person he really wanted. Could Helen's half-baked sister possibly be right?
"So you, what?" Clark asked. "Decided to go on the show to get back at Lex on your sister's behalf?"
Amanda's eyes flashed with anger. "Nobody makes a fool out of the Bryce sisters."
"I guess sending Lex to prison for the rest of his life for something he didn't do would be quite the revenge."
Her face turned red. "I would *never* hurt some poor girl to get back at Lex Luthor. Women have to stick together against men like that."
"What were you going to do then?"
She smiled, and it made her look even crazier. "Oh, my personal conversation with the playboy was going to be quite a ratings-getter. My chance to tell everyone in America just what Luthor is. Not the ladies man that he's somehow gotten a reputation for. I was going to out him in front of God and everybody." Her face twisted sourly. "And then the idiot had to go and get himself arrested."
"Why don't you just quit?"
Amanda rolled her eyes. "Duh. Why didn't I think of that?" She sighed heavily. "I've got a contract, doofus. If I just stop coming to the taping, they'll sue me. And that little prick Randolph knows how badly I want to be voted off the show, and he just won't do it. Pathetic little insect. It's the only power he's ever had, and by God, he's going to use it. Just like a man."
Clark had been raised to be sympathetic to other people's plights, but Amanda had no bones about kicking him where he was most vulnerable. It brought out the part of him that he wasn't very proud of.
"So I guess you'll be going on the romantic evening out. Get your chance to cuddle up on the sofa with him. See if you have any chemistry together."
Amanda's face darkened dangerously.
"You know, it looks like nobody has to make a fool of the Bryce sisters. You're doing a pretty good job of that all by yourself. Good luck with the bikini round, by the way."
"Argghhh!"
He just managed to duck out of the way, even with his super fast reflexes, as a vase went crashing into the wall near his head, and he quickly let himself out.
***
Clark's thoughts are a confused mess as he goes home. Feeling of betrayal. The idea of a secret room where Lex goes to ponder him it makes him feel violated, sickened. But there's a restless buzz in his body too. That picture of him. What does Lex really want?
At home, Lex is in a much better mood. He's had a productive meeting with his lawyers. They've decided on a strategy. If the DA keeps trying the case in the papers, Lex is going to get his chance to give a press conference, give people something to balance against what they're hearing from Bell. And the lead on Cassie Bennett has proven helpful. His investigators have found that Cassie has a fortune of funding in her new show and some of it has come from some questionable sources, who are not going to be any too pleased if the show failed. Still trying to find out more about what happened that got her sent packing from Hollywood. Everyone involved in the settlement signed non-disclosure agreements.
Lex is saying all this over dinner. Clark murmurs the occasional. Really? Finally, Lex says something outrageous. Clark just blinks at him.
"Okay. So what's up with you, Clark? You haven't heard a word I've said."
"I have. I just-- I've got something on my mind."
"Something to do with the case?"
Clark nodded. "There's someone on the show-- who's not what she seems."
"Really? Who?"
"Remember that girl Stephanie I told you about? The one who's always giving me a hard time?"
Lex frowned, looking confused. "Yeah."
"Turns out her name's really Amanda. And she's Helen's sister."
"Fuck."
"Yeah. Seems she went on the show to get back at you. Apparently, she's not your biggest fan."
Lex swallowed noticeably. "Did she mention why?"
"Oh, yes. She had quite the story to tell."
"Clark, I--" If it hadn't been Lex, Clark would have thought he was sweating.
"Is it really that important to know my secret, Lex? That you need a whole room devoted to it?"
"I don't know what she told you, Clark. But it isn't--"
"Don't lie to me! Aren't you the one who always says you could never forgive someone for lying?"
"Just try to calm down, okay? I can explain."
Clark took a step toward him. "Can you? Because Amanda mentioned something else Helen told her that I thought was really interesting. About a ten foot photograph of me. Is that for research purposes, too?" He crowded further into Lex's space, backing him against the wall. "I mean, don't you know what I look like?"
Clark had always been so careful of his size and strength before, always wearing baggy clothes to hide himself, always holding back, minimizing what he could do. But now, he wanted Lex to understand what he was capable of, to realize just who he was messing with. From the very beginning, Lex had been chiseling away at Clark's secrets and his privacy, asking questions and watching and making Clark feel like a hunted animal at times. But now the tables were turned, and Clark had to admit that he liked this, the idea of intimidating Lex Luthor, even just a little bit.
Lex's eyes flashed hot blue. "Stop it, Clark. Before you get in over your head."
Clark pressed his face against Lex's neck, breathing in his scent. Lex gasped softly. "Tell me it's not just about my secret," he whispered.
He could feel Lex tremble. "This is such a bad idea."
Clark stopped him with a kiss, his lips against Lex's, tongue in his mouth, tasting, exploring, so much better than talking. He was sick of the bullshit, his own and Lex's, and there was a refreshing honesty in needing, taking, touching.
Lex bit Clark's lip and pushed off from the wall, pressing their bodies closer. He took control of the kiss, holding Clark's head in his hands, exploring Clark's mouth with deep strokes of his tongue. His erection dug into Clark's thigh.
It was suddenly clear to Clark why it hadn't worked out with Lana. This had always between there between Lex and him, percolating beneath the surface, just waiting for an opening, and nothing else could ever have compared.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Lex said, between kisses.
Clark moaned against his mouth. "Yes." He let his hands slide down Lex's back to his ass and pulled him closer.
"Shit!" Lex's grip tightened on Clark's shoulders. "We need-- the bedroom. Now."
Clark nodded. He held onto Lex and blurred them both into Lex's bedroom. Lex landed on his back on the mattress and stared up at Clark, his eyes wide.
"You already knew anyway," Clark said. He bent over Lex and kissed his neck.
Lex tangled his hand in Clark T-shirt and pulled him up to look him in the eye. "That day at the bridge?"
"You hit me."
Lex swallowed. "And Rachel Dunleavy?"
"I saved you."
"Bob Rickman?"
"You shot me."
"God, Clark."
"I'm strong, fast, and nothing can hurt me."
"Except the meteor rocks," Lex said softly.
"Yeah."
"What else can you do?"
"Set fire with my eyes and see through everything but lead. And sometimes-- I float."
"Because you're--"
"Not exactly from around here."
Lex stared at him, his mouth open. Finally he nodded and said, "Okay." And pulled Clark down for another kiss.
Clark smiled against his mouth. "Okay? That's it?"
"Yeah." Lex mouthed his collarbone. "That's all I ever wanted. Just for you to tell me."
Clark rocked his hips into Lex's. "You sure that's all you want?"
Lex drew in his breath through his teeth. "Shit, Clark. At least, take my pants off before you make me come."
Clark laughed. "Okay."
He used his speed, and the next second they were both naked, pressed together. Lex felt so incredible, soft, smooth skin and slim, strong body. Clark moaned and began to move against him.
Lex gasped. "God, Clark." He wrapped his legs around Clark's, his fingers dug into his shoulders, and he began to thrust back.
"Fuck!" Clark cried out.
Lex laughed. "You like that?" He flipped them over, so that he was on top. "You're going to like this so much more."
Lex was suddenly all over him--sucking his neck, licking his nipples, kissing a line down his belly--and all Clark could do was hold on and beg and call Lex's name like it was the last thing he ever wanted to say.
Lex mouthed his hipbone, nuzzled the triangle of hair above Clark's cock, and then looked up, his expression very serious. "You're so beautiful, Clark. And I've wanted this since the first moment I laid eyes on you."
And then Lex's mouth was on him. Clark flailed helplessly, his feet kicking out, his fingers flexing convulsively in the sheets. He'd had his own hand on his cock and Lana's, once, nervously. But it was never anything like this, Lex's mouth and lips and tongue, working him over. Clark had never imagined anything so wet and hot and tight. He whimpered softly. Lex reached down, took his balls gently in hand and rolled them in their sack, which made Clark's eyes roll back in his head.
"Stop," he tried to warn Lex. "I'm going to--"
But Lex just kept going. And Clark came in his mouth, so hard he could barely breathe, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
When he came back to his senses, Lex was propped up on one elbow, watching him, smiling smugly. Clark pulled him down and kissed him. He could taste himself in Lex's mouth, and he never wanted to stop. He cradled Lex's head in his hands, stroked the soft, vulnerable skin of his scalp and kissed and kissed.
Lex pulled back, ran his fingers through Clark's hair. "Have you ever fucked a girl?"
Clark could feel himself turning red. "Um. No."
Lex nibbled along his jaw line. "Would you like to fuck me?"
Clark sucked in his breath sharply. It shouldn't have been possible for his cock to get hard again so soon, but it didn't seem to know that.
Lex smiled. "I'm taking that as a yes." He gave Clark another quick kiss and leaned over to the bedside table.
When he turned back, he pressed a tube into Clark's hand. "I, uh--" Clark had no idea what he was supposed to do.
Lex smiled lazily and sprawled out on his back. "Just touch me."
That was good. That was easy. Clark could do that.
Lex held his hand and pressed it to his chest. "It was always you, Clark. Not your secret," he said, sleepily.
Clark pulled him closer and rested his forehead against Lex's shoulder. It was the most content he'd ever been.
***
In the morning, they talk about their next steps, while they lie in bed together. Clark says his days on the set are probably over. Amanda will tell them who he is.
"I kind of pissed her off," Clark admitted.
" If she's anything like Helen," Lex said dryly, "that wasn't too hard to manage. Do you think she had anything to do with it?"
Clark considered it. " I think she wanted to humiliate you, not frame you."
Lex says that he heard back from his investigators. So far, nothing has panned out with the list of people who have grudges against him. But then, there could be people who hate him that he doesn't know about. They're going to continue to look into it.
"It still makes the most sense that's it's somebody associated with the show," Clark pointed out.
Lex nodded. "That's true. But how do we smoke them out?"
"I don't know." Clark thought a minute. "Maybe we could apply some pressure and see who cracks? You know, like they do on those old-fashioned courtroom dramas."
"You mean, just go down to the set and start making wild allegations and see what happens?"
"Exactly. Our cover is already blown. Your people haven't been able to find anything. What do we have to lose?"
Lex shrugged. "I suppose nothing."
They go onto the set, confront everyone. Everyone makes some silly confession. Cassie Bennett says she did put Alyssa up to flouting the rules and going back stage, but it was just for ratings. They press her about the past. Finally, she confesses that she stole the hair-brained idea for her last show from her assistant and for "America's Playboy" from her boyfriend.
"Is that what you wanted to hear?" she cried out. "That I haven't had a creative idea in years? Well, I hope you're satisfied.
Afterwards, Clark said to Lex, "I guess that only works on Matlock."
Lex patted him on the shoulder. "It was worth a shot."
They go home, have sex. Clark says something goopy about love.
"I'm sorry." Clark blushed.
"Don't be. When I'm fellating my cellmate Bubba for the next twenty years for the privilege of being allowed to go on breathing, I'm going to treasure these moments of romance. More than I can possibly tell you."
Clark wrapped his arms around Lex. "You're not going to be-- doing that to anybody but me anytime soon," he said, his tone both reassuring and possessive.
Lex hugged Clark back. "Unfortunately, time isn't exactly working in our favor."
"I won't let them take you away, Lex."
"Yes, you will," he said sharply. "You will not do anything stupid. You will not give your parents any reason to feel certain that they've always been right about me. Are we clear?"
"Lex--"
Lex tells him that he's going to proceed with his lawyer's plan, make a statement tomorrow.
"I still have a good chance of acquittal, even if we don't find out who really did it."
***
Press conference where Lex claims his innocence.
Clark and Lex go out to dinner. It's Clark's last night in town, and Lex chooses a place where they won't be bothered. But Cassie Bennet finds them. She comes up to them at their table, to make some kind of amends. Maybe to tell Lex he was a hell of a playboy. No hard feelings. That idiot Randolph couldn't hold a candle to you. I tried to tell him that when we booted him in favor of you, but he got all huffy. She rolled her eyes. Sleeping with that weasel was not the proudest epoch of my life.
"He was your ex-boyfriend? The one you got the idea for the show from?"
She reacts huffily. "Bare bones, at best. All the nice touches were mine."
"How about sending Alyssa back to meet Lex?"
Cassie sighed. "Okay, that was his, too. Sort of. He said he hoped I wasn't going to do something cheesy like that. But I knew it would be perfect."
The look at each other. Lex calls his people or the police or somebody. They hurry off to go find Randolph, make sure he doesn't try to run. But they're attacked. Someone hits Lex, and then Clark feels the pain of Kryptonite and collapses.
***
They wake up in a warehouse, tied together.
"Come on, Clark. Do your thing," Lex urged.
Clark managed to moan weakly.
"Clark?"
"Your friend has gotten a good dose of meteor rocks," Randolph announced. "His super strength isn't going to be much help to you."
"Randolph, what the hell are you doing?"
There's some exposition about how Randolph invented a device that shift time. So he was able to kill Alyssa and put the knife in Lex's hand without anyone seeing it or being caught on film.
"You mean, you invented something like that," Lex said in disbelief, "but you care more about who's on some stupid reality TV show?"
"Oh, sure. That's easy for you to say!" Randolph said huffily. "Everybody wants to have sex with you! Women. Men. Pouty-mouthed aliens. They're all lining up to get in your pants. But for me, this was a dream come true. Two dozen women all at least pretending to want me. And you had to ruin it, the way you've always ruined everything."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't tell me you don't remember [some imagined slight]?"
He reels off a long list of wacky grievances.
Somehow Lex and Clark are saved. Lex's name is cleared. The two of them go on to have much more sex. And Lex promises never to so much as say the words "reality TV" ever again.
THE END
A couple of days went by, and Clark was finding it difficult to make any headway. It was weird. Everyone on the set gossiped all day long about everything else, but no one mentioned a word about Alyssa. Clark had tried all kinds of ways of bringing it up, but no one seemed to wanted talk about it. Maybe Randolph Haynes was right, that Cassie had laid down the law.
Clark spent his time running errands and getting coffee and Evian. It was hardly fascinating work, but he'd struck up something of a friendship with Jimmy Watkins, who was in fact one of the cameramen. He was enlightening Clark about the technical aspects of putting together a television show. Clark had the feeling he'd never want to be behind the camera or in front of it in his own career, but Jimmy had a lot of enthusiasm for what he did and made it interesting.
On Friday, as he was heading out, Jimmy called to him, "Hey, kid. You want to go grab a brew with us?" He was standing with the stage manager Lugo and the key grip Mike and some other members of the crew that Clark didn't really know.
Clark hesitated. "Well--" Of course he wasn't supposed to, but it might be a good opportunity to find out if any of these guys knew anything. "Sure, Jimmy. That's be great."
Jimmy clapped him on the back. "Let's go then. The weekend's already started."
He rode with Jimmy, and they ended up at a place called The Rusty Bucket. Clark stared at its faded neon sign, thinking may this wasn't such a good idea after all. Even from the outside, it was obviously a dive, and if Clark got into any trouble, his parents would kill him. And Lex probably would, too.
Jimmy got out and came around the truck. "Hey, anything the matter, kid?"
"Um. Well, it's just-- I'm not exactly legal."
"No problem, kid. Nobody's been carded in the Rusty Bucket since-- " Jimmy laughed. "Well, I guess that would be never."
They other guys joined them, and they all went inside.
Jimmy waved to the bartender. "Hey, Chuck."
"Jimmy." He nodded to the other guys.
"We've made this our hangout since we've been in town," Jimmy explained, leading Clark to a table in back.
They pulled up a few extra chairs and all sat down. The waitress came over, and Jimmy ordered a round of beers for everyone. True to what Jimmy had promised, the waitress didn't even glance in Clark's direction, much less ask for I.D.
"So does that mean you guys aren't from Metropolis?" Clark asked, once the waitress had served their drinks.
Jimmy and the other guys laughed. "Nah. We're from LA. Cassie hired us away for this gig. She wanted some seasoned professionals in key positions on the crew. Paying us big money, too."
Clark frowned. "Why didn't she just produce the show out in California? I heard her say something about wanting to put Metropolis on the map. But I didn't really understand why she'd go to so much trouble."
The guys traded looks with one another.
"Well, it wasn't exactly by choice," Jimmy explained. "Fact is that Cassie is persona non grata out in Hollywood."
Clark frowned. "Why? I thought she'd had a couple of hits."
[They relate her downfall in Hollywood. Two kids were hurt during the taping of her last show, which was promptly canceled. This has left her with a lot to prove to the studios. If this show is a big success, she'll be welcomed back with open arms. If not, well, where's she going to go from Kansas? Clark gets the sense that ambition may be a motive.]
Clark headed home, feeling--not buzzed exactly, he hadn't had enough to drink for that--just pleasantly loose. Back at the penthouse, he gave the doorman a big smile and ambled over to the elevator, rode upstairs, whistling under his breath.
When he stepped inside, he found Lex sprawled on the sofa, glass in hand, an entire bottle of Scotch on the coffee table beside him. He looked as if he was a pretty foul mood.
"Hey," Clark said.
"Hey."
Clark sat down on the opposite chair. "Um. So. I guess I don't really have to ask how your day was. I thought your lawyers were cautiously optimistic and all."
Lex rubbed his temples tiredly. "They still are. We've hired a team of private investigators. Everything's going forward as planned."
"So why do you look like…this?"
"I had a visit from Allen Bell today. Here at the penthouse."
"Is he supposed to do that? Shouldn't your lawyers have been present?"
"It was strictly off the record. He did all the talking. I was just supposed to listen."
"And?"
"Pretty much the same tired script he's been following on the evening news. No special treatment, and he doesn't care what my last name is, and he won't rest until he's given the Jamison family some kind of closure. I guess he felt the need to practice his campaign speech on me."
"You think that's what this is about?"
Lex shrugged. "What happened to that poor woman was horrible, and I'm sure he does have some legitimate interest in getting justice for her. But, yes, I do think the fact that it's an election year is influencing how he's proceeding with this case. He's a tough law and order guy. That's how he got elected, and I'm sure that's how he intends to be re-elected."
"That still doesn't mean he has any case."
"True. But the longer this draws out, the more damage there will be." Lex pinched the bridge of his nose. "We lost two contracts at LexCorp today. And LuthorCorp stock took a dive." He took a big sip of his drink. "Even if I'm acquitted, I'll still be ruined. Who's going to want to do business with a cold-blooded murderer? My only chance is to find out who the hell really killed that girl."
"We will, Lex. We'll figure it out. Did you see your Dad today?"
"Yes. He was less than pleased about the stock."
"Um. Did you ask him about-- you know."
Lex sighed. "I asked. He evaded. Par for the course with my father."
"Do you think he's still doing cloning research?"
"I can't imagine why he would have stopped. A simple setback like Emily turning out to be a psychotic killer wouldn't have been enough."
"A clone could have used its speed to kill Alyssa without anyone seeing."
"True. But what would be the point?"
"To frame you?" Clark asked, hesitantly.
"You mean at my father's behest?"
"I'm sorry, Lex. I didn't mean--"
Lex waved his hand. "It's not like I hadn't considered the possibility myself, that my father might have had some hand in this. Perhaps to teach me a lesson. But he would have to have known that screwing me would screw his company, too. And he'd never do that. I'm going to have my people check into it further. But I doubt they'll find anything."
Clark brightened. "Hey, I got a lead today."
"Well, at least one of us had some luck." Lex set down his drink and sat up. "So what did you--" He frowned and leaned into Clark, sniffing. "What the hell?"
"What?"
"You smell like a brewery. Clark, have you been drinking?"
"Some of the guys on the crew invited me to go out with them after work. That's where I got my information."
"I cannot believe this, Clark. Your parents trusted me to look out for you. You're seventeen years old. I don't want you out getting drunk. Maybe I should just send you home. I knew this wasn't a good idea."
"Calm down, okay? I had like three sips of beer, which is gross by the way, just to blend in. Don't you want to know what I found out?"
Lex sighed. "Yes. I do want to know."
"Remember that show [name]?"
"No."
"It was one of those daredevil type shows, ordinary people doing stupid stunts."
Lex still looked blank.
"You don't really watch television, do you?"
"Only the news channels."
"Which is why it still staggers me that you actually went on America's Playboy in the first place. Anyway, so the show got yanked off the air after these two kids got seriously hurt doing this [something stupid] stunt. It turns out they didn't really want to do it, didn't feel comfortable, but the show's producer kept pushing and pushing and finally they did it. And ended up in the emergency room in critical condition."
"And Cassie Bennet was the producer."
Clark nodded. "Exactly. The production company was able to settle out of court with the kids' families, but Cassie was pretty much blackballed. She couldn't get a job anywhere in Hollywood."
"So that's when she decided to come here for her new show and try to put Metropolis on the media map."
"Yep."
Lex pursed his lips, his eyes bright, as he considered the possibilities. "Maybe she put Alyssa up to going backstage?"
"That's what I was thinking. A stunt to put a little punch into the show, pump up ratings."
"Ambition can make people do desperate things."
"You think she engineered Alyssa's death?"
"It's something to explore. I'll have my people look into that, too. Get some more background on what happened on [other show]. Check into the financials on *America's Playboy*. Maybe one of the investors is involved somehow."
"So that was helpful, right? Worth a trip to the Rusty Bucket."
Lex winced. "The Rusty Bucket. Jesus, Clark. Never again. I mean it. I don't care what you might find out."
"Okay, Dad."
Lex glared at him. "And no more comparing me to your father."
Clark laughed. "Because you're nothing alike. I mean, neither one of you is proud, stubborn or convinced you're always right."
Lex picked up a pillow from the sofa and threw it at him, but he was smiling.
***
Clark has another unpleasant encounter with the contestant who seems familiar to him. she's always giving him a hard time, and he has no idea why. He can't shake the feeling that she reminds him of someone. Randolph Haynes witnesses the encounter and comes over to give Clark some goofy advice about women. Clark is getting ready to home when he suddenly realizes who the woman is. He superspeeds out to the parking lot and follows her home to a swanky condo.
At the front desk, he gives his name and says, "I'm here to see Miss Bryce."
The doorman calls upstairs and gets permission to send Clark up. She lets Clark in and coyly pretends to be surprised to see him.
"I know you're Helen's sister. What's your agenda?"
"Nobody makes a fool out of the Bryce sisters."
Amanda relates her own sad past, the fiancée who left her because he'd discovered he was gay.
Clark is confused.
"Sisters talk, farmboy. I know all about you and your bald playboy."
Clark just frowned harder. He was beginning to think Helen's sister was kind of crazy.
She started to laugh. "But you don't know, do you? It's a one-sided little affair, I guess. Well, let me be the one to clue you in about what your good buddy Lex Luthor really wants. There's a locked room in his creepy little castle, with all kinds of displays, all having to do with you. A high-tech masturbatorium, where little Lexy goes to get closer to you."
Clark felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. It probably shouldn't have surprised him that Lex had such a room. After all, he was a collector by nature and had even shown Clark the ruined wreck of the ruined Porsche. But it hurt. God. It hurt.
Amanda laughed. "Yeah. It's rather nauseating, isn't it? Poor Helen. She tried to tell me it was just some kind of research. That it didn't mean anything."
"You're the one who convinced her to leave Lex?"
"Damned straight. No pun intended. Better that than have him leave her when he finally made up his mind that he'd rather be with his boyfriend."
Clark's face felt hot. "Lex is not my boyfriend. And you have no idea what you've done. That room-- Well, there are things Lex wants to know about it, but it's not-- And Helen leaving him totally broke his heart. That's why he went on that stupid show in the first place, why he's in trouble now. It's all your fault!"
Amanda pulled herself up to her full height and took a step toward him. "Then how do you explain why he has a gigantic photograph of you that looks like something out of a gay porn magazine according to Helen, right there in the middle of the room, dominating everything. Can't he remember what you look like?"
Clark blushed fiercely.
"Why ever Luthor decided to go on that retarded show, it wasn't because he's pining for Helen. Trust me."
Clark's thoughts raced back to that conversation. Lex had never actually said it was because of Helen, only that he couldn't have the person he really wanted. Could Helen's half-baked sister possibly be right?
"So you, what?" Clark asked. "Decided to go on the show to get back at Lex on your sister's behalf?"
Amanda's eyes flashed with anger. "Nobody makes a fool out of the Bryce sisters."
"I guess sending Lex to prison for the rest of his life for something he didn't do would be quite the revenge."
Her face turned red. "I would *never* hurt some poor girl to get back at Lex Luthor. Women have to stick together against men like that."
"What were you going to do then?"
She smiled, and it made her look even crazier. "Oh, my personal conversation with the playboy was going to be quite a ratings-getter. My chance to tell everyone in America just what Luthor is. Not the ladies man that he's somehow gotten a reputation for. I was going to out him in front of God and everybody." Her face twisted sourly. "And then the idiot had to go and get himself arrested."
"Why don't you just quit?"
Amanda rolled her eyes. "Duh. Why didn't I think of that?" She sighed heavily. "I've got a contract, doofus. If I just stop coming to the taping, they'll sue me. And that little prick Randolph knows how badly I want to be voted off the show, and he just won't do it. Pathetic little insect. It's the only power he's ever had, and by God, he's going to use it. Just like a man."
Clark had been raised to be sympathetic to other people's plights, but Amanda had no bones about kicking him where he was most vulnerable. It brought out the part of him that he wasn't very proud of.
"So I guess you'll be going on the romantic evening out. Get your chance to cuddle up on the sofa with him. See if you have any chemistry together."
Amanda's face darkened dangerously.
"You know, it looks like nobody has to make a fool of the Bryce sisters. You're doing a pretty good job of that all by yourself. Good luck with the bikini round, by the way."
"Argghhh!"
He just managed to duck out of the way, even with his super fast reflexes, as a vase went crashing into the wall near his head, and he quickly let himself out.
***
Clark's thoughts are a confused mess as he goes home. Feeling of betrayal. The idea of a secret room where Lex goes to ponder him it makes him feel violated, sickened. But there's a restless buzz in his body too. That picture of him. What does Lex really want?
At home, Lex is in a much better mood. He's had a productive meeting with his lawyers. They've decided on a strategy. If the DA keeps trying the case in the papers, Lex is going to get his chance to give a press conference, give people something to balance against what they're hearing from Bell. And the lead on Cassie Bennett has proven helpful. His investigators have found that Cassie has a fortune of funding in her new show and some of it has come from some questionable sources, who are not going to be any too pleased if the show failed. Still trying to find out more about what happened that got her sent packing from Hollywood. Everyone involved in the settlement signed non-disclosure agreements.
Lex is saying all this over dinner. Clark murmurs the occasional. Really? Finally, Lex says something outrageous. Clark just blinks at him.
"Okay. So what's up with you, Clark? You haven't heard a word I've said."
"I have. I just-- I've got something on my mind."
"Something to do with the case?"
Clark nodded. "There's someone on the show-- who's not what she seems."
"Really? Who?"
"Remember that girl Stephanie I told you about? The one who's always giving me a hard time?"
Lex frowned, looking confused. "Yeah."
"Turns out her name's really Amanda. And she's Helen's sister."
"Fuck."
"Yeah. Seems she went on the show to get back at you. Apparently, she's not your biggest fan."
Lex swallowed noticeably. "Did she mention why?"
"Oh, yes. She had quite the story to tell."
"Clark, I--" If it hadn't been Lex, Clark would have thought he was sweating.
"Is it really that important to know my secret, Lex? That you need a whole room devoted to it?"
"I don't know what she told you, Clark. But it isn't--"
"Don't lie to me! Aren't you the one who always says you could never forgive someone for lying?"
"Just try to calm down, okay? I can explain."
Clark took a step toward him. "Can you? Because Amanda mentioned something else Helen told her that I thought was really interesting. About a ten foot photograph of me. Is that for research purposes, too?" He crowded further into Lex's space, backing him against the wall. "I mean, don't you know what I look like?"
Clark had always been so careful of his size and strength before, always wearing baggy clothes to hide himself, always holding back, minimizing what he could do. But now, he wanted Lex to understand what he was capable of, to realize just who he was messing with. From the very beginning, Lex had been chiseling away at Clark's secrets and his privacy, asking questions and watching and making Clark feel like a hunted animal at times. But now the tables were turned, and Clark had to admit that he liked this, the idea of intimidating Lex Luthor, even just a little bit.
Lex's eyes flashed hot blue. "Stop it, Clark. Before you get in over your head."
Clark pressed his face against Lex's neck, breathing in his scent. Lex gasped softly. "Tell me it's not just about my secret," he whispered.
He could feel Lex tremble. "This is such a bad idea."
Clark stopped him with a kiss, his lips against Lex's, tongue in his mouth, tasting, exploring, so much better than talking. He was sick of the bullshit, his own and Lex's, and there was a refreshing honesty in needing, taking, touching.
Lex bit Clark's lip and pushed off from the wall, pressing their bodies closer. He took control of the kiss, holding Clark's head in his hands, exploring Clark's mouth with deep strokes of his tongue. His erection dug into Clark's thigh.
It was suddenly clear to Clark why it hadn't worked out with Lana. This had always between there between Lex and him, percolating beneath the surface, just waiting for an opening, and nothing else could ever have compared.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Lex said, between kisses.
Clark moaned against his mouth. "Yes." He let his hands slide down Lex's back to his ass and pulled him closer.
"Shit!" Lex's grip tightened on Clark's shoulders. "We need-- the bedroom. Now."
Clark nodded. He held onto Lex and blurred them both into Lex's bedroom. Lex landed on his back on the mattress and stared up at Clark, his eyes wide.
"You already knew anyway," Clark said. He bent over Lex and kissed his neck.
Lex tangled his hand in Clark T-shirt and pulled him up to look him in the eye. "That day at the bridge?"
"You hit me."
Lex swallowed. "And Rachel Dunleavy?"
"I saved you."
"Bob Rickman?"
"You shot me."
"God, Clark."
"I'm strong, fast, and nothing can hurt me."
"Except the meteor rocks," Lex said softly.
"Yeah."
"What else can you do?"
"Set fire with my eyes and see through everything but lead. And sometimes-- I float."
"Because you're--"
"Not exactly from around here."
Lex stared at him, his mouth open. Finally he nodded and said, "Okay." And pulled Clark down for another kiss.
Clark smiled against his mouth. "Okay? That's it?"
"Yeah." Lex mouthed his collarbone. "That's all I ever wanted. Just for you to tell me."
Clark rocked his hips into Lex's. "You sure that's all you want?"
Lex drew in his breath through his teeth. "Shit, Clark. At least, take my pants off before you make me come."
Clark laughed. "Okay."
He used his speed, and the next second they were both naked, pressed together. Lex felt so incredible, soft, smooth skin and slim, strong body. Clark moaned and began to move against him.
Lex gasped. "God, Clark." He wrapped his legs around Clark's, his fingers dug into his shoulders, and he began to thrust back.
"Fuck!" Clark cried out.
Lex laughed. "You like that?" He flipped them over, so that he was on top. "You're going to like this so much more."
Lex was suddenly all over him--sucking his neck, licking his nipples, kissing a line down his belly--and all Clark could do was hold on and beg and call Lex's name like it was the last thing he ever wanted to say.
Lex mouthed his hipbone, nuzzled the triangle of hair above Clark's cock, and then looked up, his expression very serious. "You're so beautiful, Clark. And I've wanted this since the first moment I laid eyes on you."
And then Lex's mouth was on him. Clark flailed helplessly, his feet kicking out, his fingers flexing convulsively in the sheets. He'd had his own hand on his cock and Lana's, once, nervously. But it was never anything like this, Lex's mouth and lips and tongue, working him over. Clark had never imagined anything so wet and hot and tight. He whimpered softly. Lex reached down, took his balls gently in hand and rolled them in their sack, which made Clark's eyes roll back in his head.
"Stop," he tried to warn Lex. "I'm going to--"
But Lex just kept going. And Clark came in his mouth, so hard he could barely breathe, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
When he came back to his senses, Lex was propped up on one elbow, watching him, smiling smugly. Clark pulled him down and kissed him. He could taste himself in Lex's mouth, and he never wanted to stop. He cradled Lex's head in his hands, stroked the soft, vulnerable skin of his scalp and kissed and kissed.
Lex pulled back, ran his fingers through Clark's hair. "Have you ever fucked a girl?"
Clark could feel himself turning red. "Um. No."
Lex nibbled along his jaw line. "Would you like to fuck me?"
Clark sucked in his breath sharply. It shouldn't have been possible for his cock to get hard again so soon, but it didn't seem to know that.
Lex smiled. "I'm taking that as a yes." He gave Clark another quick kiss and leaned over to the bedside table.
When he turned back, he pressed a tube into Clark's hand. "I, uh--" Clark had no idea what he was supposed to do.
Lex smiled lazily and sprawled out on his back. "Just touch me."
That was good. That was easy. Clark could do that.
Lex held his hand and pressed it to his chest. "It was always you, Clark. Not your secret," he said, sleepily.
Clark pulled him closer and rested his forehead against Lex's shoulder. It was the most content he'd ever been.
***
In the morning, they talk about their next steps, while they lie in bed together. Clark says his days on the set are probably over. Amanda will tell them who he is.
"I kind of pissed her off," Clark admitted.
" If she's anything like Helen," Lex said dryly, "that wasn't too hard to manage. Do you think she had anything to do with it?"
Clark considered it. " I think she wanted to humiliate you, not frame you."
Lex says that he heard back from his investigators. So far, nothing has panned out with the list of people who have grudges against him. But then, there could be people who hate him that he doesn't know about. They're going to continue to look into it.
"It still makes the most sense that's it's somebody associated with the show," Clark pointed out.
Lex nodded. "That's true. But how do we smoke them out?"
"I don't know." Clark thought a minute. "Maybe we could apply some pressure and see who cracks? You know, like they do on those old-fashioned courtroom dramas."
"You mean, just go down to the set and start making wild allegations and see what happens?"
"Exactly. Our cover is already blown. Your people haven't been able to find anything. What do we have to lose?"
Lex shrugged. "I suppose nothing."
They go onto the set, confront everyone. Everyone makes some silly confession. Cassie Bennett says she did put Alyssa up to flouting the rules and going back stage, but it was just for ratings. They press her about the past. Finally, she confesses that she stole the hair-brained idea for her last show from her assistant and for "America's Playboy" from her boyfriend.
"Is that what you wanted to hear?" she cried out. "That I haven't had a creative idea in years? Well, I hope you're satisfied.
Afterwards, Clark said to Lex, "I guess that only works on Matlock."
Lex patted him on the shoulder. "It was worth a shot."
They go home, have sex. Clark says something goopy about love.
"I'm sorry." Clark blushed.
"Don't be. When I'm fellating my cellmate Bubba for the next twenty years for the privilege of being allowed to go on breathing, I'm going to treasure these moments of romance. More than I can possibly tell you."
Clark wrapped his arms around Lex. "You're not going to be-- doing that to anybody but me anytime soon," he said, his tone both reassuring and possessive.
Lex hugged Clark back. "Unfortunately, time isn't exactly working in our favor."
"I won't let them take you away, Lex."
"Yes, you will," he said sharply. "You will not do anything stupid. You will not give your parents any reason to feel certain that they've always been right about me. Are we clear?"
"Lex--"
Lex tells him that he's going to proceed with his lawyer's plan, make a statement tomorrow.
"I still have a good chance of acquittal, even if we don't find out who really did it."
***
Press conference where Lex claims his innocence.
Clark and Lex go out to dinner. It's Clark's last night in town, and Lex chooses a place where they won't be bothered. But Cassie Bennet finds them. She comes up to them at their table, to make some kind of amends. Maybe to tell Lex he was a hell of a playboy. No hard feelings. That idiot Randolph couldn't hold a candle to you. I tried to tell him that when we booted him in favor of you, but he got all huffy. She rolled her eyes. Sleeping with that weasel was not the proudest epoch of my life.
"He was your ex-boyfriend? The one you got the idea for the show from?"
She reacts huffily. "Bare bones, at best. All the nice touches were mine."
"How about sending Alyssa back to meet Lex?"
Cassie sighed. "Okay, that was his, too. Sort of. He said he hoped I wasn't going to do something cheesy like that. But I knew it would be perfect."
The look at each other. Lex calls his people or the police or somebody. They hurry off to go find Randolph, make sure he doesn't try to run. But they're attacked. Someone hits Lex, and then Clark feels the pain of Kryptonite and collapses.
***
They wake up in a warehouse, tied together.
"Come on, Clark. Do your thing," Lex urged.
Clark managed to moan weakly.
"Clark?"
"Your friend has gotten a good dose of meteor rocks," Randolph announced. "His super strength isn't going to be much help to you."
"Randolph, what the hell are you doing?"
There's some exposition about how Randolph invented a device that shift time. So he was able to kill Alyssa and put the knife in Lex's hand without anyone seeing it or being caught on film.
"You mean, you invented something like that," Lex said in disbelief, "but you care more about who's on some stupid reality TV show?"
"Oh, sure. That's easy for you to say!" Randolph said huffily. "Everybody wants to have sex with you! Women. Men. Pouty-mouthed aliens. They're all lining up to get in your pants. But for me, this was a dream come true. Two dozen women all at least pretending to want me. And you had to ruin it, the way you've always ruined everything."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't tell me you don't remember [some imagined slight]?"
He reels off a long list of wacky grievances.
Somehow Lex and Clark are saved. Lex's name is cleared. The two of them go on to have much more sex. And Lex promises never to so much as say the words "reality TV" ever again.
THE END
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This one was another lovely read. I particularly like your use of The Chamber of Clark Kent. And it's interesting how much reading half-finished stories tells you about the ways in which other people write.
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Hee! You know, when in doubt, add my porn. That's my motto of sorts.
And it's interesting how much reading half-finished stories tells you about the ways in which other people write.
I'm pretty sure what this says about my writing process is: porn first, plot later. *g*
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"Oh, sure. That's easy for you to say!" Randolph said huffily. "Everybody wants to have sex with you! Women. Men. Pouty-mouthed aliens. They're all lining up to get in your pants. But for me, this was a dream come true. Two dozen women all at least pretending to want me. And you had to ruin it, the way you've always ruined everything."
The brilliant-but-crazy ones always cause the most trouble. *eg* Fun WIP!
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Hee! That's SO true.
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I really like this amnesty thing.
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That would have been fun! Clark is such a hoot when he's jealous!
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Btw, sorry about the typos. And the grammar
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i ...i need...that as an icon for my journal.
or maybe as a wallpaper for my room.
and my linen. and......all around :D
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