Astrea, thanks for all the beta help sweetie. hugs

Shards
By Digitalwave
July, 2004

Walking toward the Armory, Luthor watched as the League worked to distribute the food they'd just delivered. Most of Kansas had been laid waste by the Kzin invasion. It'd be years before normal crop yields resumed.

"Mr. President"

"Pete. How's the work coming?"

"Pretty fair, we've got the temporary shelters up." Pete grimaced, rubbing his eyes. "So damned many were left homeless in this mess."

"Yes, but at least they still have a world to be homeless in. All the other details are doable." Stopping, he shaded his eyes against the glare of the midday sun, almost swaying with exhaustion.

"Pardon my saying so Lex... But, you look like hell. How long has it been since you've gotten any sleep?"

Smiling tiredly, he looked back at Pete. "I'll make you a deal, Pete. I'll sleep when things are more under control here. You have my word on that. Will that suffice?"

Pete laughed, surprising himself, his laugh sounding rusty, even to his own ears. "I guess it'll have to. I have the feeling it's the best I'm going to get out of you on this."

Lex turned to him, his smile broadening, "And you'd be right." Shaking his head slightly to clear it, Lex continued. "Okay, so what about the National Guard troops? Has there been any more looting downtown?"

"No, none. Especially since the League started arriving last night..." Pete grinned, "It's amazing what a little brightly colored spandex can accomplish these days."

"Yes, well. Forgive me if I still have more confidence in our own troops than a bunch of costumed do-gooders." Lex turned, hearing the sound of displaced air as Superman landed, his arms stacked high with boxes of vegetables and canned goods. An almost unreasoning anger swept over him, as it always did, at the sight of the alien. He'd never been sure where the feelings stemmed from. They were just always there.

Sighing, Lex felt the beginnings of a headache start directly behind his right eye. "My day is now complete. Captain Sanctimonious has arrived."

Turning to look in the direction of Lex's gaze, Pete smiled mirthlessly before replying. "Lex, the two of you have got to stop snapping at each other."

Raising his hands in mock surrender, Lex smirked, "Don't you think I'm well aware of that fact, Pete? I know what we're facing. Haven't I been playing nicely enough with the other children?"

Pete laughed, shaking his head at Lex. "I give up. You two are impossible. Just please, try not to break anything, okay? The world needs both of you in one piece right now and I just haven't got the extra energy left to be your referee." Pete stopped, looking at his watch. "Look, I've got a few minutes. Do you want to go over the plans for getting the power plant back online now?"

"Yes, that sounds good, I...damn!" Lex stumbled and might have fallen if Pete hadn't quickly grabbed his elbow.

"Lex, what is it? Are you okay?" Concern washed over Pete's face as he saw how much paler he suddenly looked.

Rubbing his hand distractedly over his head, Lex answered. "It's nothing, Pete. Just a headache. Too much caffeine and not enough sleep." Lex swayed again as a wave of intense dizziness suddenly hit him.

Hearing the sound of boxes hitting the ground, he opened his eyes to a blur of primary colors to find Superman with a hand on both of his elbows. As weak as his knees felt, they were probably the only thing keeping him upright. Shaking his head Lex felt almost drunk as his vision blurred, darkening at the edges.

"Luthor... Mr. President, what's happening?" Superman turned to look at Pete. "Mr. Ross, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, we were just talking and he started complaining about a headache. Lex, hey! Can you hear me?" He sensed as Pete moved to stand in front of him, placing a hand on his chest. "Come on Lex. The Chief Executive does not have any swan dives penciled into his day planner today. I checked."

Lex tried again to focus his vision. The pain behind his right eye felt like a knife was being twisted there. Pete...I... Shit, that hurts!" Looking at Superman his confusion grew suddenly as visions of green eyes and a boy in a flannel shirt started flickering in and out of his sight. "I, I feel really strange all of a sudden. I...I don't...Clark?" As a trickle of blood started to flow from his ear and nose, Lex crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. As if from very far away, he heard his name being called before even that faded into silence.

Words swirled around him, trying to draw him out of the protected place he was in. Pain lurked out there, he'd felt it ripping him apart. Lex didn't want to leave. Lassitude flowed through his veins like some of the finest wines he'd ever drunk and he reveled in the feeling.

Slowly, relentlessly, the fog lifted, pulling him along with it. No matter how hard he fought it. Opening his eyes, Lex groaned. The amber light of the bedside reading lamp pierced his vision, renewing the drumbeat of pain at his temples. The dryness of his throat forced a bark of coughing past his lips without warning.

Relief flooded through him as the light was quickly clicked off. A strong arm wrapped around his shoulders, lifting him up off the bed until it was easier to catch his breath. "Here, Lex, take this. It'll help." Lex swallowed it greedily, the liquid coating and soothing the desert in his throat.

When he'd drunk his fill, Lex chanced opening his eyes again. There was still a dull ache, but it had died back down to a muted roar with the dimming of the light. As they became adjusted to the semidarkness, he recognized the shape waiting so patiently in the chair by his bed.

Groaning, Lex raised his eyes to meet Clark's. They looked impossibly green, even in the dim lighting. "What are you doing here, Clark? And, where the hell is 'here' anyway? What happened?"

Clark frowned, his eyes looking haunted for a moment before Lex saw the old, familiar shutters dropping into place. His voice soft, cracking in ways Lex hadn't heard since Clark was sixteen, Clark began to speak. "You died, Lex...or, at least you would have if Superman's...if my AI hadn't been able to diagnose and treat you in time. It was so close..." Lex watched as the haunted look came back again. "You had a blood vessel burst in your brain. It was from all the scar tissue from the Electro Shock therapy your fucking father subjected you to."

Rubbing his hands over his eye, Lex asked, "If this damned supercomputer of yours cured me, than why do I still feel like hell? I think it spit me out too soon or something."

Clark smiled, the first Lex has seen. "It's that brain of yours; it didn't quite know what to do with you. It says you're 'ninety-five percent cured' and that the rest will come with time. That's why your head still hurts." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm just glad you'll be okay..."

Lex looked at him, the pose so familiar it hurt. "Why didn't I know, Clark? Why couldn't I see 'you' when I looked at Superman before now?"

"Your father, Lex. Whenever you'd start to remember, he'd bring you back in for more 'memory adjustments'. God knows how you had any brains left after a while. He said he'd keep doing it for as long as I kept trying to make you remember. So, I backed off, ended our friendship. It was the only thing I could think of to preserve your sanity."

Lex reached up, touching Clark's face. Hope warred with disbelief in his eyes. "I hated him... You. Fuck, this is confusing. Was there really an 'us' or was it just wishful thinking on my part?"

'No, there was... It was one of the first things he took away. He replaced it with hate for Superman, for me, instead. Here, let me see if this helps..."

Leaning over, Lex felt Clark's lips on his, devouring him, stealing what little air he had left. But, instead of drowning, he found himself. Found a thousand different moments that they'd shared. When they broke for air, Clark was as rattled as he was. Lex had to respond to it. "I remember, Clark... I remember."

It only took an Intergalactic War, a decade's long feud and a few sacrificed brain cells for them to find each other again, but what the hell. Whoever said being 'the stuff of legends' was easy was lying anyway. As Clark pulled him in for another kiss he realized he'd take it over ordinary any day of the week. Hell, maybe even the millennium!

Fin