Supermanfic: Apotheosis (Epilogue: The Fine Print) (Clark/Oliver)

[lady_bug_kay]

Title: Apotheosis (Epilogue: The Fine Print)
Author: ladybugkay
Fandom: DCU and Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Oliver
Rating: NC-17
Word Count:  1498  (Series total: 25, 541)
Summary: Conclusion. Clark is going to become Superman. In this part, Oliver and Clark make a scene, and Clark makes arrangements for the future before going home to Oliver.
Disclaimer: DC and Gough & Millar and others are the owners. I write for entertainment and not money, and I intend no copyright infringement.
Note: This fic is part of the An Arrow to a Quiver contest at ollieville.
Edit: This story won the Moderator's Choice Award for Best Story at ollieville. (Sept 26/07)



Part One: Nadir
Part Two: Genesis
Part Three: Repercussions, or What Oliver Did
Part Four: Dissatisfaction
Part Five: Zenith
Part Six: Resolutions

Epilogue: The Fine Print

Oliver walks into the Daily Planet building and heads for Clark’s desk. He smiles when he sees him, all rumpled suit and oversized glasses and stooped shoulders, but he stops before he reaches the desk because Lois is there, and what she’s saying makes his temper flare.

 

“Would it kill you to pick up an iron, Smallville? How do you expect to become an actual reporter if you don’t dress for success? First it was flannel, and now, the ugliest suits I’ve ever seen. Maybe I should take you shopping, because God knows, you’ll never get a date looking like that, and I worry about you ending up alone, Clark. ”

 

He knows he shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t. Not least because Lois is not a bad person; she’s just tactless and enjoys insulting Clark any chance she gets. But Clark doesn’t deserve this, and Oliver can’t resist.

 

He walks up to Clark and kisses him. And kisses him. Clark is tense at first, because they haven’t exactly told anyone about them, yet. It’s still new, and Oliver did date Lois, once upon a time. But it doesn’t take long for Clark to fall into the kiss with as much enthusiasm as Oliver has quickly grown to appreciate from him. They ignore Lois’s shocked gasp and the rising murmurs of the people around them.

 

When Oliver pulls back, Clark’s eyes are glazed and his breathing is ragged, and Oliver can’t even be smug about it because he’s in much the same condition.

 

“Hey, Clark.” He makes sure that Lois can hear him. “I forgot my underwear at your place last night. Do you think I can come over when you get off work and pick them up?”

 

Clark grins even as he blushes, and Oliver feels unbelievably happy.

 

“Actually,” Clark says, “I think that pair is pretty much a write-off. They were a little…shredded, so I threw them out.”

 

Oliver has to laugh. It would be a nice touch for the show they’re putting on, except that somehow, Oliver thinks Clark is telling nothing but the truth. “In that case, why don’t you come to my place tonight? The bed’s bigger.”

 

“Sure. I have an errand to run after work, but I can come over after that.”

 

“Then it’s a date. I’ll be waiting,” he adds, while he cops a quick feel of Clark’s crotch and earns a quiet moan in response. “Oh, hi, Lois,” he says as he turns to leave. “Don’t keep Clark too late, today. He and I have plans.”

 

Then he walks away and thinks about all the things he wants to do to Clark when he shows up. He thinks it’s time they switch things up a bit and he gets the chance to be on top.

 

*          *          *

 

“Superman.”

 

“Don’t start, Batman. I came here for a reason. I need to ask you a favour.”

 

Clark notes the almost imperceptible movement underneath the cowl as Batman’s eyebrows rise.

 

“What makes you think I’m going to do you this favour?”

 

Clark sighs, because really, this is one favour Batman will be thrilled to provide. He holds out his hand and offers the box to Batman, who looks at it warily and makes no move to take it.

 

“Damn it, Batman. Take the damned thing. I need to know you have it, in case something happens and you have to--” He stops, because he isn’t quite sure how to say this without sounding as if he’s crazy or desperate. “I need to know that if I ever get out of control or someone tries to manipulate me, that you have the means to stop me.”

 

Batman looks intrigued, and Clark has to stop himself from smiling, because Batman is very predictable in certain areas.

 

“And this box gives me the means to restrain you?”

 

“Well, it’s not like it’s a harness and whip, but essentially, yes.” And then he blushes, because even though the Bat-costume does make him think things like that, on occasion, this really isn’t the time to be wondering what Batman does to relieve all that tension he never quite seems to lose.

 

“Then what is it?”

 

“Don’t open it, here, please. It’s a piece of refined kryptonite.  One this size could knock me out for days and if you used a little imagination, you could probably even kill me with it. Or at least permanently incapacitate me.”

 

Now Batman looks shocked, and Clark tells the part of himself that is jumping gleefully in joy for surprising the all-knowing Batman to shut up, because this is serious.

 

“Why are you giving it to me? What about Oliver?”

 

Well, Oliver had warned him that Batman had figured out how things stood between them. “Because Oliver won’t use it. He won’t hurt me like that, even if it’s necessary. And I need to know that if something happens and I start to do things I shouldn’t, start to hurt people or try to take over the universe or something, that there’s someone who can and will stop me.”

 

“And you think I’ll be that person.”

 

“I know you will be. You still don’t entirely trust me, which, in this case, is a good thing. I can count on you to take me out if that’s what you need to do, but I also know that you won’t use what’s in this box recklessly or maliciously.”

 

Batman is silent for a moment, and then he reaches out his right hand to accept the box and the responsibility that goes along with it.

 

“Thank you,” Clark says, and he can hear the relief in his own voice.

 

“Clark,” Batman says, and Clark is shocked at the use of his real name when he’s in costume. “If you’re willing to trust me with something that can hurt you, I suppose I owe you the same trust. Especially since I know who you are.” He hesitates for a moment, as if selecting which words to use. “When I’m not in the cape and cowl, I go by Bruce Wayne.”

 

Clark opens his mouth, but he closes it again before he says anything.

 

Bruce Wayne.

 

Well. That is unexpected. The dissipated playboy is actually a grim vigilante with a fetish for bats. Although the more Clark thinks about it, the more sense it makes; Bruce has the money, the isolated location, the perfect excuse for missed appointments and canceled dates and conspicuous absences from expected appearances. He has to admire the genius of Bruce’s façade.

 

“Thank you, Bruce,” he says quietly. “That means a lot.”

 

Batman nods stiffly in acknowledgment. “You’re welcome. Clark.”

 

 “Now there’s somewhere I have to be, so I’ll see you at the next League meeting.”

 

Batman steps back, and Clark heads for home, satisfied that everything is as it should be and the world has no pressing need for him right now.

 

Oliver is waiting for him when he gets in, and Oliver Queen naked and waiting is a beautiful sight. “Lois called,” he says with a grin.

 

Clark groans. “Of course she did.”

 

“She says she needs your help with the article about Superman’s showdown with Lex Luthor, but I told her that she knew we had plans, and she could do her own grunt work tonight while you and I do ours.”

 

“Her obsession with Superman is kind of creepy. She tries to grope me—well, Superman—every time I save her, and she doesn’t seem to realize my eyes are above my belt.”

 

Oliver tugs on Clark’s wrist to get him into bed. “What do you expect, in a uniform that looks like that? If you’d bothered to consult me, maybe it wouldn’t look so much like you were advertising what’s underneath the tights.”

 

“Shut up,” Clark answers, half-heartedly slapping Oliver’s hand away. “She more than makes up for it by treating me like shit as Clark Kent. She doesn’t know how lucky she is to go home every day with all her body parts still attached and no new orifices!”

 

Oliver grins at him in that way that makes Clark’s eyes go hot and threaten to shoot out inappropriately timed laser beams. “What can I say? I was young, and she was flexible.”

 

With a slight whisper of wind, Clark’s uniform sails across the room to land on the dresser, and he slides his hands up Oliver’s calves.

 

“Let’s see how flexible you are, these days, Mr. Queen.”

 

There is a flash of white teeth, and then Oliver flips them. “No, I think tonight we should see how flexible you are.”

 

Clark feels his pulse accelerate. “Oh, I’m pretty flexible. It’s amazing, really, the positions I can get my body into. And I can fly, too, you know.”

 

“Show-off.”

 

“It’s not bragging if it’s true.”

 

Oliver looks him up and down, assessing him carefully. “Okay, then. Let’s get bendy!”

 

Clark is laughing when Oliver kisses him, and he thinks he could get used to having this in his life.

-

Comments

[tmelange.livejournal.com]

>>This Lois is the one from the show, and she has been too dismissive of Clark; and long before he became the dorky, bumbling reporter, too, which is unforgivable and therefore deserving of this little comeuppance.

LOL, exactly. Who the hell could look at Clark pre-bumbling and not at least admit that he's gorgeous? She lived in his house. She had to have seen him mostly unclothed a time or two. I'd have more respect for her if she admitted what is so obvious and just said that she wasn't interested. LOL

>>And I do like this epilogue.

I thought the epilogue was very fine. And the Batman/Superman part was important for me because the story had a lot to do with Clark's evolution as a hero; it wasn't just about the romance. Clark giving the means to stop himself to Bruce shows intelligence and responsibility and a willingness to act as a hero, and not just when or how it's convenient. So I took a lot away from the ending, along with my certitude that Clark and Bruce are in love. LOL

>>Thanks for sticking with this story; although I guess you had to because it's for the contest.

Okay, now you're being silly. LOL This story was a pleasure, and it had nothing to do with the contest. ;)