by GothGirl
Notes: Smallville. Thanks to Lola for the beta.
Disclaimer: DC Comics, Warner Brothers, Tollin/Robbins and Millar/Gough Ink own Smallville and its characters. I am just playing.
Whisper Re-imagined for the Metamorphosis challenge.
The moment Clark gained consciousness, his head hurt. He sat up in the hospital bed and grabbed at his aching skull. The last thing he remembered was the green meteor rock smashing into his forehead as it flew through the air. He reached up to find a bandage on his forehead where the meteor rock had hit. He was surprised to find that it still ached just a little bit.
"Clark! You're awake. Finally." His mother sounded relieved.
Clark looked over at her. He had never been so happy to see his mother's face.
"Mom, what happened? I remember being in the store ..." He glanced over to see his father sitting in a chair near by. "Then there were these guys ..."
"They robbed the store. You were knocked unconscious. How are you feeling, son?" his father asked. 'Thank god they didn't do any tests.'
Clark heard the last sentence echo in his head and frowned.
"What did you say, dad?" His head hurt again and Clark flinched from the pain.
Just as Jonathan stood, a doctor entered the room.
"I see you're awake. I was beginning to think you were planning on staying here permanently." 'After this I need to go get something to eat. I'm starved.'
As the doctor checked Clark's pulse, Clark shook his head, trying to get the cobweb feeling to break.
"Other than feeling like my head is stuffed with cotton, I think I'm okay now," Clark said politely.
'Everybody thinks they're a doctor.' The words echoed clearly in Clark's head. He stared at the doctor's lips. They hadn't moved. They hadn't moved at all. Clark swallowed hard. What was going on?
He was happy to get out of that room and into his own clothes. Hospital gowns always made him feel naked.
The drive home was quiet. Or at least it was quiet outside of his head. But inside his head, Clark could hear his father chant a list of the things that needed to get done. His mother hummed a tune and every once in a while she would suddenly think about whether she'd left the oven on. It was freaky, but at the same time kind of cool.
He hadn't told his parents yet about his new ability. He wasn't sure he wanted to. It was such a cool ability. He also didn't want to jump to conclusions. Maybe it was only temporary or just a side effect of what had happened in the jewellery store.
When they finally pulled up to the house and his father parked the car, Clark decided that it was better to keep this new development to himself.
He smiled as he walked down the hallway of the school. Last night, after he'd come home from the hospital, they'd had a nice family sit down dinner. Clark had mostly kept silent, his head filled with thoughts of what this could all mean to him and to his life. His parents' constant thoughts filled his head as well.
After dinner he went out to the loft to get some homework done. But once he was out in the silence of the barn, he realized that he was surrounded by just that – silence. Maybe this meant that the closer he was to someone, the easier it was to read their thoughts. This hypothesis was proven correct when Clark returned to the house. As soon as he saw his mother, he could read her thoughts. She was thinking that he looked tired, and she was right; Clark felt tired. This new ability was much more straining than any of his other abilities had ever been.
By the end of the day, all he really wanted some peace and quiet. As he drifted off to sleep, he could hear his parents' thoughts. He could do nothing to shut them out. He drifted off, hoping that tomorrow would be a much better day.
Clark walked through the doorway into Lex's office. He'd spent all morning practicing on focusing his new ability. It wasn't easy to control at all. By the end of the day he found he had to stay away from more than a few people. Crowds were too much for him to take. As long as he stayed with only one or two people he was fine, but as soon as he was in a crowd, it became impossible to know where his thoughts started and theirs began. All those voices in his head had driven him to the point of distraction. He needed to get away fast.
Clark had run home as soon as he could. Then he'd come here to the mansion in the hopes that he could hide out. There was never really anybody else here besides Lex and a few staff.
He couldn't get some of the thoughts he'd hear out of his mind. Chloe's thoughts had been so disturbing. Finding out that his best friend had been spying on him for Lionel Luthor all these months made Clark regret ever gaining this new ability. That wasn't even the worst. Lana's thoughts had been the first in a line of hurt. Plain as day he'd heard her chants of 'get away from me', 'how does he plan to hurt me today', and the most cutting: 'sometimes I just wish I'd never met Clark'. All these thoughts had run through her head as she smiled up at him, as she spoke kind words to him.
Clark had made excuses and rushed off in the opposite direction.
At least Pete had mostly thought about sex, which was no surprise to Clark. Sex and girls was all Pete ever talked about. That and how cool Clark's abilities were.
The only person Clark hadn't sneaked a peek into yet was Lex. At first he'd thought it would be best not to do this. Ever since Lex had returned from the island, Clark had hoped that he would confide in him. Lex seemed exhausted all the time. His experience on that island had taken a toll. He didn't talk about it with Clark much. Clark realized that maybe he could gain some insight into what was really bothering Lex. Maybe he could help his friend deal with those demons that Clark knew haunted him.
He smiled at the sound of footfalls and turned just as Lex entered the room.
"Hi, Lex," Clark said with a smile.
He watched as Lex's gaze traveled from Clark's booted feet up to Clark's eyes.
'At least he didn't track mud into the mansion.'
Clark grinned at the odd thought. He had no idea Lex was such a neat freak. This was going to be so interesting. He watched Lex walk across the room and pour a drink. He didn't need to concentrate at all to use this new ability. Anything Lex thought was right there as though he'd spoken the words out loud. 'I need a drink right now. Clark is here and no matter what he says, I am going to agree because damn he looks hot today.'
Clark frowned. "What ..." he wanted to say what the heck, but Lex hadn't really said anything. "I thought we could hang out," Clark glanced over at the pool table. He remembered a time when coming here to the mansion to play a nice game of pool had been his favourite thing. "Play a game of pool." He turned back to smile at his friend.
Lex didn't turn to face him. Instead he gulped a mouthful of whatever alcohol he'd poured and proceeded to pour a second glass. It was only five in the afternoon and Lex was already drinking. This was a really bad sign.
Clark marched over to his friend and invaded his personal space, taking the glass out of Lex's hand and setting it down.
'He's too close. He's way too close. I can't do this.'
Lex didn't even flinch. Clark took a step back so that Lex could turn around to face him. "Or we could talk. I know we haven't really talked much." Clark smiled his brightest smile.
'Fuck yes!' Lex smiled and walked around Clark to sit on the leather sofa. Without hesitation, Clark joined his friend. He turned his head to stare into Lex's eyes. They looked bluer than usual, or maybe it was the lighting.
They sat side by side in silence. The running monologue in Lex's head was much too fascinating and Clark hated to break into it, but he had to, otherwise Lex would wonder what was going on.
"Did you have a nice day?" Clark asked. He managed to stop himself from flinching at the stupid question.
"It was fine," were the words spoken, but in Lex's head Clark could hear the constant self-flagellation. 'I hated my day. It's so boring here. Why can't somebody save me? Clark came to save me. Clark is here. At least he doesn't hate me like the rest of this town.'
Each thought flowed faster than Clark could comprehend. He could hardly keep up with Lex's thoughts they were so jumbled and so swift. One thought wasn't even completed before it ran into another.
"What is it, Clark?" Lex suddenly asked, worry written all over his face.
Clark shook off his haze. He'd been so caught up in listening to Lex's inner voice; Clark hadn't realized he'd been staring.
'God, his eyes are so beautiful. He is so beautiful. If I were that beautiful...'
"Stop!" Clark held up his hands as if the action could physically stop what Lex was thinking.
"What is it, Clark?" Lex looked genuinely concerned. 'I wish he'd stare at me like that all the time.'
Clark pushed aside his own discomfort and trained his eyes on Lex's pale face. Clark had been so distracted by his own life lately. He hadn't realized how blind he'd been to his friend's plight. "It's nothing. I'm here for you, Lex. You know that, right?"
Lex smiled then sighed. "It's been hard to get back on my feet after what happened." 'Helen didn't love me. Nobody loves me. If only Clark would love me.'
Clark suddenly stood. This was way too much to take in. It was a huge mistake to come here. Suddenly he felt like an intruder. He needed to get away from Lex. He needed to get away from everybody. That way he wouldn't see behind the false words people spoke to him.
Lex stood and for just a moment Clark saw the stunned expression. 'Please don't leave me. Don't go already. You just got here. You always leave too soon.'
"Lex," Clark almost shouted. He spun to face his friend. They were closer than Clark realized. He'd been so caught up in listening again. He felt like he was losing himself in Lex's mind.
"What? Did I say something wrong? I haven't ..."
"No, Lex. You're fine. I just never realized ..." Clark took a chance. He reached out and grasped Lex's shoulders. Lex barely flinched.
'He's touching me. Why is he touching me?'
Clark concentrated and tried to turn off his ability, but nothing happened.
He stared deep into Lex's eyes. For the first time since he'd entered the room, he noticed how full of anguish and hope they were. He leaned in and closed his eyes as he touched his lips to Lex's mouth.
'Fuck. Clark is kissing me! What the fuck?'
At least Lex wasn't pushing him away. Instead he was pulling Clark closer. One of his hands slid into Clark's hair, fingers grabbing as he pulled Clark's head lower. Clark tilted his head and wrapped his arms around Lex's body.
'Those lips. I finally get to taste them again. I've waited so long.'
Lex urged Clark to open his mouth and Clark gladly parted his lips, moaning out loud as Lex's tongue plunged into his mouth. It was so wet and warm and felt so good. It felt better than anything Clark had ever experienced. Why hadn't they done this sooner?
When Clark pulled back, he smiled at the whimper in Lex's mind.
"I love you." Clark said before his vision went black and he felt his knees buckle.
The room spun. Abruptly Clark sat up, his heart pounding in his chest. He was disoriented because the last thing he remembered was the knee-buckling kiss he'd shared with Lex. When he looked around, he realized that he was laid out on the leather sofa in Lex's office.
"You're awake," Lex said with a smirk. Clark glanced down to see that Lex sat on the edge of the sofa, holding Clark's hand. "I've been told that I'm a great kisser, but never that I could knock somebody unconscious."
Clark listened carefully, but he couldn't hear Lex's thoughts. He smiled at the realization that now the only thoughts in Clark's head were his own.
"Why thank you, Clark. You made my day," Lex said with a chuckle.
Clark grinned and couldn't help but hug his friend. The mind-reading ability seemed to have only been temporary. He could no longer hear any of Lex's thoughts. But it didn't matter. He knew how Lex felt, and now that he saw how obvious it was, he wondered how he could have been so deaf all this time.