Current location:	home, where the buffalo roam
Current mood:	lethargic
Entry tags:	smallville

~The Beginning of the End~ Fic
Title: The Beginning of the End
Author: Lexophilia
Rating: Not rated
Pairings: none
Disclaimer and Warnings: I do not own any of these characters.
Summary: This is what happens when dreams and reality merge. This story is open to interpretation. Read at your own discretion. Thank you, Renee, for the beta.

* *

Clark looks at the people that are gathered around him and starts to wonder why he's never seen that particular look in their eyes before. It's a mixture of love and adoration, but there's also a more painful emotion there. It's almost as if they know that something is going to happen, and they are keeping it from him.

Chloe approaches first and wraps her arms around him.

"Thank you for being such a good friend, Clark. Thank you for trusting me," she says as she begins to pull away from him.

"Wait, don't go," he says, but he knows he has no voice. Knowing that he has no voice scares him, and he's shocked at the almost physical pain that he feels as she moves away.

"I'm sorry that I can't stay here with you, sweetheart," Martha says as she approaches and wraps her arms around him just a little bit tighter than Chloe had. He's always thought that he was invulnerable, but as she wraps her small arms around his back he can feel something pop. It hurts. Something inside of him has come loose, and when she lets go he can feel whatever it is stabbing at his insides.

"I'm sorry, Clark," she says as she lets go and walks over to join Chloe.

"Wait, don't go." He says it again, and it starts to frighten him more that he has no voice.

"Mom, please!" He yells this time. He tries to reach out to her, but he can't. He looks down and sees that something is encasing his arms. It's dark in color, and it's slowly creeping its way up his body. It's heavy, and it has a strangely familiar feel.

"It's too late. We're all sorry," Lana says as she walks up to Clark. She, too, wraps her arms around his waist and squeezes him tight.

"I love you so much, Clark. So much," she says as a little of the dark substance gets on her clothes and arms. However, she doesn't seem to mind. She looks down at herself and looks up at him with tears in her eyes and says, "Don't worry about it, Clark. It always comes off."

She squeezes him just a little more, and he throws his head back in a silent cry of agony as her loving hug compresses far too much on his middle and forces all of the air out of him. She unknowingly breaks more of what his mother has broken, and he can now feel the brittle pieces starting to move around inside of him.

"Wait! Don't let go, please!" He begs, but she doesn't hear him. None of them can. None of them ever could. She lets go, and this time something large inside of him pops. Lana kisses him softly on the lips just as the dark fluid begins to run from his mouth, and she steps back barely missing getting it on herself.

"I know the truth now. You were only trying to protect me. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you," Lana says as she walks over to join Chloe and Martha.

The three women watch with sad faces and damp eyes as a tall, thin figure approaches Clark. Suddenly, all of the fear that he's been feeling instantly leaves him, and its replaced by something darker.

Clark screams as the man grabs his biceps and pulls him flush against him. He struggles without results to pull away from him. Clark continues his silent screams until the black fluid runs from his mouth and mixes with the dark, familiar substance that has made its way up to his face. Clark looks into the man's eyes, and it's the recognition that rocks him the most.

"Please don't look at me like that, Clark. We both knew that this day would come. It's our destiny, and neither one of us can run from it any longer," Lex says as he wraps his arms around Clark and begins to squeeze.

There's nothing that either one of them can do to stop this painful process from happening. It's happening to both of them. Neither one of them has truly caused it, but both of them must live with the effects of it for the rest of their lives.

Chloe and Martha begin to wail as the transformation takes place. Lana merely watches the two men with sad eyes as she only smears the dark stains as she tries to wipe them from her clothes and skin.

The change begins, and the dark substance snakes its way around Lex's lower body. It weaves its way between them, joining his legs with Clark's. It rips at the flesh of both of their legs, but both of them refuse to show pain. It wraps around Lex's hips and forces their groins together. They both hear the crunching sounds, but refuse to acknowledge them. The last thing that Lex ever does on his own is to lock his hands together behind Clark's back and pull them closer together. Clark arches his back at the fierce pull, and Lex shuts his eyes tight to hide his pain. When Clark screams this time, the dark mixture filling his mouth splatters between them.

It takes some time before Clark comes back to himself and when he does, he finds that he's once again able to speak.

The wailing of the women has stopped, and they are no longer there. He and Lex are the only ones left in the room.

Words that were never meant to be uttered are finally spoken between them and they weigh more heavily on both men than the darkness and familiar feel of the secrets and lies ever could.

"Sometimes I wish you hadn't saved me that day."

"I always said that you were nothing like your father. I was right. You're worse."

"I loved taking what belonged to you. At first, I was just jealous of you. Now all I feel is hate towards you."

"Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if I hadn't saved you that day."

"You'll never stop me from getting what I want."

"But I'll always try."

And when their lips touch, it is the beginning of the end. Their breath becomes one. Their purposes connected. One will destroy and the other will protect. One will kill and the other will save. Connected forever. Intertwined forever just as it was written on the wall.