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Amaranthine
Title: Amaranthine
Rating: Chapters 1 and 2 are PG-13 safe. Future parts will be R and NC-17 ratings, so keep that in mind.
**** Amaranthine, Part 1
"Come on, son. It's not much further," Lionel encouraged softly. Lex drew the blanket more tightly around himself as they walked. "You'll be able to rest when we get there," Lionel promised him. "That's it, just a little bit further now." Lex stumbled again. Moving forward was like trying to walk along the ocean floor without scuba gear. A little bit further, he repeated to himself. Then he could rest. God, he was tired. One foot in front of the other. Getting that much closer to a nice warm, soft bed. He buried his nose into the hospital blanket and imagined the comforter awaiting him somewhere ahead. They'd been walking for so long, he thought. Then again, possibly not. He tried to think; had he seen daylight at all? It had been dark when they'd slipped out of Smallville Medical Center. It was dark now. Maybe the poison in his system was interfering with his sense of time, and they'd only been walking for a short while. Who knew? "Dad?" he murmured. "Yes, Lex?" came the quiet voice in response. "What time is it?" Beside him, he heard his father chuckle softly. "No idea, son. They don't issue watches with these jumpsuits," Lionel reminded him. "Guess not," Lex mumbled in agreement. His foot slid in something cold, and he nearly dropped to one knee, but his father caught him in time. Lex wrinkled his nose in distaste as he took another step forward. "I think that was cow manure," he muttered. "Probably," Lionel agreed. "But don't worry about it now." "Easy for you to say," Lex returned. "You're wearing shoes." "So are you," Lionel told him. "No, I'm not," Lex refuted. "These are slippers." "Same idea, son." Lex shook his head stubbornly and said again, "Slippers, Dad." From the older man came a sigh. "It's..." "... not much further," Lex finished wearily. He shivered; in the darkness, his father slid one arm around his waist. Through the blanket and the flimsy material of the hospital gown, the warmth settled into him. If not for the gun in Lionel's other hand, Lex thought, it would almost be a tender moment for them. Then his father was guiding him along again in the darkness. Lex yawned. "Here we are," Lionel told him presently. "Come on." Lex managed to raise his head. Ahead of him, there was only a blacker darkness in an almost moonless light. He shook his head, trying to clear the poison, but it didn't help. "This isn't the mansion," he pointed out stupidly. "We're hiding from the police, Lex," his father reminded him wryly. "I don't think the mansion will suffice for that purpose." "They've probably already looked there," Lex tried to persuade him, tried to sound reasonable. But it was so much effort to get his tongue to form the words. "They'll be gone by now." He wanted to be home; he needed to sleep. "And they'll never think to check there again, I'm sure." The voice near his ear was teasing. "But let's not chance it just yet." "So where are we?" Lex wanted to know. He tried to focus, but his eyes could only discern what appeared to be a gaping hole a few yards away, interrupting his view of the horizon and sloping downward along with the surrounding landscape. It was as if all life and land stopped, right in front of him. It looked like the mouth of hell. "Appropriate, don't you think?" Lex turned confused eyes to his father. In his orange jumpsuit, Lionel alone seemed alive in this spot. "Well," Lex admitted with a bit of hesitation, "yes. Yes, Dad, I guess it is." With a gait surprisingly confident in the darkness, the older man steered Lex toward the opening of the cavern. "Dad?" Lex whispered. "Yes, son?" "I don't want to go in there." They paused, Lionel still supporting Lex by the arm. "I thought you wanted to rest," he reminded the younger man. "Not here," Lex told him. "I'm not ready. Not for... this..." "Not ready?" his father repeated. "Lex, do you even know where we are?" "Hell?" Lex answered weakly. The merest shift of the hospital blanket alerted Lex that his father was gently rearranging it around him. "Lex," Lionel asked patiently, "why would I bring you to hell?" "Because they wouldn't think to look for us there," Lex ventured to guess. His father chuckled softly.
"No, I suppose they wouldn't," he agreed. "Let's hope they don't check here, either. Now come on. You'll feel better after you get some rest." "It's not hell?" "Not hell." And Lionel was again guiding him forward, the lure of rest enough to discourage Lex from fighting him any more, until they finally reached the entryway. Once inside, Lionel reached down; when he stood again, he was holding a small flashlight. Its feeble light barely lit the small chamber in which they found themselves, but Lex recognized the drawings on the walls around them. "Oh. We're at the Kawatche caves," said Lex, more to himself than to the other man. "Mmmm," his father agreed. "We're going to hide in the caves?" "Do you have a better idea?" Lionel asked. Lex shook his head and tried to think. It usually wasn't this difficult to do. Absurdly, he wondered if this was what it felt like to be Clark. What were all of the choices again? "Hell, the caves, the mansion ...," he reviewed aloud. "Not the mansion," Lionel reminded him. "Not the mansion," Lex echoed. Too bad, he thought. That really would have been his first choice. "Hell or the caves. Then I guess this is the better option," he allowed reluctantly. "Good boy," Lionel chuckled and took his son's hand. "Now come along." he said, and began leading Lex further into the caves. **** He wasn't sure at first what woke him. They were lying along an unfamiliar section of the cave floor, the light from two small fluorescent lanterns showing him a section of Kawatche writing that he hadn't seen before. The hospital blanket was comfortably warm around him, as was his father, spooned behind him. Idly, he reached out a hand to touch the nearer lantern. "Leave them on," his father murmured sleepily. "Keeps the bats away." Lex yawned. "Didn't know you were awake," he whispered. "Where'd you get the lights?" "I stored them down here some time ago," Lionel told him. "Just in case." Just in case you're ever on the run from the law, Lex finished for him silently. "What if the batteries run out?" "There are more," Lionel assured him. "Don't worry." He ran a hand lightly, soothingly, along Lex's arm. "Get some more sleep, son." Sounded like a good idea, Lex thought with a yawn. But as his eyes drifted shut, something stirred somewhere ahead of him, and he opened his eyes again. Off to the side of one wall, in dimness beyond the reach of the lanterns, something was moving. Lex sat up, squinting to see better. A hand was sticking out of the cave wall. And it was moving. "Dad?" he whispered. Behind him, his father was wordlessly rising to a sitting position. Both watched in fascination as the hand further emerged from the wall. Followed by an arm.... a head.... Clark. Naked. Staring at him with as much shock as he himself felt. **** (continues in Chapter Two)
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