Summary: What's a guy to do after he's finished being the POTUS? Lex has some ideas.

Warnings: Rated PG-13. m/m

Author's Notes: This was written for Sarah for the SV Flash Fiction Challenge. Big thanks to her for the wonderful pairing and for the great challenge!

Hall of Presidents Tour

Alexander Joseph Luthor, 47th President of the United States, elected when he was only 36 years old, the youngest ever to serve, presided over one of the most happily uneventful presidencies in U.S. history. No major armed conflicts and a prosperous economy left President
Luthor free to tackle such important issues as the development of renewable energy, extending health care coverage to all Americans and brokering peace in the Middle East and Northern Ireland. Re-elected to a second term by a landslide, even President Luthor's political opponents were forced to admitted, however grudgingly, that the country was in good hands on his watch.

All in all, the Luthor presidency was smooth sailing--at least, until the final few months of his term, when things got rather colorful.

On the front page of the Planet, there was a picture of Lex, who managed to look both charming and presidential as he offered the traditional pardon to the Thanksgiving turkey. Lex's expression was more bemused than usual this year, perhaps because it was the last time he'd take part in the odd little ritual. In less than two months, his presidency would come to a close.

Clark put down the paper and went back to his article. He and Lois had broken the story on a major counterfeiting ring operating in Metropolis, and if he didn't have his follow-up piece ready by the end of the day she was going to have his ass.

But it was hard to concentrate. His thoughts kept drifting back to Lex.

The last time Clark had seen him, in any personal sense, not just from the ranks of reporters at a White House press conference, had been-- twelve years ago? maybe more? It was at a black tie charity event at the Metropolis Museum of Art. Lex had just been elected to the Senate and was making the rounds, thanking his contributors. Clark had gone to cover the story. He and Lex had exchanged a few polite words, and then Lex had been swept away by his handlers, to shake hands with the important people, not waste time on a no-name reporter still working his way up the ladder.

It had been so different than the last time they'd gone to a party at the museum, back when Lex still gave him the time of day. Clark spent the rest of the night scribbling his notes, carrying his sense of loss in his chest, a dull ache that just wouldn't go away.

The rift had started a few years before that, when Clark was in his last year of college. Suddenly, Lex just wasn't his Lex anymore, like some switch had been flipped. He stopped calling, stopped coming around. When Clark went to see him, Lex was distant, polite, nothing at all like he had been before. Clark tried to tell himself that it was bound to happen sometime. He was a farm kid from the sticks, and Lex had been born to do great things. Happenstance was their only connection. If there had been no accident at the bridge, they never even would have met. It was only natural that their bond would weaken over time, until it eventually faded away altogether.

When it came right down to it, Smallville would be nothing more than an amusing footnote in Lex's presidential biography, and Clark wouldn't even rate a mention. He didn't try to pretend that didn't hurt.

Clark sighed heavily and turned over the paper so he didn't have to see Lex's smiling face. He was probably the only American who'd actually be glad when President Luthor left office. He shook away thoughts of Lex and forced himself to go back to work.

But he was soon interrupted by a loud "Oh my God!" from the other side of the newsroom, followed by "It's the president!" and "Oh, shit!"

Clark bolted up from his desk. The entire Daily Planet staff circled around the monitor that played CNN. Clark pushed his way to the front, and there on screen was Lex calmly staring down a wacko wired with C-4, who was threatening to blow up the Washington Monument.

Clark ran for the exit. He blurred into his costume on his way up the stairs and took flight from the roof of the building. It usually took five minutes to get to D.C., but today, he pushed as hard as he could and made it in two. He landed at the base of the monument, a few feet away from Lex.

"What's he doing here?" the crazy-eyed lunatic demanded, spooked by the presence of Superman.

"He just doesn't want anyone to get hurt. Neither do I," Lex said in his most reassuring voice.

"Hurt?" The man appeared confused and then glanced down at himself, at his homemade vest of plastic explosives. His eyes went wide with shock, the psychotic break abruptly coming to an end.

"Oh, shit! Shit!"

"Just try to calm down," Lex said.

"Get if off me!"

Clark moved toward him slowly. "If you just stay still, I can help."

"Fuck that! I want it off now." The man frantically pulled at the vest, tossed it in the air and ran.

Time seemed to stand still, the way it always did when the shit hit the fan. Clark moved quickly, pulled Lex behind him and held him there with one arm. When the vest hit the ground, he fell on it and smothered the explosion with his body. After it was over, he picked himself up and whirled around.

"I'm fine," Lex assured him, as he calmly picked lint off his jacket.

Clark x-rayed him anyway, just to be on the safe side. Nothing was broken. "Thank God."

There were sirens in the distance, and Clark could see that the police had tackled the nutjob and were taking him into custody. He wound an arm around Lex's waist and headed for the White House.

Now that the danger was over, Clark could pay a different kind of attention to the man in his arms. Despite the years, Lex looked much the same, maybe a few more lines around his eyes, but that only gave him more character. He rested against Clark unselfconsciously, with that same confident ease Clark had always admired. His active, curious gaze took in everything as they flew along, energy and purposefulness radiating off him. Clark held him as close as he could get away with, shielding him from the wind, and savored the way their bodies seemed to fit together so naturally.

There was nobody like Lex, and there never would be. After all these years, Clark still ached for him so badly he didn't know how he survived it.

He wasn't sure if he was relieved or regretful that the flight was so brief. He landed on the White House balcony--Superman had a special dispensation from the no-fly zone around it--and set Lex down.

He immediately went into the displeased Superman routine, crossed his arms over his chest, put on his most stern expression, used his no-nonsense voice. "Do you want to tell me what you think you were doing?"

But Lex didn't appear the least bit chastised. "Saving a landmark cherished by the American people."

Clark glowered, an expression that could reduce even the most hardened criminal to blubbering goo.

Lex merely shrugged. "The man said he'd only deal with me, and I had to come alone. What else was I supposed to do?"

Clark could reel off an entire list of alternatives to the country's Chief Executive putting himself in imminent danger at the hands of a crackpot.

"In any event, it all worked out fine." Lex leaned in and whispered against Clark's ear. "You were utterly magnificent." His voice was low and bedroomy, and it shot like a hot spark straight to Clark's cock. "Thanks for the help." He smiled, and it wasn't the way people usually smiled at Superman.

"Uh--" Clark gaped.

"I'd best get back to work. The country doesn't run itself. But don't be a stranger."

He disappeared inside. It took Clark several more stunned moments to unstick his feet and fly away. Leave it to Lex Luthor to turn Superman into a befuddled stutterer.

One of Lex's downfalls, Clark had always believed, was that he just didn't know when to stop. Anyone else who had survived a close call with a plastic-explosives-wielding mental patient would surely have stayed put in the Oval Office like a good little president. Lex, of course, promptly went out and got into more trouble.

Once again, Clark had to come flying to the rescue, plucking Lex out of the middle of a Los Angles gang war just as the shooting broke out.

"You know, I think you have the phrases 'lame duck' and 'dead duck' confused."

Lex smiled. "Did you just make a joke?"

Clark scowled. "This is serious. You have to stop doing stuff like this. It's too dangerous."

"Not when I have you to save me."

He pressed closer, and Clark felt-- against his thigh. But surely the President of the United States wouldn't have a gun in his pocket--security issues and whatnot--so that had to mean-- His face went hot. God, Lex was glad to see him. Really glad. Suddenly his uniform was much too tight in certain places.

"I'm staying at the Bella Vista hotel," Lex said, sounding amused.

In his fluster, Clark had forgotten to ask. He'd just been flying-- wherever. But he was Superman, so he refused to blush. He changed course and landed on the hotel roof.

"I really appreciate your help on this. As always." Lex ran his hand up Clark's chest to his shoulder and squeezed.

Clark had the terrible suspicion he was going to get hard from now on whenever he heard "Hail to the Chief."

"Lex-- Um, I mean, Mr. President--"

Lex's security detail burst through the door to the roof, guns drawn, looking more than a little harried. Clark felt a pang of sympathy for them. Trying to keep Lex Luthor safe had to be the most thankless job in America.

Lex held up his hand. "It's all right." To Clark, he said, "Sorry to cut this short. But I'm sure I'll see you soon."

Clark stared. It sounded weirdly like a promise, but Lex couldn't possibly mean to keep doing these insane things. Couldn't possibly. That's what Clark told himself.

How very, very wrong he was.

Not long after the gang war fiasco, Clark got a frantic call from the White House and had to rush to a secret complex in the wilds of West Virginia, the headquarters of arms traffickers or drug runners or something. It was all very shadowy. Not to mention well-engineered. Clark had to bust through at least a dozen concrete bunkers to finally reach Lex and whisk him to safety.

"We have to stop meeting like this," he said, once they were airborne.

Lex smiled, rather coyly.

Clark's jaw tightened angrily. "I mean it. Stop putting yourself in danger."

"But I enjoy our time together."

Clark set him down at Camp David, where he'd been spending the weekend before going off on his fool's errand. "Well, I don't. Every time I see you throw yourself in the path of danger--like an idiot, I might add--it practically gives me a heart attack."

"That's sweet. Well, not the part where you called me an idiot. But the rest of it. Very sweet, indeed." He leaned in and kissed Clark lingeringly on the lips.

Clark half choked in shock. "What-- You--" He touched his fingers to his mouth.

"Just saying thank you." He lowered his voice seductively. "You'll find I'm very grateful to the people who save my life."

All Clark could do was stare.

"Mr. President!" One of his advisors came running up. "We've got a situation."

Lex shot Clark an apologetic look. "Sorry. My job is never done. Until next time then."

It took Clark just a moment too long to respond. He was still rather dazed from the kissing. "There's not going to be a next time. You hear me. I mean it. No next time!"

But Lex was already surrounded by a throng of staffers all competing to see who could talk the loudest and get the president's attention.

So, of course, there was a next time, and it was the last straw. Because what Clark never, ever wanted to see again in his whole life was Lex Luthor surrounded by a cabal of terrorists, trying to negotiate with them as they threatened to set off the nuclear device they'd cobbled together in their suburban Ohio basement from tin foil and used up nuclear reactor rods. God only knew if it actually would have worked, but Clark wasn't taking any chances. He hauled the contraption out into space and sent it hurtling into the sun. By the time he got back to earth, he was royally pissed off at his Commander-in-Chief.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded of Lex when he landed.

"Sorry. I'm not at liberty to discuss it." Lex smiled enigmatically. "National security."

Clark blinked. "Don't you have people to handle these things?"

"I like to think of myself as a hands-on president."

"Well, fuck that." He snatched Lex up and flew away with him. "I'm taking you back to the White House where you belong, and this time you're damned well going to stay there."

Lex smiled. "You know, you're even more strikingly good looking when you're angry."

"Don't flirt with me just to distract me."

Lex pressed closer and laid his head on Clark's shoulder. "I'm not." His voice was quiet, sincere, almost contrite.

Clark had to focus on the mental image of Lex standing three feet away from a nuclear weapon to hold onto the sharp edge of his anger.

He wasn't content simply to leave Lex on the White House balcony. Instead, he hustled him all the way into the Oval Office. One patented Superman glare sent the presidential staffers scattering, and he pushed Lex into his leather chair and stood over him, doing his best to loom. Clearly, there had not been enough stern lectures, or they wouldn't still be having this problem.

"Do you have any idea how important you are to this country?"

"Well, I am the President. So I guess the answer to that would have to be yes."

"It's not simply because you're president. There have been any number of Chief Executives the country would happily have traded to China for a couple of pandas and another NBA star. You're not one of them. You matter to people."

"You know, that's really quite flattering--"

"Shut up! And listen." Clark was just getting started. "When you risk your life, you also endanger the welfare of the American people and the safety of the entire world. Do you know how much depends on you? How many things could go wrong if you're not in this office behind this desk? It's clear you have no regard for your own personal safety. But you should at least have some consideration for the people who count on you. Do you hear what I'm saying?"

Lex stared at him silently, and Clark waited for the outburst. It came, but not in the form Clark had expected. Lex jumped up from his chair and pushed Clark back against the wall. It was a little embarrassing that Superman could be so easily manhandled, but then, Lex always had been surprising.

"You're right," Lex said. "I have been irresponsible. But I'm going to make it up to you. I swear." And suddenly Lex was all over him, kissing and touching frantically.

"Whaa--" Clark gurgled incoherently. He was instantly hard, incapable of rational thought or an articulate response.

Lex's hands wandered over his body, his fingers finding the hidden fastenings of the suit with unerringly accuracy, and Clark had to wonder if Lex's staff had briefed him on how to get Superman naked. Lex pushed the fabric down Clark's legs and sank to his knees. All Clark could think was: this can't be happening. But Lex bent his head, and then it was. Happening. To him. Lex's mouth. On his cock. Making him cry out desperately like he'd never even heard the words "man of steel."

Lex's head bobbed as he took Clark's cock deeper and deeper into his throat. Clark leaned heavily against the wall, suddenly dizzy as all the blood in his body headed south. Behind his back was the seal of the United States, and he had the feeling he was going to think E Pluribus Unum every time he came for the rest of his life.

Lex stroked his hips and worked his cock, and even a superhero wasn't strong enough to withstand that for long. Clark came quickly in shuddering pulses down Lex's throat.

Lex gently licked him clean and grinned up at him. "Am I forgiven yet?"

"Guh," Clark said, succinctly.

Lex stood up and kissed him. "Good. Glad to hear it. And I will be more careful from now on. I promise."

The intercom sounded on Lex's desk. "Mr. President. You're needed in the briefing room."

Lex pushed the button. "Be right there, Jeanine." He turned back to Clark. "Sorry. I can't keep them waiting." He leaned in for another kiss. "But take your time. Nobody will bother you here."

Clark could only stare as Lex left the room. He'd just been sucked off by the President of the United States, but all that mattered was that it was Lex, the person he'd been waiting for all his life.

This post-orgasmic optimism lasted until the next morning when it occurred to Clark that Lex hadn't blown him, not really. He'd blown Superman. That brought him plummeting back to miserable reality. He could put up with the superhero groupy-ism from strangers, and even Lois, who idolized Superman and merely tolerated Clark. But Lex…

By midday, his mood was really quite foul.

"Hey, Smallville, where's that page two piece you promised me?"

"You know what, Lois? You'll get it when you get it. Get off my damned back."

Her eyes went wide.

He stared intently at his computer screen. She was a nag, and she had it coming. He wasn't going to apologize. Wasn't going to. Wasn't--

He took a deep breath. "Sorry."

She smiled, her eyes sparkling. "Don't be. I've been waiting for you to lose your temper like a normal person since we first started working together. It's a relief to know you're actually human. So what's wrong, anyway?"

His phone started to ring, but he ignored it. He just wasn't in the mood right now.

"It's nothing. Really."

"Oh, come on. If you're not your usual Mr. Sunshine self, there's definitely something wrong."

"Lois, could you please just--" The phone continued to ring insistently, and he snatched it up. "What?"

"Clark?" a smooth voice pulsed over the line.

He blinked. "Lex?"

"Yes. Look, I'm sorry to call out of the blue like this, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

Clark's heart pounded. Lex was calling him. Lex wanted his help, not Superman's. "Sure. If I can."

"Great. I need you to get a message to Superman for me. I know you have a special way of communicating, and I really need his advice on something. It's very important. If he could come by around three this afternoon, I'll be free then."

Fifteen years of silence, and when Lex did finally call, it was about freakin' Superman. "Bitter" was not nearly a powerful enough word to describe how he felt.

"Superman's busy too, you know, Lex," he snapped.

"I know that, Clark," Lex said patiently.

He sighed. "Fine. I'll give him the message."

"Thanks," Lex said cheerfully. "I appreciate your help."

And then he was gone with a click of the phone. That was just terrific. Superman got a blowjob, and Clark didn't even merit a proper goodbye.

Lois stared at him from across the desk. "Lex? As in Luthor? As in President of the United States?"

"Don't even, Lois," he warned her. "Don't. Even."

Clark considered ignoring Lex's request, but it did sound urgent. And he was still Superman, as inconvenient as that often was. He landed on the White House balcony promptly at three and let himself into the Oval Office.

Lex smiled when he saw him. "I'm glad you could come." He moved to the bar to pour himself a drink.

"So what's wrong?"

"Nothing." He held up the Scotch bottle. "Can I offer you something?"

"No." Clark frowned. "If nothing's wrong, why am I here?"

Lex sat down and motioned him to the chair in front of his desk. "I wanted to discuss my post-presidency plans with you. Get Superman's take on it."

"You must be kidding."

"I'm actually quite serious."

"Surely you have advisors for that."

"Yes, but they don't really understand. You do. About the things you have to sacrifice in the name of public service. Take, for instance, the fact that there's no Mrs. Superman."

"There's no Mrs. Superman because there's no one who sees me just for me." He couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Lex studied him. "Yes, I can imagine that's a problem. To be honest, I have much the same trouble myself. I'd have to say there's only been one person in my entire life who has ever really wanted me for me, not because I'm a Luthor or the President or--" He waved his hand. "And that was my sacrifice. I let him go."

Clark's mouth fell open. "Him?"

Lex nodded. "The most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. He saved my life, you know, the first time we met. And many times after that. He just always seemed to be there when I needed him. " He smiled. "Just like you are."

"But why?" His throat was tight with emotion. "Why did you have to let him go?"

"Because I'm an ambitious man, and I always planned to have this." He swept out his arm. "And the boy I loved-- Well, let's just say his life couldn't bear a great deal of scrutiny. With me, he'd always have been in the spotlight, and he would have ended up getting hurt. Or worse. And I couldn't have that."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because that boy is a man now, and he can take care of himself. I don't have to worry about protecting him anymore. And I'm finished here. I've accomplished everything I set out to do."

"You became the most powerful man in the world."

"I proved I'm not my father," Lex said, with surprising vehemence.

Clark stared at him. Nothing was the way he'd thought it was. Not even Lex.

"And now I want all those things I had to give up along the way. I want to go home to Metropolis to write my memoirs and build my library. I want to spend weekends in Smallville and do chores around the farm and eat apple pie hot out of the oven. I want to wake up every morning for the rest of my life in the arms of the one person I've ever loved." He leaned in. "What do you think of my plan? Does it sound feasible?"

Clark held his gaze. "You could have just told me. You didn't have to do all this stupid stuff and nearly get yourself killed in the process."

"I needed to test the waters. I didn't know if you'd still want me."

Clark stood up and blurred back into his own clothes, into his true self. He rounded the desk. Lex rose to meet him, and then they were wrapped around each other, as if they'd never let go.

Clark kissed him fiercely, stroked his hands over his back, cradled his head in his hands. "I've never wanted anyone but you."

"Oh, God. Clark." Lex pressed closer, kissed him back with equal hunger. "I've missed you so much."

"I thought you forgot about me," Clark admitted in a small voice.

Lex's arms tightened around his waist. "I had to protect you. And I wanted to earn you. To be worthy."

"I never needed that. I always loved you, just for you."

"And now?"

"Now I'm going to take you home to Metropolis and give your Secret Service people the surprise of their lives."

Lex laughed and hugged him hard. "And don't forget the pie. Does you mother still make the sour cream apple walnut?"

"Yeah." He kissed Lex softly on the lips. "And she'll be thrilled to make it for you."

"I'm sorry this took so long."

"At least, the waiting is over now." He smiled. "Although I do think I would have made quite a first lady."

Lex laughed and laced their hands together. "You do look good in red."

Hall of Presidents Tour

So the American people didn't actually realize they had elected their first gay president until after he'd retired from office and began sharing his life with boyhood friend Clark Kent. Some of you may know Mr. Kent as a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who worked for the Daily Planet, but most of you are probably more familiar with him as Superman.

There was a tremendous uproar when President Luthor and Mr. Kent officially admitted the nature of their relationship. Many critics insisted that it would put a permanent stain on the Luthor presidency, overshadowing everything he'd accomplish while in office. Happily for us, times have changed a great deal since then. Today, we recognize President Luthor as an able statesman and one of our most effective leaders. We celebrate his partnership with Mr. Kent, their many contributions to society and their enduring love.

For us, they are truly the stuff of legends.