Title: Harry - posted 2004
Series: Dark Spaces (Shadows and Stone)
Author: Lacey McBain
Rating: PG. Harry, Bruce, Lex.
Summary: "Harry wasn't even
friends with them for Christ's
sake.
He wondered when he'd become a safe harbour for Excelsior Prep's two
most
notorious outcasts."
Disclaimer: Not mine in any
universe - DC or Marvel.
***
Harry
Harry Osborn hunched over the desk in his dorm room at Excelsior
Prep
and
concentrated on finishing the assigned calculus problems. He
rubbed
at his eyes tiredly.
Suddenly there was a sharp rap at the door, the kind that demanded to
be
answered. Harry glanced at the clock as he pushed his chair away
from
the desk. It was after ten already. After curfew.
He pulled the door open a fraction, stepping back as a tall form pushed
past
him dragging someone else with him. Harry stared as an obviously
pissed-off
Bruce Wayne shoved Lex Luthor onto Harry's bed. Lex was
snickering
wildly.
"Bruce, what the hell--?" Harry asked, looking from one to the other.
"Keep him here," Bruce said tersely, heading for the door. "If he
tries to leave, sit on him."
Lex grinned and flopped onto his back. "You know what I like,
Bruce."
"On second thought, just knock him out."
"Bruce, what's going--" Harry's words were lost in the slam of
the
heavy mahogany door. Speechless, Harry turned around to look at
Lex.
He was stretching like a cat across Harry's single bed, and looking at
him
curiously. His blue eyes were wide, pupils large and
glassy.
Harry wondered if he was drunk or high. Either one was possible.
"Lex?" Harry ventured. Lex just grinned and rolled onto his
side.
Harry thought he saw a momentary flicker of pain, but it was gone in an
instant,
replaced by predatory charm. Lex patted the bed beside him and
raised
an eyebrow invitingly. Jesus, Harry thought. That's all he
needed.
Lex Luthor, high and horny.
"What's going on, Lex?" Harry said, leaning back against his desk, a
safe
distance away. It was a single room, though. There wasn't
anywhere
to go--which begged the question, why the hell had Bruce brought Lex
here?
Sure they were in the same classes, but they weren't exactly friends.
"Bruce thinks I can't take care of myself," Lex said glibly.
"Thinks
I need a babysitter, so I don't get in any more trouble."
"What kind of trouble are you in?" Harry asked. He really didn't
want
to know, but he couldn't ignore the fact that Lex was here in his
room.
After curfew. If he was going to get in trouble, he may as well
know
why. He didn't suppose it would be polite to go back to working
on
his calculus and just pretend that Lex didn't exist.
Lex shrugged and waved a hand vaguely in the air. "There was a
misunderstanding about product supply and demand."
Ah, so it was drugs. Lex had a reputation for using his chemistry
expertise
for more intriguing experiments than those set by Mr. Farnsworth, the
chemistry
instructor. But Lex wasn't like the other kids Harry had known
who
tripped out on cocaine and pot.
"You used up someone's supply, Lex?"
Lex wasn't typically a user, wasn't even a dealer. He liked the
thrill
of the chemistry. The challenge of creation. Lex in a
laboratory
brought to mind every mad scientist movie Harry had ever seen--even
without
the crazy hair. All Lex needed was a long white coat and an
assistant
named Igor to complete the picture. There was just something so
focussed
about Lex when he was experimenting, something raw and open and
dangerous.
Yeah, that's what Lex was--dangerous.
As far as Harry knew, Lex rarely used the stuff he made. He could
only
recall a handful of times that he'd ever seen Lex tripped out on drugs,
and
he had to admit that there was nothing casual about Lex and drug
use.
If he was on something, he wasn't just on it--he was immersed in
it.
Lex didn't get high, he left the planet. He'd heard rumours about
Lex's
more spectacular highs. After his mother died. After his
nanny
left. Sometimes now after calls from his father, visits home, you
could
see the light gone out of his eyes--a glimmer of something else working
there,
something trying to keep the world at bay.
Harry wasn't close to Lex--no one really got close to him, except
Bruce--and
that was another reason not to get involved. Bruce Wayne scared
the
shit out of most people who got a glimpse of what lay beyond the dark
good
looks, the charm, the money.
Harry glanced at Lex again. He was lost in his own world, and it
didn't
seem to be the happy world of hallucinogenic drugs. Harry tried
again.
"Drug deal gone bad?"
"Something like that." Harry could see that wasn't even the
beginning
of a story. He was fairly certain that Lex wasn't going to
volunteer
any specifics.
"Is the chem lab still intact?"
"Mostly."
"What happened?"
"They got pissy about the quality and I didn't like the criticism, so I
terminated the deal."
Harry cringed. That could mean anything. Luthors weren't
exactly known for their warm and fuzzy personalities.
"How?"
"I flushed the drugs." Lex laughed. "You should've seen the
looks
on their faces." Harry could imagine. Lex never did
anything
small or halfway.
"Looks like you sampled some before you flushed them."
"It would be irresponsible not to test the product," Lex said simply,
his
eyes darkening. He looked more tired than he had a minute before,
and
his breathing seemed to rise and fall in uneven waves. His hand
rubbed
at his side unconsciously. He seemed distracted.
Worried.
Harry tried to remember how long it had been since Bruce had left.
"I should go," Lex said, suddenly getting off the bed and heading for
the
door. Harry surprised himself by stepping in front of him.
"Bruce said you should stay here." He hated getting dragged into
the
middle of things, hated being caught in the peripheral damage that
seemed
a given around Bruce and Lex. He wasn't even friends with them,
for
Christ's sake. He wondered when he'd become a safe harbour for
Excelsior
Prep's two most notorious outcasts. And what exactly did that say
about
him?
"Bruce says a lot of things," Lex said, his eyes catching Harry's with
a look he couldn't quite place.
"I'll have to take your word on that," Harry said. Bruce wasn't
exactly known for being chatty.
Lex offered a pleased smile, and Harry wondered, not for the first
time,
what Lex and Bruce's relationship was really about. They'd been
roommates
for as long as Harry had been at Excelsior, but half the time he
couldn't
tell if they were friends or just waiting for the right opportunity to
kill
each other. Then there were the other rumours. He'd mostly
given
up trying to figure his classmates out, just wanted to survive
Excelsior
without getting kicked out. He was trying to keep a low
profile.
This time.
Lex pushed closer, sliding a finger under the collar of Harry's
button-down
shirt. Harry took a step back and found he was pressed against
the
door.
"Lex," Harry began, but he didn't know what he was trying to say.
Lex
was so intense it was hard to concentrate on anything outside those
blue
eyes. He didn't just look at you, he seemed like he was trying to
absorb
everything about you through the sheer strength of his gaze.
Harry
didn't particularly like being subjected to that level of
scrutiny.
He fought down a tremor of fear.
"What's the matter, Harry?" Lex said, putting a hand against the door
beside
Harry's head. Harry swallowed, as Lex stepped against him.
"Scared?"
Harry laughed, but even to him it sounded hollow, forced--like a drum
beaten
without conviction. Every muscle in his body felt tight,
alert.
He could see the scar on Lex's lip, quivering and white, like a tiny
worm
burrowing through an apple's red skin. He wondered why Lex seemed
to
bring to mind serpents, temptation.
"I'm not scared of you," Harry returned, trying to sound confident.
"Of Bruce then?"
Well, yeah, everyone with a brain in his head was at least a
little
scared of Bruce. At fifteen he was already well-over six feet and
deeply
muscled. That in itself wasn't enough. What made people
take
a step back was the haunted look in his eyes. It didn't make
sense
but it made people feel guilty. Ashamed. Afraid. As
if
something dark had crawled inside and started to gnaw at your
secrets.
Bruce was ... disconcerting, to say the very least.
"Scared of Bruce? Maybe a little," Harry said breathlessly,
relieved
when Lex started to laugh. Lex backed away and sat down on the
edge
of the bed, running his hands over his bare scalp.
"You're smarter than I thought, Harry."
Harry decided it wasn't worth it to be offended. Lex and Bruce
were
both brilliant, even if they didn't get the top marks. They knew things
that
went beyond what was laid out in the books. They didn't just
think
outside the box--they had constructed entirely new paradigms for the
idea
of the box.
"What's Bruce doing?"
"Probably kicking somebody's ass on my behalf," Lex said. For the
first
time, Harry realized that Lex was breathing raggedly, one hand rubbing
his
side absently.
Harry dropped to his knees beside the bed, and started to unbutton
Lex's shirt.
"Harry, I had no idea," Lex said smugly, but didn't protest.
"Shut the fuck up, Lex," Harry said as he pulled the shirt open to
reveal
the beginnings of bruises in the shapes of knuckles. Harry ran a
hand
lightly over the skin on Lex's right side, softening his touch as Lex
winced
sharply.
"You've probably got a couple of bruised ribs," Harry said. "Did
you know that?"
Lex shrugged. "I suspected."
"You need a doctor."
"Toby? I'll get a lecture, a smack in the head, and drugs that
aren't
as effective as what I make myself. He'll feel the need to report
this
to the head master, who will in turn call my father. I can do
without
that, thank you. Nothing's broken."
"At least let me wrap it for you," Harry said. Lex looked at him
oddly, and Harry guessed he was trying to figure him out.
"Bruce'll do it. It's fine, Harry. Really. You've
done
enough," Lex said. "But thanks for the offer." It seemed
almost
like an afterthought, as if Lex wasn't used to people offering to do
things
for him. Harry nodded, but didn't move away.
The door behind them opened, and Bruce Wayne filled the small
room.
His eyes flickered over Harry, who was still on his knees in front of
Lex,
one hand on his pale skin, and Harry suddenly blushed, realizing how
this
might look. Bruce didn't look amused, although that was nothing
new.
Harry wasn't certain Bruce knew how to look amused. He scrambled
to
his feet and grabbed the first aid kit that was supplied with every
room.
Apparently the school had little faith in teenage boys.
"He's hurt--his ribs," Harry said by way of explanation, pulling out a
roll of bandages.
Bruce looked at Lex with a sigh, and shook his head. "I'll take
care
of him," he said, taking the bandage that Harry offered. "Sorry
for
getting you involved."
"It's fine," Harry said, and was surprised that he meant it. He'd
never
had a lot of friends at Excelsior. He wasn't charming enough or
smart
enough or even rich enough to really fit in. Hell, he wasn't even
weird
enough to be an outcast. He was just one of the invisible
mainstream.
The unremarkable.
"Any time," he added.
Bruce looked at him as if he were taking measurements. Perhaps he
was.
Bruce nodded an acknowledgment, and put a hand on Lex's shoulder.
"Ready?"
"Yeah," Lex said, and Harry could see the glassiness had faded from his
eyes.
Despite the pain he must have been feeling by now, his steps were
steady
as he followed Bruce out the door.
"Thanks," Lex whispered, as he ducked out into the hallway.
Harry closed the door softly behind them and sat on the edge of his
bed.
It was warm from where Lex's body had been a moment ago. He
didn't
know why, but he suspected something important had just happened.
Something
in his life had changed and he didn't know if it was for the better or
not.
Things got broken around those two. Rules. Furniture.
Bones.
Hearts. He wasn't sure if he was ready for friendship like
that.
He wasn't sure if he had a choice in the matter. They had come to
him.
That meant something, although Harry wasn't sure what.
He looked at his unfinished calculus homework and sighed, dragging
himself
back over to the desk. At least there were answers here.
Specifics.
Problems that could be solved, variables that could be defined.
He picked up his pencil, and went back to work.
THE END
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