Written for contrelamontre's "early morning atmosphere" challenge in 28 minutes.

It's still raining when he wakes up. Somebody left the curtains open and through the window, Clark can see the night. A look at the clock and he revises himself. It's morning.

If this were Smallville, his dad would be on his way upstairs and banging on Clark's door to wake him for chores. If they were going fishing, he might have had to get up even earlier. A topic of too many arguments when he was a kid, Clark's finding that early mornings aren't hard when you haven't slept.

Lex breathes beside him, quiet and even, the perfect accompaniment for the ticking clock. Clark slides out of bed and floats out of the room; he doesn't trust his clumsy feet not to wake Lex.

The sounds outside the penthouse window are overwhelming for this hour and Clark can hear every one. It was the first thing he learned in Metropolis. Smallville closed itself up before dark, but in Metropolis, they don't have rules like that. Clark can get a pizza at two in the morning, but he can't get to sleep.

The sun's still out there, despite the hour. Clark can feel it because he knows what it's like when his powers are missing. The darkness in Metropolis isn't just sky high buildings and constant rain that block the light. Superman's blue and red have to play the absent sun.

Their alarm will sound in another hour. Clark will go to work before the sun and come home after it's gone. He hasn't seen the light in days, but that's why Metropolis needs it's hero.

04/07/03

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