Fic: Must Be Dreaming, Clex mpreg
I've been working on this one off and on since before S6 began. No idea how long it will be ultimately, but I have seven and a half chapters already. You know me, so once we get into the plot, it will probably be Lex apologetic as much as I can extrapolate from the ransom weirdness they've given us for plot. Here we go! *jumps in head first*
(Yes, I'm still primarily working on YMMS.)
Title: Must Be Dreaming
Series/WIP: Sequel to So Much Dreaming
Pairing: Clex!
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Lex thinks that he must be dreaming when he meets up with Jonathan Kent in a spaceship.
Spoilers: Through S5, after Cyborg.
Warnings: MPREG!!
Part One
Lex struggled with waking on the cold, hard metallic surface. He was still too woozy to open his eyes completely, too sore, too sick, somehow. He felt off. He felt like someone had turned him inside out and back again. He arched his back and started to drift back into unconsciousness.
“Lex!” A voice hissed. He fought to open his eyes. He was being shaken now and that helped. He tried to move, then doubled over in pain on his side.
“Oh, fuck!”
“Shh!” The hands clasped over his mouth and steadied him. He dragged one eye half open and blinked a few times, trying to focus. The hands moved, and he looked on in confusion. Jonathan Kent looked back at him intensely. He was completely naked.
“Dreaming…” He muttered in irritation, closing his eyes again. His dreams were really getting to be ridiculous.
“You aren’t dreaming, son. You have to wake up.”
He opened his eyes again and tried to move and then had to bite his lip to keep from crying out. Jonathan helped him to sit up and he looked around. They were in a very cold, very white laboratory of some kind. He was on a metal operating table. He was also very naked.
My subconscious hates me, Lex decided. He moved to swing his feet around the side, but it simply hurt too much.
“What’s going on?” he asked softly.
“Don’t know. I been here a while. He hasn’t done much with me, but a few weeks ago he dragged you in here. I was never able to get close, y’know, but he operated on you a lot.”
“Who?”
Jonathan hesitated. Lex considered treating this as real, since he figured even in a situation that demanded they work together, Jonathan Kent probably wouldn’t trust him. He rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth as he slowly eased himself to his feet… then had to stop. His stomach lurched at the movement, and he felt he might puke from the pain.
“Maybe you should stay still…”
“I trust my body can handle it. It’s handled everything else I’ve thrown at it in the past several years.” He pressed a hand to the table trying not to fall over. “Besides, if Milton Fine wanted to kill me, he’s had ample opportunity up until now.”
“Oh… you know him.”
“Not in his capacity as a history professor, unfortunately.” He kept one hand to his stomach. It felt as though his insides might spill out over Jonathan’s bare feet. Although, as far as he could determine, there were no stitches, no scars. “You said he was oper- no. We… need to get out of here first.”
“All the doors are locked. I mean, they don’t open.”
“Do they have handles?” Lex peered over at the door.
“See, that’s the problem,” the older man said wryly.
“Huh. Let me get to the control panel, and we’ll see what I can do.” He moved slowly, and Jonathan seemed confused as to whether he should help or back off. Lex could have used the help; as it was, he had to keep on hand on the table to move at all, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to beg for it. When he reached the end of the table, he launched himself across the distance between and caught himself on the ledge of the consol, making his lip bleed in his attempt not to scream. He leaned on it heavily and looked over the controls. Lex turned his head and regarded Jonathan suspiciously. “Why would he leave us here to escape?”
“I sure haven’t been able to,” Jonathan said with a little heat. Lex tilted his head.
“You’ll understand if I don’t quite trust you. When Fine was investigating my company, we often found him impersonating one of our guards before killing the rest.”
“… that thing can change shape?” Jonathan asked, his lip curling.
“Which you would know if you were him.” Lex continued to watch his face and listen to his voice.
“Can you really be thinking that I’m that monster?”
“I’ll reserve my judgment. I’m surprised, however, that you haven’t accused me.” Lex turned to the panel and looked over the controls. He realized that they were in that language from the caves. Alright. Now I know I’m dreaming. Why couldn’t I have been in here naked with Lois? Or Clark?
“Listen, Luthor. I haven’t done anything to you-“
“You shouldn’t be doing anything at all. The last time I saw you was in your coffin.” Lex looked over the symbols, trying to find one that might be familiar. Might stand for door.
“Coffin? You thought I was dead?”
“You did have a heart attack.” That one? He remembered one pointed toward the secret room in the caves. He tried it. The door opened, to his surprise. “I cannot be that good. This is a trap.”
He stepped towards the door then his knees buckled. Jonathan caught him. “Easy there. I haven’t accused you, y’know, because I saw him take you in here and cut you up fresh every day. I don’t know what you are, but you aren’t like him.”
What you are, hm? Lex pressed his lips together. Mr. Kent had always looked at him as a Luthor, not a freak. Now he would look at him as both. Lex drew all the inflection and emotion out of his voice. “I think what I am should be pretty clear, given the town in which we live.”
It hurt Lex’s pride to have to lean on Jonathan Kent, since he knew that he probably helped only as a matter of survival and might have left him otherwise. The two men said nothing as they stepped through the doorway, which entered into a smaller room, with a circular dais in the middle. Lex looked over it critically then turned to face Mr. Kent questioningly.
“Hell, I dunno.”
“I’ll try it. If I don’t catch fire, you can follow.”
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. I’ve survived being set on fire before.”
Jonathan raised his chin and spoke in his most calm ‘you need to think about this, young man’ voice. “You don’t know what’s gonna to happen.”
Lex moved to leave Jonathan’s supporting arm. “No… but I know that whatever Fine has for me, I don’t want it.”
“Then we can both go.”
“I can’t accept that.”
“You think I’m Fine, right? What difference does it make?”
“Because if you aren’t, you have a wife and son at home who care about you and need you to come home,” Lex insisted. Jonathan frowned and held onto him tightly.
“There’s no way I’m gonna be able to get out of here without you. He left me out of my cell whenever he wasn’t operating on you. I never figured that out.”
Lex lifted a brow. “I don’t know how you could have possibly known. Maybe he left us alone because he thought we would be too stupid to get away.”
“Maybe.”
Lex sighed in resignation. “Let’s go then.”
They stepped onto the dais together.
***
Lex could never quite verbalize the sensation afterward, but he knew he was, in essence, pulled apart at the seams and then put back together somewhere. In the middle of nowhere. Naked. With Jonathan Kent. And the moment he stopped being here and started being there, he passed out cold.
The next thing he knew, Jonathan was tugging a sweater onto him, half talking to himself about why he had to be stuck with Lex of all people, who would faint on him at the drop of the hat. Then he berated himself, since Lex had managed to open the door, and after all, Lex had survived quite a lot and saved Clark quite a few times, and with all those times Fine had cut him up, well, it was probably natural for him to just drop off like that.
“Wuhra be?” Lex asked, sounding like he had marbles in his mouth… or like he was incredibly high. His abdomen still hurt, but he felt like he might be able to move. When he tried, Kent pushed him down.
“What did you say?”
“Where. Are. We?” he repeated slowly to make sure he was still speaking English. He noticed a cut on the man’s hand, still fresh. The scent of the man’s blood filled his nostrils. Okay, not throwing up was beginning to take quite a bit of his concentration. “And please let me up.”
“A field, and no, I think you should stay put. You’re the color of milk.”
“I’m going to puke.”
Jonathan turned and tossed up his hands. Lex rolled over, crawled as far as he could, and began heaving impressively, considering how little was on his stomach. He took a moment, wiped his mouth, and then tried to crawl back over where Jonathan was standing.
“W’shu…” He coughed. Jonathan was in a crouching position, listening to him. “Sorry.”
“Son, seriously. You didn’t just watch someone get sliced on regular for days. I think you have a little room to not feel well.”
“Could you tell what he was doing?”
He shook his head. “I’m a farmer, not a doctor.”
Lex sighed again and tried to keep the dizziness from getting to him. “All right. We should try to keep moving. I don’t know if he’ll bother to come after us, or if… he had a plan, but we can’t just sit here and let him take us.”
Jonathan nodded. He offered Lex a hand and pulled him to his feet. The boy was recuperating awfully fast. Though, that was no longer news. He’d seen him heal from Fine’s mad surgery so quickly; Fine’d had to re-cut him several times during a long surgery to keep him open. Together the two men began to walk slowly towards the highway.
“This would be faster without me,” Lex drawled with a noncommittal air.
“Not leaving you.”
“Clark and your wife really need you. I’m not kidding.” Lex fielded Jonathan’s harsh look with a serious but unreadable mask. “Clark dropped out of school.”
“What?” Anger registered on his features.
“They offered the senate position to Mrs. Kent, and she’s doing okay. But well, for one thing that means that Clark needs some guidance, and with you dead and Mrs. Kent busy, he doesn’t have it. I don’t really know what he’s up to, besides breaking into random warehouses of mine. I should stop him, but he hasn’t caused too much trouble for me so I’ve let it go. At least he isn’t breaking into other businesses who will prosecute.” Lex took a deep breath. Jonathan’s nostrils flared.
“There’s worse?”
”My father… I’d talk to Mrs. Kent if she were at all receptive to me, but she isn’t, and he’s… he can talk his way out of anything.” Lex paused. His face opened then asked suddenly. “Did he have anything to do with your heart attack?”
“No more than I let him.” Jonathan shook his head at Lex’s concerned face, noting his worry. The boy still felt responsible for his father’s actions. He had to admit the thought wasn’t comfortable. “I let him get under my skin, when I should’ve taken my own advice and shrugged it off.” He grinned. “Punched him but good, though.”
Lex grinned. “Well... Good.”
“What about your father and Martha?” he demanded.
“You know he wants her. He comes around the farm, and I don’t know why she lets him. He may have something on you, or he’s just trying to coerce her. I don’t know, but she needs you there to back her up.”
Jonathan nodded. “We’re gonna make it home and make things right.”
Lex tried to keep pace with Jonathan and told himself again that he must be dreaming. At least now they both had some fucking clothing.
***
Lex woke again to the sounds of crying and joyful laughter and slowly became aware of his surroundings once again. He blinked. He was sitting in the passenger seat of a semi, wearing a sweater and loose flannel and blue jeans, all too big. He also had a worn ball cap over his head. He reached for the handle and nearly fell out the side before catching himself.
“Your son’s awake.” A tall, heavyset man announced, moving over to spot him as he made another attempt.
“Easy easy.” Jonathan rushed over and grabbed one of his hands, helping him down. Martha opened her mouth in shock, exchanging a look with Clark.
“Jonathan?” she asked cautiously. He steered Lex towards the house and gave the trucker a firm handshake.
“I can’t thank you enough for getting me and my boy home, Joel. If you ever need anything, give us a call.”
Lex raised his brows at his apparent adoption. He must look extremely pitiful.
Joel gave them a wide grin through thick lips. “No problem. You be more careful, next time you’re in the city.”
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Martha asked. “Or pie? Oh… um. I don’t have anything ready, but I could-“
“Nah, nah thanks. Got to make some time.” He waved them off, gave Lex a cuff on the shoulder. “Watch yourself, scrapper.”
Scrapper? “I’ll sure try,” he said, drawling out the words. A smile spread on Jonathan’s lips.
“Can you make it?” he asked quietly. Clark looked on cautiously.
“Think so,” Lex replied.
The Kents were silent until they made it into the house.
“What the hell did he do to you?” Clark grabbed Lex by the flannel collar, but he was clearly addressing his father. Lex hung limply and pursed his lips at the typicality of it.
“Clark! Let him go. Now.” Clark dropped him. His knees gave, and he was on the floor. Jonathan shot Clark a disapproving look before kneeling beside Lex. “Dammit, son. What are you thinking?”
Lex stayed put and felt Jonathan’s hand on his shoulder. “I’m all right.”
“I don’t really believe that.”
“I heal fast,” Lex said simply. He removed the cap and rubbed the line pressed into his head. Yet again, Jonathan helped him up, but steered him to a real chair and gave him a look that suggested he’d better stay put.
“Can someone please explain what happened?” Martha asked, moving to Jonathan’s side and holding onto him tightly.
Lex answered her. “I think we got abducted by aliens.”
“Or something made by them.” Jonathan put in meaningfully to Clark. Now that was intriguing.
“Milton Fine?” Clark moved closer to the group, still keeping an eye on Lex, who simply leaned back and placed a hand on his stomach. Still throbbing, but not rolling, at least.
Jonathan raised his brows in alarm. “Do you need to-?”
Lex shook his head. “I promise you; I feel a lot better.”
“Dad…”
“He saved my life,” Jonathan said firmly. Lex creased his nose with a half-smile.
“I opened a door.”
“One I was stumped at for months.” He countered. Lex simply shrugged. He wasn’t inclined to share how he knew which symbol indicated a door. Discussions of the cave often ended in angry shouting and perhaps punches.
“Maybe I should get us something to drink? And then you can tell us what happened.” Martha said, heading to the kitchen.
“Maybe we should find a way to prove to Lex I’m not Milton Fine,” Jonathan suggested.
“Why would he think that?”
“Apparently Fine can change shape. Clark, did you ever seen him…?”
“Shapeshift?” Clark looked to Lex then back to his father. “No. That’s… weird.”
“There’s no need anyway. I saw you cut your hand earlier,” Lex said softly.
“He doesn’t bleed?” Jonathan asked.
“Not as far as Chloe and I could tell,” Clark confirmed. “He got um… impaled on something.”
“Well, he seems to be doing just fine now,” Jonathan said. Martha came back with a pitcher of lemonade. “Now, should the senator of Kansas be serving us drinks?”
“Oh, Jonathan.” She set the pitcher down and wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m sorry you had to do that.”
“It wasn’t your fault, and it hasn’t been bad, other than some of the people I work with… Oh, god. I’m so glad you’re back.” She kissed him on the lips, and Jonathan put his arms around her waist. They excused themselves for a moment, and Lex nodded in their direction. He was glad that Martha could have him back, and especially glad that his father wouldn’t have such easy access to the mourning woman. Lex leaned forward and sipped his glass of lemonade, feeling dizzy. He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. Clark pulled up a chair beside him.
“You okay?”
“Been better. Been worse.”
“You look like shit.”
“Tactful as always, Clark,” Lex returned. “I’ll go along with whatever story you want to tell people. However, you will have to come up with something, as two Kents returning from the dead within the same year is going to appear extremely bizarre.”
Clark looked concerned, but said nothing.
“Personally, I’d go for a hospital mix up. Falsify some documents to claim that they buried a Jon Doe as a Jon Kent, whereby he was in a coma but generally misplaced until he woke up and corrected them.”
“How are we going to manage that?” Clark asked looking as though he thought the proposition was ridiculous.
Lex shrugged. “Your mother is a senator. You can pull some strings and get it done. Or I can. I’m more experienced.”
“Yeah.” Clark replied.
Lex put on a thin smile and sipped his lemonade again. The dizziness wasn’t going away, but the nausea was gone. And something, something smelled incredibly good. It wasn’t the lemonade.
“You saved my father’s life. So… thank you.”
”It wasn’t a choice.”
“Well uh… I didn’t know that Fine was uh… interested in you. I mean, other than your company.”
“Why would something made by aliens give a damn about a human CEO?” Lex asked. Clark’s face fell.
“I dunno. This is weird. I… I don’t know what he wants, or what he’s after. He just keeps hurting the people around me.”
“I think he’s after you, Clark.”
Clark shook his head and put on that look wherein Lex knew he thought he was covering something well. Amateur. “I’m not special enough for him to want me. It’s bigger.”
“It is you. Look at the evidence of what he’s done. He separated you and me,” he said, counting on one hand. “Then he separated you from your father. And now, your mother is working in the senate, and you don’t have much access to her.”
“But why?”
”Enemies are generally easier to take down alone.” Lex leaned in close as though he were confiding in Clark. “He’s picking off your support system.”
Clark looked at his feet pensively. Lex drew in the air through his nose, trying to determine what that overwhelming smell was. Was it on Clark? It smelled amazing, like some kind of sweet, musky cologne, but not so nearly as obnoxious as cologne, and he never remembered Clark wearing it before…
“Lex, do you- uh, what are you doing?” Clark jerked when he noticed Lex was sniffing him.
“I…uh…” Lex sat up straight in the chair. He pushed the chair back and put distance between himself and Clark until he hit the counter.
Clark started to laugh. Lex was turning very red, all over his face and there were some splotches on his head, too. The look of irritation on Lex’s face made Clark laugh even harder.
“Do I need a shower?”
“Possibly,” Lex snapped. If it would keep himself from licking Clark’s neck, like he wanted to…
Or pressing his lips against that goofy grin. Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit. He was very thankful for the counter, however. It was the only thing keeping him upright. Clark moved over to him looking unsure of where to put his hands.
“Please don’t.” Lex closed his eyes.
”You look like you’re gonna fall. Let me help.” Clark’s large, strong hands were on his shoulder and on his back. The smell of his old friend overwhelmed him. He couldn’t help but lean in towards his neck. He shivered. It smelled so good. He wanted to press his body up against Clark… He opened his eyes as he felt something brush against his neck.
Clark’s face was awfully close. Had he been… sniffing him back?
“Whoa, there boys. Something wrong?” Jonathan asked, walking back into the kitchen.
“Lex was gonna fall,” Clark said, too quickly. Lex rolled his eyes. Caught making out in the kitchen by his parents.
Jonathan headed to get his coat. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“No! God, no. No hospitals.” Lex leaned on the counter anxiously, wishing Clark would back away more. Jonathan started to speak, but Lex cut him off. “You can guess why. No, I have doctors on staff for matters like this. Ones who know how to be discreet.”
Jonathan looked him over, as though trying to reassess the man before him. “I understand. At least let me take you home. You’ll call your doctors right away.”
It was strange to have someone who had once told him to shrivel up and die insisting he look after himself. “Of course. Though, for all I know, Fine was just performing a little alien autopsy on a living specimen.”
Clark recoiled at the suggestion. Good.
“Sorry. I forget that you normal people don’t always appreciate dark humor like that. I guarantee you, though, Toby will be laughing his ass off at this. He calls all my check-ups alien autopsies.”
Clark stepped back again and hooked his thumbs into his pockets uncomfortably. “That’s creepy.”
“That’s my life.” He moved toward Jonathan, keeping one hand on the counter and putting more distance between himself and the young man whose clothes he wanted to peel off.
Clark caught him in another kiss. Lex felt a slight chill as his body responded to Clark’s invitation. He kissed back. At first the pressure from one set of lips to the other was gentle; it was enough. Soon Lex dragged his tongue across the bottom of Clark’s lower lip and pushed deeper. He shivered again and felt himself become uncomfortably hard.
Stop stop stop.
“I uh… I’ll try to keep an eye out for Fine. I haven’t been able to find him since his ship disappeared. I assume you know about that since Chloe snuck into my warehouse.”
“We heard, but we’ve never seen it,” Martha said, becoming businesslike about this.
Lex nodded. “I was trying to analyze it, but we never got it open, unfortunately. I’m sorry I don’t have more information. I’ll keep looking.”
“Maybe you should just drop it,” Clark suggested quickly.
“Fine isn’t here on a peaceful mission, Clark. He faked your father’s death and tried to kill your mother. He abducted me. And he’s killed dozens of my security guards. That isn’t even mentioning the two that came with him.” Lex’s expression begged Clark to listen and understand. “They tossed me around like a rag doll and could shoot fire out of their eyes, and they almost killed Lana. These aren’t cute fuzzy visitors from another planet. They are obviously here to conquer. We don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of their plans.”
“Just because they’re alien doesn’t mean they’re evil.”
Lex shook his head tiredly. “I didn’t say they were. Not inherently. I fully acknowledge the possibility that some of their species might be against aggression. We humans certainly have our split on that… but the ones we’ve dealt with so far are dangerous and have ill intent towards us. We can’t afford to ignore that.”
He waited for some kind of answer from Clark, but, getting none, he headed outside.
***
By the next day, Lex was fairly convinced that he was not dreaming this whole experience. He sat in his office chair, rereading the lab reports on his laptop from the tests to which he’d submitted himself that morning. He’d been right. Toby did laugh, but he was equally shocked and a little confused. Lex himself wasn’t terribly taken aback by his condition, although he was willing to admit that perhaps he hadn’t been hit with the full impact of his situation quite yet. He had been speaking with his project leader at Genesis Industries regarding having something similar done, but his plans were to be put into action years later.
He wasn’t sure he was ready now, and these were definitely not the circumstances that he imagined for… starting this process. The timing was wrong; the players involved were wrong. Given the plans of Milton Fine, if this indeed was to do with him, Lex was most likely in danger. Part of a larger plan. And Lex didn’t want to be part of anyone’s master plan but his own.
Or maybe Fine was just trying to distract him. Which was certainly working, if that were the case. He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure of anything.
Except that the tests told him that he was approximately twenty-two days pregnant with a baby something that had nestled into some kind of mutant womb made of tightly woven blood vessels. He would be going into the lab again the next day, likely almost every day this week, to investigate. However, their first prognosis had stated any attempt to abort would leave him at a high risk of bleeding out before they could repair the damage. Even his own mutant abilities might not save him.
Would he have aborted? Probably. It was the pragmatic thing to do, since he didn’t know anything about this fetus, really. Save for the fact that his alien robot enemy had decided to implant it inside him, or that it would kill him to remove it and Dr. Tanaka’s primary concern had been removal, either now or nine months from. Fine’s intentions were a mystery to him. It was possible he wasn’t meant to give birth at all. That this was a disturbing little game meant to kill him. In the car, Jonathan Kent had told him about Fine’s attempt on Martha’s life. Computer or no, Fine seemed to have a taste for the extraneously cruel.
Fine could have recaptured them easily. Leaving Kent to his own devices could be the logical result of that failed plan. Leaving Lex, when the experiment was clearly unfinished, was unlikely, and Lex still didn’t know if they were meant to escape.
“Lex!”
He groaned inwardly at the sound of his father’s voice and shut the laptop.
“Good to see you, finally. The board members were worried “
“I was busy with a personal project. I trust Mercy kept business running smoothly in my absence,” he replied coolly.
“She’s certainly a… forceful young woman,” Lionel said with an unmistakable distain.
Lex smirked. He was sure Mercy had thoroughly frightened the board members without having to throw a punch. She was quite good at that as well.
“Lex, your choices have me worried for your future.”
Lex began to rub his temple and looked away as though bored. Lionel frowned and continued.
“Fatherly concern.” He walked around to the bar and helped himself to a drink. Lex wondered how he was going to cover his lack of indulgence in the following months. He was getting to be known as quite the alcoholic at work, not that this was a new development in the slightest. The first thing he’d done when Jonathan had dropped him off the previous day had been to pour himself a scotch. He would have to break that habit. Have the bar in his office in Metropolis switched out with juice. This one as well, and have the servants check the nooks and crannies for hidden bottles…
“Lex, are you listening?”
“I have a lot on my mind.”
“I was saying,” Lionel said with force. He disliked repeating himself. “You are young, Lex. You forget that sometimes. You may not be able to handle what’s to come.”
Lex suppressed a shudder. “So this is the weekly undercutting of my ego? So sorry I tuned out.”
“I’m trying to give you advice.” He took a drink.
Wonder where I got the alcoholism, Lex thought to himself. Then he began to wonder what other fatherly traits the unfortunate bastard in his belly would be treated to if Lex lived through this pregnancy.
“You look horrible. What’s wrong with you?” Lionel demanded drawing nearer to inspect his son. Lex was going to have to do something about his appearance. People were going to notice. They were going to notice.
Okay, now it was hitting him.
“Nothing is wrong with me. I’m a little overworked, which I admit sounds bizarre from someone who just ‘took off’ a few weeks without any notice, but this was really a project I wasn’t at liberty to decline.”
“I trust you won’t be coming into work looking like this.”
You work for me, you asshole! Lex considered throwing something. The bottle of scotch. Or a sword. He wondered how soon he could start blaming that on hormones. “Years of the Metropolis and Princeton scenes have taught me how to cover illness or exhaustion.”
“Good. You don’t want to appear weak in front of your peers.”
“I know better than that.” Oh, good… whatever. I’m in over my head here.
Just then Clark walked in. Lex raised his brows in surprise. He was carrying something wrapped in foil.
“Hey. Um, my mom sent me over to see how you were doing?” Clark looked more anxious than he had any reason to unless he was afraid Lex would start sniffing him again. He made an executive decision to stay at his desk.
“Lex assures me he has a clean bill of health, other than being tired,” Lionel supplied. Lex inwardly cheered for not having to lie to Clark right now. Lionel was easy. Clark was a minefield of issues, and he really was wearing down quickly. It had something to do with his blood sugars and pressures and other things to do with this ridiculous pregnancy, which he’d been too overwhelmed to sort out this morning.
“Is that a pie? Your mother sent me pie?” Lex asked incredulously. To his surprise, he could smell it from where he sat. A womb and an increased olfactory sense. Surely he was the most blessed alien abductee in the history of little green men.
Clark bit his lip and grinned widely. “It’s apple. She said she remembered you liking her apple pie.”
“I like apples in general.”
“She’s worried about you. She said you were just, way too pale and skinny. So. Pie.”
Lex laughed. “That’s very sweet.”
“I wasn’t aware the two of you were on such good terms.” Lionel’s eyes raked over the two of them critically.
Clark shot Lionel a hard look, one that Lex hadn’t been aware that the boy was capable of. He never even looked at Lex with that much venom. “Since my life is no business of yours, I’m not surprised.”
“I mean no offense, of course. Simply, a man of your age should be careful of the company he keeps.”
“How does my age have anything to do with it? Is Lex gonna give me a bad rep? Say, worse than spending time with a convicted murderer would?”
Lex looked at Clark with quirked lips. He covered his smile a bit and leaned back watching Clark take on his father. He was incredibly sexy standing up to him like that.
Not sexy. NOT SEXY, Lex berated himself.
“I only came by to check on Lex. We can discuss this later,” Lionel said.
“Yeah, but we won’t.” Clark shot before Lionel left the room. Lex suppressed the urge to meow fiercely. It would have perfectly supplemented Clark’s banter. Clark looked at Lex and rolled his eyes. “Um. What?”
“You. All grown up and trading barbs with the bad guys. Have any for me?”
“You don’t get barbs unless you do something naughty.”
He could see the cringe on Clark’s face for having said that. “Mm. You tempt me.”
“I don’t do as well with you anyway. You’re dad isn’t nearly as clever.” Clark walked up to his desk and set the pie down. He took a seat. “Not as much as he thinks he is, anyway. Are you really alright?”
“Everything seems to be working,” he replied vaguely. Oh, god. Clark-smell. Better than the pie. He crossed his legs. “How’s your father? Is he alright?”
The sudden idea that Jonathan might be pregnant as well horrified him. He shut his eyes against the mental image and willed it not to be true.
“He’s great. We, uh, haven’t taken him to the doctor yet, but he’s a lot more energetic than he was before.” Clark shifted uncomfortably. “He reamed me out for dropping out this semester.”
“I think you had a good reason,” Lex said softly. “Losing him was hard on you.”
“I uh… Thanks for calling. I mean, you know I was screening you.”
“It was pretty obvious. I don’t blame you. If I hadn’t run against him, he might not have-“
“He has a heart condition, Lex. That’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
Lex struggled to regain control of his nether regions and sat up at his desk. “How can his bad heart be your fault? He’s getting older. These things happen.”
“He didn’t start having heart problems until I ran away.”
Lex frowned. He considered telling how logically unsound that conclusion was. Ex hoc, ergo, propter hoc... This probably wasn’t what Clark needed to hear. “Does blaming yourself help it hurt less?”
“What? No.”
“Then I don’t see the purpose of blaming yourself. If he had died, it would only mean that his heart had given out. Not that you are some way responsible for that. You can’t be responsible for every life, Clark. People have to be responsible for their own.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Probably not.” Lex was glad to see that won him a smile.
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
“So am I.”
Another smile. Very good. “I didn’t even notice you were gone.”
That stung. Lex said nothing and watched Clark’s face. When he didn’t say anything, Clark spoke again. “I don’t want our friendship to die. We’ve been through too much together. I want to understand why you’re doing the things you do.”
“I honestly don’t believe you’d believe any explanation I came up with for you.”
“Maybe if you were straight with me about things-“
“Ditto.”
Clark sighed. Lex reached over into his desk and came out with a knife. Clark’s eyes bulged.
“I’m going to cut the pie, not you. Idiot.” He pulled the lip of the pan over with a finger and tore off the foil hoping the smell of the pie would drown out Clark’s scent. He cut it deftly and offered Clark a piece.
“I don’t have a fork.”
Lex made a scoffing noise and scooped a piece into his hand. He bit down halfway into the slice, causing the pie goo to ooze out all over his hand. “Oh, good god, that’s the best.”
Clark doubled over laughing. Lex licked goo broadly off his fingers.
“I really haven’t eaten all day. I’d forgotten that,” he said before taking another bite.
“See, this is why my mom sends you food.” Clark took his own piece and began to inhale it. Lex rose and made his way to the bar. “Scotch and pie?”
“Mm. More like sparkling water and pie. I don’t have any milk over here, unfortunately. I’ll have to remedy that.” Random pie deliveries seemed like a good enough reason as any to stock milk and juice instead of alcohol. He brought over the bottle and two glasses.
The two sat in relative silence, devouring the pie and washing it down with the sparkling water. Clark grinned across the desk at Lex, who had a large blob of pie goop on the side of his face.
“Hold on, you got…. Here.” Lex leaned over the desk and wiped it off with his finger.
Clark licked it off his fingers. “Mmm. You taste good.”
Lex pinched his mouth in amusement. “Do I?”
“Yep.” Clark picked up the empty plate and licked it with his tongue. Lex laughed watching him, feeling more relaxed than he had in months.
“I taste like apple pie?”
“The best pie in the county.”
He bit his lower lip and tried not to think of the implications of that.
“Because you are and always have been a sex god. It’s what got us into this mess.” Clark gave him a soft playbite on the neck so slowly and tentatively that Lex couldn’t help but laugh.
Damn alien hormones!
“I uh…”
“You should go,” Lex said with a spreading smirk.
“Yeah. I…” Clark started to put his hands in his pockets before realizing they were covered in pie leavings. Lex offered him a handkerchief. “Thanks. Can we talk sometime? I don’t know what to say, but we should really…”
“Talk.”
“Yeah.”
“I think that would be okay. You might want to call first.” Lex wanted to let that cute disappointed look last a little longer. He wondered why that would be so crushing to Clark to have to call. “To be sure I’m here. I’ll be in Metropolis more often.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks for sharing my pie.” Lex couldn’t resist saying. Clark blushed. Blushed! As he left, Lex congratulated himself on not pouncing on the young man like a cat in heat.
He got up and locked the door. Walking idly back to his desk, he snatched several tissues. Before he returned to making the plans he would need to get through with this… process, he needed a little relief.
In his office chair, Lex rolled his eyes to the sky, ignored his guilt, and thought of Clark working shirtless. He sincerely hoped this wouldn’t become a regular part of his reconciliation with Clark. Assuming it lasted any time at all.
(Yes, I'm still primarily working on YMMS.)
Title: Must Be Dreaming
Series/WIP: Sequel to So Much Dreaming
Pairing: Clex!
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Lex thinks that he must be dreaming when he meets up with Jonathan Kent in a spaceship.
Spoilers: Through S5, after Cyborg.
Warnings: MPREG!!
Part One
Lex struggled with waking on the cold, hard metallic surface. He was still too woozy to open his eyes completely, too sore, too sick, somehow. He felt off. He felt like someone had turned him inside out and back again. He arched his back and started to drift back into unconsciousness.
“Lex!” A voice hissed. He fought to open his eyes. He was being shaken now and that helped. He tried to move, then doubled over in pain on his side.
“Oh, fuck!”
“Shh!” The hands clasped over his mouth and steadied him. He dragged one eye half open and blinked a few times, trying to focus. The hands moved, and he looked on in confusion. Jonathan Kent looked back at him intensely. He was completely naked.
“Dreaming…” He muttered in irritation, closing his eyes again. His dreams were really getting to be ridiculous.
“You aren’t dreaming, son. You have to wake up.”
He opened his eyes again and tried to move and then had to bite his lip to keep from crying out. Jonathan helped him to sit up and he looked around. They were in a very cold, very white laboratory of some kind. He was on a metal operating table. He was also very naked.
My subconscious hates me, Lex decided. He moved to swing his feet around the side, but it simply hurt too much.
“What’s going on?” he asked softly.
“Don’t know. I been here a while. He hasn’t done much with me, but a few weeks ago he dragged you in here. I was never able to get close, y’know, but he operated on you a lot.”
“Who?”
Jonathan hesitated. Lex considered treating this as real, since he figured even in a situation that demanded they work together, Jonathan Kent probably wouldn’t trust him. He rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth as he slowly eased himself to his feet… then had to stop. His stomach lurched at the movement, and he felt he might puke from the pain.
“Maybe you should stay still…”
“I trust my body can handle it. It’s handled everything else I’ve thrown at it in the past several years.” He pressed a hand to the table trying not to fall over. “Besides, if Milton Fine wanted to kill me, he’s had ample opportunity up until now.”
“Oh… you know him.”
“Not in his capacity as a history professor, unfortunately.” He kept one hand to his stomach. It felt as though his insides might spill out over Jonathan’s bare feet. Although, as far as he could determine, there were no stitches, no scars. “You said he was oper- no. We… need to get out of here first.”
“All the doors are locked. I mean, they don’t open.”
“Do they have handles?” Lex peered over at the door.
“See, that’s the problem,” the older man said wryly.
“Huh. Let me get to the control panel, and we’ll see what I can do.” He moved slowly, and Jonathan seemed confused as to whether he should help or back off. Lex could have used the help; as it was, he had to keep on hand on the table to move at all, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to beg for it. When he reached the end of the table, he launched himself across the distance between and caught himself on the ledge of the consol, making his lip bleed in his attempt not to scream. He leaned on it heavily and looked over the controls. Lex turned his head and regarded Jonathan suspiciously. “Why would he leave us here to escape?”
“I sure haven’t been able to,” Jonathan said with a little heat. Lex tilted his head.
“You’ll understand if I don’t quite trust you. When Fine was investigating my company, we often found him impersonating one of our guards before killing the rest.”
“… that thing can change shape?” Jonathan asked, his lip curling.
“Which you would know if you were him.” Lex continued to watch his face and listen to his voice.
“Can you really be thinking that I’m that monster?”
“I’ll reserve my judgment. I’m surprised, however, that you haven’t accused me.” Lex turned to the panel and looked over the controls. He realized that they were in that language from the caves. Alright. Now I know I’m dreaming. Why couldn’t I have been in here naked with Lois? Or Clark?
“Listen, Luthor. I haven’t done anything to you-“
“You shouldn’t be doing anything at all. The last time I saw you was in your coffin.” Lex looked over the symbols, trying to find one that might be familiar. Might stand for door.
“Coffin? You thought I was dead?”
“You did have a heart attack.” That one? He remembered one pointed toward the secret room in the caves. He tried it. The door opened, to his surprise. “I cannot be that good. This is a trap.”
He stepped towards the door then his knees buckled. Jonathan caught him. “Easy there. I haven’t accused you, y’know, because I saw him take you in here and cut you up fresh every day. I don’t know what you are, but you aren’t like him.”
What you are, hm? Lex pressed his lips together. Mr. Kent had always looked at him as a Luthor, not a freak. Now he would look at him as both. Lex drew all the inflection and emotion out of his voice. “I think what I am should be pretty clear, given the town in which we live.”
It hurt Lex’s pride to have to lean on Jonathan Kent, since he knew that he probably helped only as a matter of survival and might have left him otherwise. The two men said nothing as they stepped through the doorway, which entered into a smaller room, with a circular dais in the middle. Lex looked over it critically then turned to face Mr. Kent questioningly.
“Hell, I dunno.”
“I’ll try it. If I don’t catch fire, you can follow.”
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. I’ve survived being set on fire before.”
Jonathan raised his chin and spoke in his most calm ‘you need to think about this, young man’ voice. “You don’t know what’s gonna to happen.”
Lex moved to leave Jonathan’s supporting arm. “No… but I know that whatever Fine has for me, I don’t want it.”
“Then we can both go.”
“I can’t accept that.”
“You think I’m Fine, right? What difference does it make?”
“Because if you aren’t, you have a wife and son at home who care about you and need you to come home,” Lex insisted. Jonathan frowned and held onto him tightly.
“There’s no way I’m gonna be able to get out of here without you. He left me out of my cell whenever he wasn’t operating on you. I never figured that out.”
Lex lifted a brow. “I don’t know how you could have possibly known. Maybe he left us alone because he thought we would be too stupid to get away.”
“Maybe.”
Lex sighed in resignation. “Let’s go then.”
They stepped onto the dais together.
***
Lex could never quite verbalize the sensation afterward, but he knew he was, in essence, pulled apart at the seams and then put back together somewhere. In the middle of nowhere. Naked. With Jonathan Kent. And the moment he stopped being here and started being there, he passed out cold.
The next thing he knew, Jonathan was tugging a sweater onto him, half talking to himself about why he had to be stuck with Lex of all people, who would faint on him at the drop of the hat. Then he berated himself, since Lex had managed to open the door, and after all, Lex had survived quite a lot and saved Clark quite a few times, and with all those times Fine had cut him up, well, it was probably natural for him to just drop off like that.
“Wuhra be?” Lex asked, sounding like he had marbles in his mouth… or like he was incredibly high. His abdomen still hurt, but he felt like he might be able to move. When he tried, Kent pushed him down.
“What did you say?”
“Where. Are. We?” he repeated slowly to make sure he was still speaking English. He noticed a cut on the man’s hand, still fresh. The scent of the man’s blood filled his nostrils. Okay, not throwing up was beginning to take quite a bit of his concentration. “And please let me up.”
“A field, and no, I think you should stay put. You’re the color of milk.”
“I’m going to puke.”
Jonathan turned and tossed up his hands. Lex rolled over, crawled as far as he could, and began heaving impressively, considering how little was on his stomach. He took a moment, wiped his mouth, and then tried to crawl back over where Jonathan was standing.
“W’shu…” He coughed. Jonathan was in a crouching position, listening to him. “Sorry.”
“Son, seriously. You didn’t just watch someone get sliced on regular for days. I think you have a little room to not feel well.”
“Could you tell what he was doing?”
He shook his head. “I’m a farmer, not a doctor.”
Lex sighed again and tried to keep the dizziness from getting to him. “All right. We should try to keep moving. I don’t know if he’ll bother to come after us, or if… he had a plan, but we can’t just sit here and let him take us.”
Jonathan nodded. He offered Lex a hand and pulled him to his feet. The boy was recuperating awfully fast. Though, that was no longer news. He’d seen him heal from Fine’s mad surgery so quickly; Fine’d had to re-cut him several times during a long surgery to keep him open. Together the two men began to walk slowly towards the highway.
“This would be faster without me,” Lex drawled with a noncommittal air.
“Not leaving you.”
“Clark and your wife really need you. I’m not kidding.” Lex fielded Jonathan’s harsh look with a serious but unreadable mask. “Clark dropped out of school.”
“What?” Anger registered on his features.
“They offered the senate position to Mrs. Kent, and she’s doing okay. But well, for one thing that means that Clark needs some guidance, and with you dead and Mrs. Kent busy, he doesn’t have it. I don’t really know what he’s up to, besides breaking into random warehouses of mine. I should stop him, but he hasn’t caused too much trouble for me so I’ve let it go. At least he isn’t breaking into other businesses who will prosecute.” Lex took a deep breath. Jonathan’s nostrils flared.
“There’s worse?”
”My father… I’d talk to Mrs. Kent if she were at all receptive to me, but she isn’t, and he’s… he can talk his way out of anything.” Lex paused. His face opened then asked suddenly. “Did he have anything to do with your heart attack?”
“No more than I let him.” Jonathan shook his head at Lex’s concerned face, noting his worry. The boy still felt responsible for his father’s actions. He had to admit the thought wasn’t comfortable. “I let him get under my skin, when I should’ve taken my own advice and shrugged it off.” He grinned. “Punched him but good, though.”
Lex grinned. “Well... Good.”
“What about your father and Martha?” he demanded.
“You know he wants her. He comes around the farm, and I don’t know why she lets him. He may have something on you, or he’s just trying to coerce her. I don’t know, but she needs you there to back her up.”
Jonathan nodded. “We’re gonna make it home and make things right.”
Lex tried to keep pace with Jonathan and told himself again that he must be dreaming. At least now they both had some fucking clothing.
***
Lex woke again to the sounds of crying and joyful laughter and slowly became aware of his surroundings once again. He blinked. He was sitting in the passenger seat of a semi, wearing a sweater and loose flannel and blue jeans, all too big. He also had a worn ball cap over his head. He reached for the handle and nearly fell out the side before catching himself.
“Your son’s awake.” A tall, heavyset man announced, moving over to spot him as he made another attempt.
“Easy easy.” Jonathan rushed over and grabbed one of his hands, helping him down. Martha opened her mouth in shock, exchanging a look with Clark.
“Jonathan?” she asked cautiously. He steered Lex towards the house and gave the trucker a firm handshake.
“I can’t thank you enough for getting me and my boy home, Joel. If you ever need anything, give us a call.”
Lex raised his brows at his apparent adoption. He must look extremely pitiful.
Joel gave them a wide grin through thick lips. “No problem. You be more careful, next time you’re in the city.”
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Martha asked. “Or pie? Oh… um. I don’t have anything ready, but I could-“
“Nah, nah thanks. Got to make some time.” He waved them off, gave Lex a cuff on the shoulder. “Watch yourself, scrapper.”
Scrapper? “I’ll sure try,” he said, drawling out the words. A smile spread on Jonathan’s lips.
“Can you make it?” he asked quietly. Clark looked on cautiously.
“Think so,” Lex replied.
The Kents were silent until they made it into the house.
“What the hell did he do to you?” Clark grabbed Lex by the flannel collar, but he was clearly addressing his father. Lex hung limply and pursed his lips at the typicality of it.
“Clark! Let him go. Now.” Clark dropped him. His knees gave, and he was on the floor. Jonathan shot Clark a disapproving look before kneeling beside Lex. “Dammit, son. What are you thinking?”
Lex stayed put and felt Jonathan’s hand on his shoulder. “I’m all right.”
“I don’t really believe that.”
“I heal fast,” Lex said simply. He removed the cap and rubbed the line pressed into his head. Yet again, Jonathan helped him up, but steered him to a real chair and gave him a look that suggested he’d better stay put.
“Can someone please explain what happened?” Martha asked, moving to Jonathan’s side and holding onto him tightly.
Lex answered her. “I think we got abducted by aliens.”
“Or something made by them.” Jonathan put in meaningfully to Clark. Now that was intriguing.
“Milton Fine?” Clark moved closer to the group, still keeping an eye on Lex, who simply leaned back and placed a hand on his stomach. Still throbbing, but not rolling, at least.
Jonathan raised his brows in alarm. “Do you need to-?”
Lex shook his head. “I promise you; I feel a lot better.”
“Dad…”
“He saved my life,” Jonathan said firmly. Lex creased his nose with a half-smile.
“I opened a door.”
“One I was stumped at for months.” He countered. Lex simply shrugged. He wasn’t inclined to share how he knew which symbol indicated a door. Discussions of the cave often ended in angry shouting and perhaps punches.
“Maybe I should get us something to drink? And then you can tell us what happened.” Martha said, heading to the kitchen.
“Maybe we should find a way to prove to Lex I’m not Milton Fine,” Jonathan suggested.
“Why would he think that?”
“Apparently Fine can change shape. Clark, did you ever seen him…?”
“Shapeshift?” Clark looked to Lex then back to his father. “No. That’s… weird.”
“There’s no need anyway. I saw you cut your hand earlier,” Lex said softly.
“He doesn’t bleed?” Jonathan asked.
“Not as far as Chloe and I could tell,” Clark confirmed. “He got um… impaled on something.”
“Well, he seems to be doing just fine now,” Jonathan said. Martha came back with a pitcher of lemonade. “Now, should the senator of Kansas be serving us drinks?”
“Oh, Jonathan.” She set the pitcher down and wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m sorry you had to do that.”
“It wasn’t your fault, and it hasn’t been bad, other than some of the people I work with… Oh, god. I’m so glad you’re back.” She kissed him on the lips, and Jonathan put his arms around her waist. They excused themselves for a moment, and Lex nodded in their direction. He was glad that Martha could have him back, and especially glad that his father wouldn’t have such easy access to the mourning woman. Lex leaned forward and sipped his glass of lemonade, feeling dizzy. He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. Clark pulled up a chair beside him.
“You okay?”
“Been better. Been worse.”
“You look like shit.”
“Tactful as always, Clark,” Lex returned. “I’ll go along with whatever story you want to tell people. However, you will have to come up with something, as two Kents returning from the dead within the same year is going to appear extremely bizarre.”
Clark looked concerned, but said nothing.
“Personally, I’d go for a hospital mix up. Falsify some documents to claim that they buried a Jon Doe as a Jon Kent, whereby he was in a coma but generally misplaced until he woke up and corrected them.”
“How are we going to manage that?” Clark asked looking as though he thought the proposition was ridiculous.
Lex shrugged. “Your mother is a senator. You can pull some strings and get it done. Or I can. I’m more experienced.”
“Yeah.” Clark replied.
Lex put on a thin smile and sipped his lemonade again. The dizziness wasn’t going away, but the nausea was gone. And something, something smelled incredibly good. It wasn’t the lemonade.
“You saved my father’s life. So… thank you.”
”It wasn’t a choice.”
“Well uh… I didn’t know that Fine was uh… interested in you. I mean, other than your company.”
“Why would something made by aliens give a damn about a human CEO?” Lex asked. Clark’s face fell.
“I dunno. This is weird. I… I don’t know what he wants, or what he’s after. He just keeps hurting the people around me.”
“I think he’s after you, Clark.”
Clark shook his head and put on that look wherein Lex knew he thought he was covering something well. Amateur. “I’m not special enough for him to want me. It’s bigger.”
“It is you. Look at the evidence of what he’s done. He separated you and me,” he said, counting on one hand. “Then he separated you from your father. And now, your mother is working in the senate, and you don’t have much access to her.”
“But why?”
”Enemies are generally easier to take down alone.” Lex leaned in close as though he were confiding in Clark. “He’s picking off your support system.”
Clark looked at his feet pensively. Lex drew in the air through his nose, trying to determine what that overwhelming smell was. Was it on Clark? It smelled amazing, like some kind of sweet, musky cologne, but not so nearly as obnoxious as cologne, and he never remembered Clark wearing it before…
“Lex, do you- uh, what are you doing?” Clark jerked when he noticed Lex was sniffing him.
“I…uh…” Lex sat up straight in the chair. He pushed the chair back and put distance between himself and Clark until he hit the counter.
Clark started to laugh. Lex was turning very red, all over his face and there were some splotches on his head, too. The look of irritation on Lex’s face made Clark laugh even harder.
“Do I need a shower?”
“Possibly,” Lex snapped. If it would keep himself from licking Clark’s neck, like he wanted to…
Or pressing his lips against that goofy grin. Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit. He was very thankful for the counter, however. It was the only thing keeping him upright. Clark moved over to him looking unsure of where to put his hands.
“Please don’t.” Lex closed his eyes.
”You look like you’re gonna fall. Let me help.” Clark’s large, strong hands were on his shoulder and on his back. The smell of his old friend overwhelmed him. He couldn’t help but lean in towards his neck. He shivered. It smelled so good. He wanted to press his body up against Clark… He opened his eyes as he felt something brush against his neck.
Clark’s face was awfully close. Had he been… sniffing him back?
“Whoa, there boys. Something wrong?” Jonathan asked, walking back into the kitchen.
“Lex was gonna fall,” Clark said, too quickly. Lex rolled his eyes. Caught making out in the kitchen by his parents.
Jonathan headed to get his coat. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“No! God, no. No hospitals.” Lex leaned on the counter anxiously, wishing Clark would back away more. Jonathan started to speak, but Lex cut him off. “You can guess why. No, I have doctors on staff for matters like this. Ones who know how to be discreet.”
Jonathan looked him over, as though trying to reassess the man before him. “I understand. At least let me take you home. You’ll call your doctors right away.”
It was strange to have someone who had once told him to shrivel up and die insisting he look after himself. “Of course. Though, for all I know, Fine was just performing a little alien autopsy on a living specimen.”
Clark recoiled at the suggestion. Good.
“Sorry. I forget that you normal people don’t always appreciate dark humor like that. I guarantee you, though, Toby will be laughing his ass off at this. He calls all my check-ups alien autopsies.”
Clark stepped back again and hooked his thumbs into his pockets uncomfortably. “That’s creepy.”
“That’s my life.” He moved toward Jonathan, keeping one hand on the counter and putting more distance between himself and the young man whose clothes he wanted to peel off.
Clark caught him in another kiss. Lex felt a slight chill as his body responded to Clark’s invitation. He kissed back. At first the pressure from one set of lips to the other was gentle; it was enough. Soon Lex dragged his tongue across the bottom of Clark’s lower lip and pushed deeper. He shivered again and felt himself become uncomfortably hard.
Stop stop stop.
“I uh… I’ll try to keep an eye out for Fine. I haven’t been able to find him since his ship disappeared. I assume you know about that since Chloe snuck into my warehouse.”
“We heard, but we’ve never seen it,” Martha said, becoming businesslike about this.
Lex nodded. “I was trying to analyze it, but we never got it open, unfortunately. I’m sorry I don’t have more information. I’ll keep looking.”
“Maybe you should just drop it,” Clark suggested quickly.
“Fine isn’t here on a peaceful mission, Clark. He faked your father’s death and tried to kill your mother. He abducted me. And he’s killed dozens of my security guards. That isn’t even mentioning the two that came with him.” Lex’s expression begged Clark to listen and understand. “They tossed me around like a rag doll and could shoot fire out of their eyes, and they almost killed Lana. These aren’t cute fuzzy visitors from another planet. They are obviously here to conquer. We don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of their plans.”
“Just because they’re alien doesn’t mean they’re evil.”
Lex shook his head tiredly. “I didn’t say they were. Not inherently. I fully acknowledge the possibility that some of their species might be against aggression. We humans certainly have our split on that… but the ones we’ve dealt with so far are dangerous and have ill intent towards us. We can’t afford to ignore that.”
He waited for some kind of answer from Clark, but, getting none, he headed outside.
***
By the next day, Lex was fairly convinced that he was not dreaming this whole experience. He sat in his office chair, rereading the lab reports on his laptop from the tests to which he’d submitted himself that morning. He’d been right. Toby did laugh, but he was equally shocked and a little confused. Lex himself wasn’t terribly taken aback by his condition, although he was willing to admit that perhaps he hadn’t been hit with the full impact of his situation quite yet. He had been speaking with his project leader at Genesis Industries regarding having something similar done, but his plans were to be put into action years later.
He wasn’t sure he was ready now, and these were definitely not the circumstances that he imagined for… starting this process. The timing was wrong; the players involved were wrong. Given the plans of Milton Fine, if this indeed was to do with him, Lex was most likely in danger. Part of a larger plan. And Lex didn’t want to be part of anyone’s master plan but his own.
Or maybe Fine was just trying to distract him. Which was certainly working, if that were the case. He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure of anything.
Except that the tests told him that he was approximately twenty-two days pregnant with a baby something that had nestled into some kind of mutant womb made of tightly woven blood vessels. He would be going into the lab again the next day, likely almost every day this week, to investigate. However, their first prognosis had stated any attempt to abort would leave him at a high risk of bleeding out before they could repair the damage. Even his own mutant abilities might not save him.
Would he have aborted? Probably. It was the pragmatic thing to do, since he didn’t know anything about this fetus, really. Save for the fact that his alien robot enemy had decided to implant it inside him, or that it would kill him to remove it and Dr. Tanaka’s primary concern had been removal, either now or nine months from. Fine’s intentions were a mystery to him. It was possible he wasn’t meant to give birth at all. That this was a disturbing little game meant to kill him. In the car, Jonathan Kent had told him about Fine’s attempt on Martha’s life. Computer or no, Fine seemed to have a taste for the extraneously cruel.
Fine could have recaptured them easily. Leaving Kent to his own devices could be the logical result of that failed plan. Leaving Lex, when the experiment was clearly unfinished, was unlikely, and Lex still didn’t know if they were meant to escape.
“Lex!”
He groaned inwardly at the sound of his father’s voice and shut the laptop.
“Good to see you, finally. The board members were worried “
“I was busy with a personal project. I trust Mercy kept business running smoothly in my absence,” he replied coolly.
“She’s certainly a… forceful young woman,” Lionel said with an unmistakable distain.
Lex smirked. He was sure Mercy had thoroughly frightened the board members without having to throw a punch. She was quite good at that as well.
“Lex, your choices have me worried for your future.”
Lex began to rub his temple and looked away as though bored. Lionel frowned and continued.
“Fatherly concern.” He walked around to the bar and helped himself to a drink. Lex wondered how he was going to cover his lack of indulgence in the following months. He was getting to be known as quite the alcoholic at work, not that this was a new development in the slightest. The first thing he’d done when Jonathan had dropped him off the previous day had been to pour himself a scotch. He would have to break that habit. Have the bar in his office in Metropolis switched out with juice. This one as well, and have the servants check the nooks and crannies for hidden bottles…
“Lex, are you listening?”
“I have a lot on my mind.”
“I was saying,” Lionel said with force. He disliked repeating himself. “You are young, Lex. You forget that sometimes. You may not be able to handle what’s to come.”
Lex suppressed a shudder. “So this is the weekly undercutting of my ego? So sorry I tuned out.”
“I’m trying to give you advice.” He took a drink.
Wonder where I got the alcoholism, Lex thought to himself. Then he began to wonder what other fatherly traits the unfortunate bastard in his belly would be treated to if Lex lived through this pregnancy.
“You look horrible. What’s wrong with you?” Lionel demanded drawing nearer to inspect his son. Lex was going to have to do something about his appearance. People were going to notice. They were going to notice.
Okay, now it was hitting him.
“Nothing is wrong with me. I’m a little overworked, which I admit sounds bizarre from someone who just ‘took off’ a few weeks without any notice, but this was really a project I wasn’t at liberty to decline.”
“I trust you won’t be coming into work looking like this.”
You work for me, you asshole! Lex considered throwing something. The bottle of scotch. Or a sword. He wondered how soon he could start blaming that on hormones. “Years of the Metropolis and Princeton scenes have taught me how to cover illness or exhaustion.”
“Good. You don’t want to appear weak in front of your peers.”
“I know better than that.” Oh, good… whatever. I’m in over my head here.
Just then Clark walked in. Lex raised his brows in surprise. He was carrying something wrapped in foil.
“Hey. Um, my mom sent me over to see how you were doing?” Clark looked more anxious than he had any reason to unless he was afraid Lex would start sniffing him again. He made an executive decision to stay at his desk.
“Lex assures me he has a clean bill of health, other than being tired,” Lionel supplied. Lex inwardly cheered for not having to lie to Clark right now. Lionel was easy. Clark was a minefield of issues, and he really was wearing down quickly. It had something to do with his blood sugars and pressures and other things to do with this ridiculous pregnancy, which he’d been too overwhelmed to sort out this morning.
“Is that a pie? Your mother sent me pie?” Lex asked incredulously. To his surprise, he could smell it from where he sat. A womb and an increased olfactory sense. Surely he was the most blessed alien abductee in the history of little green men.
Clark bit his lip and grinned widely. “It’s apple. She said she remembered you liking her apple pie.”
“I like apples in general.”
“She’s worried about you. She said you were just, way too pale and skinny. So. Pie.”
Lex laughed. “That’s very sweet.”
“I wasn’t aware the two of you were on such good terms.” Lionel’s eyes raked over the two of them critically.
Clark shot Lionel a hard look, one that Lex hadn’t been aware that the boy was capable of. He never even looked at Lex with that much venom. “Since my life is no business of yours, I’m not surprised.”
“I mean no offense, of course. Simply, a man of your age should be careful of the company he keeps.”
“How does my age have anything to do with it? Is Lex gonna give me a bad rep? Say, worse than spending time with a convicted murderer would?”
Lex looked at Clark with quirked lips. He covered his smile a bit and leaned back watching Clark take on his father. He was incredibly sexy standing up to him like that.
Not sexy. NOT SEXY, Lex berated himself.
“I only came by to check on Lex. We can discuss this later,” Lionel said.
“Yeah, but we won’t.” Clark shot before Lionel left the room. Lex suppressed the urge to meow fiercely. It would have perfectly supplemented Clark’s banter. Clark looked at Lex and rolled his eyes. “Um. What?”
“You. All grown up and trading barbs with the bad guys. Have any for me?”
“You don’t get barbs unless you do something naughty.”
He could see the cringe on Clark’s face for having said that. “Mm. You tempt me.”
“I don’t do as well with you anyway. You’re dad isn’t nearly as clever.” Clark walked up to his desk and set the pie down. He took a seat. “Not as much as he thinks he is, anyway. Are you really alright?”
“Everything seems to be working,” he replied vaguely. Oh, god. Clark-smell. Better than the pie. He crossed his legs. “How’s your father? Is he alright?”
The sudden idea that Jonathan might be pregnant as well horrified him. He shut his eyes against the mental image and willed it not to be true.
“He’s great. We, uh, haven’t taken him to the doctor yet, but he’s a lot more energetic than he was before.” Clark shifted uncomfortably. “He reamed me out for dropping out this semester.”
“I think you had a good reason,” Lex said softly. “Losing him was hard on you.”
“I uh… Thanks for calling. I mean, you know I was screening you.”
“It was pretty obvious. I don’t blame you. If I hadn’t run against him, he might not have-“
“He has a heart condition, Lex. That’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
Lex struggled to regain control of his nether regions and sat up at his desk. “How can his bad heart be your fault? He’s getting older. These things happen.”
“He didn’t start having heart problems until I ran away.”
Lex frowned. He considered telling how logically unsound that conclusion was. Ex hoc, ergo, propter hoc... This probably wasn’t what Clark needed to hear. “Does blaming yourself help it hurt less?”
“What? No.”
“Then I don’t see the purpose of blaming yourself. If he had died, it would only mean that his heart had given out. Not that you are some way responsible for that. You can’t be responsible for every life, Clark. People have to be responsible for their own.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Probably not.” Lex was glad to see that won him a smile.
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
“So am I.”
Another smile. Very good. “I didn’t even notice you were gone.”
That stung. Lex said nothing and watched Clark’s face. When he didn’t say anything, Clark spoke again. “I don’t want our friendship to die. We’ve been through too much together. I want to understand why you’re doing the things you do.”
“I honestly don’t believe you’d believe any explanation I came up with for you.”
“Maybe if you were straight with me about things-“
“Ditto.”
Clark sighed. Lex reached over into his desk and came out with a knife. Clark’s eyes bulged.
“I’m going to cut the pie, not you. Idiot.” He pulled the lip of the pan over with a finger and tore off the foil hoping the smell of the pie would drown out Clark’s scent. He cut it deftly and offered Clark a piece.
“I don’t have a fork.”
Lex made a scoffing noise and scooped a piece into his hand. He bit down halfway into the slice, causing the pie goo to ooze out all over his hand. “Oh, good god, that’s the best.”
Clark doubled over laughing. Lex licked goo broadly off his fingers.
“I really haven’t eaten all day. I’d forgotten that,” he said before taking another bite.
“See, this is why my mom sends you food.” Clark took his own piece and began to inhale it. Lex rose and made his way to the bar. “Scotch and pie?”
“Mm. More like sparkling water and pie. I don’t have any milk over here, unfortunately. I’ll have to remedy that.” Random pie deliveries seemed like a good enough reason as any to stock milk and juice instead of alcohol. He brought over the bottle and two glasses.
The two sat in relative silence, devouring the pie and washing it down with the sparkling water. Clark grinned across the desk at Lex, who had a large blob of pie goop on the side of his face.
“Hold on, you got…. Here.” Lex leaned over the desk and wiped it off with his finger.
Clark licked it off his fingers. “Mmm. You taste good.”
Lex pinched his mouth in amusement. “Do I?”
“Yep.” Clark picked up the empty plate and licked it with his tongue. Lex laughed watching him, feeling more relaxed than he had in months.
“I taste like apple pie?”
“The best pie in the county.”
He bit his lower lip and tried not to think of the implications of that.
“Because you are and always have been a sex god. It’s what got us into this mess.” Clark gave him a soft playbite on the neck so slowly and tentatively that Lex couldn’t help but laugh.
Damn alien hormones!
“I uh…”
“You should go,” Lex said with a spreading smirk.
“Yeah. I…” Clark started to put his hands in his pockets before realizing they were covered in pie leavings. Lex offered him a handkerchief. “Thanks. Can we talk sometime? I don’t know what to say, but we should really…”
“Talk.”
“Yeah.”
“I think that would be okay. You might want to call first.” Lex wanted to let that cute disappointed look last a little longer. He wondered why that would be so crushing to Clark to have to call. “To be sure I’m here. I’ll be in Metropolis more often.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks for sharing my pie.” Lex couldn’t resist saying. Clark blushed. Blushed! As he left, Lex congratulated himself on not pouncing on the young man like a cat in heat.
He got up and locked the door. Walking idly back to his desk, he snatched several tissues. Before he returned to making the plans he would need to get through with this… process, he needed a little relief.
In his office chair, Lex rolled his eyes to the sky, ignored his guilt, and thought of Clark working shirtless. He sincerely hoped this wouldn’t become a regular part of his reconciliation with Clark. Assuming it lasted any time at all.