Fic: Must Be Dreaming, Part Three
Title: Must Be Dreaming
Series/WIP: Sequel to So Much Dreaming
Pairing: Clex!
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After being abducted by aliens and discovering that Jonathan Kent is alive, Lex must come to grips with his shifting relationship with Clark and an unexpected pregnancy.
Spoilers: Through S5, after Cyborg.
Warnings: MPREG!!
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Lex sat at his desk studiously perusing over estimates and proposals.
His head began to dip.
Elena got up from her chair and walked around to put her hand on his shoulder. “Hon, if you want to do this another day-“
“I’m fine.”
“You look like you aren’t getting enough sleep. You haven’t touched the lunch we ordered in.” She tilted her head in concern. “You really need to be trying to take care of yourself right now.”
“Right now? And why is that?” He narrowed his eyes up at her. She stood up straight and sighed softly, as her eyes curved into triangles worriedly. They flitted over his sitting form. “You know. How do you know? How could you possibly?”
He pushed out his chair and took a step away from her. “Are you working with my father? Milton Fine?”
“Ew. God, no.” She rolled her eyes. “Who’s Milton Fine? No, Lex. I’m working with you.”
She pressed her palms against her tight black dress pants then slid them into her back pockets. “I’m an empath. I got the feelings off you, remember? Meeting you in the store that day, I kind of picked it up. Mostly I just get feelings. I’m not always this sharp… really not, um… with a lot of things, but with you I just knew.”
“An empath,” Lex repeated skeptically.
“Since birth.” She shrugged and stepped closer to him. “Does that help? You still don’t trust me. That’s okay, honey. I understand why you feel that way.”
Lex swayed and caught himself on his desk. “Okay. So you know.”
“You should sit down. I think you’re having a pretty rough time with this,” she said diplomatically. “What I said in the bookstore still applies. I won’t tell anyone... Are you feeling sick? And kinda sore? You seem really worried. Just sit back down, hon, and try to relax.”
He slowly eased back into his seat and nodded. Recently to top off the nausea and exhaustion, he’d been having pains in his back and abdomen. Dr. Tanaka had assured him that it was normal, just cramps, but he needed to reduce his stress and cut back on work. “Is there any way you could give me some pointers?”
Elena smiled and walked back over to the chair she had been occupying. She dragged it next to Lex and sat close to him. “What do you need to know?”
“Ugh. Everything. I’m so lost.” He let himself lean farther back in his chair and tried not to let the cramping get to him, but her eyes went directly to his stomach. “But I can’t really talk to you here. I’m sure my father could be screening the security videos.”
She looked up at the security cameras. “Do you want to go somewhere?”
“I’m not up for it right now. Besides, we need to look at your proposal while I’m still conscious.”
“Don’t worry about that. I mean, if you decide no, then it’s no. I’ll still help you. No one should have to go through this alone.”
“I appreciate that, but from what I’ve seen so far you have fairly good business acumen. I think we should definitely be working with you. As you said, we’re always in need of good PR. I’m not so sure about…Roffle?”
“Yeah, he has no sense. I have to make sure he pays his rent,” she said bluntly. “Though I can’t speak much for my own ‘business acumen’ when I get knocked up with no one to take over for me.”
“Heh. Ditto.” Lex rubbed his fingers over the front of his shirt. She snorted. “I think we’re going to have to have a meeting with all the tenants of that building and decide what to do. If the business is going to expand, we’re going to want to redo a lot of the wiring and plumbing. The building is old, and it could be dangerous right now.”
“We’ve had a few minor explosions and fires,” she confirmed. He nodded.
“See, that’s a liability for us.” He watched her stand and motion for him to keep talking as she began to mess with their plates. “We’ll have to get in and do some repairs.”
“I’m pretty sure I can get everyone to agree to that. We asked Reg to do it, but he’s old and can’t afford it. And we can’t afford more rent, so…”
“Well, it’s a landlord’s job to keep that up. We’ll be fixing that straight away. Then we’ll need to get together with the shop owners and decide what additional remodeling needs to be done. We won’t charge you for that, but I want to make sure the businesses are in good order to keep open. We’ll probably end up lowering your rent, too, but I don’t want to promise right away. What Reg was asking seems a little high for the property values in the area. What are you doing?”
“Taking the breading off this chicken and breaking it into smaller pieces. Higher protein might help. The chicken here, and maybe some of the grapes. Try that.” She scooted the plate closer to him. “The first twelve are really important. You need to try to eat. I mean, I’m guessing from our two meetings that you’re having a problem with that.”
“Okay, mom.”
“Damn straight.” She smirked and picked some food off of her own plate. “Is your doctor giving you anything?”
“Vitamins.” He took a small piece and experimentally chewed it. He grimaced and tried to force it down. Elena was soon rubbing his shoulder. She was one of the nosiest women he’d ever met… who he didn’t actually want to kill.
“I’m guessing your doc knows which ones to give. Vitamins are supposed to help. They can prescribe medications, too. Though I didn’t have it much at all.”
“Bitch.”
“I know! My friend Maureena called me worse than that when I kept telling her it wasn’t bothering me. Great genes there, eh?” She laughed a little proudly and then started to cut her own chicken breast and dig in. “I’d also suggest getting a protein snack before bed and keeping some crackers or fruit on you. And eat breakfast in bed before you try to get up and move around.”
“I thought you didn’t have that problem.”
“I didn’t, but that didn’t keep Maureena from running her enormous mouth about hers when she was preggers.”
“Well, I’m glad she did.” He took another piece, chewed slowly, and drank some water. Elena grabbed a piece of paper.
“What’s your screenname? I’ll ping you, and you can ask her some questions. Plus, I have a book I borrowed from her.”
“I can’t tell you how much this helps already,” he said, writing down his name: baldthunder666. She laughed out loud at the name.
“Well, I think it’s just a relief not to be alone with it. Support’s really important.”
“Take my cell number, too. So, where’s Mr. Luciano?”
“Mr Luciano would be my father, in jail. My last boyfriend was a moron, who split on me,” she replied honestly. “I wasn’t so much in love with him as I thought. I think I’m swinging back to girls again. I’ve missed being with Maureena.”
“Oh?” Lex asked with a raise of his eyebrows.
“Yeah, but Maureena went domestic on me. Had two adorable brats with this guy who moved in with all of us then got shot one night out in the streets.” Elena explained matter-of-factly.
“I see.”
“Does that seem strange to you?”
“I’m by far not the person to consult on what constitutes as strange these days.”
She grinned and tried to force more chicken on him.
***
Seeing Lionel stalk around his desk was really the last thing that Lex wanted at the moment. He was tired from his morning meetings. Not that he hadn’t been tired before, but now everything was practically fuzzy around him. He thought he might brave the helicopter just to get home faster. He really needed to outfit his penthouse… but people in Smallville were just so clueless. It was hard to give up the security of knowing that a good number of the people in the town would think nothing of his burgeoning abdomen and subsequent adoption. It was comforting being on the low end of the weird-o-meter for once, unlike almost anywhere else. Living in Metropolis, he’d surely be restricted to his penthouse until November, whereas in Smallville, he could probably waddle around town much longer.
“You’ve been culling a lot of projects, Lex. Might I remind you that the purpose of a business is to make money,” Lionel said, enunciating the last two words a little excessively.
“I am aware,” Lex replied. His tone was soft in deference to a splitting headache, but he knew it was quite uncharacteristic. Lionel stopped pacing and closed in on Lex’s desk. He reminded Lex of a great cat ready to pounce on his weakened prey.
“You should really consider seeing a doctor.”
“It’s on the top of my to-do list. It’s been a busy day.”
“And if I called an ambulance?”
“You’re overreacting. I wonder what it must be like for you, knowing that I never get sick. We’ve been spoiled.” Lex shook his head and stretched out his shoulders. “The programs that I have cut, I feel them to be too much of a liability to the company. Your arrest did quite a bit of damage to our stock, if you remember.”
“Unlike you, I don’t intend to betray our family.”
“Dad,” Lex said in a falsely affectionate tone. “Shortly before I turned on you, you turned me into the FBI as a scapegoat for a project I wasn’t even working on. Your claims to family solidarity don’t quite ring true.”
Lionel stroked his beard and watched his son drooping in his chair. “You had intentions of convicting me of murder prior to that event.”
“And as far as you knew, I’d forgotten. As would be expected from the ECT. But do you really want to go back that far in the game of who wronged whom?”
Lionel gave him a twisty smile. “You look as though you’re going to fall out of that chair, and you’re still verbally keeping up with me? That bodes well, depending on how long this lasts. I take it that ‘personal project’ is code for your illness.”
“Have you ever known me to stay down long from any injury? I’ll be fine. I should shake this soon.”
“Be sure that you do. There are sharks circling,” Lionel warned.
Lex sighed. “More than you know.”
Lionel raised his brows curiously then frowned at Lex’s silence. “Are you in trouble, Lex?”
Lex opened his mouth and shook his head slowly, uncertain of what to say to that. Metaphorically, Lionel’s child was in ‘trouble,’ as they would have said back in the day. Some people in Smallville still did say.
“Perhaps this isn’t the best time to discuss the cut projects.”
“I have reason to believe that they were misusing our funding,” Lex admitted. It was true for some of them. “Others, as I said, were too risky and not producing enough results. Ultimately, this is my decision to make.”
Lionel tilted his head back a bit. “Fine. But remember, son, this is still LuthorCorp.”
“Last time I checked, I was still a Luthor.”
“Hm.” Lionel turned and headed out of his office. “It’s… interesting to see you back together with Clark.”
Lex watched him leave, wondered how much his father knew, and sat there for a long time finishing paperwork and fretting over his father’s potential involvement in his child’s life.
***
Two hours later, Lex practically crawled out of the helicopter. Elena had told him it was possible for Tanaka to prescribe something for the nausea. He would have to see that she did so immediately. Also, he would have to make sure that he did not ride in this fucking thing again until he was legally a proud poppa.
Lex struggled down the hallway, as tables and picture frames melted lazily into the walls. He felt himself swaying and hit something hard on one side. Then he just slid down to the floor, resting his head to the side. He could just… rest for a little while before going to his office.
Why was it always so fucking cold in this place?
***
With Lex not answering his phone, Clark figured it couldn’t hurt to pop over to the mansion and check things out, even if Lex had asked that he call first these days. After poking around for a few minutes, he found the head butler Domovoi and asked him when Lex was due home.
“He should be home now, Master Clark. His helicopter came by about an hour ago. Perhaps he went out?” The graying, brown-eyed butler appeared a little alarmed. “I should have greeted him at the helicopter. I’ll go check on him now, sir.”
Domovoi practically ran towards the helicopter pad. Clark listened in sharply for bodies on that side of the building. Almost immediately he picked up an accelerated heartbeat and rapid, shallow breathing.
“Why don’t you check down that way?” Clark suggested, waiting just a moment for Domovoi to turn around before he sped to the location where Lex had collapsed against the wall and was shivering as he drew his trembling breaths.
“Lex!” Clark shook him gently. Then again. He shook him and held him and called his name, but Lex did not wake. Carefully, Clark lifted him into his arms and hurried back down the hallway. “Domovoi!”
“Master Clark?” The tall man came running back. “Oh. I’ll call his doctor.”
“Where’s his bedroom? I’ll take him there.”
Clark waited as Domovoi blinked at him.
“He does have a bedroom, doesn’t he?” Clark was momentarily stunned as Domovoi shook his head. “Why the hell doesn’t Lex have a bedroom?!”
***
Martha and Jonathan rushed into the mansion and spotted their son pacing nervously outside the main hallway. Martha swooped in and gave her son a hug.
“I couldn’t wake him, Mom. He’s really sick.”
“He’s going to be okay, hon.” She released him and felt her heart break at the pain and fear evident in Clark’s eyes.
“Lex heals fast, y’know.” His father put in. “I’ve seen him go through an awful lot.”
“It’s different this time, Dad. I’ve never seen him this run down. Do you think Fine did something to him?”
“I know he did; I seen some of it. But what he did, who knows if we’ll ever find out?” Jonathan put a hand on his shoulder. “Just relax, son, and we’ll wait on what the doctor has to say.”
Clark led them to the room where they had decided to put Lex for the time being, a guest room, one of many. This one had been Clark’s. “Mom, how does someone live anywhere without taking a bedroom? That’s just crazy. He devoted a room to me. I mean… no there was that room, then there’s this room that he had set aside for me to stay in if it got to late when I was over studying. Or if I wanted to take a nap. How can he not have his own room?”
“I don’t think he planned on staying here long.”
Clark jumped as he saw Lionel appear, his coattails flapping behind him. Creepy bastard.
“Regardless, Lex has had irregular sleep patterns for quite some time. Don’t fret, son. I’m not here to hurt him. I’m concerned. It’s been obvious at work that Lex has been having a difficult time.” Lionel shook his head. “Lex just wouldn’t confide in me about it. He stridently insisted he was healthy.”
Toby stepped out of the guest room Lex had set aside for Clark and blinked at them all. “Whoa. Lot of you out here.”
“What’s wrong?” Clark demanded. Toby ran a hand through his long hair.
“Not sure. Well, I know he’s pretty dehydrated and his blood pressure is all over the place. He probably hasn’t eaten a decent meal in awhile. Y’know, maybe he has, but the pilot to his helicopter said he was puking all the way home from Metropolis. And he needs some sleep. He’s exhausted, and I don’t mean that lightly man. I mean, like, clinically.”
Martha put her arm around her son. He looked as though he were about to cry.
“I put him on a nutrient drip to start with. If I know Lex, he’ll wake up sometime tonight, then we gotta make sure he stays in bed until he’s strong enough to leave it. That’s the hard part, with him.”
The night passed, and Lex was still lying there quiet and still. A tall, slender Asian woman with pinched lips and a large knot of hair bound tightly at the back of her head came in at one point, shooing them all out so that she could give Lex a check-up, then left after a word with Toby. Martha and Jonathan suggested that Clark stay at the castle so Lex would have someone around when he woke.
Clark nodded absentmindedly, and Domovoi found him a chair. He held Lex’s cold hand in both of his own, trying to warm it up. “Why is he so cold?”
“Blood pressure, man. I told you. Way low.”
“But why? Why would he be having problems like this?” Clark begged. He wished that other doctor were here. She’d barely looked at him, but she seemed to know what she was doing. Toby shrugged and continued to prepare another nutrient drip. Clark watched Lex, and noticed the cord running from under his blankets. He peeked under the covers. “Why the heating pad?”
“Huh? Oh, he was having some pain the last time checked him out. Thought it would help.” Toby leaned down, pulled back the covers, and removed it. He placed his hand gently over Lex’s abdomen. The man winced in his sleep. Toby nodded and rearranged the covers. “Yeah. Poor guy.”
“He has cancer, doesn’t he? It’s a tumor.”
“No, man. It’s not cancer. Believe me, he gets screened often enough for it.” Toby reached over to the dresser and gave him a red silk handkerchief.
Clark hadn’t realized he was crying.
Later that day, Chloe dropped by with some coffee and inane chatter about drama going on at the office in order to distract him. Eventually he bowed his head into the blankets and just began to pray.
“So Wanda tried to explain to Paula that it was just a muffin but- Oh. Oh, Clark!” Chloe pointed. Clark looked up with puffy eyes, and his mouth dropped open. Lex was beginning to blink his eyes.
Toby came running in to check his vitals. “Hey man, rise and shine!”
“Lex. Wake up. Please, wake up.” Clark’s voice was thick and tight. Chloe touched him gently in support and watched Lex just as eagerly.
Toby tipped Lex’s chin up and started to put a thermometer in his mouth. Lex raised a hand weakly and tried to swat him away.
“Stoppit.”
“Gotta take your temperature man,” Toby urged gently.
“Don’t get sick.”
Chloe let out a short bark of nervous laughter. Lex rolled his head over in their direction. He blinked, not understanding what he was seeing. Clark squeezed his hand and waited.
“Clark?” He squinted then raised a slow, clumsy hand to rub his eyes.
“It’s me.” Clark choked a little on his words. He leaned over and hugged Lex tightly. “Oh man, when I found you, I thought you were gonna die!”
“I can’t die.” He coughed. “Life doesn’t like me that much.”
Clark cupped the back of Lex’s head and tilted it until their foreheads met. “Yeah? God, Lex, don’t scare me like that again.”
“I didn’t mean to. I tried…” Suddenly he frowned and looked terribly frightened. Clark sat up and watched Lex’s face crumble. The man’s voice cracked. “Toby… is the… did I…?”
“Nobody died, man. Like you said. No worries.” Toby wagged the thermometer at him. “Let me take your temp, dude.”
“As long as you don’t plan on sticking it up my ass,” Lex grumbled. Chloe covered her mouth to keep from laughing again from sheer nervousness. Clark looked between Lex and his doctor worriedly, trying to discern what had just gone between them, and why Lex had seemed so horrified all of a sudden.
Toby shoved the thermometer in his mouth. “Shut it, you.”
Lex rested his head back against the pillow and looked around him, as though things still weren’t very clear. He nodded questioningly to the IV.
“Gotta get some fluid back in you. And you need to eat more,” Toby replied. “You collapsed. Not just fainted. You went down hard, man. You’ve been out for more than a day.”
“Oh.” Lex grimaced a little and looked at the ceiling waiting for the thermometer.
Toby took it from him after a minute and examined the readout. “Still a little low.”
“What can I do about that?” Lex’s voice was a little rough, but businesslike.
“Meds maybe, we’ll see. First off, I gotta talk to the cook about feeding you something you can keep down. And talk to Tanaka. She came in earlier to feel you up.” Toby nodded to them and headed back out of the room.
“Lex, what’s happening to you?” Clark asked. He leaned in when Lex didn’t answer immediately. “Why did you collapse? Lex, I’ve been worried!”
“I know, I just.” He sighed. “I’m not sure why I collapsed. I never get sick…”
“Yeah, well, you are now. And you knew something was wrong. I could tell,” Clark continued fretfully. He hadn’t let go of Lex’s hand yet, and Lex suddenly noticed that Clark was holding on to him.
“I…”
Clark squeezed his hand. “Take better care of yourself.”
Lex shivered. Clark darted from the bed to get him another blanket, but Lex knew he was only responding to Clark’s intensity. He wished, as Clark tucked the second blanket over him, that he would crawl in with him and put his arms around him until it stopped hurting.
***
As it turned out, Lex had woken up at around 3am that morning, and he dozed off again soon after. When he woke again, Clark was still there, although it looked as though he’d taken a shower and changed his clothes.
“Back with us, Sleeping Beauty?” Toby teased. He offered him the thermometer again. Lex took it without complaint and raised his chin in greeting at the Kents.
“Good to see you awake,” Jonanthan said. He was towering over his son, who was sitting beside the bed again. “You gave us a scare, y’know.”
“So I’m told,” he replied, trying to keep the thermometer in his mouth. Martha leaned over and gave his arm a friendly squeeze.
“Do we know anything more about what happened?” she asked, looking from Lex to Toby. The older man shrugged.
”With Lex, who knows.”
“You’re going to try to find out though, huh?” Clark looked up with a frustrated expression. Toby nodded his head casually.
“I’m sure the tests are underway. They’ve probably drawn so much blood already I’ll need a transfusion,” Lex commented, as Toby took the thermometer.
“Nah, man. Your blood pressure was way too low to risk that. Temp’s up now, though. Pulse too. You can get your people in here for a little alien autopsy.”
Clark opened his mouth in disgust and looked at Lex, who cracked a smile. “I told you.”
“Morning!” A cheerful dark-haired woman wearing a white cook’s outfit came in with a loaded breakfast tray. Lex’s eyes bulged, and he clamped a hand over his mouth and nose at the sight. “Oh, Lex. You gotta try, at least.”
The Kents looked on anxiously as the woman set the tray in front of him.
“Try. Please. The big plate is for Clark. I know he eats a lot more than you.” The heavy-set woman handed Clark a full plate of eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns. There was a stack of pancakes on the tray as well. Clark was fairly hungry, but watched Lex before he dug in.
“All I have to eat is the eggs?” Lex asked, slowly moving his hand away from his nose.
“And drink the milk and the juice,” she ordered pointing to each. Lex picked up the glass and sniffed experimentally. His stomach clenched but he took a sip.
“This isn’t skim.”
“It’s a compromise. 2%. You gain some weight, and I’ll let you have skim again. Believe me, I wanted to give you whole.”
Lex wrinkled his nose. “That would be like drinking butter.”
She rolled her eyes. “Eat your eggs and drink your milk and juice, skinny boy, and I’ll let you have this.”
With flourish she revealed a large, shiny apple hidden behind her back. Lex’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah, I thought that would appeal to you.”
“I’ll… try.” Lex looked doubtfully at the eggs. The woman turned to the Kents.
“Oh, I’m Romie. I’m ‘Cook,’” she said with a crooked smile. “I’ll have someone bring you up a breakfast plate, if you like? I didn’t know anyone else would be here. Well, I figured The Bastard might be here trying to play Daddy Dearest, but I don’t feed him. It’s too tempting to poison him.”
“The… Lionel?” Jonathan laughed as he shook her hand. “Yeah, if it isn’t a problem. You could bring one for Martha? She cut out on breakfast to come see the boys.”
“No problem. Here.” She handed Martha the apple. “Only let him have it if he finishes his breakfast.”
She nodded to them and headed out with a cocky little wave.
“Man, I love Romie.” Toby shook his head and leaned against the dresser.
“She’s an excellent employee,” Lex agreed.
“She’s a hottie.” Toby wiggled his brows lecherously.
“She’s married.” Lex frowned at Toby. He forked a piece of scrambled egg and put it into his mouth quickly. Martha looked to Jonathan with worry. Lex chewed slowly and glanced over at Clark. “You can eat, you know. I’m fine.”
“I have a bucket over here in case he’s not,” Toby added.
“That’s wonderful. Go away,” Lex drawled.
Toby laughed and waved at them as he headed out once more. “Tanaka should be up here again this afternoon. She’ll be able to give you more information.”
Lex nodded and tried to eat some more. He took a sip of the milk and made a face. Clark was already halfway through his plate.
Martha pulled up a seat and settled by the boys. “I wish I’d known you’d been sick, Lex. I wouldn’t have forced dinner on you when you came over.”
Lex swallowed hard. “It’s probably better that you did, considering. I would have collapsed before now if you hadn’t.” He toyed with his juice glass. “I appreciate it, Mrs. Kent.”
“Oh, it’s nothing, honey. We could tell you were losing weight. I hope your doctors can figure out what’s wrong.”
Lex twisted his lips wryly. “I trust they’ll come up with something.”
Martha kept up a running chatter, while Clark polished off his plate and the pancakes and Lex struggled his way through the small pile of eggs. Lex mused that comparing their appetites, Clark might as well be the one who was pregnant.
“Well, I got to get to chores, boys. Hang in there, Lex.” Jonathan nodded to him as though he expected him to obey. He and Martha shared a quick kiss before he left.
“Just a little more of the milk. You’re almost done,” Martha coached. Lex could feel his cheeks getting red.
“I’m going to have to forfeit that apple.” He glowered at the half full glass of milk. If he tried to drink any more of that, his entire breakfast would come up. He couldn’t just stay on the IV for the rest of his pregnancy. He had things to do. Martha read his uncomfortable expression and smiled sympathetically.
“Well, I’ll set it on the nightstand, and you can have it when you get hungry again, okay?”
“Um. Okay.” Mom?
A servant brought in a second tray for Martha, with seconds for Clark, and Lex moved to get out of bed. Clark put down his plate quickly and held him down with one hand on the chest.
“Do you plan on carrying me to the bathroom?” Lex demanded.
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” Lex eased himself up and out of bed, leaning on the stand for his IV. As he stood, he wobbled, and Clark was instantly at his side helping him. “I uh….”
“Hush.” Clark spoke quietly, but firmly. “Are you going to be sick?”
“I don’t think so. I just need to piss,” Lex replied just as seriously. Clark cracked up and helped him the rest of the way, leaving him once he had Lex safely to the door. When he had finished, he paused at the door, trying to decide if he should ask Clark for help back to his bed.
“It’s cancer. I know he says it isn’t, but he’s throwing up, and he’s so weak and dizzy. What else could it be?”
“We just have to wait it out. Didn’t Toby say he was having some blood pressure problems? That could be due to a lot different things. And it would certainly explain the dizziness. Low blood pressure will do that.”
“Mom. I’m scared.”
“I know you care about him, but give him some space, okay?” She paused, her voice laced with sympathy. “He’s sick, and you know he isn’t used to that.”
“I don’t like the idea that there’s something inside him hurting him. Something I can’t save him from.”
“I know, sweetie.”
Lex cracked the door, and Clark shot up and walked over to help him.
“Thank you,” Lex said quietly.
“Don’t worry about it.”
But you are worried. Lex thought to himself, as Clark eased him back into bed.
***
Dr. Tanaka swept back into Lex’s room with a girl behind her carrying her bag and proceeded to sit beside Lex’s bed without saying a word for several moments. Clark looked at Lex anxiously.
“Dr. Tanaka, this is my friend Clark,” Lex said, breaking the silence.
The stern woman looked up, frowned at him from behind her thick ovular glasses, and then bent her head back down. “Ruji! Put the bag down and bring in my equipment. I will have to take some samples. You can go with them back to the lab when I’m done with you.”
The girl, another Asian, though of mixed origin judging by her wide hazel eyes, was about fourteen, and she dropped the bag next to the doctor. She was also tall, though not quite as tall as Tanaka, and her hair was cut in uneven layers around her head, dyed in many colors. She pressed one hand against a sharp cheekbone and asked, “You want the ultrasound machine? Or… what?”
“Yes, Ruji. That one,” the doctor said tersely, plucking a needle from her bag. She began to stretch on a pair of latex gloves, snapping them with clinical efficiency. “You will need to leave, Clark.”
“I um… Lex?” Clark looked to Lex, pleading with his eyes not to make him leave.
“It’s okay, Clark. This could get… personal,” Lex said with meaning, raising his brows. Clark sighed sulkily and squeezed Lex’s shoulder supportively before he left.
“Babydaddy?” Tanaka asked dryly. It was a funny word to hear from her lips. She proceeded to begin taking blood samples. Lex winced and looked at the ceiling.
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s my friend, as I said. He’s concerned about me.”
“I would advise that you not share this with anyone unnecessarily, unless the boy happens to be a particularly good liar. Your condition isn’t something you would enjoy being made public, I trust.”
“No, that point hasn’t changed,” Lex agreed.
Tanaka was exactly the same as she had been when he’d met her about two and a half months ago when he’d gone to talk to her about investing in Genesis Industries. He’d noted to himself then, and a year before when he’d initially reviewed and rejected the proposal as part of those bizarre human experiments Clark seemed to despise out of hand, that she seemed to be a picture of the LEAST likely person to be heading a facility interested in ‘baby making’ of any kind. She was neither sexual nor maternal. In fact, neither masculine nor feminine. Lex rarely saw her out of her lab coat. As an investor, he had appreciated her devotion to her work; as a patient, he wished she’d treat him a bit less like a specimen.
“There. I have my samples. Ruji! Where is that girl?” Tanaka taped the gauze to his arm roughly then stood and began to head out the door when Ruji came in pulling the ultrasound machine. “Well? Set it up.”
Takana walked over to the bed. “Remove your pants. Boxers as well, if you are wearing them.”
Lex grimaced and obeyed. Ruji’s eyes widened, and she turned her head with an embarrassed blush. He was pretty sure that her real name was something bizarre… Rujuko, which sounded Japanese, but was no name he had ever heard, authentically anyway. Someday he might become interested in finding out why the girl was Tanaka’s assistant. He’d only seen her for the first time a week ago.
Dr. Tanaka squirted some goop on her hands and unceremoniously inserted her finger up his ass. Lex winced. Her eyes rolled to the ceiling as her other hand came up and began gently prodding his belly.
“How does your finger up my ass help this process?” Lex asked in what he meant to be a menacing growl and came out more of a disturbed whimper.
“When you were abducted, whoever took you changed you insides.” She slid another finger in, then it felt tight and… very strange. It was all Lex could do to keep from screaming at her or fleeing from the bed. “You could technically give birth, I think. There’s a secondary opening right here, feel that?”
“Yes,” Lex squeaked. His heart was racing, and he bit his lip hard. He tried to joke, “You want me to pop this baby out the old fashioned way?”
Tanaka continued to feel for another minute or so, then removed her fingers. “No, I don’t. I’d feel much more comfortable if you had a cesarean, as we have discussed. I don’t know the doctors who operated on you or whether this technique has been tested. Unless you genuinely desire to attempt that, I’d feel more comfortable regarding your chances of survival with the surgical method. Provided the pseudo-uterus begins to thin towards your due date, which I suspect it will, allowing us to operate.”
“I’m not really eager to push a baby out my ass either,” Lex said sharply, sitting up to pull his pants back on so Rujuko could stop looking mortified to be in the presence of an evil boypenis.
“Regardless, you may consider investigating some relaxation techniques for labor. That is not my specialty. I’ll do the ultrasound now.” Tanaka snapped off her gloves, pushed her glasses up on her nose, and then reached for the cold gel to rub on his belly. She didn’t bother warning him and simply squirted the gel onto his belly.
“I don’t suppose you ever considered a home practice as an obstetrician?” Lex asked after jumping from the coldness.
“I don’t have a good bedside manner,” she said flatly, not catching his sarcasm. She rubbed the gel around a bit then pressed the scanner to his belly. She touched him with her other hand, searching.
“Even her lab rats think she’s a bitch,” Ruji said with a grin. Tanaka caught her eye, and Ruji went over to Clark’s chair to sit and pout as she watched the monitor.
“There’s the head…” She pointed, then moved her finger in a line following a small blurry row in the image. Lex couldn’t distinguish any of it. “And the spine.”
She printed a few pictures, then leaned over to turn on the sound. A strong, fast heartbeat filled the room.
Lex felt his breathing catch, and he covered his mouth with one hand. That was it. The heartbeat of his firstborn.
After several moments, she nodded briefly and turned off the monitor. Lex felt disappointed. He would have liked to watch for a bit longer.
“Location aside, so far your baby appears perfectly normal and healthy. I’m going to hold off prescribing something for the nausea,” she announced. “I know that the morning sickness has you flat on your back right now, but if you can stick it out for another week or so, while we keep you on the drip for nutrients and to combat dehydration, it should ease up on its own.”
Tanaka turned her head in a brief moment of concern. “Can you do that? You need to start gaining weight, and if you don’t begin to improve in the next day or so, we’ll have to do something.”
“I have a friend who suggested some home remedies,” Lex said. “If you’re hesitating on the meds, I’ll stick it out and try a few things she said.”
“Hard candy. Ginger,” Ruji suggested suddenly. “And um… the vitamins.”
She hustled over to Tanaka’s bag.
“I’m already taking prenatal vitamins,” Lex told her. Ruji came up to him.
“Take them later in the day. With your midmorning snack maybe? Small meals, and um…” She looked to Tanaka for assurance that didn’t come. The older woman was packing up her materials and looking with interest at the blood. “Here’s some ginger candy, which might help if you suck on it. And if you put some lemon oil on a handkerchief, you can use it to cover your nose if you smell anything that sets you off.”
“Thanks, Ruji,” he said, taking the package and giving the girl a small smile.
“Rujuko,” the girl corrected him. She pulled her sleeves over her fingers, closed up the bag, and set it on top of the sonogram, which she then began to push out of there. The girl was pretty strong for her size.
“Take care of yourself, Lex,” Tanaka ordered, as though she didn’t expect to be disobeyed, and pulled the door most of the way shut as she left.
Lex watched her go, then crawled out of bed, swaying once and feeling a bit unsettled from the internal exam. Then he moved into the window seat overlooking the countryside. This room faced the Kent farm. It was why he had picked it for Clark, not that Clark could see his house from here without a telescope. Slipping one of his hands under his pajamas, he rubbed his firm, sore abdomen absently.
He looked down and pulled the fabric up a bit to look at his stomach. Still smooth. He had been so relieved when he’d heard that this little one was safe and healthy. In some ways, he was resenting the usurpation of his bodily resources. He hated being told when and what to eat and to stay in bed and having to be helped to walk around a room. Feeling so weak and uncertain about everything. He wanted to go back to work, have a drink, and frighten his employees. Maybe not in that order. He wanted a drink first. So much he almost felt embarrassed at the intensity of the desire.
The scotch would probably make me puke anyway.
Suddenly falling sick, however, had made Lex realize how desperately he wanted this baby. It frightened him just how much, especially since he hadn’t discovered much more about how he’d gotten in this condition.
“Where did you come from, baby dear?” he said to himself, searching the sky, with a heavy sigh. “Out of everywhere and into here.”
At the doorway to his room, soft green eyes widened and a breath was sharply drawn.
***
“Chloe, where are you going?” Clark asked her as she hurried from Lex’s room. The young woman stopped short and began to pull her hair behind her ears frantically.
“Oh… to get you. I mean… he looked a little woozy after the check-up so I looked in…” Chloe blinked as Clark ran past her so quickly she didn’t have time to berate herself for not speaking more quickly. Well. He had looked woozy, and Clark had asked her to wait outside and get him when the exam was over. It was too tempting for Clark to just x-ray the room and see what was happening, and he had promised Lex some privacy.
Chloe had looked at all of Lex’s medical records and checked up on the doctor they pulled from Genesis Industries. She had seen the security tapes with the half whispered conversations between him and a spare few employees who seemed to know the situation. Not to mention his symptoms, which were obvious enough that she felt a little silly for not figuring it out sooner. With her combined evidence, there was no doubt in Chloe’s mind that Lex was pregnant, from the look on his face now, miserably so, and he didn’t know how he got into this condition. Although, by the way he’d been looking at the sky… and he had been abducted by aliens recently…
FUCK.
Should she tell Lana what she’d discovered? Should she tell Clark? Did he already know? No, he didn’t. Not drawing from the conversations she’d overheard. He was just as clueless as everyone else.
“Think, Chloe. Think.” She stepped over to the side of the hallway and took a deep breath. If Lex wanted Clark to know, he would have told him, and Clark would protect Lex and the fetus from danger whether or not he knew. Should she tell Lex that she knew? No, he’d deny it and start covering up, and she wouldn’t be able to help him. She needed more information. She would find it; this was her specialty. Maybe she would tell Clark when she knew a little more, or if it seemed that Lex was in immediate danger, and they could devise some kind of plan of attack to save Lex.
***
“Lex!” Clark rushed into the room and stopped short as Lex turned his head from the window to look at him.
“Yes?”
“How did it go? Any answers?” Clark asked, sort of moving around as though he didn’t know what to do.
Lex chuckled and leaned his head back against the glass. “No. Though I’ve been instructed to try harder to feed myself. I’ve been failing in that regard and trying to push through anyway. Missing meals has probably been making me feel worse. Tanaka took some blood and some internal scans, so I presume she’ll be getting back to me with the results. Analysis. Whatever. She said, however, that everything seemed to be fine. Healthy.”
“Yeah, but you aren’t. Are you keeping something from me?” Clark approached the window with a worried little frown.
“Isn't it strange to hear you asking that of me?” Lex returned a bit sharply, then looked at Clark. He’d expected a sharp look as well, but Lex seemed more surprised that it had come out of his mouth.
Clark climbed into the other side of the window seat. “I thought we were going to be more honest with each other.”
“I said I’d be more open about my business practices. This is my body, and I made no promises to you regarding that. Neither did you, by the way. We’re even in this matter,” Lex answered pointedly. His eyes drifted out the window, glancing over the countryside. Clark watched Lex’s hand rubbing his abdomen.
“Lex, I’m just worried about you. Do you want me to get the heating pad?”
Lex looked over with a slight smile. “I know. And, yes. If the cord reaches that far.”
“I can use another outlet.” Clark walked over to the bed and picked up the heating pad. He wasn’t sure whether he should keep pressing about this or not. Plugging the cord into the other wall, he handed the pad to Lex, who laid it over his lower abdomen and pressed his hand over the top of it. Clark climbed back into the window with him.
“Thanks.”
“I’m just frustrated. If someone were holding a gun to your head, I could knock it out of their hand. There’s nothing I can do to help. It sucks,” Clark proclaimed. Lex reached over and rubbed Clark’s leg.
“You can fetch my heating pad. You can support me when I don’t have the strength to walk. You’re helping, Clark.”
Clark grinned and leaned over to Lex, hugging him gently, as though he might crumble in his strong arms.
“I trust my body to get better. Try to trust it as well, Clark. It hasn’t failed me so far.”
Clark caught a bit of Lex’s scent and didn’t want to let go of him, though he knew he would have to. He just wanted to take Lex back to his room and wrap him up in a hundred blankets and keep him safe from everything.
“Clark? Um…”
Reluctantly, Clark pulled back from Lex and frowned worriedly at his tired eyes and pale face. Though there were two pink spots forming on his cheeks. He must have noticed the extended hug. “Can I get you something? Water? Or food?”
“I’m good for now.” Lex curled himself a little tighter in the window and tensed his lips. “Romie will probably force something on me pretty soon.”
“Well, I’ll be right here,” Clark promised. He caught the flicker of doubt in Lex’s eyes and realized that Lex didn’t believe their friendship was going to last any time at all. Clark couldn’t blame him, after his recent behavior. He’d promised Lex to forgive him for the room, and he never really had, jumping to conclusions whenever it looked like Lex might have something to do with what they were investigating. He knew that, just as Lex was trying to regain Clark’s trust, he was really going to have to prove to Lex that he would be there, and he wouldn’t be running away again any time soon.
Series/WIP: Sequel to So Much Dreaming
Pairing: Clex!
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After being abducted by aliens and discovering that Jonathan Kent is alive, Lex must come to grips with his shifting relationship with Clark and an unexpected pregnancy.
Spoilers: Through S5, after Cyborg.
Warnings: MPREG!!
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Lex sat at his desk studiously perusing over estimates and proposals.
His head began to dip.
Elena got up from her chair and walked around to put her hand on his shoulder. “Hon, if you want to do this another day-“
“I’m fine.”
“You look like you aren’t getting enough sleep. You haven’t touched the lunch we ordered in.” She tilted her head in concern. “You really need to be trying to take care of yourself right now.”
“Right now? And why is that?” He narrowed his eyes up at her. She stood up straight and sighed softly, as her eyes curved into triangles worriedly. They flitted over his sitting form. “You know. How do you know? How could you possibly?”
He pushed out his chair and took a step away from her. “Are you working with my father? Milton Fine?”
“Ew. God, no.” She rolled her eyes. “Who’s Milton Fine? No, Lex. I’m working with you.”
She pressed her palms against her tight black dress pants then slid them into her back pockets. “I’m an empath. I got the feelings off you, remember? Meeting you in the store that day, I kind of picked it up. Mostly I just get feelings. I’m not always this sharp… really not, um… with a lot of things, but with you I just knew.”
“An empath,” Lex repeated skeptically.
“Since birth.” She shrugged and stepped closer to him. “Does that help? You still don’t trust me. That’s okay, honey. I understand why you feel that way.”
Lex swayed and caught himself on his desk. “Okay. So you know.”
“You should sit down. I think you’re having a pretty rough time with this,” she said diplomatically. “What I said in the bookstore still applies. I won’t tell anyone... Are you feeling sick? And kinda sore? You seem really worried. Just sit back down, hon, and try to relax.”
He slowly eased back into his seat and nodded. Recently to top off the nausea and exhaustion, he’d been having pains in his back and abdomen. Dr. Tanaka had assured him that it was normal, just cramps, but he needed to reduce his stress and cut back on work. “Is there any way you could give me some pointers?”
Elena smiled and walked back over to the chair she had been occupying. She dragged it next to Lex and sat close to him. “What do you need to know?”
“Ugh. Everything. I’m so lost.” He let himself lean farther back in his chair and tried not to let the cramping get to him, but her eyes went directly to his stomach. “But I can’t really talk to you here. I’m sure my father could be screening the security videos.”
She looked up at the security cameras. “Do you want to go somewhere?”
“I’m not up for it right now. Besides, we need to look at your proposal while I’m still conscious.”
“Don’t worry about that. I mean, if you decide no, then it’s no. I’ll still help you. No one should have to go through this alone.”
“I appreciate that, but from what I’ve seen so far you have fairly good business acumen. I think we should definitely be working with you. As you said, we’re always in need of good PR. I’m not so sure about…Roffle?”
“Yeah, he has no sense. I have to make sure he pays his rent,” she said bluntly. “Though I can’t speak much for my own ‘business acumen’ when I get knocked up with no one to take over for me.”
“Heh. Ditto.” Lex rubbed his fingers over the front of his shirt. She snorted. “I think we’re going to have to have a meeting with all the tenants of that building and decide what to do. If the business is going to expand, we’re going to want to redo a lot of the wiring and plumbing. The building is old, and it could be dangerous right now.”
“We’ve had a few minor explosions and fires,” she confirmed. He nodded.
“See, that’s a liability for us.” He watched her stand and motion for him to keep talking as she began to mess with their plates. “We’ll have to get in and do some repairs.”
“I’m pretty sure I can get everyone to agree to that. We asked Reg to do it, but he’s old and can’t afford it. And we can’t afford more rent, so…”
“Well, it’s a landlord’s job to keep that up. We’ll be fixing that straight away. Then we’ll need to get together with the shop owners and decide what additional remodeling needs to be done. We won’t charge you for that, but I want to make sure the businesses are in good order to keep open. We’ll probably end up lowering your rent, too, but I don’t want to promise right away. What Reg was asking seems a little high for the property values in the area. What are you doing?”
“Taking the breading off this chicken and breaking it into smaller pieces. Higher protein might help. The chicken here, and maybe some of the grapes. Try that.” She scooted the plate closer to him. “The first twelve are really important. You need to try to eat. I mean, I’m guessing from our two meetings that you’re having a problem with that.”
“Okay, mom.”
“Damn straight.” She smirked and picked some food off of her own plate. “Is your doctor giving you anything?”
“Vitamins.” He took a small piece and experimentally chewed it. He grimaced and tried to force it down. Elena was soon rubbing his shoulder. She was one of the nosiest women he’d ever met… who he didn’t actually want to kill.
“I’m guessing your doc knows which ones to give. Vitamins are supposed to help. They can prescribe medications, too. Though I didn’t have it much at all.”
“Bitch.”
“I know! My friend Maureena called me worse than that when I kept telling her it wasn’t bothering me. Great genes there, eh?” She laughed a little proudly and then started to cut her own chicken breast and dig in. “I’d also suggest getting a protein snack before bed and keeping some crackers or fruit on you. And eat breakfast in bed before you try to get up and move around.”
“I thought you didn’t have that problem.”
“I didn’t, but that didn’t keep Maureena from running her enormous mouth about hers when she was preggers.”
“Well, I’m glad she did.” He took another piece, chewed slowly, and drank some water. Elena grabbed a piece of paper.
“What’s your screenname? I’ll ping you, and you can ask her some questions. Plus, I have a book I borrowed from her.”
“I can’t tell you how much this helps already,” he said, writing down his name: baldthunder666. She laughed out loud at the name.
“Well, I think it’s just a relief not to be alone with it. Support’s really important.”
“Take my cell number, too. So, where’s Mr. Luciano?”
“Mr Luciano would be my father, in jail. My last boyfriend was a moron, who split on me,” she replied honestly. “I wasn’t so much in love with him as I thought. I think I’m swinging back to girls again. I’ve missed being with Maureena.”
“Oh?” Lex asked with a raise of his eyebrows.
“Yeah, but Maureena went domestic on me. Had two adorable brats with this guy who moved in with all of us then got shot one night out in the streets.” Elena explained matter-of-factly.
“I see.”
“Does that seem strange to you?”
“I’m by far not the person to consult on what constitutes as strange these days.”
She grinned and tried to force more chicken on him.
***
Seeing Lionel stalk around his desk was really the last thing that Lex wanted at the moment. He was tired from his morning meetings. Not that he hadn’t been tired before, but now everything was practically fuzzy around him. He thought he might brave the helicopter just to get home faster. He really needed to outfit his penthouse… but people in Smallville were just so clueless. It was hard to give up the security of knowing that a good number of the people in the town would think nothing of his burgeoning abdomen and subsequent adoption. It was comforting being on the low end of the weird-o-meter for once, unlike almost anywhere else. Living in Metropolis, he’d surely be restricted to his penthouse until November, whereas in Smallville, he could probably waddle around town much longer.
“You’ve been culling a lot of projects, Lex. Might I remind you that the purpose of a business is to make money,” Lionel said, enunciating the last two words a little excessively.
“I am aware,” Lex replied. His tone was soft in deference to a splitting headache, but he knew it was quite uncharacteristic. Lionel stopped pacing and closed in on Lex’s desk. He reminded Lex of a great cat ready to pounce on his weakened prey.
“You should really consider seeing a doctor.”
“It’s on the top of my to-do list. It’s been a busy day.”
“And if I called an ambulance?”
“You’re overreacting. I wonder what it must be like for you, knowing that I never get sick. We’ve been spoiled.” Lex shook his head and stretched out his shoulders. “The programs that I have cut, I feel them to be too much of a liability to the company. Your arrest did quite a bit of damage to our stock, if you remember.”
“Unlike you, I don’t intend to betray our family.”
“Dad,” Lex said in a falsely affectionate tone. “Shortly before I turned on you, you turned me into the FBI as a scapegoat for a project I wasn’t even working on. Your claims to family solidarity don’t quite ring true.”
Lionel stroked his beard and watched his son drooping in his chair. “You had intentions of convicting me of murder prior to that event.”
“And as far as you knew, I’d forgotten. As would be expected from the ECT. But do you really want to go back that far in the game of who wronged whom?”
Lionel gave him a twisty smile. “You look as though you’re going to fall out of that chair, and you’re still verbally keeping up with me? That bodes well, depending on how long this lasts. I take it that ‘personal project’ is code for your illness.”
“Have you ever known me to stay down long from any injury? I’ll be fine. I should shake this soon.”
“Be sure that you do. There are sharks circling,” Lionel warned.
Lex sighed. “More than you know.”
Lionel raised his brows curiously then frowned at Lex’s silence. “Are you in trouble, Lex?”
Lex opened his mouth and shook his head slowly, uncertain of what to say to that. Metaphorically, Lionel’s child was in ‘trouble,’ as they would have said back in the day. Some people in Smallville still did say.
“Perhaps this isn’t the best time to discuss the cut projects.”
“I have reason to believe that they were misusing our funding,” Lex admitted. It was true for some of them. “Others, as I said, were too risky and not producing enough results. Ultimately, this is my decision to make.”
Lionel tilted his head back a bit. “Fine. But remember, son, this is still LuthorCorp.”
“Last time I checked, I was still a Luthor.”
“Hm.” Lionel turned and headed out of his office. “It’s… interesting to see you back together with Clark.”
Lex watched him leave, wondered how much his father knew, and sat there for a long time finishing paperwork and fretting over his father’s potential involvement in his child’s life.
***
Two hours later, Lex practically crawled out of the helicopter. Elena had told him it was possible for Tanaka to prescribe something for the nausea. He would have to see that she did so immediately. Also, he would have to make sure that he did not ride in this fucking thing again until he was legally a proud poppa.
Lex struggled down the hallway, as tables and picture frames melted lazily into the walls. He felt himself swaying and hit something hard on one side. Then he just slid down to the floor, resting his head to the side. He could just… rest for a little while before going to his office.
Why was it always so fucking cold in this place?
***
With Lex not answering his phone, Clark figured it couldn’t hurt to pop over to the mansion and check things out, even if Lex had asked that he call first these days. After poking around for a few minutes, he found the head butler Domovoi and asked him when Lex was due home.
“He should be home now, Master Clark. His helicopter came by about an hour ago. Perhaps he went out?” The graying, brown-eyed butler appeared a little alarmed. “I should have greeted him at the helicopter. I’ll go check on him now, sir.”
Domovoi practically ran towards the helicopter pad. Clark listened in sharply for bodies on that side of the building. Almost immediately he picked up an accelerated heartbeat and rapid, shallow breathing.
“Why don’t you check down that way?” Clark suggested, waiting just a moment for Domovoi to turn around before he sped to the location where Lex had collapsed against the wall and was shivering as he drew his trembling breaths.
“Lex!” Clark shook him gently. Then again. He shook him and held him and called his name, but Lex did not wake. Carefully, Clark lifted him into his arms and hurried back down the hallway. “Domovoi!”
“Master Clark?” The tall man came running back. “Oh. I’ll call his doctor.”
“Where’s his bedroom? I’ll take him there.”
Clark waited as Domovoi blinked at him.
“He does have a bedroom, doesn’t he?” Clark was momentarily stunned as Domovoi shook his head. “Why the hell doesn’t Lex have a bedroom?!”
***
Martha and Jonathan rushed into the mansion and spotted their son pacing nervously outside the main hallway. Martha swooped in and gave her son a hug.
“I couldn’t wake him, Mom. He’s really sick.”
“He’s going to be okay, hon.” She released him and felt her heart break at the pain and fear evident in Clark’s eyes.
“Lex heals fast, y’know.” His father put in. “I’ve seen him go through an awful lot.”
“It’s different this time, Dad. I’ve never seen him this run down. Do you think Fine did something to him?”
“I know he did; I seen some of it. But what he did, who knows if we’ll ever find out?” Jonathan put a hand on his shoulder. “Just relax, son, and we’ll wait on what the doctor has to say.”
Clark led them to the room where they had decided to put Lex for the time being, a guest room, one of many. This one had been Clark’s. “Mom, how does someone live anywhere without taking a bedroom? That’s just crazy. He devoted a room to me. I mean… no there was that room, then there’s this room that he had set aside for me to stay in if it got to late when I was over studying. Or if I wanted to take a nap. How can he not have his own room?”
“I don’t think he planned on staying here long.”
Clark jumped as he saw Lionel appear, his coattails flapping behind him. Creepy bastard.
“Regardless, Lex has had irregular sleep patterns for quite some time. Don’t fret, son. I’m not here to hurt him. I’m concerned. It’s been obvious at work that Lex has been having a difficult time.” Lionel shook his head. “Lex just wouldn’t confide in me about it. He stridently insisted he was healthy.”
Toby stepped out of the guest room Lex had set aside for Clark and blinked at them all. “Whoa. Lot of you out here.”
“What’s wrong?” Clark demanded. Toby ran a hand through his long hair.
“Not sure. Well, I know he’s pretty dehydrated and his blood pressure is all over the place. He probably hasn’t eaten a decent meal in awhile. Y’know, maybe he has, but the pilot to his helicopter said he was puking all the way home from Metropolis. And he needs some sleep. He’s exhausted, and I don’t mean that lightly man. I mean, like, clinically.”
Martha put her arm around her son. He looked as though he were about to cry.
“I put him on a nutrient drip to start with. If I know Lex, he’ll wake up sometime tonight, then we gotta make sure he stays in bed until he’s strong enough to leave it. That’s the hard part, with him.”
The night passed, and Lex was still lying there quiet and still. A tall, slender Asian woman with pinched lips and a large knot of hair bound tightly at the back of her head came in at one point, shooing them all out so that she could give Lex a check-up, then left after a word with Toby. Martha and Jonathan suggested that Clark stay at the castle so Lex would have someone around when he woke.
Clark nodded absentmindedly, and Domovoi found him a chair. He held Lex’s cold hand in both of his own, trying to warm it up. “Why is he so cold?”
“Blood pressure, man. I told you. Way low.”
“But why? Why would he be having problems like this?” Clark begged. He wished that other doctor were here. She’d barely looked at him, but she seemed to know what she was doing. Toby shrugged and continued to prepare another nutrient drip. Clark watched Lex, and noticed the cord running from under his blankets. He peeked under the covers. “Why the heating pad?”
“Huh? Oh, he was having some pain the last time checked him out. Thought it would help.” Toby leaned down, pulled back the covers, and removed it. He placed his hand gently over Lex’s abdomen. The man winced in his sleep. Toby nodded and rearranged the covers. “Yeah. Poor guy.”
“He has cancer, doesn’t he? It’s a tumor.”
“No, man. It’s not cancer. Believe me, he gets screened often enough for it.” Toby reached over to the dresser and gave him a red silk handkerchief.
Clark hadn’t realized he was crying.
Later that day, Chloe dropped by with some coffee and inane chatter about drama going on at the office in order to distract him. Eventually he bowed his head into the blankets and just began to pray.
“So Wanda tried to explain to Paula that it was just a muffin but- Oh. Oh, Clark!” Chloe pointed. Clark looked up with puffy eyes, and his mouth dropped open. Lex was beginning to blink his eyes.
Toby came running in to check his vitals. “Hey man, rise and shine!”
“Lex. Wake up. Please, wake up.” Clark’s voice was thick and tight. Chloe touched him gently in support and watched Lex just as eagerly.
Toby tipped Lex’s chin up and started to put a thermometer in his mouth. Lex raised a hand weakly and tried to swat him away.
“Stoppit.”
“Gotta take your temperature man,” Toby urged gently.
“Don’t get sick.”
Chloe let out a short bark of nervous laughter. Lex rolled his head over in their direction. He blinked, not understanding what he was seeing. Clark squeezed his hand and waited.
“Clark?” He squinted then raised a slow, clumsy hand to rub his eyes.
“It’s me.” Clark choked a little on his words. He leaned over and hugged Lex tightly. “Oh man, when I found you, I thought you were gonna die!”
“I can’t die.” He coughed. “Life doesn’t like me that much.”
Clark cupped the back of Lex’s head and tilted it until their foreheads met. “Yeah? God, Lex, don’t scare me like that again.”
“I didn’t mean to. I tried…” Suddenly he frowned and looked terribly frightened. Clark sat up and watched Lex’s face crumble. The man’s voice cracked. “Toby… is the… did I…?”
“Nobody died, man. Like you said. No worries.” Toby wagged the thermometer at him. “Let me take your temp, dude.”
“As long as you don’t plan on sticking it up my ass,” Lex grumbled. Chloe covered her mouth to keep from laughing again from sheer nervousness. Clark looked between Lex and his doctor worriedly, trying to discern what had just gone between them, and why Lex had seemed so horrified all of a sudden.
Toby shoved the thermometer in his mouth. “Shut it, you.”
Lex rested his head back against the pillow and looked around him, as though things still weren’t very clear. He nodded questioningly to the IV.
“Gotta get some fluid back in you. And you need to eat more,” Toby replied. “You collapsed. Not just fainted. You went down hard, man. You’ve been out for more than a day.”
“Oh.” Lex grimaced a little and looked at the ceiling waiting for the thermometer.
Toby took it from him after a minute and examined the readout. “Still a little low.”
“What can I do about that?” Lex’s voice was a little rough, but businesslike.
“Meds maybe, we’ll see. First off, I gotta talk to the cook about feeding you something you can keep down. And talk to Tanaka. She came in earlier to feel you up.” Toby nodded to them and headed back out of the room.
“Lex, what’s happening to you?” Clark asked. He leaned in when Lex didn’t answer immediately. “Why did you collapse? Lex, I’ve been worried!”
“I know, I just.” He sighed. “I’m not sure why I collapsed. I never get sick…”
“Yeah, well, you are now. And you knew something was wrong. I could tell,” Clark continued fretfully. He hadn’t let go of Lex’s hand yet, and Lex suddenly noticed that Clark was holding on to him.
“I…”
Clark squeezed his hand. “Take better care of yourself.”
Lex shivered. Clark darted from the bed to get him another blanket, but Lex knew he was only responding to Clark’s intensity. He wished, as Clark tucked the second blanket over him, that he would crawl in with him and put his arms around him until it stopped hurting.
***
As it turned out, Lex had woken up at around 3am that morning, and he dozed off again soon after. When he woke again, Clark was still there, although it looked as though he’d taken a shower and changed his clothes.
“Back with us, Sleeping Beauty?” Toby teased. He offered him the thermometer again. Lex took it without complaint and raised his chin in greeting at the Kents.
“Good to see you awake,” Jonanthan said. He was towering over his son, who was sitting beside the bed again. “You gave us a scare, y’know.”
“So I’m told,” he replied, trying to keep the thermometer in his mouth. Martha leaned over and gave his arm a friendly squeeze.
“Do we know anything more about what happened?” she asked, looking from Lex to Toby. The older man shrugged.
”With Lex, who knows.”
“You’re going to try to find out though, huh?” Clark looked up with a frustrated expression. Toby nodded his head casually.
“I’m sure the tests are underway. They’ve probably drawn so much blood already I’ll need a transfusion,” Lex commented, as Toby took the thermometer.
“Nah, man. Your blood pressure was way too low to risk that. Temp’s up now, though. Pulse too. You can get your people in here for a little alien autopsy.”
Clark opened his mouth in disgust and looked at Lex, who cracked a smile. “I told you.”
“Morning!” A cheerful dark-haired woman wearing a white cook’s outfit came in with a loaded breakfast tray. Lex’s eyes bulged, and he clamped a hand over his mouth and nose at the sight. “Oh, Lex. You gotta try, at least.”
The Kents looked on anxiously as the woman set the tray in front of him.
“Try. Please. The big plate is for Clark. I know he eats a lot more than you.” The heavy-set woman handed Clark a full plate of eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns. There was a stack of pancakes on the tray as well. Clark was fairly hungry, but watched Lex before he dug in.
“All I have to eat is the eggs?” Lex asked, slowly moving his hand away from his nose.
“And drink the milk and the juice,” she ordered pointing to each. Lex picked up the glass and sniffed experimentally. His stomach clenched but he took a sip.
“This isn’t skim.”
“It’s a compromise. 2%. You gain some weight, and I’ll let you have skim again. Believe me, I wanted to give you whole.”
Lex wrinkled his nose. “That would be like drinking butter.”
She rolled her eyes. “Eat your eggs and drink your milk and juice, skinny boy, and I’ll let you have this.”
With flourish she revealed a large, shiny apple hidden behind her back. Lex’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah, I thought that would appeal to you.”
“I’ll… try.” Lex looked doubtfully at the eggs. The woman turned to the Kents.
“Oh, I’m Romie. I’m ‘Cook,’” she said with a crooked smile. “I’ll have someone bring you up a breakfast plate, if you like? I didn’t know anyone else would be here. Well, I figured The Bastard might be here trying to play Daddy Dearest, but I don’t feed him. It’s too tempting to poison him.”
“The… Lionel?” Jonathan laughed as he shook her hand. “Yeah, if it isn’t a problem. You could bring one for Martha? She cut out on breakfast to come see the boys.”
“No problem. Here.” She handed Martha the apple. “Only let him have it if he finishes his breakfast.”
She nodded to them and headed out with a cocky little wave.
“Man, I love Romie.” Toby shook his head and leaned against the dresser.
“She’s an excellent employee,” Lex agreed.
“She’s a hottie.” Toby wiggled his brows lecherously.
“She’s married.” Lex frowned at Toby. He forked a piece of scrambled egg and put it into his mouth quickly. Martha looked to Jonathan with worry. Lex chewed slowly and glanced over at Clark. “You can eat, you know. I’m fine.”
“I have a bucket over here in case he’s not,” Toby added.
“That’s wonderful. Go away,” Lex drawled.
Toby laughed and waved at them as he headed out once more. “Tanaka should be up here again this afternoon. She’ll be able to give you more information.”
Lex nodded and tried to eat some more. He took a sip of the milk and made a face. Clark was already halfway through his plate.
Martha pulled up a seat and settled by the boys. “I wish I’d known you’d been sick, Lex. I wouldn’t have forced dinner on you when you came over.”
Lex swallowed hard. “It’s probably better that you did, considering. I would have collapsed before now if you hadn’t.” He toyed with his juice glass. “I appreciate it, Mrs. Kent.”
“Oh, it’s nothing, honey. We could tell you were losing weight. I hope your doctors can figure out what’s wrong.”
Lex twisted his lips wryly. “I trust they’ll come up with something.”
Martha kept up a running chatter, while Clark polished off his plate and the pancakes and Lex struggled his way through the small pile of eggs. Lex mused that comparing their appetites, Clark might as well be the one who was pregnant.
“Well, I got to get to chores, boys. Hang in there, Lex.” Jonathan nodded to him as though he expected him to obey. He and Martha shared a quick kiss before he left.
“Just a little more of the milk. You’re almost done,” Martha coached. Lex could feel his cheeks getting red.
“I’m going to have to forfeit that apple.” He glowered at the half full glass of milk. If he tried to drink any more of that, his entire breakfast would come up. He couldn’t just stay on the IV for the rest of his pregnancy. He had things to do. Martha read his uncomfortable expression and smiled sympathetically.
“Well, I’ll set it on the nightstand, and you can have it when you get hungry again, okay?”
“Um. Okay.” Mom?
A servant brought in a second tray for Martha, with seconds for Clark, and Lex moved to get out of bed. Clark put down his plate quickly and held him down with one hand on the chest.
“Do you plan on carrying me to the bathroom?” Lex demanded.
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” Lex eased himself up and out of bed, leaning on the stand for his IV. As he stood, he wobbled, and Clark was instantly at his side helping him. “I uh….”
“Hush.” Clark spoke quietly, but firmly. “Are you going to be sick?”
“I don’t think so. I just need to piss,” Lex replied just as seriously. Clark cracked up and helped him the rest of the way, leaving him once he had Lex safely to the door. When he had finished, he paused at the door, trying to decide if he should ask Clark for help back to his bed.
“It’s cancer. I know he says it isn’t, but he’s throwing up, and he’s so weak and dizzy. What else could it be?”
“We just have to wait it out. Didn’t Toby say he was having some blood pressure problems? That could be due to a lot different things. And it would certainly explain the dizziness. Low blood pressure will do that.”
“Mom. I’m scared.”
“I know you care about him, but give him some space, okay?” She paused, her voice laced with sympathy. “He’s sick, and you know he isn’t used to that.”
“I don’t like the idea that there’s something inside him hurting him. Something I can’t save him from.”
“I know, sweetie.”
Lex cracked the door, and Clark shot up and walked over to help him.
“Thank you,” Lex said quietly.
“Don’t worry about it.”
But you are worried. Lex thought to himself, as Clark eased him back into bed.
***
Dr. Tanaka swept back into Lex’s room with a girl behind her carrying her bag and proceeded to sit beside Lex’s bed without saying a word for several moments. Clark looked at Lex anxiously.
“Dr. Tanaka, this is my friend Clark,” Lex said, breaking the silence.
The stern woman looked up, frowned at him from behind her thick ovular glasses, and then bent her head back down. “Ruji! Put the bag down and bring in my equipment. I will have to take some samples. You can go with them back to the lab when I’m done with you.”
The girl, another Asian, though of mixed origin judging by her wide hazel eyes, was about fourteen, and she dropped the bag next to the doctor. She was also tall, though not quite as tall as Tanaka, and her hair was cut in uneven layers around her head, dyed in many colors. She pressed one hand against a sharp cheekbone and asked, “You want the ultrasound machine? Or… what?”
“Yes, Ruji. That one,” the doctor said tersely, plucking a needle from her bag. She began to stretch on a pair of latex gloves, snapping them with clinical efficiency. “You will need to leave, Clark.”
“I um… Lex?” Clark looked to Lex, pleading with his eyes not to make him leave.
“It’s okay, Clark. This could get… personal,” Lex said with meaning, raising his brows. Clark sighed sulkily and squeezed Lex’s shoulder supportively before he left.
“Babydaddy?” Tanaka asked dryly. It was a funny word to hear from her lips. She proceeded to begin taking blood samples. Lex winced and looked at the ceiling.
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s my friend, as I said. He’s concerned about me.”
“I would advise that you not share this with anyone unnecessarily, unless the boy happens to be a particularly good liar. Your condition isn’t something you would enjoy being made public, I trust.”
“No, that point hasn’t changed,” Lex agreed.
Tanaka was exactly the same as she had been when he’d met her about two and a half months ago when he’d gone to talk to her about investing in Genesis Industries. He’d noted to himself then, and a year before when he’d initially reviewed and rejected the proposal as part of those bizarre human experiments Clark seemed to despise out of hand, that she seemed to be a picture of the LEAST likely person to be heading a facility interested in ‘baby making’ of any kind. She was neither sexual nor maternal. In fact, neither masculine nor feminine. Lex rarely saw her out of her lab coat. As an investor, he had appreciated her devotion to her work; as a patient, he wished she’d treat him a bit less like a specimen.
“There. I have my samples. Ruji! Where is that girl?” Tanaka taped the gauze to his arm roughly then stood and began to head out the door when Ruji came in pulling the ultrasound machine. “Well? Set it up.”
Takana walked over to the bed. “Remove your pants. Boxers as well, if you are wearing them.”
Lex grimaced and obeyed. Ruji’s eyes widened, and she turned her head with an embarrassed blush. He was pretty sure that her real name was something bizarre… Rujuko, which sounded Japanese, but was no name he had ever heard, authentically anyway. Someday he might become interested in finding out why the girl was Tanaka’s assistant. He’d only seen her for the first time a week ago.
Dr. Tanaka squirted some goop on her hands and unceremoniously inserted her finger up his ass. Lex winced. Her eyes rolled to the ceiling as her other hand came up and began gently prodding his belly.
“How does your finger up my ass help this process?” Lex asked in what he meant to be a menacing growl and came out more of a disturbed whimper.
“When you were abducted, whoever took you changed you insides.” She slid another finger in, then it felt tight and… very strange. It was all Lex could do to keep from screaming at her or fleeing from the bed. “You could technically give birth, I think. There’s a secondary opening right here, feel that?”
“Yes,” Lex squeaked. His heart was racing, and he bit his lip hard. He tried to joke, “You want me to pop this baby out the old fashioned way?”
Tanaka continued to feel for another minute or so, then removed her fingers. “No, I don’t. I’d feel much more comfortable if you had a cesarean, as we have discussed. I don’t know the doctors who operated on you or whether this technique has been tested. Unless you genuinely desire to attempt that, I’d feel more comfortable regarding your chances of survival with the surgical method. Provided the pseudo-uterus begins to thin towards your due date, which I suspect it will, allowing us to operate.”
“I’m not really eager to push a baby out my ass either,” Lex said sharply, sitting up to pull his pants back on so Rujuko could stop looking mortified to be in the presence of an evil boypenis.
“Regardless, you may consider investigating some relaxation techniques for labor. That is not my specialty. I’ll do the ultrasound now.” Tanaka snapped off her gloves, pushed her glasses up on her nose, and then reached for the cold gel to rub on his belly. She didn’t bother warning him and simply squirted the gel onto his belly.
“I don’t suppose you ever considered a home practice as an obstetrician?” Lex asked after jumping from the coldness.
“I don’t have a good bedside manner,” she said flatly, not catching his sarcasm. She rubbed the gel around a bit then pressed the scanner to his belly. She touched him with her other hand, searching.
“Even her lab rats think she’s a bitch,” Ruji said with a grin. Tanaka caught her eye, and Ruji went over to Clark’s chair to sit and pout as she watched the monitor.
“There’s the head…” She pointed, then moved her finger in a line following a small blurry row in the image. Lex couldn’t distinguish any of it. “And the spine.”
She printed a few pictures, then leaned over to turn on the sound. A strong, fast heartbeat filled the room.
Lex felt his breathing catch, and he covered his mouth with one hand. That was it. The heartbeat of his firstborn.
After several moments, she nodded briefly and turned off the monitor. Lex felt disappointed. He would have liked to watch for a bit longer.
“Location aside, so far your baby appears perfectly normal and healthy. I’m going to hold off prescribing something for the nausea,” she announced. “I know that the morning sickness has you flat on your back right now, but if you can stick it out for another week or so, while we keep you on the drip for nutrients and to combat dehydration, it should ease up on its own.”
Tanaka turned her head in a brief moment of concern. “Can you do that? You need to start gaining weight, and if you don’t begin to improve in the next day or so, we’ll have to do something.”
“I have a friend who suggested some home remedies,” Lex said. “If you’re hesitating on the meds, I’ll stick it out and try a few things she said.”
“Hard candy. Ginger,” Ruji suggested suddenly. “And um… the vitamins.”
She hustled over to Tanaka’s bag.
“I’m already taking prenatal vitamins,” Lex told her. Ruji came up to him.
“Take them later in the day. With your midmorning snack maybe? Small meals, and um…” She looked to Tanaka for assurance that didn’t come. The older woman was packing up her materials and looking with interest at the blood. “Here’s some ginger candy, which might help if you suck on it. And if you put some lemon oil on a handkerchief, you can use it to cover your nose if you smell anything that sets you off.”
“Thanks, Ruji,” he said, taking the package and giving the girl a small smile.
“Rujuko,” the girl corrected him. She pulled her sleeves over her fingers, closed up the bag, and set it on top of the sonogram, which she then began to push out of there. The girl was pretty strong for her size.
“Take care of yourself, Lex,” Tanaka ordered, as though she didn’t expect to be disobeyed, and pulled the door most of the way shut as she left.
Lex watched her go, then crawled out of bed, swaying once and feeling a bit unsettled from the internal exam. Then he moved into the window seat overlooking the countryside. This room faced the Kent farm. It was why he had picked it for Clark, not that Clark could see his house from here without a telescope. Slipping one of his hands under his pajamas, he rubbed his firm, sore abdomen absently.
He looked down and pulled the fabric up a bit to look at his stomach. Still smooth. He had been so relieved when he’d heard that this little one was safe and healthy. In some ways, he was resenting the usurpation of his bodily resources. He hated being told when and what to eat and to stay in bed and having to be helped to walk around a room. Feeling so weak and uncertain about everything. He wanted to go back to work, have a drink, and frighten his employees. Maybe not in that order. He wanted a drink first. So much he almost felt embarrassed at the intensity of the desire.
The scotch would probably make me puke anyway.
Suddenly falling sick, however, had made Lex realize how desperately he wanted this baby. It frightened him just how much, especially since he hadn’t discovered much more about how he’d gotten in this condition.
“Where did you come from, baby dear?” he said to himself, searching the sky, with a heavy sigh. “Out of everywhere and into here.”
At the doorway to his room, soft green eyes widened and a breath was sharply drawn.
***
“Chloe, where are you going?” Clark asked her as she hurried from Lex’s room. The young woman stopped short and began to pull her hair behind her ears frantically.
“Oh… to get you. I mean… he looked a little woozy after the check-up so I looked in…” Chloe blinked as Clark ran past her so quickly she didn’t have time to berate herself for not speaking more quickly. Well. He had looked woozy, and Clark had asked her to wait outside and get him when the exam was over. It was too tempting for Clark to just x-ray the room and see what was happening, and he had promised Lex some privacy.
Chloe had looked at all of Lex’s medical records and checked up on the doctor they pulled from Genesis Industries. She had seen the security tapes with the half whispered conversations between him and a spare few employees who seemed to know the situation. Not to mention his symptoms, which were obvious enough that she felt a little silly for not figuring it out sooner. With her combined evidence, there was no doubt in Chloe’s mind that Lex was pregnant, from the look on his face now, miserably so, and he didn’t know how he got into this condition. Although, by the way he’d been looking at the sky… and he had been abducted by aliens recently…
FUCK.
Should she tell Lana what she’d discovered? Should she tell Clark? Did he already know? No, he didn’t. Not drawing from the conversations she’d overheard. He was just as clueless as everyone else.
“Think, Chloe. Think.” She stepped over to the side of the hallway and took a deep breath. If Lex wanted Clark to know, he would have told him, and Clark would protect Lex and the fetus from danger whether or not he knew. Should she tell Lex that she knew? No, he’d deny it and start covering up, and she wouldn’t be able to help him. She needed more information. She would find it; this was her specialty. Maybe she would tell Clark when she knew a little more, or if it seemed that Lex was in immediate danger, and they could devise some kind of plan of attack to save Lex.
***
“Lex!” Clark rushed into the room and stopped short as Lex turned his head from the window to look at him.
“Yes?”
“How did it go? Any answers?” Clark asked, sort of moving around as though he didn’t know what to do.
Lex chuckled and leaned his head back against the glass. “No. Though I’ve been instructed to try harder to feed myself. I’ve been failing in that regard and trying to push through anyway. Missing meals has probably been making me feel worse. Tanaka took some blood and some internal scans, so I presume she’ll be getting back to me with the results. Analysis. Whatever. She said, however, that everything seemed to be fine. Healthy.”
“Yeah, but you aren’t. Are you keeping something from me?” Clark approached the window with a worried little frown.
“Isn't it strange to hear you asking that of me?” Lex returned a bit sharply, then looked at Clark. He’d expected a sharp look as well, but Lex seemed more surprised that it had come out of his mouth.
Clark climbed into the other side of the window seat. “I thought we were going to be more honest with each other.”
“I said I’d be more open about my business practices. This is my body, and I made no promises to you regarding that. Neither did you, by the way. We’re even in this matter,” Lex answered pointedly. His eyes drifted out the window, glancing over the countryside. Clark watched Lex’s hand rubbing his abdomen.
“Lex, I’m just worried about you. Do you want me to get the heating pad?”
Lex looked over with a slight smile. “I know. And, yes. If the cord reaches that far.”
“I can use another outlet.” Clark walked over to the bed and picked up the heating pad. He wasn’t sure whether he should keep pressing about this or not. Plugging the cord into the other wall, he handed the pad to Lex, who laid it over his lower abdomen and pressed his hand over the top of it. Clark climbed back into the window with him.
“Thanks.”
“I’m just frustrated. If someone were holding a gun to your head, I could knock it out of their hand. There’s nothing I can do to help. It sucks,” Clark proclaimed. Lex reached over and rubbed Clark’s leg.
“You can fetch my heating pad. You can support me when I don’t have the strength to walk. You’re helping, Clark.”
Clark grinned and leaned over to Lex, hugging him gently, as though he might crumble in his strong arms.
“I trust my body to get better. Try to trust it as well, Clark. It hasn’t failed me so far.”
Clark caught a bit of Lex’s scent and didn’t want to let go of him, though he knew he would have to. He just wanted to take Lex back to his room and wrap him up in a hundred blankets and keep him safe from everything.
“Clark? Um…”
Reluctantly, Clark pulled back from Lex and frowned worriedly at his tired eyes and pale face. Though there were two pink spots forming on his cheeks. He must have noticed the extended hug. “Can I get you something? Water? Or food?”
“I’m good for now.” Lex curled himself a little tighter in the window and tensed his lips. “Romie will probably force something on me pretty soon.”
“Well, I’ll be right here,” Clark promised. He caught the flicker of doubt in Lex’s eyes and realized that Lex didn’t believe their friendship was going to last any time at all. Clark couldn’t blame him, after his recent behavior. He’d promised Lex to forgive him for the room, and he never really had, jumping to conclusions whenever it looked like Lex might have something to do with what they were investigating. He knew that, just as Lex was trying to regain Clark’s trust, he was really going to have to prove to Lex that he would be there, and he wouldn’t be running away again any time soon.