The Memoirs

The morning opened a cool and dismal day.

Clark had woken up to the rain falling... rain he hadn't caused, thankfully, but a thick storm in from the east that the weather analysts had been talking about for days. It was positively pouring when Clark awoke, and he'd sighed there, deeply, in the dark, the pleasure of the warmth of his lovers embrace endless.

But he'd risen and gotten dressed, thick jeans, flannel and a sweatshirt. He'd be home to change out of it before the morning was over, but for now, he knew his father was working out in the horrible weather.

He ran, as it was too dangerous to fly in the daylight, and made it to his house in record time. The first thing he saw, as he sped onto Kent land was... his father, in the barn.

Just as he'd known.

Jonathan wasn't letting the bad weather stop him. If anything, it added a sense of urgency to his chores, as he fought to get the animals fed and taken care of before the storm front hit too bad, and the mud made it impossible to get out.

He'd worked out a system, since Clark had been gone, and it worked out pretty well for him, but he was still going to have to hire someone come summer. But that was something to be dealt with later, and he paused shoveling the hay, stretching his back and leaning on the pitchfork for a minute before spreading the clean hay in the stalls for the few horses they still kept, and picked up his gloves from the sawhorse.

The cows wouldn't be feeding themselves, after all, and the grass wasn't quite long enough to feed the whole herd yet. It would be after a couple more rains like this, though, and he headed out to the truck, surprised to see his son standing out in the rain. "Hey, Clark!"

Clark offered a small smile and walked across the sodden field, his boots keeping his feet dry as he did so. "Hey, dad." He answered as he walked, stepping over a huge puddle as the rain soaked through his hair and dripped down his neck. "Thought you might need a hand this morning... its coming down hard."

"Come on, get in the truck. Just gettin' ready to drive down to the back field and set out the hay for the cows." He hugged Clark tightly, and then picked up one of the twenty pound feed bags and tossed that into truck too, for the cattle trough.

Clark hugged his dad, just as tightly, shocked his father had embraced him but letting it happen. He squeezed him, extra tight, before letting go and helping his father. He picked up four of the bags and tossed them into the back quickly, hurrying along in the chore so they could get to work. "Got some stuff I need to talk to you about too, dad. I was going to wait… but I thought maybe...you know. If you're willing to listen."

Jonathan blinked as the one bag he'd tossed in magically multiplied to five, and he laughed softly, realizing how much he'd missed having Clark around. "C'mon. Get in the truck, and we'll talk. Then, you can have breakfast with your mother and me before you go to school?" He phrased it as a question.

"Okay." A smile at him, as he set the last bag, number six, into the back, and shook off his sopping coat as he moved around to the side of the truck, sliding in quickly.

Jonathan slid in beside him on the driver's side, and shook his head slightly to dry it off. "What's the matter, son?" He cranked the old truck and listened to it purr before switching the four-wheel drive on and started trekking down the field.

"Nothing really the matter. I just wanted to keep you up to date on what's going on." Clark smiled crookedly, a little shyly, over at his dad.

Jonathan gave a little smile at that, just as crooked as his son's. "Well, update me, then," he said, the smile turning into a grin. "An' then I'll update you on your mother and me."

His smile fell, a little, but he hid it before his father could see. "I'm not sure you know, I think I've told you, but I'm not sure. You know the ship... my Kryptonian father downloaded himself through a computer program into it."

"Yeah, your mother mentioned meeting him a while back. Wasn't quite sure what she meant, but I knew better'n to question too much. Said she got to sit in the ship?"

Clark nodded, quietly. "Yeah. He... my Kryptonian father... is named Jor-El. He and Lex found a way to program the ship through the house, so that he'll be able to be with me all the time. Flesh and bone, though unable to leave the mansion." He looked at his dad for a moment. "It would mean more than anything for you to meet him."

Jonathan wasn't at all sure how he felt about that, and he was quiet for a long moment. Didn't like the idea of his son's father suddenly showing up in Clark's life, no matter how it happened. Clark was already so far away from home, so far away from him and Martha already, and now he was getting a new dad too. "I'd love to meet him, Clark," Jonathan said finally, with a smile. "I'd love to."

Clark knew what he thought, because he could hear an echo of his father's thoughts, and he shook his head, and covered his father's hand with his own. "You're my dad. No one else could ever be in your place. But Jor... my father... he's my birth parent. He's the person who bore me, and my brother."

"Brother?" Jonathan asked, and he didn't move his hand. "And Clark... I know that you mean that, cause that's just who you are." He didn't say anything else, though.

"My brother, Kon." Clark said, quietly. "He died when we were born. I saw it... Jor-El… my father… he showed me, after Mar died." His throat tightened. "Dad... I wanted to apologize to you."

"I'm sorry you didn't get to know him," Jonathan said softly, and then blinked. "Apologize? What for, son?"

"Because the day you told me mom was going to have twins, I lost it." He looked down then, in shame. "And I'm sorry for that. For making such a beautiful thing like my sisters or brothers being born a purely selfish pain. I didn't even get to rejoice that you guys got so lucky...I demeaned you and mom. I'm really sorry."

"No, Clark... look. Don't be sorry, all right?" He stopped the truck, putting it in park and letting it idle by the fence as he turned in the little cab. "It's not an easy thing to find out that your parents are, for all intents, startin' a second family. We didn't intend for it, but we're happy about it. We want you to be happy about it too, and we want you to know that it's not gonna change how much we love you." Here's where Jonathan took a deep breath. "I know, cause of what you went through, that couldn't have been an easy thing to hear, so we don't blame you at all, for anything."

"Dad?" He looked up. "Can I tell you about it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You can. If you wanna. But I ain't gonna make you."

"I need someone... someone who wasn't there, dad, to understand." He swallowed. "But...we should work, right? I mean, the cows aren't going to feed themselves."

Jonathan gave a little laugh at that, hearing his own words come from Clark's mouth. "Now you're startin' to sound like your old man. No, they're not gonna feed themselves, but I'd rather hear what you got to say first."

Clark looked up, and smiled softly. "Been raised well." Was all he said, quietly, and smiled a little at him. "I don't want it to weird you out, dad." Thunder rocked the sky, the rain pounding harder.

He raised an eyebrow at his son. "Clark, I've seen you do everythin' from glow-in-the-dark eyes to sheddin' your skin to settin' a scarecrow on fire by lookin' at it. I think my weirdin' out factor is pretty high."

"This...is really pretty much beyond that." He paused for a moment, in thought. "Lex and I are having sex, dad. You know that. One night...he fell asleep, still inside me." Couldn't look at his father when he said that. Period. "When we woke up... there was this thick mucusy stuff all over, that I'd secreted. Didn't find out till later its a substance that... seals over the organs inside my back leading to the womb I have. It sealed itself, and started to form Mar."

Jonathan would have smiled at the blush on Clark's cheeks, if it had been anything to smile about. "What happened next?" he asked quietly.

Clark swallowed, hard, as the rain pinged on the windshield, and lightening veed across the sky. "I started to feel… strange. I didn't know what was wrong with me... I felt... right. I felt good. Until the fourth day. I hadn't been able to sleep at all... Lex knew there was something up, but we thought it might have been an emerging power or something. I was in so much discomfort... the discomfort lead up to pain. It would come in waves... intense first, then less, over and over. I couldn't even breathe between the waves, it hurt so bad."

"Contractions," Jonathan said softly. "Did Lex do anything to stop the pain?"

"He didn't know." Clark murmured quietly, still unable to look at his father. "I didn't let on. It happened fast...maybe three, four hours. By the time I reached third period, I had to excuse myself and go home." His throat bobbed, tightly, as he watched his lap.

"He let you go to school!" Jonathan forcibly lowered his voice. "If you didn't want to go to him, son, you could have come to your mother and me."

"Its not that I didn't want to go to him... I didn't know what was happening." Clarks throat tightened all the more. "If I was emerging some power, I couldn't risk hurting you or mom."

Jonathan just shook his head. "It's okay, Clark. I understand you not wanting to hurt anyone." He put his hand on Clark's shoulder and squeezed firmly. "You wanna go on?"

"Dad... you'd just found out you guys were going to have a baby. You were so happy... I couldn't, not even in a chance, take that away from you." He nodded, tightly. "I... I went to the mansion. Shay helped me out of school, with my stuff... and I ran. I ran to the mansion. It was empty... no one was there. By the time I got there, I was bleeding." His throat tightened, all the more. "From my back. It was dripping down my butt, over my legs, and onto the floor. The blood drips, later, Lex told me, reached from the front steps of the mansion all the way up the stairs to the room he and I share."

Jonathan just swallowed hard, and didn't know what to say. "Is that... where the scar came from?"

He nodded, silently, looking for his voice. "When I got to the bedroom... the blood was pouring out of me. There's a bone in my back that controls that, opens the body for the baby to pass through, but the birth was too fast. The bone wasn't having enough time to slit me open. The baby was being born, ripping out... out of m-me." His voice faltered, for a moment. "There was so much blood. All over me, all over the floor. I was alone... Lex and Lionel and Dominic, they were at the building. They didn't know, at least, not until Chloe called Lex and told him I had run out of school. He could feel me… I think he panicked." His voice broke for a moment. "I crawled into the bathroom. I was so hot, so hot. Fevered, Lex told me later, from the trauma. Mar... Richard Kent-Luthor, is his earth name. He was born... I had to help him. He was too little, and the slit wasn't open enough... the muscles helped though, and pushed him out. He was backwards, though, so I had to help him."

At the break in Clark's voice, Jonathan reached over and pulled Clark into a hug. Didn't say a word for a long time, just held Clark tightly as he spoke. "You're so strong, Clark," Jonathan said quietly, mind reeling as he tried to take everything in. "You're so strong."

He closed his eyes, tightly, and held his father just as close, squeezing his shoulders. "He died, in Lex's arms. Lex found me... he found me and Mar. His little lungs weren't formed… they hadn't formed. But he lived, for a little, for a few minutes, because of the fluid caught in the third lung. He could breathe it for a f-few minutes." He swallowed, tightly. "Everything... everything after that is a blur. A lot of pain... a lot of sadness. I buried him." His voice quieted, deadened. "Lex and I. We buried him, where no one would ever know he was there."

Jonathan didn't give up his grip on his son's shoulders. "No parent, not even a Luthor, should have to bury their son. No parent--especially not you." He pressed his lips to Clark's temple gently. "Did you talk to Lionel? After Julian... well, he might be able to help you." His grip tightened. "Your mother and I buried children too, Clark, and I know the pain isn't easy to bear, but you gotta know not to blame yourself."

He didn't say anything for a moment, and though the tears came to his eyes, he didn't let them fall. Enough tears had been shed over a sadness Mar had told him to hold close, and not to bear any longer. He swallowed though, and let his dad hold him, quietly. "Lionel saved me. When no one, not even Lex, could. He talked to me, and told me about what he'd gone through, and even though he lost a grandchild in Mar...he helped me. He helped me for a long time afterward." His throat tightened to almost constricting. "I didn't come to you and mom because I know you've lost so many, dad. You've lost so many kids, and I couldn't risk, for a second, that mom would lose another one."

"I'm glad he could help you," Jonathan said softly, and he was surprised to find that he meant it. He was glad that Lionel could do something for his son, even though they'd never worked out together. "I'm glad that he could find it in his heart to help you." No bitterness, just honesty. "You can always come to us, Clark. You're the most important thing in our lives, you're our son, and we don't ever want you thinkin' you can't come home to us when you need us."

He nodded, tightly, and stayed quiet until he was certain of his voice. He hugged once, tightly, and let go. "Its why I didn't go to school. I was sick, for a few days after, until Lex and I went to go see my birth father in the ship." He swallowed, and looked up at him. "I'm sorry, dad."

Jonathan didn't let go until Clark did. "Don't be sorry, Clark. I... I understand why you didn't want to come to us with this." He rubbed his hands over his face. "And I'm sorry about the way I reacted when the principal came and told us that you were outta school. Now I know why."

"I was at the height of the depression. I shouldn't have laughed... it was very disrespectful. I just hope... now you understand why." Clark answered, quietly. "I don't think I've talked to anyone about this, dad. Not even Lex."

"I do, I understand why. And I'm sorry I flew off the handle." He squeezed Clark's hand gently, and then put the truck in gear, hoping he hadn't been sitting too long and caught in the mud.

But the wheels turned and pulled him out, and he sighed. "You should talk about it with Lex." Then, he turned a crafty eye towards Clark. "Unless he's got his own problems with it."

Clark shook his head, sadly. "Lex is a wreck, dad. He loved that baby so much. He begged for him to come back, for hours afterward... he wouldn't put Mar down, even after he was long... long dead." He let his eyes close. "Lionel had to convince Lex that Mar was dead. He wouldn't believe it... he was just… he was lost."

"Son, Lex had a bucketload of issues the day he rolled up in Smallville. I don't reckon this helped matters at all." His hands tightened on the steering wheel. "It's not easy to let go of someone you love like that."

"No, its not." Clark answered, quietly. "Its been four months, already. We're... we're better than we were. We have little outbreaks now and again...but we're happy, again. I think... we've come to terms with it." He looked up at his father. "Lex and I are going to get married, dad. Sometime next summer."

That was a shock, and he couldn't stop the reflexive cough that accompanied that. "Isn't that... a little fast?"

He shook his head. "We've been seeing each other for a year, and known one another for three years."

"You're only sixteen, Clark."

He looked up at him. "Yeah, you can cut that crap." But it was with a small smile. "Mom already told me I'm nineteen, so you don't have to keep the lie up anymore. Why didn't you guys ever tell me, anyway?"

"Yeah, I know she did, I was there when she told Lex it was okay." He groused it. "We didn't think you'd be ready," he said finally. "We found you, and it took us a while to get you ready to go to school. We had to pick an age for you, so that you'd fit in with the rest of your class."

Clark looked down at himself, then up at his dad, and his lips quirked, just a little. "You suck at guessing."

He sighed. "We hoped you wouldn't find out. Or that we'd be able to tell you later, at any rate, instead of having it come out the way it did."

Clark shrugged. "Dad, at this point, I'm kind of cool with everything. You don't have to hide stuff from me anymore... I grew up." He smiled though, very quietly, at him, and the smile slid away just as quietly. "Dad... I needed to talk to you, cause I've got this feeling. A bad feeling, lately. Like something's going to happen, something bad."

"Yeah, I think you did grow up, much as I never wanted you to." He gave a little smile in return, and then frowned. "Something bad? What do you mean?"

"Dunno. Been having weird feelings lately… really weird feelings lately." His shoulder shrugged. "I don't know what it is yet. But Lex...he developed some mental abilities, dad, because of the link he and I have. He's got some telekinesis, some telepathy. And through him... I dunno. Like, foreboding, you know?" He sighed. "Just keep mom safe, okay?" And at that, Clark tipped his head. "How's mom doing dad? Really?"

Jonathan just let the revelation of Lex's developed abilities pass. There was only so much he could handle, and he focused on the question of Martha. "She's doin' good, actually. I was kinda worried about her; she had a faintin' spell a few days back; just keeled over in the kitchen all of a sudden. We took her to the hospital, got her checked out, and Billy said she's okay. Ethan was over here helpin' with the tractor, an' he said it was okay, cause his wife had had the spells, but Fellie hadn't."

"Her wedding's around the corner, right?" Clark smiled, now, fully...it was good to talk about regular stuff. "She talked to Lex about he and I going. Toni said they've been really busy getting ready."

"Yeah, it's weekend after next. Was gonna have it next weekend, but Dominic said somethin' about his sister havin' some kind of dancin' thing to do with Pete, and so they bumped it back to the weekend after it." He beamed at Clark. "Ethan's asked me to be his best man."

"That's really cool." Clark smiled right back at his dad. "Yeah, Pete and Shay. Theyre doing the national championship... you know he and Lana used to do it. Well, he trained Shay, and the girl is just awesome. They're going to win for sure. She's way better than Lana ever was." Another smile at him. "Lex and I are gonna get some tuxes ordered from Metropolis for that weekend... its gonna be really nice."

"I'm almost afraida what they're gonna be puttin' me an' Ethan in." Then he pouted. "That potato-suckin' bastard's gonna be givin' Felicia away, and Ethan's done made me promise to be nice to 'im."

Clark, for his part, didn't choke on the laugh. "Hey, now. Dominic's not bad! I don't get what it is between you guys." He slid his eyes slyly at his dad. "You wouldn't be jealous over Lionel, now would you?"

Jonathan huffed. "I most certainly am not. I'm just sicka the little fucker poppin' me one every time he sees me fer no reason!"

Clark burst out laughing, the flood of tears from before just making his eyes slightly soft and red, but he rubbed at them as he laughed, and shook his head. "He doesn't like you on principle. I mean, the whole Lionel love thing, you know. He's got a right to be jealous."

"Yeah, well, Ly's made me promise not to punch the sumbitch in the nose, but I tell you, Clark, one more time, and I'm gonna break his damn face in, Lionel or no Lionel."

Another little sly grin. "He's fast. See that he doesn't get you first." But he smiled, quietly. "He invited Lex and me to Ireland for the holiday. Do you and mom mind?"

"I think your mom was kind of hoping to get her hands on Lex and fatten him up a little, but I think she'll understand him wanting to spend it with his dad. But you gotta promise that you're gonna help that boy get some meat on his bones."

"I will." A little smile. "He's too skinny, I know." Another little chuckle, as he let his head fall back. "Dad... thanks. This... its what I needed."

Jonathan gave his son a smile back. "You're welcome, son. Barn door's always open when you need it."

He rolled his head on the seat, to look at his father. "Dad... I have something to tell you, and mom, but I figure I might as well tell you, first. You know I want to be...well, I want to help people." Fuck. Hard swallow. "Bruce Wayne is making me a suit."

"Bruce Wayne's making you a suit? Clark, you can go over to Fordman's and get a suit for nothin', and get one of Lex's people to help you tailor it up to fit." Jonathan had no clue.

Clark blinked... twice. Oh. "Dad, Bruce is Batman."

"Oh." A slow blink. "Well. In that case? Um... congratulations?"

He grinned, and shook his head. "Dad... Bruce is making me a suit for the saving people thing. A suit that's got all kinds of gadgets and stuff...its really neat. And now, I've got the whole flying thing down pat." A little sideways glance. "But... you know. Don't tell anyone about Bruce, dad."

Oh! That kind of suit! Jonathan coughed slightly. "Son... who the hell am I gonna tell, the cows?" Another little cough. "Ah. Suit to save people. That... actually makes a lot more sense than what I was thinking." Rueful grin. "You will be careful, right, Clark?"

He smiled at his dad right back, and nodded. "Yeah. Not going to… yet. I'm not comfortable yet... I need some more experience under my belt. But Bruce," The mother fucking ass licker. "Is gonna help me."

Jonathan laughed at that. "I'm guessing, by the look on your face, that you like Mr. Wayne about as much as I like Dominic."

He growled, softly. "I hate him. He loves Lex, a lot, old lovers, yadda yadda, pound my fist in his face cakes."

Jonathan smiled a slightly evil grin at that. "Son, now you're soundin' like your dad." He put an arm around Clark's shoulder. "Knees are always a weak point; take man down off his feet, and you got him in a perfect place to kick his ass. Got me?" Then he squeezed Clark's shoulder again. "I don't think Lex has plans to desert you for Bruce, so just flaunt what you got and tell him to go blow."

Clark almost choked on the laugh that slid out of him at that. "Dad, Christ." A pause. "I told him if he ever got close to Lex again Id make sure his ass never forgot it, cause Id open such a can of whoop ass he'd be limping for three weeks."

"Now that's my boy!" Jonathan crowed. "I don't usually advocate you beating people up, son. You could hurt them. But if this character is really the Batman? Go to it, son."

Clark grinned, crookedly. "You're too proud for your own good. Lets get the cows fed... and then I gotta get to school." A slight wince. "I wrote something in the newspaper yesterday I'm not sure was... okay. but I didn't really care, so we'll see today."

Jonathan shrugged. "Whatever it was, Clark, I'm sure it was great, and don't let anyone else tell you different, hear?" He nodded at his son. "You get to school; I can handle the cows."

"You sure, dad?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." He smiled. "Won't take me fifteen minutes, honest."

"Bull." Clark climbed out of the truck and ran. As fast as he could, hurtling across the grass and the puddles, and in a minute and a half he had the troughs filled for the cows, the pen locked, and everything working in order, just as he used to do every morning for sixteen years. He hurtled back, opening the door enough to give his dad a sopping wet, extremely tight embrace. "I love you. Thank you, dad."

"Oof!" Jonathan hugged back, rubbing Clark's shoulder gently. "You're welcome, son, though I don't know I did anything for ya." Then he pulled back to look Clark in the face. "You know I love you, Clark. No matter what happens."

"I know. I needed the reminder. Thank you, dad." He smiled at him, broadly, and hugged him tightly once more before hurtling off over Kent lands, and disappearing in the mist.

- = - = -

Lex knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that Clark had gotten up early to go see Jonathan. See? He remembered it, from when Clark had mentioned it last night. Therefore, when he rolled over into the empty side of the bed, he wasn't unduly worried.

He just turned over on his side, curled up around Clark's pillow, and attempted to sleep a little longer.

That was, of course, before the fucking telephone rang.

Aden's hip was bopping. He couldn't help it. When he was agitated his hip moved, and there it was, moving, like he was some flaming homosexual.

Okay, so he was. Still, it was bopping. He had the headpiece phone extension on, waiting for the other end to pick up as he spritzed his current clients hair and went into his apron, for his favorite scissors, before he began to snip.

Lex reached out and picked up the phone without opening his eyes. "Just so you know, whomever this is is going to get killed after I hang up."

"Hello, bald, beautiful, and grouchy!" Aden sang, as he shifted his weight. "I was calling to inquire if your lordship has read the new article in the New York Times."

"Aden." He made a mental note to kill him. "You just woke me up. No, I haven't read it."

"I know I woke you up, dollface. Though its, -gasp!- nearing eight o'clock. You prima donna sleepyhead. Wake up and get yourself a copy… there's something in it I'm sure you won't like reading. I'm staying on the line until you do. Hi! And how are--Rico!! FEATHER! Not LAYER!"

"Fine." Lex got up and stormed to the bedroom door, nearly plowing Enrique over. Luckily the man was bearing the newspaper in question, as well as a carafe of hot coffee, and Lex snatched the newspaper before sitting back down. "All right. I've got the paper, and what am I looking for?"

"That was fast. You are a king. Feather, Rico, and I'm not telling you again!" A little breath. "That man. Christ. Like he didn't go to cosmetology school." But even as he muttered and snipped, he spoke. "Page 2, sweetie."

"Corazon, I am feathering! If I feathered any more, I'd be a little singing bird!!"

Lex flipped to page two, which featured the most prominent bits from the society's gossip section.

The first feature caught his eye.

Can't Buy Me Love?

Don't tell that to multi-billionaire Lex Luthor! Our sources caught the one-time most eligible bachelor of Metropolis in a heated argument with his boy-toy lover... over money. In the middle of Smallville's main street, no less! The details are sketchy at best, since none of the parties involved will return our calls, but the skinny is apparently the youngest Luthor heir is trying to buy off the affections of his lover, Smallville native Clark Kent. The pair have been an item for the last nine months, but could this be the beginnings of a break? We'll keep an eye on the situation for you! (Picked up from The Daily Planet, Metropolis.)

Lex read the article over twice, then very calmly ripped the paper to shreds, and hurled the full pot of coffee at the door, where it crashed and dripped.

Aden listened, eyebrow raised, as he snipped another lock of hair from his clients head. "I thought you'd like it, amor. Lois Lane's friend Caterina Connell. She works for the Planet." Aden said conversationally, as he shifted his hip and kept on cutting.

"Like it. Oh, yes. I fucking well adore it." He snarled it into the phone. "Fucking hell. If Wally hasn't been forwarding my calls, I'm going to rip his ass."

"Don't do it too obviously, or it'll be on page one of the Gazette tomorrow." Aden chirped as he continued to cut. "Don't worry to much, amor, its all a bunch of lies. And even then, who cares?"

"No, Aden, it's not. Clark and I did have a fucking fight in the middle of the street, because I walked out of the restaurant instead of causing a public scene. Mother fucker." He growled. "I care."

Aden opened his mouth to speak... winced. "Rico, its true. Hijo."

Rico snorted as he kept feathering out the hair of the young man in the seat. "Of course it's true, corazon. You have seen the temper for yourself."

Aden nodded, sighed, and shifted onto his other nervously bopping hip as he cut. "Hijo, how can I work under this pressure." Heaved breath. "What you'll have to do, amor," Speaking to Lex again. "Is call the Planet and threaten some heads."

"Like that's not already on the agenda." He had his cell phone in his other hand, dialing his voicemail as he talked to Aden. "I'm not completely inept. I'm going to destroy that fucking newspaper."

Aden heaved a sigh. "Before you go off to destroy things, what of the wardrobe for Clark, amor? Have you and he talked it out? We've got everything on the ready, if you want to order it still."

Lex sighed. "I don't know. Clark and I haven't had a chance to discuss it yet. Can I get back to you this afternoon?" He rubbed his temples gently.

"Of course." A small smile. "Go, kill the world, amor. We'll be here to clean you up afterwards."

"You won't have to clean me up. I know better than to get my hands dirty." He slammed the cordless phone down on the base, and then hurled the handset at the wall as he dialed his cell phone again.

And it was what Clark walked in on, sopping wet and freezing. Coffee everywhere, a smashed phone, and his lover, furious, face splotchy with anger. He blinked...twice, even, and stepped over the broken glass of the coffee as he walked in, and closed the door behind him.

Lex didn't say a word to his lover, just threw the paper at him as he waited for the person on the other end of the phone to pick up.

"Mr. Luthor's office, how can I help you?" Wally had just gotten to the office ten minutes ago, and was in the middle of making coffee.

"Mr. West, you can tell me how in the hell this article got into the fucking New York Times!" Lex bellowed. "And if I find out that someone's been trying to get in touch with me about it, your ass is going back to Bruce in a spare tire."

Clark had already seen it. He'd stopped by the Talon for a warm cup of coffee, and had literally been snickered out, even at the early hour. He just... he sighed, quietly, set the two cups of coffee down on the desk, and started to strip.

"Okay, Lex? Calm down, first of all. Second of all, I've already had one ass-chewing this morning--namely, Bruce--and I don't need a second one, all right? No, there are no messages. I checked your voicemail and your email, and there's nothing there." Wally carefully set his coffee cup down.

"Don't tell me to fucking calm down. Don't you dare." Lex hissed it angrily. "I'm going to be there in half an hour. I want the editor of the Times and the author of the column on the phone and waiting for me, I want Parks and Simpson sent up to my office from the legal department, and I don't want any back talk, do you understand me, Mr. West?"

Wally just blinked. "Yes, sir, Mr. Luthor," he said icily. "I understand."

"Good." Lex hung the cell phone up and threw it down on the bed. "Morning."

"Sort of." Clark said mildly, as he tugged his shirt up over his head, and let it slap down on the tile of the bathroom. He was soaking wet, soaking wet, and he began to tug his jeans off, peeling them off his skin. "Well, today has sucked a little bit, hasn't it?" But he couldn't possibly find any reason to be upset, even if what he'd said had been written in the newspaper.

"A little bit? I'd say it's sucked quite a bit." He sighed. "This? Is why I refuse to do public displays."

His throat quietly swallowed, but Clark didn't say anything. "I'm sorry. Its my fault."

"No, Clark, it's not your fault. It's my fault; I should have just walked away." He held out his hand to his lover. "I'm not mad at you."

He didn't say anything...just shook his head carefully. Though he did move towards his lover, after a moment, pushing his squishy jeans off to sit in soaked boxers beside his lover. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Lex squeezed his hand, and once Clark was sitting next to him, wrapped his arms around Clark's waist. "This isn't your fault."

"It is my fault." But after the morning he was emotionally wrung out, and he let his eyes close. "I have to go to school, baby."

"I know you do." But Lex didn't let go, for a moment. "It's not your fault." He reached to the side of the bed, and pulled out his mother's wedding band from the little wooden box it stayed in. Once he had it, he slid it onto Clark's little finger, the only one it would fit.

Clark looked down, blinking, as the sliver of silver slid onto his small finger, and his eyes blinkblinked again, in surprise. "Lex?"

"Yeah?" He looked up at Clark. "So you know I don't blame you... so you know I love you."

Clark swallowed, tightly, looking down at the small sliver. "Lex… its your moms. Lex, I can't." But he looked down at the tiny ring, that barely fit, and instead rose, to a box in the dresser, and took out a chain Chloe had given to him many years before. He sat down beside his lover again, took off the ring, and slid it on the chain, before winding it around his neck. "So I don't lose it." He whispered, softly.

"Yes, yes, you can." He watched as Clark put the ring on the chain around his neck, and then leaned over to kiss the nape, where it fastened securely at the back. "Aden called, to tell me about the article." Quiet pause. "He asked me about the clothes; I told him I had to talk to you and I'd call him back this afternoon."

Clark looked across at him, quietly, softly. "Tell him yes." Clark answered, quietly, as he kissed his lovers cheeks. "I have to go to class, baby, I really do... I'm going to be late." Another few warm, gentle kisses. "Don't kill anyone, kay? Call your dad and Dominic... ask them for their counsel."

"They'll be calling me as soon as they see it to chew me out," Lex said ruefully. "Is there any way you can possibly hurry this day along?" Deep sigh. "I have to get to the office. Depending on how this situation plays out, I may miss our lunch." His brow crinkled as he frowned. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Clark leaned forward to give his lover a gentle kiss. "Go start your day... I've got to start mine. I love you, Lex."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth that the phone was ringing.

"I love you, Clark." Lex cut the kiss short because of the ringing phone, but looked longingly after his lover as he picked it up. "Luthor."

"LUTHOR MY GODDAMNED FUCKING ASS! MORON IS MORE LIKE IT!"

Clark... well, he winced, thanked God it wasn't him, and kissed his lover before speeding into the bathroom for a shower.

"Good morning to you too, Dominic." Lex sighed.

"MORNING?! Morning?! Its bloody two o'clock, and what have I been seeing on the tellie all morning long but YOUR face, and audio! OF YOU AND CLARK SCREAMING AT ONE ANOTHER!"

If Dominic was bellowing, no one but Lionel could hear him.

He was naked but for boxers, sitting in bed, a club sandwich on a plate between his thighs as his lover moved the new furniture they'd bought to his liking. And Dominic took the opportunity to bellow, quite loudly. "YOU GODDAMNED STUPID BOY!

Lex sighed. "I'm not surprised there was audio. I'm just surprised you haven't seen the newspapers yet." He rose to his feet, and headed for the closet. "Wally's making some phone calls for me while I get ready and by the time I get there, he's going to have the editor of the paper on the line for me."

"You do that. I canna believe you, boy. You, YOU of all people." Dominic snarled and rose, bopping his hip against his lovers and straightening the table in the corner of the room just so, so it showed all the design on it and caught the light. "You, having grown up in the spotlight, fighting with your alien boyfriend in the middle of the street! What if someone heard you, eh?"

"You don't have to belabor the obvious, Dominic." Lex pulled out a pair of black pants, and one of the dusty lavender sweaters that Clark liked so much, that clung to him in all the right places. "It's why I'd left the restaurant, because I was about to have it out with him in there, and for some reason, he--like another man I could name--seems to think that Luthors need to release their emotions."

"Kiss my ass, Little Luthor! I dunna make Lionel do it IN THE MIDDLE OF A CROWDED STREET!" He was about to chunk the telephone across the room. "I could strangle you, you stupid boy. But I won't, because for some god awful reason, I adore you. Fuck. Fucking hell!"

"That's dad's job, kissing your ass," Lex shot back, listening to the shower run. "And if you call me a stupid boy one more fucking time, I'm going to put my foot up your ass as soon as Clark and I land."

"Fucking hell you are! Stupid, stupid boy!" But he calmed, considerably, and took in a raspy breath. "Alright. Alright. We can spin this, somehow. We can make people feel bad for invading your privacy. We can. I'm just at a bit of a loss as how to do it."

Lex shrugged. "That's the simple part. Lex Luthor's first real relationship, he's working so hard to try and get it right, and there's the greedy press, sitting and waiting for him to make one single mistake to exploit all over the globe, attempting to destroy the relationship before it has a chance to blossom."

"You're like an ad for Poor Rich Boys Of America, Lex." Dominic muttered. "I'm mildly moved. Except that's complete crap and its quite possible it won't work, but... we havena another choice." He heaved a very, very deep breath, and just... looked at Lionel helplessly.

Lionel gave a small grin. He'd save his rant for later, in private. "Perhaps make it look as though Clark and Lex are both victims of sensationalism? Because they're a same-sex couple, everything they do is subject to far more ridicule, derision and dissection than any other relationship would be? Or perhaps it's possible that Clark and Lex are being hounded by the same types of people who would follow in Diane Sawyer's footsteps and using innocent young men to make a name for themselves?"

"Ewww. Rapists of young minds. I like it!" Dominic beamed. "Lex, call you back. I've got to get in touch with Charlie and start PR on this."

"I'll work on the editor while you get with Charlie." Lex hung up the phone, and tugged the shirt on over his head. He sighed as he looked towards the bathroom. "I love you, Clark!" he yelled over the running water, and straightened the belt of his slacks as he walked out the bedroom door, phone in hand.

- = - = -

Metropolis was quaking with energy. The heavens had opened up and rain was pouring down on the street so hard and so fast that Jimmy had been certain he'd need a row boat and galoshes to get to his classes later that evening, but... that would be later. For now, he was warm, dry, and completely not in tune with the huge ass workload sitting on his desk.

His brother Steve had faxed him something from one of the local kids. Jimmy had thought it was Chloe Sullivan, but instead he'd gotten an article written by Clark Kent, Lex Luthor's new plaything.

He was midway through it, shoes up on the corner of his desk, and already the world around him had faded. The shouts, yells, busy voices of working people faded, and all he saw was the paper, the light streaming in through the big windows, and the words he could envision in his head so easily coming from someone's mouth. The tragedy, and the triumph.

It was beautiful.

Perry White had been bellowing for the last ten minutes. Worthless kid photog, he had talent coming out of his ears, but the dedication wasn't there. "OLSEN!" he bellowed, top of his lungs as he slammed the office door open. "JIMMY OLSEN, GET YOUR BUTT IN MY OFFICE RIGHT NOW!" He stalked through the newsroom, bellowing different variants on that demand until someone pointed him towards Olsen, feet up on the desk, and he growled.

Shoved Jimmy's feet down on the floor, and went nose to nose. "OLSEN!"

Jimmy just...blinked. Faded several shades to a sickly pale...blinked again, and his mouth opened but no sound came out. He tried again, voice rasping, and scrambled up to his feet. "S... sorry chief! Sorry! I was comin', I swear!"

"What are you reading that's got your attention more than your boss!?" he demanded, jerking the paper out of Jimmy's hands.

"I... its nothin'! Well… it's something, but... its nothing!" Jimmy winced as his boss yanked the page out of his hands and glared, across the room, as Lois snickered. He gave her the look of death and straightened slightly, to look at his boss. "Clark Kent wrote it."

"Who the hell is Clark Kent?" Perry scanned the article. "Well? I'm waiting? Why are you reading the competition?"

"Clark Kent...Lex Luthor's boyfriend?" Jimmy didn't pretend to be frightened--he was pissing his pants. "Isn't competition... school run newspaper. That's... its an awesome article. My b-brother sent it over."

"High school kid?" Perry glared again, and then scanned the article a third time. "Good work, Olsen. Now get out of here and get to work!!" Perry shoved the article in his pocket as he pushed Jimmy out the door. He slammed the door to his office, and pulled the article out again, reading it in full, and then reading the byline again. He picked up the phone, and yelled down to the switchboard. "Maggie! Find me a copy of the Smallville Torch and send Lois Lane to my office! I got a job for her!"

 

-fin-

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