The Memoirs

Clark was the kind of guy who sang Christmas carols in July.

He'd driven his mother batty as a little boy with it. It had happened to be the first thing he'd encountered when he came here that he liked, so he'd gotten addicted to Jingle Bells, Silent Night, and Joy to The World at a very early age. It was a defense mechanism, one he'd grown out of thank God, but sometimes when he was very agitated or nervous, he'd start humming. Didn't matter if it was December or July, he'd hum jingle bells--much to the chagrined looks from his parents--and he'd feel better.

He'd hummed a lot of Silent Night when Mar died.

Regardless, he was sitting in front of Lionel in the cafeteria near the ICU. The doctors had thrown him out, snarling about his germs, and were giving Dominic a thorough check over. So they'd been banished to the cafeteria, where Clark had ordered something to Lionel's liking--home made fries bathed in salt, a strong cup of coffee, and a cheese Danish.

And there they sat.

And he was trying his damndest not to hum Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

Elaine didn't know which batty individual to tackle first--the insane young teenager who obviously didn't realize that they were about six months off from Christmas, or the big silent brooding old fucker that was sitting between them.

In the end, the big silent brooding old fucker won out, and she did something very adult.

She poked Lionel's shoulder with her index finger.

Lionel gave the offending finger a very rough glare, pushed the plate of fries away, moved the Danish to the edge of the plate, picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip.

"Which class do they teach that to you in?" Clark asked, looking over Lionel's glare at Elaine as he straightened his finger, and poked Lionel in the shoulder himself. "Advanced Pokage, 101?"

"Nah, it's Advanced Communications With Stubborn Old Fuckers," she answered back, giving Lionel another poke in his shoulder.

Lionel glared at Clark darkly, a storm brewing under hooded eyes and a wrinkled brow, and then at Elaine's second poke, he picked up his newspaper and coffee, and walked around the other side of the table and took a seat with the table in between them.

"Mmm. A strong sense of defense. That's my Lionel." Clark looked at him fondly, adoringly, even as he and Elaine sidled in closer to one another with Lionel finally gone, comfortable. Lionel's face was a mask, dark and unreadable, and he leaned forward to peek at the newspaper. "What's on it today?"

Elaine smirked and whispered to Clark. "The same thing that was on it yesterday," she said with a muffled giggle. "I switched out the paper to see if he'd even notice."

Apparently Lionel hadn't noticed, because he was currently buried in the front page, deliberately flipping pages loudly to show that he was paying absolutely no attention to the other people who just happened to be sitting at the table with him.

"Oh. Did you hear the Mets won the pre game thing? Chloe went crazy. Stupid Mets fan. its disgusting." Clark said conversationally, nodding seriously. "And they had a great rerun of Friends, too. Though the current season has sucked beyond the telling of it. I usually watch it when Lex is showering, because as soon as he comes out he gags and changes it."

"That's Lex's loss; Friends is actually a great show and offers a fairly good look into the general psyche of the American viewing public as a whole. Of course, it's only good for gross generalizations, but it's a fairly good barometer of what the world is thinking or not. As for the Mets... Mets, Yanks, whatever. Don't follow baseball at all, or any sport for that matter." Elaine picked the straw out of her soft drink, dried it off on her napkin, and then poked Lionel's newspaper with it.

The newspaper rattled. "Clark Kent, if you even consider poking the newspaper with your straw, I will be forced to hurt you."

Clark's lips twitched a little as he sipped his soda. "Promise, on my oath as an E--...Kent." Woops. He blushed softly, but smiled anyway despite Lionel hiding. "Friends is crap. You want a good general psyche of the American viewing public? COPS. You've got blacks, whites, Hispanics. You've even got a stripper or two! And if you're lucky, a cross dresser named Pappy."

Elaine snorted. "Cops is only good if you're a criminologist studying the racial and/or economic spread of crime in a particular urban area," she answered disdainfully.

"Friends is quite the insipid piece of rubbish on the airways today, catering to the millions of idiots in the country who cannot think for themselves and must therefore rely on six idiots to tell them how to dress, how to behave, what to drink and what to think," Lionel said from behind his newspaper. "Cops is nothing but a parade of the worst layer of society that this country has to offer, and both programs should be cancelled." His newspaper never fell, never revealed his face, and his voice showed no emotion as he fell silent again.

Clark wanted to laugh but didn't dare, simply raising his brow. "Really? And so what constitutes as good television, then, Lionel?" He honestly wanted to know, and took a sip of his soda again as he broke off a piece of Lionel's Danish and chewed on it thoughtfully.

Lionel did not deign to answer, merely continuing his flip through the newspaper.

Elaine's eyes twinkled. "Don't ask him hard questions, Clark."

"Hmmm. I like the classics, myself. You know. Xena. Mrowr." A knowing nod at the newspaper.

Elaine nearly choked on her soda. "Yeah, well, if you didn't have a boyfriend, I'd say I knew why you watched that show."

"Hey. I can still have a boyfriend and appreciate Xena." Clark nodded sagely, even as he lifted the top of Lionel's newspaper and brought it down gently. "I missed seeing you in the light." He turned his eyes to the afternoon sun drifting in from the windows. "You're so pale, Lionel."

"Your eyesight needs checking, Clark."  A glare, and he raised the paper again to shield himself.

"Now, you and I both know my eyes need anything but checking." Clark said lightly, as he pulled the newspaper down again.

Lionel didn't say a word as he snatched his newspaper back and raised it again.

Clark let him pull the newspaper back up and looked at him quietly before glancing at Elaine. He just shook his head quietly and lowered the newspaper again, as he looked into Lionel's haunted eyes. Time to bring out the big guns. "Toni is having a checkup tomorrow. She wanted me to ask if you wanted a sonogram picture."

"No," was Lionel's brusque answer, and he jerked his newspaper back for the third, and what he hoped was the final, time.

"No? Why?"

Lionel ignored the question, and picked up his coffee, taking a deep drink of it, then putting it back down and turning the page of the newspaper.

"Ohhhhkay. I think we've played ring around the bastard long enough." Elaine reached out and snatched the paper away entirely, wadding it up and tossing it at the trashcan a few chairs away. "There, now."

Clark flinched quietly, looking at Elaine with wide eyes by his shoulder so Lionel wouldn't see before neutralizing his expression. Santa Clauusee is comminng to toowwn!

Lionel blinked calmly. "May I ask just what in the name of hell do you think you're doing?"

"Sure you can ask!" Elaine said, with much false cheer.

Lionel waited expectantly, and so did Elaine, beaming her brightest fake smile.

This couldn't go well. It just couldn't. Clark shifted quietly and watched them interact silently. Lionel wasn't working with soft words, and since Elaine knew what she was doing, Clark left her to it. He just observed quietly, listening to them, and wincing under Lionel's too-calm expression.

Finally, Lionel had to give. "All right. What do you think you are doing?"

Elaine just kept beaming. "I'm so glad you asked me that. I'm trying to make a batty old codger realize he needs to go home, take a shower, because boy, you are really starting to reek, my friend, then have a decent meal, go see your baby's sonogram tomorrow, and then come back to the hospital because I got a little somethin' to tell ya, Lionel. Chances are? Dominic ain't going nowhere." Inwardly she winced at that, painful thought that it was, but she didn't let it invade her calm cheerfulness.

Clark flinched himself, even as he looked up. "Lex and I will stay with him. So will Graham, and probably Toni later tonight. We'll all be here, Lionel. And we can call you if anything changes. But… but they threw you out because you're carrying too many germs right now. You could make him sick, Lionel. Go home, shower, eat."

"Nah, see, he's not gonna do that cause he's a stubborn--"

Whatever name Elaine was going to call Lionel got lost in the scrape of his chair against the linoleum floor, and he picked up his coffee cup. "If you two will excuse me, I have a husband who needs my attention."

"He's unconscious. He doesn't know you're there. You're only hurting yourself, Lionel, I told you this yesterday. You're hurting him, and when he's awake and really, truly needs you, you're going to be too weak to help him. Is that what you want? Run yourself into the ground? Is that what you think he needs right now, is a husband who's half dead with fatigue? You're old, Lionel. I hate to break it to you, really, I do, but if you don't take care of yourself, there isn't going to be any one to give him attention, because you'll be dead."

Lionel's empty Styrofoam cup shattered in his grip, and he tossed the destroyed cup away. "Thank you, Clark, I am well aware of my age. If you are done insulting me, however, I shall take my leave of you."

"I'm not insulting you, you melodramatic, pompous ass." Clark snarled and rose to his feet. "Don't you see what you're doing to yourself? I know you love him, I know better than anyone else, but you can't keep doing this! He's been unconscious for almost twelve days, Lionel, and you've showered like, once? eaten maybe two things? You're going to kill yourself, and you're going to leave your husband and your unborn daughter alone. Is that what you want? Do you want to fail him when he needs you?"

Lionel very calmly regarded Clark. "If you were anyone other than who you are, you would be dead now, you realize," he said, almost conversationally. "However, even a man as generous as I am have my limits. Leave me in peace."

Elaine looked in her little black bag and came up with a syringe. She filled it quickly from one of the clear bottles also in her bag, and held it up. "You know, Clark, we can always drug him, take him home, and scrub him down like a five year old."

"You wouldn't hurt me." Clark brushed it off. "You love me. And I love you. I wouldn't be saying this, getting under your skin, for any other reason. Lex, as deeply and completely as I love him, is way too chicken to ever talk to you like this for longer than two minutes. No one in your company would dare, neither would Bruce. So who's left, huh? Who else is going to show you the truth?" He stopped, wasn't even listening to Elaine, just barreling on. "Is that what it is? The truth scares you, doesn't it? I hate to be the one to break it to you, but Dominic is sick, and may very well be sick for a long time. We have to take care of ourselves to be there for him when the time comes that he needs us."

"Lex is not afraid of me, Clark, my son respects me." His glare darkened. "It would not hurt you to learn some of his respect, in that area."

"Bullshit. Lex is terrified of your tongue. I don't know if you've noticed, but its so sharp I'm surprised your mouth isn't in ribbons all the time." Clark shot back without stopping a beat. "I'll show you respect when you stop acting like a child and listen to the people around you who love you."

Elaine just clapped her hands and then propped her chin on them. "Oh, God, Clark, you're amazing."

Clark blinked, startled, and looked down at her with wide eyes.

Lionel ignored everything Clark said, and turned to leave the cafeteria. He paused, looked back over his shoulder, and glared. "There was a time, Clark, when you were not at all acting as you should have been either. And I didn't stand in front of you and call you names, I didn't harass you or anything else. I merely offered my support, and my advice when you asked for it and kept my silence when you did not. I would appreciate a reciprocation."

Oh. No, no he did not. But he did, and Clark felt his heart bleed at the mention of... of that. He wanted to scream a million obscenities at him, but realized before he said something that it was a provocation. "And I'm offering my support, and my advice. I've been through it. I went through what you're going through now, Lionel. Shock, denial, hate, anger. The difference is, I looked to you, someone who I care very much for. And I would appreciate a reciprocation."

"While I appreciate the offer, Clark, I neither need, nor asked for, your support or your advice. Until such time as I do, leave me be."

"No."

Lionel closed his eyes, and counted to ten. In Greek. And when he opened his eyes, he could finally speak calmly again. "Leave me be, Clark. It's not a request."

"No." Stubborn met stubborn, and he crossed his arms with a glare. "I'm not going to let you self destruct because you want to be all macho and manly about this. No. No, no, no. I won't let you."

"It has nothing at all to do with you, Clark. What you want really doesn't matter to me."

"That's where you're wrong. Because you know what? I think you respect me more than you ever let on. I know something happened with Kal. I know you helped him. And I know you helped him because you respected and cared about him. You wouldn't if you thought he was an idiot, now would you have?" He plowed on before Lionel could answer. "You're hurting Dominic by being like this. Take. Care. Of. Yourself."

"Kal was an idiot," Lionel said frankly. "And I disliked him more than I can verbalize at the moment. I am actually glad to see that he is gone, and I hope to not ever see him again, if we are going to be baring our souls to each other," he continued. "However, that has no bearing on anything other than the past."

"You're evading." Clark said simply. Hah. "You're scared."

"You are the one who brought Kal into the conversation, Clark. I merely responded. If you have nothing further, Dominic requires my attention."

"I'm sure he does between dream number four hundred and sixty two and four hundred and sixty three." Clark retorted, eyebrow up high and arms crossed across his chest.

"Yes, he does," is all that Lionel answered, and he turned to leave.

"Can you imagine what Dominic would say if he saw you like this? Can you?" Clark asked, taking a step after him. "Can you imagine what he would say if he saw you acting like this? Not taking care of yourself, drowning in your sorrow at his bed side? Really. What would he say, Lionel?"

"As you so astutely pointed out only moments ago Clark... he cannot," Lionel said painfully.

"You're evading again." Clark took another step, so he was within arms length of him. "What would Dominic say if he saw you like this?"

Lionel took another step back. "I am sure that he would be angry, and yet appreciative that I was by his side, much as he was by mine."

"Appreciative... maybe. Angry? Oh yes. You're letting your company go to shit over him. Could you imagine his face? He'd be so furious with you. He'd be angry that all you're doing is reading Harry Potter to him, when you should be looking at the first pictures of your daughter. He'd be absolutely raging, that you missed something so spectacular, so wonderful, so special. Lionel, I'm not asking you to leave his side. I would never do that. But what I am telling you is that you need to take care of yourself. You need to sleep in a warm bed, and eat, and shower, and stay here with him. You need to bring happiness to that room, not despair. You're killing him with sadness, Lionel."

"LuthorCorp has existed for three generations, Clark, though yes, I was the one who built it into the size and shape that it is today. If the company cannot, after forty years, run itself with minimal supervision, then perhaps it should die and I'll begin anew with a company that can take care of itself."

"You're evading." Clark reminded, none too gently. "He would be furious. His room is nothing but bleakness, but sadness. There's no sunshine, no hope. Just… death. Lionel, to help him you have to help yourself."

"You are the one who keeps bringing other things into the conversation, Clark. I cannot be evading anything if I am answering these things you bring up to me."

"You're not answering shit. How about you answer me on what I just said about his anger at you."

"I believe I did," Lionel replied, taking off his glasses and polishing them calmly. "I told you that I believe he would be angry at me, and yet, glad that I stayed with him."

Clark just... he couldn't take this infuriating bastard anymore. He blew out a very long, very low breath from his lips, rubbed his eyes carefully with the heels of his palms, and turned to look at Elaine helplessly. "Fine, Lionel. Obvious you aren't going to listen to me, Elaine, or anyone else who just wants to help you. So go. Do whatever you want. You will anyway, and I'm too tired to argue with you anymore."

"Thank you, young man. You're finally seeing reason." He inclined his head as he left, turning on his heel and walking down the hallway, towards the bank of elevators.

Elaine just shrugged at Clark. "You know, you should consider becoming a therapist like me. You've got the lungs and the tenacity for it." She nodded comfortingly. "Come on. Finish your soft drink, have a candy bar, let the old codger cool off, and then we'll go and tackle him again, okay?"

Clark smiled a little at the compliment and picked up his soda as he sat down tensely beside her. "Are all of your patients that impossible? No one can be that blind. Its right there in front of him--Dominic's sick, and there's only so much a guy can give. Lionel can't keep doing this to himself. The doctor told Lex that Dominic's going to need a lot of physical therapy to get his leg working again after all the surgery. Dominic needs Lionel to be there for him, but if Lionel doesn't stop he's gonna find himself in a bed beside Dominic."

Elaine just nodded. "No, they're not all that impossible, just these two." Then she gave a little smile. "Lionel needs to be in control of everything, Clark. I don't know if you were around at all during this, but Dominic said that Lex's girlfriend lost her baby recently, and Lionel was a wreck during it. Now, I'm not allowed to tell you anything that was said, but I can say that Lionel's biggest problem in the situation was that he *couldn't* control it, and *couldn't* take Lex's pain away, and that's why he couldn't deal with it. He doesn't know he's not God yet; he keeps shredding the memo."

Clark twitched, violently, and looked away for a moment. Drink forgotten, chocolate bar forgotten, he closed his eyes. Lionel hadn't told Elaine. Thank God. he thought for a while he had, but that he hadn't was wonderful. That Elaine knew made his throat ache. That Lionel had been torn up over it made him want to die.

Then he opened them, and offered her a weak smile. "He does have a huge God complex."

Elaine leaned forward. "Clark, are you all right? Did I--never mind, of course I did. You're Lex's boyfriend; of course you're upset by it." She shook her head. "I apologize for my thoughtlessness."

"Nah. Its okay." He smiled at her. "Member, I told you I've got a lot of issues. I'll work through them in my own time. But right now, Lionel and Dominic are the focus." He glanced up, blinked, and rose to his feet when he realized there was a scuffle coming from Dominic's room. "Uht oh. Come on." He hurried around the tables and out the door, throwing the soda away mid dash, and hurried down the hallway towards the yells coming from... fuck.

Elaine got up with him, tangling her purse strap over her shoulder as she took off at a run, glad for flat shoes instead of high heels.

Lionel had his hands on the top of the ICU desk, bellowing at the top of his lungs while two hospital security guards were attempting to restrain him as he lunged for the nurse cowering behind the desk.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I AM NOT ALLOWED BACK INTO DOMINIC'S ROOM?????"

"Sir! Sir, calm down this instant!" Elizabeth shrieked, waving the clip board in her hands to keep him off of her. "Doctors rules! You have to be cleanly before we let you back in! You're spreading germs everywhere!"

"Wooboy," Clark groaned.

"Sir, you need to calm down!" One of the security guards snarled, trying to pull the older man away from the women he was threatening to kill.

"I will not calm down!" Lionel bellowed. "I am being denied entrance to my husband's room!" He lunged for the desk again, and snarled at the clipboard being brandished. "I can buy this fucking hospital three times over! LET ME IN!"

Elaine skidded to a halt behind Clark. "What, you didn't see this coming?"

The other security guard tightened his grip on the old man's arm, surprised at the wiry strength behind it. "Sir! If you don't calm down we're going to be forced to remove you from the premises!"

"Lionel. Lionel!" Clark yelled, shoving one of the security guards away and grasping Lionel by the shoulders, giving him a shake. "Stop. Stop it. Stop this, calm down right now. Don't you dare. All of your pride, all of your grace. This isn't the Lionel I know. Calm down right now and breathe." He gave him another shake.

"Remove your hands from my person this instant!" Lionel jerked away from the other security guard, who let him go warily when a kid who towered over both of them by a head and a half came and started shaking the old man by the shoulders. "You will take your hands off of me this moment, Clark."

"No. I won't. You're going to act like a man fitting your station, Lionel Luthor." Clark snarled back at him.

Elaine cleared her throat. "Excuse me, can I say something here?"

"No," Lionel snarled.

She cleared her throat again and went on just like he hadn't spoken. "There's an easy way to solve this; I'll stay here with Dominic while you go home and shower, and then when you're clean and non-germy, you can come back and resume your reign of terror over the intensive care unit."

"Yes." Clark enunciated clearly, before he turned Lionel around and started leading him towards the elevator while he was still half pliant in his arms. "Honestly. You're acting like a crazy person, and I won't stand for it a moment longer. Calm yourself down and start acting like a Luthor." Clark snarled in his ear as he pushed the elevator call button and let the doors open in front of him.

Lionel fought against Clark the entire length of the hallway until he was unceremoniously shoved into the elevator car and he glared at Clark. "Who do you think you are, manhandling me in such a way? How dare you remove me?"

"Clark Kent, your psuedo-son." Clark snarled back at him, glaring and shoving him into the elevator. He grasped his arm and hit the first floor button without a word. "Now act your age, Lionel. Before I have your doctor give you a sedative. Is that what you want? To be carried out of here like a woebegone princess?"

He snatched away from Clark. "I am acting my age."

"Are you? Really? Gonna throw a hissy fit next?" Clark jeered, an ugly little sneer on his face as he snickered at him. "Even Shayla's acting more mature about this than you."

Lionel slapped Clark as hard as he could. "Do not mock me again," he said coldly, drawing himself up stiffly and ignoring the dizziness he felt as he did.

The slap didn't even hurt, and though it shocked Clark to the core, he hid it. Very easily. "Oh, now that was productive. You're the king of hissy fits and I'll mock you whenever I so please." Clark shot back easily, as the lights on the elevator chimed them downward.

"You will not." Lionel's voice was firm, and his fists clenched again. "You will not mock me again, or you will suffer for it."

"You're already making me suffer. What's the big difference?" Clark asked, eyebrow raised.

"I will tell what I know about you, Mr. Kent," he said softly. "Cease this moment."

"No, you won't. Remember? You love me." Clark said softly. "I know you do. Let me take care of you." The elevator dinged the last floor and the doors slid open. Clark carefully took his arm and led him out of the elevator.

Lionel snatched his arm out of Clark's grip. "Yes, I will." He had to lean heavily on the door a moment to regain his balance after snatching his arm away, but he was not going to have this supercilious little bastard talking to him as though he were nothing but a child.

Clark raised a brow and took his arm again as Lionel swayed. "Come on. I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself worse. Lionel, you look like you were put through a tornado, a blender, and then tossed into a dishwasher for good measure. Your hair is... wow. Its a rumpled mess. Lex told me you brought some special shampoo from Ireland? The non frizzy stuff? Use it. And some fluffy towels, too. You can pack a bag with all of your things, too, to bring with you. And Dominic's favorite blanket."

"Clark Kent, if you say one more word to me, I will not be held responsible for the actions I take!" He carefully yanked his arm away again, closing his eyes against the onrush of dizziness. "If you wish to coddle someone like a child, do it to my son, and leave me be."

"I'm not coddling you." Clark said, firmly but gently, as he once again took his arm and helped him stand straight from the swaying he was doing. "Calm down and take a deep breath. Ms. Bird is waiting for you. We need to get some of Dominic's things, and since Lex and I don't know what stuff to get, it has to be you."

"Take. Your hands. Off my person. This instant."

"I can't do that, baby." Clark answered, as he pushed Lionel through the front doors and out into the light rain falling. He fished the keys to the SUV Lex had left with him out of his pocket, and led Lionel down the sidewalk.

Lionel once more jerked away from Clark, and ended up on his ass on the pavement, cradling his head in his hands. "Get away from me."

As Lionel fell Clark fell with him, wincing at the sound as Lionel landed on the water soaked ground. He leaned down as well, carefully stroking through Lionel's hair as Lionel cradled his head, and winced, softly. "Shh. I will. Let's get you to the castle, and then you won't have to see me anymore."

"No. I mean, get away from me." He leaned over to the side and dry heaved.

Clark leaned back, because the words hadn't held the usual level of rancor. He watched Lionel dry heave, sympathy yanking at his gut as he gently held Lionel's hair away from his face, and his throat clogged with tears. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

Lionel didn't answer until he finished heaving, empty stomach yielding up nothing but muscle spasms as he dropped his head back in his hands. "Don't feel sorry for me."

"I don't feel sorry for you. I'm sorry that this had to happen to such a good person." He didn't think Lionel was up to more than that, so he just gently stroked his fingers through the wild hair and squeezed his neck gently.

"Save it for Dominic," he said softly, letting his head rest on his knees a moment before pushing himself up to his feet.

Clark rose as well, helping Lionel stand, and made sure he was safely on his feet. "At least take care of yourself for his sake. Just for him, no one else. Okay?"

"I am," Lionel said, growling. "It's you, and the rest of the people in this godforsaken facility that seem intent on the fact that I'm to be separated from him."

"No. God no. But I think you need to take care of yourself, too. Dominic's sick. We're all here for him. You can take an hour and go home, get showered, eat a hot meal and come back. Okay? Nothing will happen to him while we're there. While I'm there." He enunciated on that. "You need to be with him, Lionel, but you need to be safe, and clean, and not as sick as he is. Okay?"

"I'm not as sick as he is, I am in perfect health, and quite capable of showering in the bathroom of his room when the situation calls for it."

"No, Lionel. You're not. You need to go home and clean up." Clark said firmly, as he led him to the SUV parked right in front.

"No, I don't, however the conspiracy has decided that I do not have a choice," Lionel snapped.

"Yeah, pretty much." Clark said easily, as he beeped the alarm off, opened the passenger door, and helped Lionel in.

It galled Lionel more than he could express to be coddled like a child, but he accepted it, knowing that he could not fight against it, and merely sat stonily silent in the passenger side.

And Clark let him have his prideful silence, because he was cool like that. He tucked Lionel carefully into his chair and walked around the front of the truck, sliding into the drivers seat and buckling his seat belt firmly. "Seat belt." He informed his passenger. He'd give him the opportunity to put it on himself, after all.

Lionel gave Clark a dark, mutinous glare, and buckled the strap over his chest, then crossed his arms over it and spat in the floor by the pedals.

Clark didn't even flinch when Lionel spit, just rolling his eyes as he fixed the strap across his own chest and put the car into reverse. "Oh, that was mature." He retorted as he turned to look over his shoulder, backing out slowly.

Lionel ignored the derisive tone of Clark's voice, turning his head a mere increment so that he could gaze out the window and disregard the driver entirely.

Clark didn't bother to stop him, just letting him look out at the light drizzle as he drove out of the parking lot. It took him about five minutes to find a gap in traffic, but he did, and slipped out onto the road towards home. They drove for another five minutes of silence, before Clark turned and asked, "Would you like to stop anywhere before we get to the mansion?"

"You're actually consulting my wishes on a decision rather than taking it upon yourself to know what is best for me? I am shocked, Clark. Truly."

"Everyone needs a shock now and again." Clark entertained, though he was calm and collected as he said it. "Would you like anything, then? Food? Some coffee from the talon?"

"Would I like anything?" Lionel pondered. "I would like for my husband to wake up. I would like in the meantime to be left alone. I would like for that bitch of a psychiatrist to return to the laboratory from which she came, and I would like for you, boy, to show me more respect than you have been. However since none of that is at all likely, no, I would not like anything."

"I love you." Clark answered quietly. he felt like a broken record, but didn't really care. "To the castle it is then." And so he drove. He took a left, and then a right, driving at all the right speeds and following every single law in the DMV regulation book on city laws and town roads. He turned another left, his own personal shortcut he often ran, and drove down the small country road towards the interstate, where right down the street sat Luthor Manor.

"I could have been home and back at the hospital where I belong by this time," Lionel groused as he stared out his window.

"Sure you could. Except I like the cow population of Smallville, and do my best not to hit them." Snippy answer for a snippy comment, and he turned out onto the road, then turned left and pulled onto the road leading down to the castle.

"I will have you know that save for the black ice incident this winter, my driving record is completely spotless," Lionel sniped back. "If you wish to carp on someone's driving, speak to Lex, not me."

"And Dominic. Though he told me he's only had the one accident with the Jag." A little glance at him. "And Lex has only wrecked.... three. Four."

"Dominic drives almost as pathetically as you do, young man." He ignored the glance.

"He does not." Clark said easily, sideglancing Lionel as he drove into the little circle parking in front of the door. "He drives majestically. But hey, we're here. Ms. Bird is going to flip."

"Then you shall deal with her, because I will not." Lionel jerked his seat belt off and put his hand on the handle of the door, not waiting for the car to stop completely before slinging the door open.

Clark shoved the key off himself, pushing the belt off and climbing out of the car as soon as it was in park. He closed the door behind him quickly and fell into step beside Lionel, shoving the keys into his jeans pocket.

"I don't suppose you have anything better to do than shadow me? Or anything else at all to do? Like my son, perhaps?"

"Nah. Nothing's more important than you right now." Clark said easily as he unlocked the mansion door and pushed it open, offering it to Lionel as Enrique scooted back like a terrified chicken and ducked into the nearest coat closet.

"Of course not. Do be a good shadow, then, and stay the fuck out of my way." He bypassed the main staircase entirely, heading to the back of the house and the side staircase through the kitchen.

Clark finally stopped as Lionel stomped through the kitchen doors and up the stairs. He pulled in a long, deep, shallow breath, then took another just in case, before heading towards Lex's office. God, he needed a scotch. Or a pistol. One or the other.

Lex was juggling. Not literally, but he had the phone pressed to one ear, his hands feeding sheets through the fax machine, and the computer was printing out even more sheets to be faxed as he tried to keep up with it all. He hadn't even noticed that Clark had come in, which was something to be said for how hard he was concentrating on the work.

The sheets that had fallen out of the fax machine fluttered to the floor like snowflakes, and just lay there in a discarded heap until Lex decided to deal with them. Or shred them, whichever would make his life easier at the time.

Clark noticed his lover, he did, but honestly. Honestly. Did anyone expect him to function like this without a drink? He went to the small bar beside the door and picked up one of the glasses, filling it to brimming with the scotch, and tossed it back. Neat. He didn't need any frilly shit. He filled the glass again, and swallowed the burning liquid in the same movement, before taking the glass, the bottle, and coming to sit on the couch by his lovers desk.

He kicked off his shoes, kept a super ear on Lionel, and closed his eyes as he lay down on the cushions. He could smell Jor in them and it was the first bit of peace all day.

The rattling of glass didn't upset Lex's concentration either, and it wasn't until he hung the phone up and hurled the little hands-free headset against the wall that he noticed his office had been invaded.

"Don't you think it's a little early in the day for that?" Lex asked, even as he picked up the half-full brandy snifter that had been buried on his desk and took a delicate sip.

Clark's only response was to take a sideways drink, wiping away the drop that slid down his chin as he closed his eyes and set the glass on his chest.

Then he lifted a hand over the chair and crooked a finger, beckoning his lover join him.

"Give me..." Lex eyed the fax machine. "Three minutes. Everything should be fed through by then." Then, a thought occurred to him. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't I be picking you up from your exams?"

He shook the finger he had beckoned his lover with in the air like a miniature head.

Lex hitched his hip on the desk. "We're playing charades. One word?"

Clark snorted, and heaved himself up a little to look over the back of the couch. "Ass. I suck at charades. Come over here and kiss me before I go kill your father."

Lex carefully slid the last batch of sheets into the fax machine, ink on the pages barely dry from the printer. He wiped his hands on a towel as he went over, cleaning the smudged ink off as he straddled Clark's hips on the couch. "How'd you get stuck babysitting my father?" he asked, leaning in for a kiss.

"Because I wanted to help. And they kicked him out. Apparently, he's too germy to be around Dominic, until he bathes. So, he's bathing." His eyelids fell, sadly, as his eyes coated with tears. "He's so fucked up right now. I wish this hadn't happened. I miss Lionel so much."

"I heard about the germs; Dr. Bryce called and informed me that Security had nearly had to drag him out kicking and screaming, and they would have had a tall, lanky young teenager with dark hair not showed up and taken the situation in hand. Of course, I put two and two together and came up with Clark Kent." He let his fingers stroke through Clark's hair gently. "I know what you mean; I miss Dad too. I take it he pitched the mother of all fits?"

He nodded, and rubbed his chin with his shoulder softly before tugging Lex down, so they were chest to chest. "Yeah. He did. He screamed and all. I was kind of a bastard to him… bI hope he can forgive me someday. Elaine's going to talk to him again tonight."

"Somebody needs to give that woman a raise, because whatever she's getting paid, it's not enough." He rubbed his cheek against his lover's as he settled against Clark's chest. "My father's a bastard; he can take as well as he gives."

"He's ready to crack." Clark murmured, softly, as he stroked his fingers over his lovers head and propped his own up a little on the pillow behind him, to take a drink from his glass. "Its disconcerting, and terrible." He looked up at the ceiling, listening to Lionel even as he spoke. "He's such a good man. Shit keeps happening to him."

"That's what you get for being a Luthor; the cosmos can't help but take notice of you when you shove yourself down everyone's throat," Lex answered cynically.

Clark stopped a moment... turning what his lover had just said over in his head a few times, until he understood what Lex was talking about. "I've never thought about it that way. But then again, I'm a firm believer in Murphy's law. Shit happens because you're cursed."

"Ah, yes. Good old Mr. Murphy. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, at the worst possible moment." Lex nodded sagely. "It's the poor man's version of Karma, Clark, if you think about it. And believe me, I have."

"We call it Anque." Clark murmured quietly, a he stroked the skin of his lovers scalp and swallowed another mouthful of scotch. "Only for us its real."

"It's real for us too, as you can see the proof of it sitting in the hospital today. Not that this is Dominic's fault--it's not. If anything, it's my father's. Men like us don't often get to be happy," he said, with a gentle stroke to Clark's cheek.

"Well hey. We're happy, aren't we?" Questioning glance up at his lover, before back to the spot on the wall behind him as he sipped his drink. "And Dominic and Lionel were. Dominic will be better. He can't not get better."

"We are happy," Lex agreed, and he put his head down, tucked under Clark's chin. "That's why I'm afraid." His fingers played aimlessly over Clark's shirt, and he sighed. "I keep telling myself that he will, but I know that I'm lying. He won't. He'll do exactly what my mother did, which is lie in bed and waste away to nothing, and there won't be anything I can do about it."

That's a bunch of bull." Clark said easily, as if it were the most common knowledge in the world. "Your mum was a nice lady, but from what I can tell, she didn't have that spunk, that fire, that drive that Dominic does. Dominic's got too much to do yet to be laid up in bed. Are you joking? He might lapse back *into* unconsciousness when he realizes he's missed two weeks of work."

"It's not, Clark." He shook his head gently. "I've been doing some reading--I couldn't help myself--and it's not getting better. It's getting worse, and the longer it goes on the worse it gets."

"No. It *won't*." Clark answered back, firmly, shaking his head tightly. "Don't... talk like that."

Lex just closed his mouth for a moment, as he tried to order his thoughts. "I don't want to, Clark. But somebody has to. Dominic can't, my father can't or won't, and I'm not going to ask you to. That leaves me. As much as it fucking sucks, that leaves me to be the one who's got to look at this realistically and be ready, just in case."

"He can't… die. Dominic's...no." Clark shook his head again, and the tears clouded his vision again, no matter how hard he tried to swallow them away. "No. And I won't think like that. Possibilities never stood in his way, and they won't now. He'll get better, because he has to be, because Lionel doesn't deserve it, because someone out there will have mercy on all of us and stop all the pain."

Lex moved up and kissed both of his lover's closed eyes as the tears filled them. "I don't want you to think like that, Clark. I don't want to either. It scares the hell out of me that I have to; there's nothing about this situation that doesn't frighten me." Lex lifted Clark's hand and brought it to rest against his chest. "But I have to." He didn't give voice to the fact that he was afraid that the stopping Clark was hoping for wasn't going to be Dominic waking up.

"I'm tired of so much sadness. Why can't we live normal lives? Get up, go to work and school, come home. Why can't we have that, Lex? Why instead are all these… these things, things happening? I'm sorry, but I can't take it. I can't. If Dominic dies... Lex, I can't. Lionel can't, you can't. Can't deal with it, can't, no." Clark's breath hitched, his words and voice trembled, until he clamped down on all of it to calm himself.

"Because we're not normal people, Clark," Lex said softly, arms going to wrap around Clark and hold tightly. "Don't... don't hide it. I'm here to help you, just like you're here to help me. You let me be afraid, I don't have to hide that, don't you do it either."

He couldn't. He had to stay together. So he just breathed in, then let it out, squeezing Lex's waist tightly, hugging him close to him before he set the drink down on the table and nudged Lex to a sitting position. "Your dad's clambering around upstairs. Should I go look in on him?"

Lex nuzzled Clark's cheek gently. "Where is he, can you tell? He's probably checking in at the office, which is... I don't want you to be around when he finds out about today. I got the board's vote of confidence, and I've taken over as CEO-pro tem until Dad is in shape to take over again. It's not official yet, he'll have to sign off on it first, with a witness, but for the moment it'll do."

Clark nodded, though wincing slightly. "He's… in the bedroom. I can hear Freddie meowing at him like crazy."

Lex nodded. "The poor thing; I'm honestly not surprised. He misses Dominic and Lionel--neither of his people are around. Ms. Bird's been feeding him and playing with him, and I think he's been sleeping with the puppies, but he still misses them." Lex sighed. "Come on. Let's go beard the lion together."

Freddie was meowing like crazy, butting his head against Lionel's leg, purring as hard and as loud as he could, licking the cuff of Lionel's pant, chewing on his sock, and wailing loudly for attention. He was going a mile a minute, begging the big dumb hairy thing to please please pet him and play with him and love him cause the Freddie was a lonely Freddie.

Clark nodded, sighing quietly as he rose himself. "We need to set aside a few hours this weekend for the puppies. I think even Freddie will like to play. We can walk them out over Riley field, I'll bet they'd like it. Freddie can hang out with you and me, and the puppies can play." He took his lovers hand in his, squeezed, then let go to run his fingers through his hair.

"We can take them with us to your parents' tonight, and leave them in the barn. I hate leaving them alone, but at least they'll be out walking with us, exercising and getting some fresh air," Lex offered as he smoothed out the crinkles in his suit and sighed. "I think I can hear Freddie all the way down here."

He probably could. Freddie was meowing at the top of his baby kitten lungs, and he was getting ignored. He'd tried soft little meows and sharp meows, and then just plain loud meows and nothing had worked. He was getting desperate now, and he started yowling, one right after the other, barely giving himself time to gulp in little lungfuls of air before yowling again.

"Oh, piss off," Lionel snarled, and threw a pillow towards the noisy kitten.

Freddie gave a piteous little cry as he ran to the bedroom door, out of pillow range, and yowled loudly again, begging for love.

Clark nodded, glaring at the snarl Lionel gave as he led his lover up the steps. Around the corner, down the hall, and he did the sound Lex couldn't hear, the one only the puppies and Freddie could, calling for the kitten as he crouched and waited for him. "Come here, Freddie. Come here, baby."

Freddie looked down the hall as he heard the sound, cocking his head to the side, then looking at Lionel again and wailing. He wanted his big stupid thing!

"Come on, Freddie! Come here, baby. Come here." Clark called him again, a little more insistently, and waited patiently.

His meows became more high pitched as he went back into the bedroom, biting at Lionel's pant leg and begging for pets.

"Get out!" Lionel roared and kicked at the kitten. It caught him on the rump, Lionel's bare toes glancing off Freddie's backside, but it was enough to send the cat scurrying from the room, still bawling at the top of it's lungs as he turned back to the phone. "I'm sorry about that, Charles. Now, what were you saying?"

Freddie ran down the hallway in an orange blur, licking his haunches where Lionel had kicked him as he pawed to be picked up.

Clark saw the little baby running at him and his heart panged where he was licking his butt. "Lionel, you utter bastard." Clark murmured, as he lifted the crying baby and gently cuddled the rapidly thumping little heart to his chest. He buried his cheek in the soft fur and stroked his head and back, gently, carefully, making sure to calm him with little words as he walked down the hall.

He could take being cursed at. He could take Lionel cursing at other people.

But he drew the goddamn line at kicking babies across the floor.

Lex rubbed his hand over Clark's back. "What's going on," he murmured softly, so as not to upset the little kitten in Clark's arms.

Freddie's meowing didn't decrease in volume as he curled up against Clark's elbow, licking his arm frantically between yowls. He wanted his big stupid things and this was not them!

Clark could almost feel the poor babies terror and anxiety, and he gently stroked his fur, his face, kissing his head and velvety ears as he stalked into the bedroom. He cradled Freddie close to him, shielding him from Lionel, and glowered at the mans back so hard he was sure it was about to burst into flame any minute. Except in his case, that could actually happen, so he toned it down just a little, but was no less ferocious in the glaring.

"No, no, that's quite all right," Lionel said softly, scrubbing violently at his hair with the towel still around his shoulders. "No, it's quite fine, Charles. Do stop stammering and don't wet the carpet; it's Persian and quite expensive to have cleaned. I appreciate your keeping me up to date with the situation. Yes, thank you. Goodbye, Mr. Siegel." He hung up the phone and pulled the towel from around his neck as he pulled the black turtleneck on over his head. "Alexander, I know you are lurking behind Clark, so would you please tell me why you think that this is the appropriate time to try and steal my company out from under me?"

"That would be about the time you started kicking three month old kittens across the carpet like day old soda cans, Lionel." Clark answered back easily, rubbing Freddie's flank gently as he held him in his arms. "You pathetic excuse for a man. Lex is trying to save your sorry hide, while you're bemoaning what has yet to happen. So shut up and have a little bit of trust in your son."

"I don't believe I recall addressing you, Clark, so do me the courtesy of not speaking until you are spoken to," he stressed. "Alexander, I am still waiting for your answer."

"I'm trying to come up with something more than, kiss my ass, Pops," Lex answered back cuttingly. "Don't talk to Clark like that, and you're sure as hell not going to talk to me like that when I've been busting my butt saving yours this morning. You've let this go to shit, and as much as I didn't want to do this, Clark talked me into it because he was worried about you and worried about LuthorCorp--apparently more than you are. So until you can talk to me and Clark civilly, keep your mouth shut because I'm not in the mood for it right now, Dad."

Clark just nodded at him, so deeply proud of his lover for standing up to the sack of shit standing in front of them right now. A loved sack of shit, and yet, still smelly. He didn't say anything as he glared at Lionel, darkly, still rubbing Freddie gently as he held him snuggled up close.

Lionel rose to his feet, ripping the paper out of the bedroom printer and brandishing it in front of Lex. "Does this look familiar?" He was holding a copy of Lex's letter to the board of directors. "I am not incapacitated, Alexander!"

"You're sure as hell acting like it!" He moved to stand in front of Clark so that he could meet his father head on, like two bulls in an arena. "You've got your head up your ass so far because you don't want to see what's going on around you, and everything's falling apart! You don't want to deal with it, fuck you! I don't want to deal with it either! I don't want to watch Dominic die like Mother did! Instead I'm cleaning up your messes and dealing with what you don't want to!" Lex rarely lost his temper, but he was yelling at the top of his lungs as the stress was getting to him.

And at that? Clark took a step back, then another, still holding Freddie, but everything shifted. This was a Luthor fight, and he could be referee, definitely, but Lex had to stand up to Lionel, and Clark couldn't be a part of that. So he just listened, shaking Enrique away when the Spaniard came racing at the screams, and closed the door quietly as he swallowed.

Lionel's face flushed immediately. "You ungrateful little boy!" he roared. "You have done nothing, all of your life, but expect me to be something other than what I am! I ask you, Lex, when your son died? When we had to rip that child out of your arms because you could not let go, did I go and try to take your company from you? Did I try and run your life for you? No, I did not!"

Lex bristled. "Do not bring my child's death into this, Dad. You will not like the results. Do not mention his name; you have no right."

"I have every right! I took care of your lover when you couldn't! This is how you're going to repay that?"

"We are taking care of Dominic's lover." Clark whispered, his voice cracking as he looked up at the two of them. He doubted either of them heard him so he cuddled the cat closer to his chest, rubbing his cheek against the top of its head and trying not to listen. He hated when people fought, hated when they wouldn't stop, and if the two red faced men in front of him, roaring and screaming was any indication, they wouldn't be stopping for a while.

Freddie was panting softly in Clark's ear, tongue lolling out just a little bit as his little mewling voice gave out and he just lay there, quiet and dejected, panting as his heart pounded against Clark's arm.

"This isn't about my son!" Lex roared. "You will not bring him into this again! You helped Clark then; I'm trying to help you now, but you're a mean bastard who won't see it! Too prideful to admit he's terrified and he's making everyone around him miserable! You won't do it to me, Dad, you won't. I won't let you, not anymore. I spent too much of my life miserable because of you, I won't let you do it now. Please, stop being such a fucker and just... listen!" He raked his fingers over a bald head. "Accept the help that's being offered now, because if you don't, it may not be there when you really need it."

"Which still doesn't answer the question of why you did this!" Lionel wadded up the letter and threw it at Lex, where it bounced harmlessly off his shoulder. "Why you decided to take control of my company away!"

"Because, you ignorant old fool, YOU'RE NOT CAPABLE OF HANDLING IT RIGHT NOW!" he roared. "And everybody knows it! I'd have never gotten the boards votes of confidence otherwise!!"

Clark was mid deep growl when Lex retorted, and he calmed, somewhat, as Lionel yelled.

"You'd never gotten them at all if you hadn't gone behind my back!" Lionel shouted.

"Your back wasn't there for me to go behind, Dad!" Lex threw up his hands. "You've been at the hospital! You haven't been checking your email; I've got the corporate account loaded on my laptop to go through and there's nearly three weeks worth of email in there! Your paperwork is going to take me all night to finish, three projects had to be cancelled, two more rescheduled, we lost eight contracts and two other bids, and that's just in the last ten days!"

If Dominic had been awake to hear that, he would have screamed and fainted. Clark was sure of it. And though the mental image was wildly funny he felt more like crying than laughing, so he just continued glaring. He set Freddie down and patted him out the door, motioning for him to go as he closed it again and stood with his back to the door so neither man could leave.

Freddie scratched at the door, headbutting it gently and giving scratchy little meows as he tried to get back in the room.

"All of that is under control, Alexander!"

"None of it is under control, Dad! Dominic would be having a fit if he heard that, and he probably will have a fit about it when he wakes up! Things are going to shit because the company's not stable enough to be left alone! We just moved, we just had the new buildings set, and it's going to be about two to three years before this company can run day to day without someone there!!"

Clark completely agreed, but he didn't dare interrupt them. Interrupting them could be fatal, he realized. For Lionel. Because if the man snapped at him one more time, he'd have his ass handed back to him after Clark was through with him. So he just stood there as quietly as he could. Lionel needed to see it, to face this. If it was one thing that Lionel couldn't handle was when someone happened to someone he loved very much. He went into total melt down, refused to listen to reason, refused to do anything but be there with that person. It was a terribly romantic way to live, and though Clark appreciated it, here was not the time to say it, let alone let Lionel fall into it.

"This company has run for thirty years without my daily supervision!" Lionel thundered. "It's perfectly capable of doing so now!"

"No it's not!" Lex stalked over to the briefcase he hadn't remembered bringing upstairs with him, and he started shoving papers into Lionel's hand. "Here's where we're outbid. Here's where we've lost three people under Lindy in the last two weeks. Here's where we've lost half the construction crews to other jobs because nobody's been supervising them. Here's a list of the messages Carolyn and Charlie took for you and Dominic that haven't been returned yet, and here's the list of the ones Wally and I returned this morning." The messages lists were four pages long each. "Face it, Dad. You need help dealing with this. Like it or not, I am helping you."

Okay. Lex was taking care of the professional, and Clark would take care of the personal. They could do this. Even if the man was stubborn as hell. "Lionel, we know you love Dominic. We're not asking you to be away from him when he needs you so much right now. Which is why Lex is taking care of LuthorCorp, and I'm taking care of you. We want you to be with Dominic, but we also want you to be healthy, and we don't want your life to fall apart. We don't want you to lose LuthorCorp. Do you want Dominic to think its his fault?"

Lionel threw the papers at the two young people in front of him, watching them flutter to the floor. "I do not need to be taken care of like I am some child! I am a nearly sixty year old man who is quite capable of making sure he wipes his ass after taking a shit!!"

"No, you're not a child. But you're also not God." Clark answered, carefully. "When we lost our son we weren't children either, and we accepted your help. Please, accept ours, Lionel." because like it or not, you old coot, you're getting it, so you better get used to it.

"I neither want nor need your help," Lionel bit off. "I want you--" he said to Clark, "--to stay out of my life. And I want you--" he turned to Lex. "To get the hell out of my company and stay out of it."

"No," Lex said. "No. I'm standing up to you, Dad. If you don't like it, that's just... too bad. But I'm standing up to you on this because I believe it's right. I believe it's what I should be doing. I should be taking care of this right now because you can't."

Clark glared at Lionel. "You can't push us out of your life, so that's too damn bad for you. Because as I see it, until an hour ago you didn't want anything to do with work, home, or a shower. And now all a sudden you're flipping out? No way, Lionel. No way can anyone be such a hypocrite. Its one or the other, and Dominic needs you more than the company does."

"Clark..." Lex said softly.

"No, Clark, it's not hypocritical. I told you that I don't want anyone involved with me right now, and yet, it's being forced upon me from all sides--you, my son, my business, my husband. There is not a single bastion that is left untouched as I wish, and yet I am supposed to be gracious about it? I will not. I will not be, because the time for that is gone. Dominic is what matters, the rest of you all can go straight to hell."

"That's what we were trying to do. We'll take care of it for you, so when you return to your thrown, everything is as it should be." Clark retorted coolly, eyebrow raised high at him, even as Lex said his name.

"No, Clark. You are trying to inflict your will and your wishes upon me. You are trying to force me to behave in a way that fits in your worldview, without taking into account that I do what I want." He turned to Lex. "I want you out of LuthorCorp's offices by midnight tonight, and I don't want you back on the premises. If I have to have you removed, I will, and you will be subsequently banned from the property." He looked back at Clark. "This conversation is over."

"No. Its not. You know, everyone and their fucking mother has accused me of inflicting my will and my wishes on others, but as I see it, you have two choices, Lionel. Two. Because really, that's all that matters to you in the world, Dominic and the company. Either you stay with Dominic in the hospital and lose LuthorCorp to someone like Sir Harry, or you go to the company and let Dominic be alone until he wakes up, no matter when that is. Right?" He didn't stop for an answer. "Right. So what we're trying to do is take care of one of the problems for you, so you DON'T have to be pulled in two directions, so you DON'T have to make that kind of a choice. Lex is your son. He will take care of LuthorCorp for you until you're able to again. I am making sure you don't go postal on all of us, because you have so much power you could destroy a hundred different lives in the space of a moment. And since you're half crazed, someone's got to make sure you don't lose your goddamn mind. So, is that inflicting me will and my wishes on you? No. Its trying to make sure everything turns out alright. So stop being a bastard about it, swallow your goddamn pride, and let your son stand by your side. When your wife died he was still too little to understand, but he's a big boy now. He gets it. And he'll help you, if you'll let him." He looked at Lionel for a long moment. "Or was all of that father/son teamwork a bunch of horse shit?"

"It ceased to be teamwork when my son went behind my back to steal my company from me," Lionel answered through gritted teeth. "I was not the one who abandoned the concept teamwork." He clenched his fists. "I have not lost my mind. I do not intend to lose my mind, and yet no one seems to be crediting me with that." He glared at Clark. "I have no intention of destroying lives either, however if I am not left alone, I will begin to!" He took a deep, deep breath, but whatever he was going to say, Lex interrupted.

"I didn't go behind your back, Dad," Lex said softly. "I went to pick up what was left of the company before it gets into even more trouble. Remember how our stock rose while we were in Ireland? It's falling, again. I didn't abandon anything. I'm trying to do what is best for you, because I know that this is what Dominic wants. He wants you and your company to survive, because it's his blood, his sweat, his tears in it, same as it is ours in there. He knows what LuthorCorp means to you, he knows how you look at it, as the only meaningful thing you're going to leave to Rory and me, and he wants it taken care of, or else he wouldn't work as hard as he does. Do you think Dominic wants this to fail because of him?"

Clark nodded, incredibly, incredibly proud of his lover for his quiet words. He listened to them, watching Lionel for his reactions as he finished speaking, and added, "Dominic would be heartbroken that everything you worked for, everything he worked for, was gone. The company means everything. I wish you could see Lex like Dominic does... not as an enemy, but as an ally. He loves you enough to help you, and you're throwing his gift in his face."

Lionel listened carefully to Lex's quiet words, feeling each mention of Dominic slice him open a little bit more to bleed out to the world. He turned his back to them and sat down on the edge of the bed, head falling into his hands as his elbows went to prop on his knees. Didn't even bother to run his fingers through his hair and move it out of the way, just stayed there quietly, not saying a word, with his face in his hands and hidden by his hair.

Lex tossed a glance at his lover, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head towards Lionel as though asking who wanted to deal with him first.

Clark looked at his lover, quietly. You. He's your father, and you're his son. He needs you more than he needs me.

Lex nodded quietly, and walked over to the side of the bed. "Dad?" he said softly, touching Lionel's shoulder.

Lionel heaved a little sob at the touch, wrenching his shoulder away and shoving Lex back a few steps to stumble against the bedside table.

Lex didn't let that deter him, and he went back to the bed, sitting down in front of his father and wrapping his arms tightly around Lionel's shoulders. "It's okay, Dad. It's okay."

At the sob, Clark couldn't help but feel they'd finally broken through to him, and a little weight that had been stabbing its way into his heart was yanked free. And though it bled with Lionel's sob, he let it heal itself as he bit his lip and looked down at the man. "We love you, Lionel. Everything will be okay. It will. This isn't like last time."

Lionel's broad shoulders shook, trembling as he could no longer summon up the energy to fight and he let Lex hold him, stroke his shoulders and rub his back as let his tired head fall onto Lex's shoulder. "I'm so tired, Lex," he finally said softly. "I'm so tired of everything."

"I know." Lex looked over at Clark. "Can you..." He flicked his eyes to the bed. I'm going to try and get him to sleep... can you turn down the bed?

Clark nodded at his lover and walked around the bed. He carefully pulled the top display pillows off the bed, setting them in the recliner by the window, and turned down the thick quilts and sheets. He carefully folded them down and walked back around the bed, crouching down to begin untying Lionel's shoes, very gently.

Lex leaned over just a little bit, letting Lionel lean against his upper torso as he lifted each foot out of the untied shoes, then pushed his dad back against the pillows. "There we go." He picked up the blankets and pulled them up, tucking Lionel in.

Lionel didn't fight it, just slid his arm under the pillows and pulled them closer to his head as he just laid there, letting Clark and Lex fuss over him, get him into bed, get him covered up. "Go to sleep, Dad. We'll bring you up something for lunch when you wake up, all right?"

"If you need anything, just call my name. I can hear you anywhere." Clark murmured, and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "I love you. Go to sleep." Another quiet murmur before he straightened and took his lovers hand tightly in his for a moment, bringing the palm to his lips, before he leaned down for the cast off shoes and set them in the closet. He went in and selected an outfit he'd seen Lionel wear more than once--dark gray slacks and a black polo shirt, finely cut. He took out clean underpants and a Hanes t-shirt, as well as nice socks, and set it all folded neatly on the other chair by the door. He set a black pair of shoes under it on the floor, before he flipped out the lights. "Draw the curtains, Lex?"

"Yeah, good idea." Lex went to the windows and untied the heavy vellum cords that held the velvet drapes open, and let the heavy fabric fall over the windows, muting the bright sunshine and throwing the room into darkness. "Turn the phone off, and I'll make sure the sound's down on the laptop so it doesn't wake him."

"Okay." Clark stepped back around to the phone on the other bed side table, carefully turning the sound of the ringer off and the answering machine completely off. Lionel looked already half asleep, so he was as quiet as possible as Lex drew the drapes down so that the room was dark.

Lex tied the curtains down, so that any breeze that came in from the air conditioner wouldn't flap them open, and when he was done, he dusted his hands off on his slacks, and hugged himself tightly. The king-size bed was clearly made for two people, and Lionel looked very small and very alone in the big bed by himself. Despite the irritation of earlier, Lex felt very, very sorry for his father.

So did Clark. For the first time since he'd remerged back into Clark, he felt his lover through the link, and felt the sorrow and pity for Lionel through it. It mirrored his own and he offered it as a comfort as his fingers gently slid over Lex's back and led him towards the door. "Come on, baby. Let's leave him be."

"I just wish he didn't have to be so alone all the time," Lex answered softly, stepping closer to Clark and leaning his head against his lover's shoulder. "I do what I can but in the end... he's still alone."

"I know. Which is why we have to hope and pray Dominic will be okay." Clark whispered into his lovers ear, as he wound an arm around that slender waist. "Because its just weird thinking of Lionel without him. And vice versa." A light shake of his head and he took his lovers hip gently, carefully leading him out and closing the door firmly behind him.

 

-fin-

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