Lex returned a half hour later as promised with the two men from earlier accompanying him. They'd returned not with scalpels, but a weird looking machine that they hovered over his abdomen. The whole process had taken less than ten minutes and they gathered the machine and walked out without a word. When Lex asked for the results within the hour, the taller of the two nodded and slipped out the door.

After they left, Lex kept silent for a moment, then walked over to a nearby table and picked up a cup of water. He walked over to Clark and handed it to him, which Clark gulped down greedily. He never remembered being so thirsty before. He said "Thank you" without thinking and Lex just nodded. For the first time he realized Lex looked exhausted, and his normally pristine appearance was a little unkempt. It occurred to him he didn't know what time it was, or even what day.

But Lex was the first to break the silence. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, just tired. How long was I out?"

"A little over twelve hours."

"So its tomorrow?"

Lex nodded, and rubbed the back of his neck.

Clark was beginning to feel the familiar guilt. "You've been up all night haven't you."

Lex nodded again. "I wanted to be sure you were going to wake up."

Clark didn't say anything for a long time. "I'm sorry Lex."

Lex looked at him and Clark saw a little warmth returning to his eyes. "Its fine Clark. I know you;re scared, and given our history you have every reason to be. But no matter our differences, I've never wanted to hurt you."

Clark looked away from him. "I guess I shouldn't have assumed you would." He didn't really believe that— while Lex may never have wanted to hurt him physically, he's definitely done his share of damage emotionally.

"So when will we know?"

Lex blinked a few times, looking even more tired than before. "Soon."

"And then..?"

"I don't know Clark, whatever it is, we'll find a way to take care of it."

So far Lex had avoided the implications of what exactly was in Clark's stomach. So his friend, enemy, whatever you wanted to call him, who he had sex with a few days ago, may have a fetus-a baby, in his belly. Of all the ways Lex imagined having proof of Clark's 'other-worldliness' this was not even close. Apparently Clark belonged to a species whose males were responsible for procreating. Like the fish he'd learned about a million years ago in high-school biology. Maybe Clark came from a race of fish. He really took a good look at Clark for the first time since he'd awakened, and he looked terrible. He was clammy and pale with the exception of his warmed cheeks, and there was this lifelessness in his eyes that was there the day of the funeral.

Lex had almost managed to forget Martha Kent was no longer in the world.

He'd had the unfortunate task of telling Clark the news. He did it via phone from Metropolis, which he regretted, but felt he had little choice. He wasn't sure if his presence would help or make matters worse. His father had loaned her the Luthorcorp jet back to Washington D.C after a visit to the farm, but Lex was the one that got the call when the plane went down over Roanoke, VA. He wished now he could have told Clark in person, but he didn't want to risk waiting and him finding out from the evening news. That phone call still chilled him, and he hoped he never experienced anything like it again. Clark's reaction wasn't what he expected. After asking him to repeat himself three times he got deadly silent, so silent Lex thought he'd left the phone. Finally Clark said very quietly 'thanks' then the line went dead. Lex remembered standing there a long time with the phone in his hand before making the decision to oversee the recovery himself.

There was very little to recover—the plane had exploded on impact into a dense forest of trees, igniting a fire that caused a 30 mile radius evacuation. Twisted metal and personal belongings littered the forest, and Lex decided that the only thing he could do was search the wreckage to find at least one thing to take back to Clark that belonged to his mother. Why it was so important to him, he wasn't sure, but acting and not thinking made all of it more bearable. The sun was just beginning to rise above the trees when he spotted a broken pearl necklace in the brush. He knew immediately it was the one Martha had worn everyday since her husband died. He'd seen it around her neck in countless press photos. When he picked it up he thought he glimpsed Clark in the clearing. He didn't know if it was extreme fatigue or just plain delusion, but even now he remembered the completely broken face of Clark standing at the edge of the forest watching the smoking wreck. When he looked up again to see if he was crazy-Clark was gone.

Now, he wasn't so sure it wasn't Clark.

Clark didn't answer him, but he realized now wasn't the time to discuss anything; they both needed rest.

"Get some sleep, I think I'll do the same. The results should be in by the time we wake, and then we'll know what we're dealing with."

Clark just closed his eyes. Whatever it was inside of him decided to become active again, only this time there was no pain. He gently rubbed his belly and the activity subsided. Well, whatever you are, I guess we'll find out soon enough.

"Its definitely a fetus."

Clark was sitting up in bed now, having successfully devoured the first meal he'd had in days. He'd awaken just over an hour ago completely ravenous, and pushed a weird buzzer-intercom thing next to his bed, hoping it could be used to summon people with food. Now the entire meal was threatening to come up as he stared blankly at a 3D image that looked like a human tadpole with arms and hands. He wondered how Lex managed to get that image, at least he wanted to wonder, the truth kept nagging in the back of his head—this wasn't some elaborate fabrication by Lex, it was real and it was—wrong.

The doctor, or whatever he was kept studying the photo he printed out, like it was the most normal thing in the world. He kept saying things like.."It looks like a 10-12 week fetus.." , " Though it definitely looks bigger than yesterday…" "Its too early to determine the sex.." Clark wanted to scream. Did it occur to them that this shouldn't even be happening? That he was most definitely male and males didn't have babies? Not in any species, except maybe amphibians and fish, and apparently kryptonians did males have babies—it was just wrong. Lex was pretending to be interested in the tediousness of determining the date of conception, but Clark could see his face becoming more and more of a mask as his sharp in takes of breath betrayed how he really felt—Lex was completely freaked out.

Clark's head was swimming. How could this have happened?

"How can you stand there and act like its perfectly normal that there's a baby inside of me?"

The two men in white jackets just turned and looked at him coolly like he'd just created some annoying disturbance. They looked to Lex and he jerked his head slightly indicating they should leave. Clark pulled the covers back and pushed the tray of food away.

Lex looked slightly alarmed "What are you doing?"

"I need to get out of this bed." He was panicking, he could feel it, he tried to control his emotions but they were all over the place. He still felt weak but he was determined his legs were going to work—he needed to get out of there. He maneuvered unsteadily on his legs past Lex.

"Clark, where are you going?"

"I'm going home."

"There's no one there Clark, and you're in no condition to be left alone."

He headed for the large glass doors that he discovered locked automatically and could only be accessed by a fingerprint. He tried fruitlessly to pry them open. His strength was completely gone, and he probably wasn't even stronger than Lex now. He stared at the doors intensely but nothing happened, not even a faint warmth behind his eyes.

Lex watched him and was beginning to wonder if all of this wasn't putting an incredible mental strain on him.

"Clark, what are you doing?"

He gave up and turned around "Open the door."

"I can't."

Clark was panting from the exertion and the baby in his belly was not happy. "You mean you won't"

"Right, I won't. Not until you're well, or after the baby is born—whichever comes first."

"I'm not having a baby Lex!"

"The sonogram says differently."

Clark just shook his head; he could feel himself giving up. "This isn't happening…"

Lex tried to focus and quell how disturbed he was by the whole situation. There had to be a reason this was happening, Lex didn't believe in coincidence, or things just randomly happening in life. It had to mean something that this happened just when he was forced back into Clark's life. And right after their relationship went to a place he never imagined possible. His mind worked for a moment, but he realized it wasn't possible—the fetus was at least 10 weeks old and he and Clark slept together just over a week ago. He almost laughed out loud at the idea he was wondering if he had fathered Clark's child.

Lex walked over to him and took his arm, gently, but firmly guiding him back to the bed. To his surprise Clark didn't resist. He sat on the side of the bed and let his head drop and whispered.

"I'm a freak."

Lex couldn't disagree, but he was sure Clark didn't need confirmation right now. "You're not, you're just….well you won't tell me what you are, but its definitely unique."

Clark shook his head. "I don't know what I am."

Lex narrowed his eyes. "Is that true?"

Clark nodded. "I thought I knew…but maybe I don't know anything. I'm very tired Lex."

"Is the baby doing this to you?" He always remembered Clark to be exceptionally strong, and now he could barely stand on his own.

"I think so….I feel so weak, I hate feeling like this…God Lex a baby.."

It was the first time Clark had spoken like the old Clark—just a young friend looking to him for answers.

"Well, it could be worse."

Clark frowned. "Yeah, how?"

"Have you ever seen Alien?"

Clark went to laugh but that word stopped him dead. He looked at Lex, but it was too late to hide his expression. They just stared at each other for a long moment, each one reading the other like a well-worn book. He knew. He didn't have to say it, Clark knew his reaction told him everything he needed to know.

"Get some rest Clark."

He didn't say another word and slipped out the door.