~6~

"She got me, didn't she?"

Bruce glanced over to find Clark sitting up and watching him examine an outcropping of crystals. "Sure did. You've been out of it for an hour, but Jor-El seems to believe you'll be fine. No lasting effects."

"You got Jor-El to acknowledge you. I'm impressed."

"I wouldn't really call it acknowledgment. More like providing a light show and a bed of ice. I can only conclude that you'll be fine. Care to tell me what happened?"

"Later. You've got to be freezing." He glanced at Bruce's clothing. "That jacket's definitely not warm enough, and you're can't exactly wear gloves right now."

"I'm fine."

"We're in the Arctic, Bruce."

"I might be a bit cold."

"How'd we get here?"

"Diana's plane."

Clark swung his legs off the crystalline platform. "Where is she?"

"Exploring the area outside. She's already been through everything in the main room."

"I didn't want to intrude by going further inside the structure." Diana appeared at the entrance, stopping a few feet away from them.

"You're welcome to come back with me another time to look around." He turned back to Bruce as she nodded with a slight smile. "We should go before you start losing fingers and toes."

"Or something else I'm rather attached to," Bruce said under his breath.

Clark laughed and stood, resting a hand on the ice until he regained his equilibrium. "To the plane," he mocked lightly.

"What's wrong with planes?"

"Nothing," Clark grinned at him. "You and your toys amuse me."

"It's Diana's, not mine, and I can think of a few of my toys that you find something entirely different."

"I know what you're like when you get to ride in an invisible plan, Bruce. And can we not talk about our sex life in front of Jor-El?"

"Getting shy on me, Kent?" His eyes dropped to Clark's groin. "Or something else."

"You have the weirdest timing."

"It's one of the things you like about me."

Diana cleared her throat politely and Clark felt a flush rising to heat his cheeks. He slipped an arm around Bruce's waist to help him as they followed Diana out to the plane, steadfastly ignoring the small grin Bruce was making no effort to hide.

o o o o o

The journey back to the farm went by with sparse conversation. It wasn't until Diana had gone and they were in Clark's bedroom armed with extra blankets for Bruce and steaming cups of tea at Martha's insistence that the subject was broached.

Bruce watched as Clark pulled off his clothes, stripping down to his boxers, taking in the expanse of well-defined muscles. He tried to wave Clark off when he began pulling at his own clothes, but Clark's huffed yeah right stopped him. Clark helped to settle him back against the pillows before climbing in beside him.

"It was fluke," Clark said without preamble. He shifted further down and turned on his side to face Bruce, his head propped up on one hand. "Sort of. I couldn't sleep; I didn't go out looking for her specifically. When I saw the greenhouse lights flash on and then off as if someone hadn't meant to turn them on in the first place... The buildings around it were clearly abandoned. When I looked inside, I saw her."

"That's when you called for assistance?"

"No. I went in alone first."

"Clark," Bruce said warningly.

"She hurt you. She knew who you were. I wasn't going to let her use that knowledge to hurt you again."

"Past tense," he said simply.

Clark's eyes dropped to the bedspread, studying the wash-worn material intently. "I erased her memory."

Bruce sat up straight and grasped Clark's jaw, forcing him to raise his head. "You want to run that one by me again?"

"I kissed her. It erased her memories of who you are." He sighed when Bruce gave him a look that clearly said he wanted more information. "Jor-El told me that I'm able to control a person's memories with a kiss. It's a form of telepathy that requires the physical intimacy of a kiss in order to work. That's probably how I got sick."

"You erased her memory of my identity with a telepathic kiss." Bruce's tone was incredulous.

"Yeah."

"And you're only telling me about this ability now."

Clark sighed and sat up, tugging at a stray thread hanging from the hem of his shirt. "I went to the Fortress after you fell asleep. Poison Ivy needed to be dealt with, and short of killing her, Bruce, I didn't know how I could protect you."

"You should have woken me."

"Why? So you could talk me out of using it? Would you have preferred I resorted to murder?"

"No, Clark. I would have preferred we dealt with her together."

"There wasn't anything you could do like this."

"That doesn't give you the right to mess with someone's head."

"You can't possibly have expected me not to deal with her."

Bruce took his time answering, knowing they were treading on dangerous ground. "I agree that Poison Ivy needed to be stopped, Clark, but you put yourself at risk in order to use some ability straight out of a sci-fi B-movie that you never even knew you had until a few hours ago!"

Clark nodded tersely. "I get it, but that doesn't change anything. I would still do the same thing."

"And you'd be wrong again." He watched as Clark threw back the covers and reached for his jeans. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going for a run before one of us says something we can't take back."

"You're not in any condition to run yet."

"The Fortress recharged my energy." He yanked on his plaid button-down over his t-shirt. "I'll see you later, Bruce."

"Clark, wait a minute!" Bruce called, but he was already out the door.

"Sweetheart?"

He glanced up at her voice as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Mom, I thought you were in bed."

"I figured you and Bruce might like some time to talk without worrying about me overhearing. Is something wrong?"

He stalled answering by walking through the kitchen to take a seat on the living room couch. "Just a disagreement. Nothing big."

Martha moved to sit down next to him on the couch. "'Nothing big' doesn't usually have you running down the stairs fully clothed in the middle of the night."

"Bruce didn't like the way I handled a situation. Instead of sticking around and saying something I'd regret later, I decided to get some air."

"What about Poison Ivy?"

Clark arched an eyebrow at her, surprised that she knew. "I found her, and I dealt with her."

"Clark," she said, clasping one of his hands between both of her own, her skin warm and soft. "Sweetheart, I would have done anything for your father, whatever it took to protect him. I wouldn't have hesitated. But with your abilities, it's different. You can do damage beyond that of any other human being."

"I didn't hurt her." He looked up and into her eyes, surprised at the assumption that he'd have hurt her, even if it were frighteningly close to the truth. "I just… I made it so that she couldn't hurt him."

"It was a little more complicated than that." Bruce appeared in the archway between the two rooms, moving with a silence that shouldn't have surprised Clark, even with the crutch.

Martha squeezed her son's hand once before letting go and standing. "I'll leave you two alone."

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, Mrs. Kent. Clark and I can go back upstairs if you prefer."

"Martha," she reminded gently. "I wouldn't consider either of you an intrusion. It's time for me to get some sleep anyway. Good night, boys."

Bruce waited until she was out of sight. "Fights like this are never easy. Too much grey area At least that's what Alfred tells me when he thinks I'm on the verge of screwing something up with you."

Clark couldn't help but laugh. "I always knew I liked him."

"You used to think he didn't care for you," Bruce reminded.

"Only until he dug a chunk of kryptonite out of my stomach. He could have left it in there, you know."

"He wouldn't have let you die."

"It was a small piece. I doubt it would have killed me."

"You weren't really in a state of mind to remember just how whiney you were."

"I don't whine."

"You do when you've got a piece of glowing, green rock stuck in your abdomen."

"It's not like you did much to stop it from happening."

Bruce sank down next to Clark. "That was a year-and-a-half ago. You're not still holding it against me, are you? I was trying to save Chloe."

"No grudge. I still maintain you could have done more than shout 'move' when you saw her coming at me with a nice, big chunk of pointy kryptonite."

"What happened to it being a small piece? Besides, you lived. Chloe lived. And you made friends with Alfred." Bruce flashed a wry grin at him.

Clark smiled back briefly before dropping his head to study the floor. "We're avoiding the subject."

"It was stupid to go after her alone. What would have happened if you didn't kiss her in time?"

"Never thought you'd say that, did you?"

"You make life interesting," he agreed. "She could have seriously harmed you. What if we'd been unable to locate you before she regained consciousness?"

"You always find what you're looking for."

"Not always," Bruce said tightly.

Clark's head shot up, realizing what he'd said and how Bruce had interpreted it. "I didn't –"

"You've been talking to Alfred."

"This has nothing to do with your parents," he said softly.

Bruce ignored him. "Yes, part of why I do what I do is for them. But the theory that I'm looking for their murderer in every criminal I try to stop would be wrong."

"Alfred cares about you, that's all. So do I, if you hadn't noticed. When it counts, you'll find me. Every time." Clark sighed inwardly. "This is too big a discussion for tonight, Bruce. Can we get back to the subject at hand, please?"

Bruce nodded curtly and changed tack without missing a beat. "What was it like?"

"The kiss or kissing her?"

"Both."

"Cold. I don't feel the cold all that often. It was like all the warmth drained out of me. I concentrated on what I wanted her to forget, and she went limp. I could feel the poison as it started to work through my body, and all of a sudden it was like I was on fire. Too hot, but at the same time it still felt like I was being doused in ice water. I managed to tie her up and blindfold her before I couldn't stand any longer. Next thing I remember was you all showing up."

"How did you know to blindfold her?"

"Your suit wasn't designed to fit over a cast."

Bruce gave a small laugh and some of the tension drained from his shoulders. "You're smarter than you look," he said lightly before turning serious. "Sometimes. We've had the 'you could have died' speech a few times already. I don't think it needs saying again. Do you?"

"No." Clark sighed and stood, striding across to look out the window. "She held your life in her hands, Bruce."

"I needed to know why she let me live," he said simply. "That knowledge is lost to me now."

"She thought you'd killed Joker, and she wanted you to suffer like she was suffering." He turned back around to face Bruce. "Her love in exchange for your safety. She wanted you to always be looking over your shoulder, always wondering if she'd told anyone, or if your secret stopped with her."

"I have you to protect me."

"I can't always be there."

"You are when it counts," Bruce said, turning Clark's argument back on himself.

"Not always. Sometimes things are out of my hands. I can't be in two places at once, no matter how fast I am."

"If you hadn't found out about the kiss, what would you have done?"

Clark met his eyes across the tree-lit room. "You don't want me to answer that."

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't."

"I'd have killed her." When Bruce didn't respond, Clark looked away again. "Without hesitation, Bruce. I would have ended her life to protect yours."

"And that scares you."

"Not even a little."

"Okay."

"That's all you have to say?"

"It's nothing less than I'd have done for you, Clark. I've toed that line already. I hurt others when they hurt you." He paused, considering his next words. "You need to know I'll always find a way to be here so that you won't have to cross that line."

"How do you plan on doing that? You won't be around forever."

Bruce rose to his feet and crossed to stand before Clark. "I'm creative."

"Creative enough to defy death?"

Bruce pressed forward, crowding Clark against the wall and surrounding him with an arm flanking each hip. He lifted his chin, almost closing the distance between their mouths. "Let's hope we don't have to go down that path any time soon."

"We can't kiss and make it all better."

Bruce laid claim to Clark's mouth in a short, almost violent kiss. "You'd be surprised what we can do. Next time, we do this our way."

Clark's hands came up to rest at the small of Bruce's back, tugging him closer. "Whatever you say, Bruce."

"Not good enough."

Clark sighed, a soft exhalation of air as he tipped his head forward to rest against Bruce's forehead. "Our way. I promise."

"Good." Bruce paused and pulled back, frowning slightly. "We didn't get to have Christmas morning."

"We could open presents now."

"Shouldn't we wait for your mom?"

Clark cocked his head to the side, listening. "She's still awake. I can go get her."

"In a few minutes."

Clark nodded, smiling and whispering against Bruce's mouth. "That works for me."

-end-