Note: Because of the length of this section it has been posted in two halves. This is the second half.
Title: Illness (part two)
Author: Azure K. Mello
Words: 13,495
Summery: Set four years after "Young and Beautiful" Clark is kidnapped, injured, and the whole thing is televised.
Clark's Age : 38
Note: This is the sixth in a series. If you haven't read the other parts you will miss some of the references.
Disclaimer: All things DC belong to various parties, individuals mentioned belong to themselves, other television shows and bands belong to various companies and people. No copy right infringement is intended, please don't sue.
Bruce stood up as he saw him and Lex said, "It's almost time, isn't it?"
Bruce wrinkled his nose, "Are you on fire?"
"Febreeze?" Lex requested of Lois who tossed a tiny bottle over to him. Lex sprayed himself liberally and threw it back. He sat down heavily next to Martha's bed. Ignatius pulled himself up onto Lex's lap, with half of his body on the bed. His two hundred and thirty pound body somehow made Lex feel lighter.
On screen Clark changed quickly from Superman to Clark Kent reporter, he got shouted at for a missed deadline. He had trouble getting home, keeps flickering between too fast and normal, stumbled a few times. In the kitchen he cooked pancakes, he changed into his WTR pants and turned on the cartoon network. Then his cell phone beeped and he sighed before super speeding into his suit, stubbing his toe, and flying out the window. Lex came home, ate the now cold pancakes, and paced in front of the TV, now set to news, he watched the news when Clark flew into a well and pulled out a little girl. He tripped slightly as he carried her out and Lex muttered, "I fucking hate sunspots. Why he even doing this? He knows everything's on the fritz but god forbid he gets someone else to cover it. I hate the goddamn cell phone. Because when it goes off screw everything else, a fuck the Justice League because it's solely his responsibility." He sighed and talked at the TV, "Just come home, you've done your bit, now come home."
Then it changed to Clark trying to climb silently into bed, He pushed Ignatius over slightly. Lex had his gun drawn instantly. "It's me," said Clark, "I'm home."
"You've been gone for ten days," said Lex. "What's the point of an amazing cell phone with global coverage if you don't use it? The news hasn't been helpful. No one can get out there and I didn't know if you were alright."
Clark tiredly shook his head. "Thousands of people are dead. I don't know why the AI didn't pick up on a landslide of that magnitude. It was so fast. And it won't stop raining. They're under mud and no one knows who's alive. They could be still alive but their under thick packed mud. And it's all lead. There is so much lead in that soil and I can't help any of them… I can't see them or hear them. There was a school yard." He dropped his head into his hands, shoulders shaking. "I dug it all up. There were just dozen of tiny bodies. Twenty miles have just been wiped off the map. We've found a couple of hundred survivors over fifteen thousand people are still unaccounted for." He just sat, sobbing into his hands. "John sent me home. I haven't slept since I left home but all those people, Lex, they're all just dead. And I can't do anything."
There was nothing for Lex to say so instead he started stripping off Clark's very soiled clothes and pulling him under the covers, "You just need to sleep now, in a couple of days you can go back if there's anything left to be done but right now, trust that your friends have this covered as much as it can possibly be covered. You need some sleep."
Clark nodded and burrowed into Lex's side, asleep in moments.
Lana was looking at him saying, "You didn't tell me because you think you killed my parents?"
"I did kill your parents. I was the cause of the meteor shower. I just I felt you needed to know. We didn't not work out because of me being with Lex. I lied to you for years. I killed your parents."
"You were a baby, Clark… I can't believe you didn't trust me… I just… I need a little time. "
It showed Pete's anger, Chloe's excitement. And then it flashed later to Lois' apartment. Clark was flying through her window in full costume. "Ms. Lane."
She blushed slightly, "Hi, um, do you want something to drink… or something? Please, call me Lois."
"I'm fine, Lois."
She laughed nervously and said, "I guess we should just do this then. Why did you now agree to an interview?"
"People have wanted me to do one for quite some time. I've been actually shouted at for not being more forthcoming… I don't want to do this but I feel the only way to have this stop is to do just one and it will have to suffice. I don't want my personal life on record. It's not for public consumption."
"Well why did you want to do this with me? I'm grateful but I mean… I'm not well known. And outside of the three times you've had to come to my rescue we've never spoken."
Superman studied her before saying, "You are a fair and honest, if not brutal, reporter. I just want someone who won't distort this. Besides, I think it's time you get a real byline."
Her blush deepened at his compliment and she accidentally knocked her note cards off the table. "Oh god." She started to collect them but they were out of order. "I guess, um, god. Where are you from?"
"Krypton."
"Is that a country?" and then she blinked at her own stupid question. She was supposed to be good at follow ups.
"It's a planet, was a planet. It exploded."
"I'm so sorry." She was still nervously playing with her cards. "Do you miss it?"
He sniffed, thought about how to answer and said, "Lois, I could do something right now that could either make this a lot easier or cause you to kick me out."
"I don't drink while on the job."
He laughed, "It's not that. You're just very nervous and I could put an end to it."
"Okay," she agreed already mortified at her actions thus far.
He pulled a pair of horn rimmed glasses out from under his cape and put them on. He looked at her full on and said, "Hey, Lois."
She started hitting him hard. "Clark? Clark! You're Superman?"
"Yeah." He pulled the useless glasses back off.
"And you've been letting me cream myself for months over him? God!"
"That is a disgusting expression. Stop hitting me."
"Why? You're Superman; it can't hurt. All this time. God!"
"Does it make you feel better to know that you've kicked Superman out of his own bed every time you stayed at his parents' house?"
"No! Does Lex know? He's been trying to kill you!"
"Lois, someone as clever as Lex doesn't try to kill anyone he would just do it. He knows, Chloe knows, Pete knows, Lana knows, all of the Justice League knows, Perry White knows. You're the last."
Her face fell, "Why am I the last?"
He sighed sadly, "Because you're a reporter. Chloe knew well before any of us were published. Perry White knew when I was a kid. I didn't… I know I should have trusted you. Ever since I found out I've been told that if anyone knew they would… you're a good reporter. I'm sorry it took me so long. I thought maybe you knew. I mean, I thought you'd notice that suddenly I became this dorky guy who couldn't get a story and wore really ugly suits and glasses."
"You've never had any fashion sense." He started to laugh but went somber as she didn't join him. "Clark, I will keep your secret, I will go to work tomorrow, but right now, I want you to leave."
"What about your story? This is supposed to get you a byline."
Looking at him she said, "Superman isn't even real. Get out."
The image blinked out and black for a moment. Lex sat up slightly straighter. "I do not want to watch this," said Lex softly.
"Sleeping pills, ear plugs, and a face mask?" offered Lois but she was quiet. Lex reached out to pat her shoulder gently. He tried to comfort her even as he was falling to pieces.
"No, I need to watch, we need to know what they did so we can undo it." So he sat silently watching as the weird aliens led Clark into the room.
Clark was green, not ill looking, literally green. He was listless, his sweat and extremities were green, and he was whimpering softly. The creatures pushed him onto a slab of kryptonite and Clark moaned flinching back. He tried to get away while still sitting on it. They forced him to put his hands palm down on the surface. "Please let me go home, please. I just wanna go home. I won't be Superman if you don't want me to. You don't need to do this; you don't need to hurt me. I'll do what you want. Please."
"Kal-El, we aren't trying to stop you from being Superman. You will still have your abilities. It will take a few weeks to adjust. We are simply externalizing the pain. People need to see what you go through and you will not be able to cover it after this."
"But it already hurts."
"Have you ever enjoyed being this way? Saving the world?" Clark just sat there, not answering. "Kal-El," the tone was inhuman but still recognizable as a reprimand.
"No. Smallville just had so much trouble and it was always hurting the people I cared about. So I had to do it. It didn't matter if it hurt. It needed to be done. And then…"
"And then your actions caused Martha Kent to miscarriage, and you did all those awful things while drugged to ignore your actions."
"People sometimes need help that can't be given in normal ways. And it's my responsibility."
"So answer the question. Do you enjoy what you do?"
"I like running fast, I love flying. I hate the attention, I hate the recognition, I hate pain of it. But, I mean, sometimes people need help. And I like it when it doesn't hurt or if no one really notices. On the whole, I don't like being Superman."
"So, it wouldn't be so awful."
"I need to be able to do it."
"We know, we understand. They need to see." One of the creatures pushed Clark down. He fought with the strength of a child. "This is tempered. It won't hurt as such; it will just make it so you can't hide the pain you already feel."
They strapped him down tight and Clark was moaning, trying to get away from the meteorite. And then they pulled out green tinted instruments. A humming noise started and they began cutting lines into Clark. Clark screamed and screamed. It didn't sound like it was television, Clark was in the room, the scream was in the room.
Bruce put his hand on Lex's shoulder and Lex slapped it away hard. He didn't want anyone touching him, not even Bruce. All he wanted was for Clark to be away from these aliens. He wouldn't even need Clark by him. He didn't need to ever see or touch Clark ever again if he could just get him away. The cutting went on forever. Lex was vaguely aware of Martha waking up, hearing her voice and Bruce's explanations, but he was nowhere near them. He just watched the screen. The cuts were precise and slow. The people were so careful and seemed completely unaware of Clark's screams.
After several hours they pulled out new instruments. Lex recognized them as bone saws. He didn't blink as they carved into Clark's bones, splitting them down to the marrow. A boiling pot of liquid kryptonite was wheeled into the room. As bad as the screaming before it became worse. It turned into one not of pain and horror but grief and fear. From the scream Lex could tell that Clark believed that he was going to die. They splinted the carved bones open and poured the liquid in. Clark screamed and screamed.
Ignatius' howls joined the noise but Lex didn't hush him: he couldn't find his voice to do so. Instead, he pulled the dog more firmly into his lap. Holding the nearly feral creature to his chest his fingers tightened in Ignatius' fur. Lex felt like screaming too, and so it was as though the dog was howling for them both.
One of the creatures said, "Stop it, Kal-El. Stop being foolish, it's tempered. It won't kill you. In a few weeks it will not hurt. Be calm."
But Clark couldn't stop screaming. The liquid started to solidify and they slid solid bolts into the mixture and replaced the bones. They ran some sort of a scanner over the bones which re-solidified. They replaced the flesh and ran the scanner over the skin. The bolts stood proud of Clark's body.
"It will need several hours to solidify. We are leaving you now." They exited the room, leaving Clark strapped down. And Clark kept screaming for hours. As time went by it tapered off and he was just moaning, dry sobbing. After hours of whimpers he said, in a rough, small voice, "Please let me go home. Please, I need Lex." He seemed to drift, into the pain, away from the situation. He just kept repeating Lex's name.
Lex just sat, watching the new images. Clark was decorating his dorm room at top speed. Pete came in and grimaced, "Really, Clark? You're not even going to be here most of the time. Why do I have to look at Lifehouse and Josh Kelly posters?"
Smiling widely Clark said, "Lex wants me to actually live here; he says it's important to my development as a person to catch foot fungus off of communal showers."
Pete snorted, "Two weeks –max- and you'll be in one another's back pockets."
"And when that happens you can take down my posters and use the pent house's shower."
Laughing Pete said, "You and him, you're for keeps?"
Clark groaned, "Can we skip the 'Lex Luthor is his father's son' speech. You don't like him; I know."
"He's growing on me… a bit like foot fungus. But just… gimme time, Clark. He's important to you so I guess I need to get over it and accept that he has to be important to me too." He then tugged at a corner of a blue thing in one of Clark's boxes and pulled out the Superman costume. "Seriously?" he laughed. "I can't wait to see Lana's face when she sees you in this get up. The girls will make fun of you."
"Bite me," Clark laughed.
"Lex," Martha called softly. He shook his head leaving the dorm and the young boys he saw there. She didn't touch him.
"I'm sorry, Martha."
"Why don't you let J'onn put you out?"
Lex looked around and realized that Jimmy, Chloe, and Pete had arrived. Lana wasn't there yet and Lex vaguely wondered why. "Martha," he repeated as the screen changed to Lois on a cell phone. It was about a month after Clark had told her the truth.
"Clark, don't be late. You know that every time you run out on a Thursday night dinner it gets awkward. He's a great guy and all but we're not friends. You can't skip, I'm glad I'm getting to know him but don't you dare leave for some puppy with a broken paw in Nepal."
Lex let his head slump against Martha's pillow. "The hospital wants to keep me here longer. This is going to be played repeatedly. You need sleep; you need to be turned off. Let J'onn put you out."
Lex swallowed. "Okay," he nodded but didn't move. J'onn walked up to him, shooed Ignatius off of Lex's lap, and touched the man's forehead. Lex instantly slumped forward. The dog growled at J'onn as the Martian picked Lex up and placed him on the other bed in the room. He nodded to Ignatius who leapt onto the bed and curled around his master. J'onn reached out to stroke the dog who lifted his head and growled. J'onn nodded and stepped away.
The screen reset itself to the first conversation. Martha was the only one who hadn't seen Lex's audience with the creatures. She watched in silence. Chloe moved to her bed and took her hand. "My poor boys," she said as she pulled Chloe more firmly onto the bed. On the large screen, Lex fell to pieces. Martha could tell that he was doing his best not to let it show but she could see his seams tearing. She looked over to Lex's bed. Ignatius was growling low in his chest.
Bruce stood and said, "If he will permit it would you allow me to take Ignatius for a walk?"
Neither the man nor the dog was very good at staying still. Bruce could be a statue for hours but only while wearing a cowl, and though Ignatius had been at his master's side since the afternoon he usually couldn't stay put for more than twenty minutes. Martha gave him a weak smile, "If he'll let you."
Bruce picked up a leash that Jacob had dropped in the corner. The dog growled as Bruce approached. "Nat," Bruce said harshly. The dog lowered his head, licked Lex up the jaw, and jumped off the bed to stand obediently at Bruce's side. "Good dog." As they walked out Bruce and Ignatius both shook their tightened joints loose.
Nodding to the nursing staff Bruce started to pick up speed. By the time they got to the doors the pair was flat out running. Through the streets of Key West they ran as though chased. And after a good hour they both slowed. Bruce bought two bottles of water off a street vender and sat down in a park. One bottle was poured out in a puddle for the dog. Bruce found an area that had signs showing a dog off a lead. He let Ignatius go but the screens were everywhere, back to Clark burning popcorn. Trailing the dog Bruce picked up his waste to throw it away and it seemed pretty appropriate, Clark was tortured, he couldn't help Lex, Batman was useless in the situation; all he could do was pick up shit. They walked back to the hospital more slowly and as they went Bruce talked.
"Nat, I know you aren't happy. I know you don't want people near Lex. But even with those givens, you need to be polite to J'onn. I know you aren't racist but he's a little sensitive, and none of those people back there wanted his help 'til they saw what he'd done for Martha, so the scab has been picked. When we get back in there you need to be polite, he's under as much strain as the rest of us."
The alien screen nearest him flickered and Bruce stopped, waiting for a new horror. Instead one of the aliens appeared and said, "John Stewart, we will not be upset if you disable the broadcast where you are. You do not have to watch this, your education is complete. Mrs. Kent has seen what was necessary for her." Bruce knew that to mean all the comments about the miscarriage. The loop was about to hit Clark being tortured. "The Justice League and the chosen family of Kal-El may disable our program. If you attempt to turn it off for anyone else there will be consequences… Yes, Lana Ross and the Wayne household too… Kal-El will not need to watch it, no." Bruce picked up his speed and jogged back to the hospital.
By the time he got back to the hospital Clark was screaming on the screens. Inside he raced towards Martha's room. The door shut behind him and there was blessed silence. "Thank God."
"You're welcome," said John Stewart putting down a small handheld disrupter charge. It was covered in dials and had obviously been mocked up quickly.
Martha gave him a weary smile, "Is it raining?"
"No, we were running." Lex was still asleep but he kept moving. Lex never moved when asleep. It was always as though his subconscious thought he would be safer if he was still. "How are you doing?"
She gave him another, weaker smile. "We're okay."
Bruce let Ignatius off the leash. And the dog went to J'onn and nudged against his legs. J'onn reached down to stroke his head so Ignatius obliged by licking the hand vigorously. Once he was finished, Ignatius climbed back on top of Lex. Martha was still obviously in pain, and quiet medicated; she drifted off not long after John had disabled the screen. John and J'onn left to check in with Alfred, the planes that were filled with Clark's family, and return to the Tower to see if there was anything to be done while the other went into an empty room down the hall where Bruce turned off the screen using the machine John had left.
Chloe settled against Bruce, Jimmy against Lois, Pete settled into himself. "What are we going to do?" asked Lois.
Turning to Bruce, Chloe asked, "Did you know he felt pain?" Bruce just shook his head, pulling his wife closer to him.
"Lex did," muttered Pete.
Bruce leveled him with a warning look. "Don't you dare, Pete. If Lana had a secret like this would you have told anyone? Lex is in the other room practically in a coma because he can't deal with this. He's being torn apart. It wasn't his secret to tell. The onus of truth was on Clark."
"Lana and the boys. How are they?" asked Chloe.
"They're good," said Pete. He wasn't looking at Bruce. "They're in Washington; we figured it would be hard enough without a seven and five year-old underfoot. Same with Cecily?" She nodded.
They sat in silence, drinking coffee. There was a veritable feast laid out in the waiting room but while families of the wounded guards had picked at it, none of Clark's family could face the idea of food. Eight hours later Lex walked into the room carrying cake. He sat down, ate methodically, and finally once his plate was clean he said, "I love this quite. When did it start?"
"About two hour after J'onn knocked you out," replied Lois.
"Who did it?"
"John Stewart."
"Thank Christ for that."
"How can you eat?" asked Pete.
Lex shrugged, not angry, just tired. "I've been worrying about Clark every minute for every day for the last twenty-two years. And considering he's thirty-eight… forty-one… thirty-eight that's a long time. Yet I can't even process this. I never thought our important memories would be on display for everyone. And even with the copious amount of worrying I have done I never thought that our lives would be this exposed. Sure they've seen Clark hurt seen all of us waiting in terror but not like this. I never really considered nightmare like aliens taking him out of our universe and performing horrific surgery on him while he was awake. So I'm going to eat cake, at least one more slice. Because if I don't eat cake, don't distract myself somehow, I'm going to kill someone. Not with the gun that Jacob sensibly took off me… No, I'm going to punch someone in the face until they no longer have a face. Then I'll go wild in the NICU by drop kicking babies. So after another slice of cake, and a few cigarettes, I'm going to take the sleeping pills Lois so kindly offered me earlier, and knock myself out again. Because even though Martha will be awake soon and I should be at her beckoned call, be the good son-in-law I endeavor to be, I am about to rip this place apart."
He stood and started to exit and Bruce held out John Stewart's device. "Turn this dial while pressing the green button." Lex nodded and left. To Pete Bruce said, "You need to stop talking. I know you don't mean to but you just keep exacerbating the problem." Pete nodded.
When Martha woke up they were all still sitting about. She came in with an IV drip on a pole, a slight limp, and a large sandwich and salad. Looking around she asked, "Have any of you eaten?" Bruce just shook his head. "You should. Even if you feel ill at the thought, food will make you feel better… and it's something to do. It will take your mind off of everything." She ate slowly and asked, "Is Lex still out from J'onn or did he knock himself out?"
Bruce grimaced, "Sleeping pills."
"Good for him." Martha saw the slight arch of Chloe's eyebrow and said, "The only thing worse than this situation is having this situation and watching Lex systematically shut down while trying to be useful. Has he killed anyone yet?"
"No," said Bruce slowly, "but he did smash in a few photographers' faces. Gushing blood and lost teeth, but he hasn't actually killed anyone."
Martha nodded, continued to eat. And when she was done she asked, "When are we allowed to go home?"
"When J'onn says it's okay," said Lois.
Martha looked at her, studied her face, took in her newly poor complexion, and smiled suddenly, but Lois shook her head. Still smiling Martha said, "Is he here?"
"No, but he can be here in moments," said Bruce. His eyes unfocused and J'onn materialized.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked, he was holding one of his scanners and Martha nodded, struggled to stand, J'onn went to her, "Don't stand. You're abdomen must still be sore."
"Yeah," she agreed.
J'onn silently ran the scan and said. "I'll need them to up your codeine, give you a supply of oral meds, but then we can send you home. I'm just going to go talk to your doctor." He came back a few moments later with a small bottle of pills, "Three days' supply, Ms. Graves is sending cars for the families. Flash will drive their cars back from the house. We may go. Bruce will you carry Lex? I will assist Mrs. Kent." J'onn picked up Martha saying, "You shouldn't be walking for a couple of days."
They went back to the house. All signs of the break-in and violence were gone. After disabling the screens they all went to bed, tried to sleep. Over the next few days the air was tense. They all did abundant amounts of work to keep their minds off it, they ate, worked out, found ways to avoid the subject. Lex didn't talk much, but he didn't glom, he was just quiet and withdrawn. Lana dropped the boys off with her aunt and flew down the day before Clark was meant to get back. It felt like old, unhappy times, but familiar.
At four in the morning, on what they had been told would be their last day of waiting, Martha woke to hear clanging noises. She recognized the noise as an egg beater against a metal bowl. Pulling on a robe she left her bed and went down to the kitchen. She saw Lex standing in the mostly dark room beating a mixture in a bowl.
At first she thought he was sleep walking and said softly, "Lex?"
He turned alert and obviously conscious. "Did I wake you?"
"No, I woke up and heard you. Lex, you were cooking at seven o'clock. What are you doing? Have you slept?"
He held out the bowl, "I'm making custard, mixing before I put on the heat."
"You don't like custard."
"Martha, I am about to sound insane. Please don't condescend and act like what I say is normal. Clark likes custard. And what if, in a few hours time, he walks through that door perfectly fine and hungry? What if he's almost okay and his being hungry is more important than removing the kryptonite? I know that's wishful thinking and stupid. But the AI is already calculating how to reverse the surgery so I'm going to bake jalapeño fig bread and whip some cream."
She nodded and went to the sink to wash her hands. "Once we're done with those we'll make a berry salad. Then if we're still alone down here we can make breakfast for everyone."
Together they cooked in silence for hours. Lex pulled a tray of corn muffins out of the oven with a mitt and finally she said, "Lex, I don't want to do this to you-"
He looked at the protective mitten and said, "No, Martha, pulling a hot tray out of the oven doesn't hurt him. Nothing he does really hurts him, a lot of things that used to hurt, don't. He doesn't even notice gun shots anymore. He loves flying, and running. It's things like getting beaten up by other super heroes that hurt. That sort of brings him back to our level. Things that would rip another to pieces ache really badly. If a building falls on him he hurts for a while, a few days, like if you or I had a bad concussion. The hearing its self doesn't hurt: it's what he hears. He has all the human nerves, he feels it if he stubs his toe but that sort of thing doesn't hurt. The kryptonite seems to get worse as he gets stronger but he's also more capable of coping with the pain. You haven't failed him. It's a mother's job to worry about her son. And it's her son's job to try and avoid his mother's worries."
She wrapped her arms around him and he turned into the hug and dropped his head onto her shoulder. "It's not your fault he became Superman. He knows you don't blame or hate him for the miscarriage. But that doesn't stop him from being responsible, he feels he's responsible. He tried to destroy the ship and the feedback wave killed his unborn sibling, that's just fact. He doesn't care that it was an accident. Moreover, the things that happened afterwards were his fault, it doesn't matter that he was doped on red K, he decided to wear that ring.
"While your miscarriage could arguably not be his fault the things that happened afterwards were. While we have forgiven and moved past that time he has not. And if it hadn't been for that something else would have happened. We all feel guilt and remorse over past actions but he feels it more. So please, put it out of your mind that you are in anyway responsible for this mess… I once told him I thought he would be a superhero some day, that I hoped he wouldn't but seemed inevitable. I wish I could take those words back. But the past is gone. So right now, we cook."
By the time the others were waking up there was a three course breakfast on the table. It was a more impressive spread than the one which had been laid out at LLC only days before. People came down one by one, grabbing coffee, and then sitting at the table to work through the food.
After a little while Lex said, "We need more coffee. I'm going out." He was in the silk sweat pants he'd worn the night before while trying to sleep and a t-shirt that had some cooking stains. Upstairs he grabbed a pair of ear plugs and pulled on running shoes. In the kitchen Ignatius tried to follow him out but Lex said, "Stay, stay, he's all over to streets. You shouldn't have to see Clark in pain again, stay."
He opened the backdoor and started running, ignoring the screens, flat out. By the time he got to the store he was dripping in sweat. Inside he quickly scanned the shelves and found the coffee Clark liked, fair trade, shade grown, organic. It wasn't very good coffee. Lex had suggested buying good coffee but sending money directly to the farmers of Clark's choice. But Clark had raised an eyebrow and said, "Lex to make the system work you have to actually work within the system. Buy whatever coffee you like; I'm going to keep drinking this weak crap."
Lex went to the pharmacist and gave her a tight smile as he took out the ear plugs. Clark was putting up posters in his dorm. "Hello, Linda. I put out my back a few years ago and had a script for Percocet. It still has two refills on it. It's on your records. I know that the refill dates have long since expired. But is there any way, any loop hole, which can get it refilled?"
She thought and then said, "No, but I can call your doctor and he can tell me to fill one for Clark."
"Thank you." She went to phone to doctor and Lex replaced the ear plugs. There were even screens in the store and Lex kept his eyes on the counter.
When she came back she handed him a bottle of sixty and said that with Clark's digestion rate he could take one every two hours. Lex thanked her, paid, and left.
As he ran he kept his eyes down. He could feel other's gaze upon him and he didn't want to meet their eyes. It was true: he didn't care what others thought of Lex Luthor. But he did care about what people thought of him, of Lex, that mattered. The people he let close to him knew him beyond his cold exterior and respected him for who he was. But now the whole world, literally, the whole damn world had seen him fraying at the seams. Crying for his dead father-in-law-to-be. They had watched him as those alien bastards had talked of his mother and Julian, of the surgery, of his fears. He did not want to know what they now thought of him. But he felt the change in the air, felt the sudden tenseness of the people on the street.
Looking up he saw something small and distant falling. It was so high in the sky, but it was falling slowly, too slowly to actually be natural. With sudden clarity Lex knew exactly what it was, estimated where it would land, and took off faster. As he reached the spot he looked up, braced himself and caught Clark as he fell. Clark was moving at about fifteen miles an hour. Clark's head was going to hit the ground hard. It didn't seem all that fast but Lex was pushed into the pavement as he caught him. But then Clark was there, in his arms, kissing him hard with tongue and groping. And Lex didn't care that people were watching, that those damned screens were broadcasting their reunion to the world. He had his boy in his arms.
As Clark broke away he pulled Lex close and said, "I thought I was never going to see you again."
"Of course you would; you're a bad penny," replied Lex. He was stroking Clark's hair gently and he said softly, "You smell awful, and you're very, very green, a pale hunter green."
"Hey, at least I'm not vomiting anymore."
"True. You're never allowed to get kidnapped ever again. How do you feel?"
"Kinda worse than I have ever felt in my life, like ever. Everything hurts, and it's weighing me down, and all of my powers are on the fritz. They work, which is weird, but they keep coming on and shorting out, and it hurts. It feels like fire working its way out with sudden bursts of nerve rendering pain. This is worse than even the scarecrow incident. Which was possibly the worst thing ever because I was conscious for hours and hours."
Lex heard a noise and turned to see that the screens had spilt, on one side they were now showing Whitney and the football team beating Clark up, putting Lana's necklace around his neck, and tying him to the post. Clark felt Lex tense and he said, "He didn't mean it, Lex. It was freshman hazing. They didn't know it could kill me."
"I know, baby. Let's get you home. You were on that post for three hours; I don't think you need to watch this. You can't walk, can you?"
"I don't think so. I could stand, does that help?"
"Yeah, I can carry you home."
Clark started to stand but Lex couldn't. As he tried to move upwards he felt a slick slipping within his legs and was back on the ground. Looking down at his legs Lex finally realized what the rest of the planet had already noticed. His legs were shattered to hell; shards of bone were poking out through his skin in different directions. Clark said, "Maybe you shouldn't have caught me."
"You were going to smash your head open and break your neck. Besides, I can't feel it, too much adrenaline."
Clark looked at him for a long pause, shook his head and said, "This is going to sound ridiculous but I'm starving."
"Well, also ridiculously, I was up all night cooking."
"Is Mom okay? Because those weird faced creeps shot her, and some others, I didn't really see who."
"They're all okay. Martha cooked too."
"Is there lots of food? They said it was going to take a couple of weeks to feel okay, and I just want to stay on the couch."
"You aren't waiting this out."
Panic swept over Clark's face, "You think I should start right back?"
"No!" Lex was horrified he stroked his husband's forehead. "What the hell did they do to you? No, we're going to take care of this."
"Oh… okay."
Lex kept stroking Clark's hair, even though he knew it couldn't actually stop Clark from being in pain. "There's tons of food, so we're going home, you're eating, and we're going to the Fortress, it's going to undo this as painlessly as possible. We just need to get you home and then we're off. We need the cavalry." He pulled out his cell and hit the third speed dial. "Yeah. Hi… Yeah, okay… they were being dicks but they didn't mean to kill him… They were in high school, J'onn… Whitney was actually quite a nice boy in the end… yeah, thanks." He hung up and said, "Lantern's coming here, Wonder Woman's in the Javelin on the way to the house. Lantern will be here in a few minutes."
"I don't care if it hurts, if we can get it out, that's good."
"It won't hurt that badly, I promise, it'll be alright."
"You're legs are worrying."
"They're starting to itch." Lex looked at his legs; they were shattered well above his knees. Clark slumped down and slouched into himself.
Quite a crowd had surrounded them and a woman walked out. "Excuse me, I'm an orthopedic surgeon."
Clark instantly tensed. That, coupled with the noises of Clark tied to a post being slowly poisoned, made Lex edgy. Lex was fast on the draw and had his gun almost instantly trained on her. "Miss, that may be true and you might be trying to help. But, if you don't get back into the crowd, I will shoot to maim. I'm genuinely sorry about pointing this gun at you. I know how frightening it is to be drawn upon. You aren't to come near him. Do you understand?" She moved back with her hands out in front of her. "Thank you. I'm sorry if you're trying to help. You need to keep back. All of you." He kept his gun trained on the crowd and said, "Clark, please calm down."
"I think that should go for you too," said John Stewart as he floated to the ground. Lex had the gun trained on him. "Is there a way to help you without getting shot?" asked John, very calmly.
Lex thought and said finally, "Can you do something about my legs?"
John looked at them and said, "I could make them disappear, give you another pair for a while."
"That'll work," Lex nodded and then braced himself for pain. Pain never came; instead he felt a tingling and his legs were suddenly replaced with clear green ones. "Thank you." He replaced his gun in the holster and stood quickly. He looked at the shopping in his hand and then held it out to John, "Could you maybe carry this?"
John nodded and took it off him. He wasn't talking, was trying to be unobtrusive but stayed close incase his friends needed help. Lex picked Clark up easily. He carried his boy through the streets without taking his eyes off Clark. He realized he was pressing into one of the bolts. "Am I hurting you?"
"Not really. It's like a paper cut on top of a third degree burn, don't worry about it."
Lex moved his hand, "I will worry about it. It's my job to worry when you won't."
"They made me watch your interview and everything else. Sometimes you should stop worrying. If you had hair it would be grey. And I'm sorry about the lack of a cure for cancer. I can't believe you make all the Superman crap."
"It's your retirement money. They sell for five dollars, they cost three dollars to produce, a dollar goes to children homes, and a dollar goes to you." He kissed Clark's forehead and laughed, "You really do reek."
Clark curled closer to Lex and said, "There's a lot to talk about. You lied to me."
"Yes," agreed Lex. "Right now I'm just glad you're here. Let's do it once we're off live TV. We'll talk about it. Alright?" He held Clark close while trying not to put too much pressure on any one point. The house came into view and Lex said, "Home now."
Martha was out the door like a shot and kissing Clark's head and crying on him. Lex stood there, smiling at them both as he held Clark and Clark held Martha saying, "Hi, Mom. Are you okay?"
She dragged them both inside and sighed as she looked at the screens. "They came back when you fell. We can't turn them off."
They went directly into the kitchen where Lex put Clark down on a stool. He pulled out a plate and said, "What do you want?"
Clark looked around and said, "Did you cook everything I like?"
At first he considered lying but said, "Yes, we did." He piled a plate high with food and said, "Wonder Woman will be here soon." He took the bag off of John with a nod and pulled out the bottle of pills, "One every two hours, should make it a bit more bearable until we fix this." To John he said, "What would you like? We have everything."
The room was suddenly filled with people, hugging Clark, Chloe and Pete were both crying, Ignatius was licking him. And Clark was relaxing into a hug from Bruce. Lana was hanging back watching the screens, watching what Whitney had done to him. "Lana," Clark said softly.
"He was a good man in the end right?"
"No, he wasn't," said Clark. Lana looked shocked but then trained her face, after all, Clark was being tortured on the screen. He continued, "He was a good and kind boy but he never had the opportunity to be a good man. He was dead before his nineteenth birthday because of an unjust war. He wasn't trying to hurt me, just humiliate me into not pining over his girlfriend." He reached for her and she moved into his arms. "He wasn't cruel: he was a teenager." He gently stroked her hair, his hands hurt as he flexed them and it was written all over his face but he did it.
"I thought Superman didn't have opinions on human wars." Bruce meant it as a joke but he saw Clark blanch farther.
"Am I going to get deported?"
Bruce raised his eyebrow, "Is that a joke?"
"I mean, I shouldn't have said that, right? The government still says we won. And I'm an illegal alien. A very alien illegal alien. And I vote all the time. The only really notable thing I ever wrote on the staff of The Planet was about a politician. I did it because I thought it was important because I thought people should know. Did I have that right? And when the government figures it out, thinks of this, are they going to send me away?"
"You realize that if they didn't think of it before, you just told them, right?" asked Bruce.
Pete rolled his eyes at Bruce and then leaned down to be at eye line with Clark. "Clark, listen to me now. I'm not speaking as your friend I'm Senator Ross. They're not going to deport you. Forget ideals or platitudes. Nineteen years ago, when you started doing your thing the president announced that the superhero was real and he spoke with a Midwestern accent. At that point Batman was running around being a vigilantly. Flash looked like a punk. They branded GL as a thug with a ring. And the very first thing you did was super speed a family out of a crashed car before it blew up. You didn't stop a crime or beat someone up you just saved lives after a faultless accident. The first picture the public saw of you in the silly costume you were crouching while holding and protecting a three month old baby from the fire bomb that was framing you heroically. That was the first time the press had to show a superhero in a good light. The world now looks to you.
"If America throws you out the country it is going to look like they really don't care about good people. Forget whether or not the government likes you, pragmatically they cannot say they don't want Superman. So you're from another planet, you have a fake American birth certificate and forged adoption papers, and you maybe shouldn't be voting? Ok. But. You run around in Levi's and Hanes t-shirts, you drive a Chevy that you run on biodiesel, and announce after averting awful situations all over the world that you're going home to America while flashing your prefect white corn-fed toothy smile. You're all organic everything, fair-trade, no sweatshop wearing, your house is run on solar-water-air power. Clark, you're one of very few who does that. And yeah, you're rich enough to do that while most people can't but that doesn't negate the fact that you do it.
"They aren't going to kick out the guy who makes America look good. And maybe they don't like the fact that you vote but they're never going to question it. Because, if they kicked you out, the government, myself included, would look like the most hypocritical dirt bags on Earth."
"You're a very good orator, Pete," said Clark.
"I won two senatorial elections. Plus, it helped that my platform wasn't 'Truth, Justice, and some other stuff'."
Clark finally laughed. And held up the pan of bread, "Want some jalapeño fig bread? It's the good kind of 'other stuff'."
"Actually it's disgusting but I will support your right as an American to eat it."
"I like it," said Bruce, "you just need the right proportions of whipped cream and custard on top and then it's great."
Clark heard the noise that no one else heard and he winced. "Oh, I hate this new hearing thing, the Javelin is forty miles away. Oh, this blows. Why do I have to hear that? That's not useful at all." Several people started packing up the food, they weren't sure how long they would be at the Fortress but they had all taken notes from the Luthor-Kent handbook and decided eating was a good way of procrastinating.
Lex looked towards the screen. He didn't want to do this now, but he had to say something, and then he whispered directly into Clark's ear, "Stop thinking about what the nightmare fodder faces told you. You never would have even considered deportation. I know they said it was an education but I think that's bullshit. I think they were trying to frighten you. I would never have wanted you to go out in all this pain and they somehow made you think that it was a possibility. So please, baby, shut that out. You are mine, and you are good, and you're human and deserve the rights of one." He kissed Clark's ear and pulled away.
After blinking a few times Clark leaned in and whispered, "Lex, you're freaking me out. You lied through your teeth when told me the AI wouldn't let you be normal. While I'm sure there's an explanation, right now, I don't fully trust you. I love you and we're not supposed to lie to each other." Clark kissed Lex's ear and lingered, "You know I love you. I'm not angry; I'm just freaked out."
Lex turned and whispered, "You're worst fear is everyone dying and you being alone. I could stop that, it didn't matter that I was freaked out, and I couldn't make you feel guilty for it. So I lied through my teeth. You would have done the same for me. So, I'm sorry but I would do it again and I would lie again. Because this isn't your fault but you would have blamed yourself if you knew I had a choice and I chose the option that benefited the team over the one. So don't blame yourself, and don't regret that things are the way they are. It might not be perfect, but I get you for the rest of our lives. Maybe, knowing that, you should be pleased that I had a choice. It's not something you dragged me into. I'm sorry I lied, be angry if you like, but don't be confused. I always want the best for you. So, please, stop thinking about it." Out loud he said, "Okay?"
"I'll try," Clark nodded and then Diana walked into the room.
"Your fence just scanned my eye, my palm, my voice, and required a strand of my hair for DNA analysis. It then informed me that I need to eat more leafy greens and finally let me in."
"Yeah, sorry," said Lex, "new security. I had it put up two days ago. I'm trying to turn off the personal comments without compromising the safety." He started handing her boxes of food. "We ready to go?" he asked Clark who nodded and Lex picked him up again. Though Clark could use his hands and pick up small things there was no way he was capable of supporting his weight and walking. The twelve of them including the dog tramped out to the yard. The Javelin was just outside the fence. Down at the security house at the mouth of the driveway there were dozens of reporters who were suddenly less afraid of Lex's wrath now that Clark was back.
Clark looked at the journalists and photographers as the group walked into the plane. "I couldn't do that. I couldn't follow this."
"I would be ashamed if you could, not ashamed of you, I would worry about where I had gone wrong as a parent if you were capable of trying to get quotes out of people in pain. There is no news here, it's all being broadcast. If you blew up a town and wouldn't give a reason I would hope people asked you to explain it. But this? This is just gawking; this is ambulance chasing."
"Greg Mortesse is out there."
"No!" said Lois and Jimmy in unison.
"Who's Greg Mortesse?" asked John Stewart at their disgust.
"Back when Clark and I covered all the town ordinance stuff, when the Chief wasn't sure if he liked us, Jimmy was our photographer. Greg worked for Metro Times and was always on the same stories. So before we sat through mind numbing hours of town regulation hearings we would all go out to breakfast. And we would talk about what was on the agenda, ways to make it more interesting so that the public would actually pay attention, whether or not any of us would ever cover something big. Clark would then try to convince us that while it was dry it was important; we would all make fun of him: we had a rapport. I send him birthday cards with all of our names on it."
"He's off my holiday card list," agreed Clark. They slipped into silence as the half of the alien screen that was showing Clark tied to a post now had a new voice. It must have been sped up, Lex thought, because it hadn't been three hours.
Lex had entered the picture. On his face it was evident that he and Clark weren't close yet. Lex was confused, sad, perhaps afraid, not truly angry, at least, not because it was Clark but because someone had thought it was funny. He was untying Clark and clearly getting more and more distressed, he wanted to know who had done this, wanted to take Clark to a doctor, and then Lana's necklace fell off and Clark was better and ran away because it was all too real, too embarrassing, and frightening. And then, suddenly the screen vanished.
"Thanks for the respite," muttered Lex.
Clark gave him a tired pain filled smile and released his seatbelt. "Can we talk in the back room?"
"Of course," said Lex unbuckling himself. He picked Clark up and placed him on his feet, there wasn't enough room to carry him but he supported his weight into the back. He shut the door behind them and helped Clark to sit on one of the small chairs. "I'm sorry," he said again, "not that I did it, I'm sorry you found out."
Clark gave another grimace of a smile, "I know. It's okay. That's not why we needed to come back here. I just needed a minute with you. Everything hurts, Lex." Lex reached out and gently framed Clark's face with his hands. Clark allowed the hands to support the weight of his head. "All that shit they said, all those secrets I kept from my family, what must they think?"
"They aren't mad," Lex interjected.
"No, but they must be hurt. I didn't trust them."
"Well, sometimes they didn't give you a reason to."
"Now I'm bringing them to the most alien part of me. I know it's creepy. Even you can't see it as normal."
"That's true; it's very foreign. And it's not even that. You're comfortable there. Our brains can't even understand it and it doesn't faze you at all. That's what unsettling about it." He held Clark's face so tenderly. "It is a part of you we don't have the opportunity to understand. But there's that computer that charades as Lara-El. That makes it more bearable. Because it thinks it knows you, but it knows fuck-all. And I know you, I might not have ever seen Krypton but I've seen the real Fortress of Solitude, slept in your barn, in that safe quiet place. So maybe if you point that out, talk about it before we get there, they won't be thrown."
"Yeah, maybe. You'll hold my hand?"
"I'll always hold your hand. I just wish I could kill those other universe bastards."
"What? They aren't from another universe. They're in a different dimension, the ninth I think, that's why they looked so frightening, like the sphere in Flatlands. Maybe, if we were from that dimension, they wouldn't look odd. You didn't realize that? It wasn't alien, it was distortion."
"Clark, remember that you're cleverer than I am."
"No, you're the second most intelligent man on Earth."
"You weren't in the running; they didn't think you were human. You are much cleverer than I am. Their scope was much too narrow… it's the ninth dimension?"
"I think so."
"We can stop them from ever entering our dimension again."
"Do you have a disruptor charge?"
"Yeah, John knocked one together. Is there a laptop on this jet?"
"Lex, Bruce Wayne funds us. Do you really think he goes anywhere without one?" Lex smiled and helped Clark back into the cockpit.
Once he had Clark back in a seat he said, "Could someone hand me a laptop?" Diana pointed to the dashboard and Martha opened a compartment and pulled one out. "Thank you." He pulled out a USB cord and linked it to the disruptor. Then he opened the source code for the disruptor and started to recalibrate it.
Looking over Lex's shoulder Clark said, "No, that should be a four."
"Really?"
"Logically, yes; realistically, I have no idea if this will work. But it's a four."
A screen popped into being and one of the creatures said, "Alexander Luthor, what are you doing?"
He didn't take his eyes off the computer but still sneered as he said, "If you're so clever you know already. I'm turning you off, and there's nothing you can do." Lex continued to type and then turned the computer to Clark. "What's that line of code mean?"
"It's a loop, on the broadcasts." Clark looked at it, read it carefully, scrolled down, and finally said, "They're going to reshow all this every four years for a day, I guess they're into leap years. And there is no way to turn it off, not without breaking the whole code."
"Damn," Lex turned it back and kept typing, "With this power source that's going to continue for thirty cycles, which is a hundred and twenty years. We can't turn that off, can we?"
"You can't," answered the creature.
Pissed Lex said, "I'm not talking to you. I'm cutting this now." He turned off the signal that the creatures were using. And the screen was gone again. "Step one," muttered Lex. "We can't turn off the loop, right?"
"No. But this is better than nothing, they can't come here. They can't take people," Clark said it softly, crouching in on himself.
Lex leaned forward and kissed him gently. "I won't let them." He leaned back over the computer, typing. "I need an ion conductor."
"We have one," said John. "Bruce, can you open the compartment above your head?" Bruce pulled the small metal wand out as Lex pulled the back off the disrupter charge.
He accepted the wand and touched it to the thin metal tip to the microchip John had used and the machine buzzed in Lex's hand, "Don't you dare." He typed one more line of code and hit save and run. The whole craft shook a lit and Lex said, "Sorry, feedback wave. We're now cut off from the ninth dimension. We can receive and transmit information between the two but there are no longer any possible physical gaps. On the upside, the Super Awesome Friends League of the United States of Justice now has a machine that will allow them to talk to the entire world should that need arise."
They settled back and Clark said, "Guys, before we get to the Fortress, I should warn you. It's really, very, incredibly, exceedingly alien. Apparently the angles are wrong." He frowned and realized that maybe he shouldn't have suggested that he didn't find them wrong. Lex held his hand while Ignatius rested his head on his knee. "Um… it's all weird crystal. Things will morph to fit needs… there's light from nowhere. What else? The computer is both opinionated and inhuman. It's artificial intelligence but it doesn't understand people. It has Lara-El's imprint and believes it a realistic version of her but it doesn't understand emotions. Mom, it might not like you that much even though I know Lara did because it thinks I'm its son. It is probably going to spray us all with disinfectant; it thinks this world's dirty."
"It won't spray me," said Lex menacingly.
"That's because the one time it tried to you threatened to put your fist through it motherboard."
"And I would have, if I could figure out where that might be. That was an expensive suit and it said I was a contaminant."
"Yeah, um… it might talk about the superiority of Krypton. Kind of like a disappointed immigrant talking about the old world. You're all totally safe. I just thought it best to give you the heads up. Up sides, up sides, up sides. Oh! You get freakishly good cell reception, better than most places. The chairs it makes are very comfy. Anything else?" he asked Lex.
"It's roomy? And the light while unexplainable and thus sort of creepy is very flattering."
"Only you would think about soft lighting. How did you sleep with a hundred and twenty-six women?" asked Clark shaking his head.
"By understanding the greatness of soft lighting," replied Lex with a smirk. And then they were touching down and John Stewart placed them in a green bubble and floated them inside.
They passed the statue that Clark never studied and then were in the main room.
A fog started to come down on them and Lex cleared with throat and the computer sucked it back up. "Better," he said.
"Ka-"
"Careful," warned Lex, "you've been watching the same shit we have. So be careful what you call him."
"-lark," it finished as though it had been the noise of a "c". "We need to begin. The longer the blessed rock of our planet remains in your bone the more it will meld with your marrow."
"Can Lex come in with me?" He asked, clinging to his husband's hand.
"I don't see that as being a problem. The rest of your… family… and the dog need to stay here, in the main room." Clark nodded and a door formed in the wall.
He gave his family a brave smile. They were all looking unnerved by their surroundings. He said, "It'll be okay." Martha hugged him and he kissed her forehead, "I'll be back soon, Mom."
"The reversal should take two hours. Clark will be unconscious and in no pain so he won't be fighting it. The clallachpeldassacrissalvacs drew it out for effect."
"Is that what they're called?" asked Lex.
"No, it's a Kryptonian insult it means the foolish coward who dies upon his own sword," said Clark, "Come on."
As they walked through the door way they were thoroughly soaked with the disinfectant. "God Damn!" shouted Lex.
"You reek of cigarettes and -Clark- reeks of illness; it's a sterile room." The door sealed behind them. "Clark, please sit on the table there." It had a cushioned top and the pressure of sitting on it didn't hurt. A panel opened in the wall, "Lex Luthor, place the mask over your nose and mouth. I don't want to inundate you're veins with drugs, Clark." A fine mist settled in the room. "Lie back, count down from thirty."
He started in English, as the drug started to muddle his mind he slipped into German, than what Lex recognized as Kryptonian, finally he drifted out. Instruments came from the ceiling and the computer asked, "Will you be alright?"
"You do what you have to; tell me when you need me to move to his other side."
The machine cut off his clothes, sliced him open, pulled back the skin, and started on his bones. A hot laser melted the Kryptonite and a suction tube moved in and sucked it away leaving bone marrow. A salve like, viscous substance replaced the stone. "It will act as a healing agent until he can bathe in the light of this planet." Then the laser sealed his bones and fused his flesh seamlessly. The machines worked their way across Clark's prone body. Finally the AI said, "I need you to move to his other side. Don't hold his hand too firmly, he is tender, and the pressure might cause him to bruise."
Lex did as he was instructed. He asked no questions as he did not want to distract the machine. He held Clark gently. It was nowhere near as bad as the first surgery. It was fast, efficient, and Clark wasn't screaming in pain. After what seemed like only minutes the computer said, "We'll move him into the master bedroom and I'll flood it with an approximation of Earth light." The table moved, through another appearing door, and into the main suite. The light did feel like the sun. The table lowered moved to the bed, and gently shrugged Clark onto it. The sheets moved over him and the computer said, "I shall tell the others that they can come in."
"Thank you."
"Lex Luthor, you have never thanked me for anything."
"You have never before done anything worthy of thanks." He sat down heavily on the bed and stroked Clark's hair.
A door appeared and Martha came in followed by everyone, including a man in full costume Lex had never seen. Ignatius jumped on to the bed and curled up between his two masters.
"Lex," said John, "This is Bloodwynd, he's going to fix your legs."
"Thank you, Bloodwynd, that's most kind of you."
"I like Clark; he is calm" he said in a voice that lacked intonation. "Stretch out your legs, please."
John gave Lex a rather fake bright smile, "Ready, man?" Lex nodded and the green legs were replaced with his real ones. His feet were dangling off, held on by skin and tissue.
"This will hurt," said Bloodwynd. Lex wasn't sure if it was a warning or a commiseration, there was no inflection.
"Go for it." Lex gritted his teeth and stopped touching Clark in case his hands clenched. Bloodwynd firmly held Lex's thigh, pushing things back into place and instantly fusing the bones. "Oh, oh, that's not pleasant."
"Diana screams when I do this, you may if you need to, it does not distract me."
"I'm good," Lex flinched, "she's a wuss." He said grimacing a smile in her direction.
Bloodwyne finished one leg and asked, "Do you want a moment?"
"No, no, I'm good. It would be wonderful if you kept going."
Bloodwyne narrowed his eyes and Bruce said, "No one likes a hero."
"Bruce, you run around in a cape, so shut your face. Bloodwyne, please keep going. Are your parents Welsh?"
"It's a pun. It's not a bastardization; it's code. I still have a secret identity." Lex nodded, breathing through his nose, if he opened his mouth he was going to scream. After several moments Bloodwyne said, "There: done."
"Thank you, thank you for coming here and doing this for me."
"Most people punch me when we're through."
"No, I'm not going to do that. Would you like something to drink or anything?"
"I would like you to sit back, not put any weight on those legs for two hours, and to say hello to Clark when he's awake. Now I'm going to leave." He walked out silently.
"I don't get it," said Lex shaking his head. "Is he joking?"
"No, no, that's the way he is." Bruce shrugged, "He's… um… well, he keeps very neutral in everything… He plays it close to the breast; we didn't even know he could heal like that until a few months ago. He um… he likes Clark, respects him… he just doesn't take a stance on much."
Clark started to come around. "'M wake."
"You sure? Because you don't need to be" said Lex.
"Oh good, you're legs are back," Clark rearranged himself so he was half draped over Lex's lap. There was a clear tone of drunken mirth in his voice. "Y'know that theory of Nirvana? Where you go out into the hottest dessert and climb into a painful, thorny bush, and you bake in the sun, freeze in the night, starve, and bleed, and weep, and then after a month you climb out and go home and the lack of pain is the first time you understand happiness? I am sooo there. Like, this isn't, like a lack of pain, this isn't feeling better, this is feeling perfect. Like, not having the kryptonite leeching into my blood via my bones feels like heaven. And I get that I've had years of not-having-kryptonite sensation but, like, it's never been something I really appreciated. Like, call up Brainiac and have him smash my face in again because that's gonna be like a birthday present after this, that's gonna be like awesome and stuff."
"Clark, you're stoned," Lex ran his fingers through his hair.
"Yeah, but when I come off of whatever the AI pumped me full of I'm still gonna be floating." He turned slightly and saw everyone around the bed and said, "Why are you standing?" Chairs morphed up from the floor. "I don't think I'm gonna be upright for a while yet. Y'know what I could kill? A pancake taco."
"I made all that stuff last night," said Lex, "I'll go get you one." He started to stand but couldn't really move his legs.
Lana stood, "I'll go get it. All the fixings?"
"Please," said Clark.
"How many do you want?"
"Three. Thanks, Lana." To Lex he asked, "How long were you cooking?"
"Twelve hours… until we ran out of coffee."
"What have you all been doing? How were all the meetings for the technology conference? Lois, you were covering right? Anything really cool?"
"Clark," she said slowly, "everything ground to a halt the minute they started broadcasting. There weren't any meetings. No one can concentrate right now. The whole world has been watching you."
"Well, other than this horror show what's up what's going on, how are all my nieces and nephews?"
"You only have one niece," Bruce said gently.
Clark sent a covert apologetic look to Lois. But, stoned as he was, the whole room saw and Jimmy said, "It's okay, CK, she told me last night."
"Oh thank goodness. I mean I'm stoned but that would have been the social gaff of the century." The few people in the room who didn't already know started congratulating and hugging Lois. And the conversation turned to the Ross boys, Cecily nearly getting expelled.
The AI broke into the conversation, "See, K-lark," it caught itself, "you love those children. I don't see why-"
"Bro," the word was drawn out, "do we need to have this conversation again?"
"There are eggs with replicas of your DNA, the Fortress could incubate them, you and Lex Luthor could have children."
"It's sick, some weird chimera, this freakishness should end with me. How long would that kid have to live? Does the kid have to watch everyone die? Does he have to hide growing up? Nah, yo. It's wrong."
Bruce tried to break the mood saying, "On drugs you sound like Flash."
"Clark, you can continue the Kryptonian line."
"Maybe I don't want to!" He pulled himself further into Lex, as though he could crawl inside the other man and be away from the words. He kept Ignatius on his lap as though the dog and Lex could protect him. "I got lucky; I got to Earth, my family, my life but I'm not sure I would be willing to inflict it upon some kid. The El's did what they had to and they got me to Mom and Dad and I'm glad, I'm not sad about my life. But it's weird. And it sucks to understand a building that creeps out all your friends. Being different isn't cool. And then Jor-El tries to make you take over the world and it's all shit. No, I'm not ready to do that."
"As you're mother, Kal-"
"You're not my mother and that's not my name. Now be quiet."
Martha came and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around him. He was cocooned between her and Lex. Thinking better of her squeeze she asked, "Am I hurting you?"
"No, I feel good. The computer's just harshing my mellow. Like, we should have drug parties I don't know why I've never done drugs before. They're awesome."
"No more late night iced-mochas with Wally," John agreed with Bruce.
Lana came in handed off tacos and said, "You're computer's a bitch. You shouldn't make any decisions because something pressures you." Sometimes Clark hated it when Lana came out with trite advice she thought was profound but he appreciated the effort. He ate the tacos quietly, not making eye contact. He felt useless and ashamed. The conversation washed over him. All he concentrated on was the food and his mother's and Lex's arms around him.
Clark rested his face against Lex's collar and all the pressure, pain, and relief were suddenly pouring silently out of him. And he was crying, silent and motionless into his husband's neck. Martha noticed while the rest of the room was unaware and said in a soft voice, "He's asleep and I think we should let Lex get some rest, come on." Clark felt her squeeze his arm lightly before standing.
The AI said, "I'll show you a film, views of Krypton, it's what Clark watched on his way to Earth."
With a harsh edge Martha said, "That would be lovely, thank you."
Once they were gone Lex said, "Crashing sucks doesn't it? That was a bit fast. I thought the euphoria would last a little longer."
"I wish I was normal," said Clark softly. "I wish this didn't happen. I wish the press wasn't at our house. I wish I wasn't naked on screens all over the Earth. I wish Mom wasn't here. But this right now? It feels good." He started stroking his own face, fingers dragging over flesh slowly and repetitively.
"I see, not a crash, a plateau."
"I'm sorry I worry you. But I'm glad you love me and I don't care that you've slept with, like, a billion people 'cause you only love me. And I think I might quit being a superhero, there are lots now. I think I'll just do really big things, like huge things. And I'll bring the HIV meds. And I'm sorry I stopped you from curing cancer, I'm really sorry about that. And I love your mouth and its scar and its sneer."
Lex kissed him slowly, "My mouth is always yours. I wouldn't change what I did back then, it wouldn't even have been passed. Nothing would have come of it. And, as for super-business, you do whatever makes you happy."
"I want off of the active roster. I just want to do the little stuff, the easy things, I want to be free range again, I just want to do things when I want to and not the big stuff. It's not even the pain; it's people knowing about it. I feel like stupid and awkward now." He trailed off and started pulling at his finger nails. And was silent but clearly hadn't finished the thought. "Do you think people will be mad if I stop?"
"After the last few days, no one will object to it. Now they see you as a person not just a hero. They cannot be upset at you wanting some time for yourself." He cradled Clark close to himself. "You really think you'll stop?"
"I want to, and I want to spend more time at the farm, just being at home on the land, doing good stuff that pays off in the long run. Like farming… stuff. I want to spend my early morning and lunchtime at the farm, then come home and run on the beach with Ignatius, then go on, like, any international trips, and then come home and spend the night with you. Every once in a while I want to spend days at a time in the Fortress doing science projects. That's what I want to do. That would be good."
"That sounds fantastic, Clark. I like that idea. It makes my life a lot less worry filled."
"You're a real live worry doll." Clark rubbed his hands against Lex's skull like he really was imbuing Lex with his troubles. "I think I'm sobering up… my legs are a little sore now. Plus, I'm starting to feel uncomfortable about the fact that I'm naked and my whole family was in here. 'Cause that's uncomfortable," he stumbled over the last word.
"You were under the sheets." A knock came at the door and Lex said, "You want me to send them away?"
"No, but I wish I was less naked."
Lex looked down at his stained white t-shirt and pulled it off, "Here's it's loose on me so it might be a little tight but it'll fit." Clark pulled it over his head and Lex called, "Come in."
A door appeared with no one in it and then Pete stepped slowly into view, "The door didn't appear where I thought it would."
"Don't look at the walls for too long: there're four of them but they all meet at obtuse angles," Lex smiled. "What's up, Pete?"
"A lot actually. Cell phone reception up here really is amazing. I just had three odd conversations. First of all, the President called."
"President of what?" asked Clark.
"The President of the United States of America. He says he's taken matters in hand and you'll have citizenship before midnight. He said not to worry about any written tests or anything because of your college minor in US history. Then the Speaker of the House called, having heard from the President, and said that congress will be making it a law that you cannot be ever asked, forced, or coerced into ever participating in a war or cause on behalf of the country or asked to submit to medical testing. You may still of course ask for testing for your own benefit: Lex's IV bags won't get him in trouble. Finally the Secretary-General of the UN called, every country involved and many that aren't would like to give you honorary citizenship. It's two hundred and fifteen all together.
"Those counties also stated that you do not have to agree to their politics but instead are offering it to you because of work you've done for their people. For instance Sudan has offered citizenship and you've spoken about the political unrest there many times but have always helped their people. Also your citizenship to all these countries is not contingent upon anything. They said that you don't need to do anything, nothing is expected of you, this is in recognition of all the work you have done not future actions. Your US citizenship paper will be at your house by tomorrow afternoon and a list of the countries that want to offer you citizenship has been faxed to the house.
"Also, the media has been all over this. But not in the way you might think. Everyone who has been trying to cover this has been fired and blacklisted. All of the printed, radio transmitted, and televised media have been saying that it's disgusting, somewhat reminiscent of the night Princess Diana died, and shows a lack of morality. They said that you will give a statement when and if you want to and people should leave you alone after your ordeal.
"Finally, a lot of students disagreed with your statement that the story on Jerardie was the only important thing you ever wrote. They pointed out your editorial on being Superman and its consequence. They recognized that as an editorial it was in a different category. While acknowledging that, it may be true that the Jerardie piece could be argued to be your only significant piece of pure journalism, it's like saying that Harper Lee only wrote To Kill a Mocking Bird. So that's what's going on."
"I'm half naked," Clark observed after a few moments silence.
Pete shrugged, "Metaphorically, we all are, all the time. I wouldn't worry that you aren't wearing pants. I'd be much more ashamed if I was Lex: I can see his nipples whereas I can't see your crotch."
"Pete?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you get Chloe and Lois? I want to make my statement."
The End