Disclaimer: I do not own DC, Smallville or the Topeka Trojans.

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews! Here's the next instalment!

While most of the information given for the Topeka Trojans is factual from their own website, I could not find the name of their Trojan Mascot and so I have named him Max the Mighty after the High Schools real life Alumni Author Max Yoho. "The World" High School newspaper is also real. School chants etc are made up unless stated otherwise in the Author's Note!

Chapter 10

Kevan the flour baby didn't need much maintenance, keep him dry, pretend to feed him every 2 hours, pretend to change him, carry him around and generally make sure he didn't end up as white powder on the floor. It wasn't so much the practical aspects of feeding and changing Kevan was meant to teach Chloe and Clara. It was more an issue of responsibility and care giving, someone had to have Kevan at all times, you couldn't leave the packet on its own, it was meant to teach what it was like to constantly be tied to a schedule. Clara didn't mind though, Kevan weighed nothing to her at all and she was used to an early morning routine. Chloe's life was more erratic; she would sometimes stay up late in the night to write or follow an important lead, or suddenly leave to chase up a source. When it was Chloe's turn to look after him Clara felt it was more of a lesson than for her.

Well that is, Clara didn't mind until it was her turn to look after Kevan and she had to go the deliveries with her Dad. Not that it was awkward to carry the trays; Clara had been carrying them in one arm since she was little. But to keep up appearances she had to pretend to labour, so her Mother, ever the inventor, had wrapped a scarf around her like a sling and put Kevan in it. It freed her hands to work while making sure the little bundle of flour didn't burst on the floor.

She'd gotten knowing looks from their patrons with High School children, everyone had the babies. Old Mrs Higgins got reminiscent of how she used to carry her Gerald (now a grown man of 55) in a sling like Clara's when she used to work in her garden.

When they arrive at the mansion she asked her father if she could speak to Lex for a little while after they'd carried everything in. Her father told her reluctantly it was fine, there was still over an hour before school.

Clara felt the burning behind her eyes and dug her nails into her hand and concentrated, the burning receded, thankfully. She hoped her cheeks weren't red; it was awkward to have feelings for a friend. Needless to say the presence of Kevan had Lex confused.

"Good Morning Clara, how's my favourite farm girl?"

Then, Lex spotted the sling with the flour in it and got a quizzical look.

"Clara, are you aware there is a sack of flour with a face on it strapped to your front?"

Clara and Chloe had gotten creative with marker pens; Kevan had big blue eyes, Clara's black hair, a little nose and a cartoon pacifier.

"Oh, this? It's for Science class; we have to look after flour babies. Chloe and I partnered up, we named him Kevan."

Lex went from quizzical to amused.

"Ah, Excelsior Academy didn't participate in this particular rite of passage. I think they thought better of giving a class full of teenage boy's flour. Parental instincts don't run particularly strong in private boys schools, our offspring were bound to become the first casualties of a food fight. Your little Kevan looks like he's doing great though. I assume it's a mixture of Kent and Sullivan? Clever."

"Thanks, today it's my day to look after Kevan, but Chloe's taking him for my birthday tomorrow."

"Right, you said that, 18? Does it make you feel old?"

"Well it hasn't happened yet but no, not really."

"Well it's got to be a lot of responsibility, being a mother to a flour baby, he'll put grey in your hair once he starts High School."

Lex winked at her when he said that, idly Clara wondered if Lex had given Lionel Luthor any grey hairs, but then again, from what Lex said they hadn't seen each other much. She couldn't help thinking how handsome he looked when he was jovial. He usually had such a serious countenance.

"I don't mind him, he's not high maintenance, my Mum said from the minute they adopted me I was a bundle of energy and into everything."

"So, does he make you broody?"

That was a shock to Clara's system. It was as if Lex had read her every thought and evolved it to the next step, she had to admit that whenever she thought of having children, she automatically thought of Lex. She knew it was just because he was the only older man she knew, and it didn't help he was handsome, successful and charming. Clara hated her hormones.

"What?"

"Would you ever want children of your own? A little Kent to chase around the house and feed apple pie to?"

Lex had a sudden vision of Clara swinging around a little boy, he had her sweet face and deep blue eyes, but his hair was bright red. Lex was surprised by his own mind but had to admit he liked the image. Sometimes he forgot what his hair had looked like, he had to admit, mixing his and Clara's genes would make a handsome child. When had he started thinking about having hypothetical children with Clara? They were just friends; she wasn't even 18 yet.

Still, there was no harm in day dreaming. Nothing would come of it.

Clara interrupted his musing.

"I guess I would, not anytime soon of course, but I'd like to give a child the life I had growing up. If it's possible for me to have kids, I'd like to think I could be half the parent mine were to me."

"What do you mean, if it's possible?"

Clara was stricken, she hadn't thought before she spoke.

"I just mean, my Mum, she ... can't have biological kids, but she didn't find out until after she married my Dad. I might find out the same one day, it's a matter of chance."

Clara thanked her brain for the save. She had no idea if she'd ever have biological children because of her Kryptonian heritage, she didn't know if she was compatible with a human. Although, she felt guilty for using her mother to cover up her slip of the tongue.

Lex nodded in understanding.

Clara has no idea why she felt comfortable talking about her reproductive possibilities with Lex. It was a rather random conversation and hit too close to home with her little heat vision problem. The universe hated her.

"Blood doesn't matter so much anyway, my parents loved me just as much as a biological child, I just hope I could be as good a parent as they were."

"Well, biological or not, I think you'd make a great mother."

"Really? What makes you say that?"

Lex stepped towards her and looked into her eyes with a slight smile upon his lips.

"If you'd dive into a river for a complete stranger then I think it's safe to say you'd be a veritable Super Woman for your own child. I'd hate to get between a Kent and her offspring."

Lex lifted his hands in a mock gesture of surrender.

Clara shook her head in admonishment but a smile tugged at her lips.

"It's all academic anyway; I'd have to find the right partner before I even considered anything like that."

Lex's smile widened and his cocked his head slightly to the right and mimicked her own words.

"Yeah, the right partner."

Lex and Clara looked at each other for what seemed like an age, absorbed, until Clara broke eye contact and changed the subject.

"So...are you coming to the big game tonight? High School football is a big deal in Smallville. It's the Crows versus the Topeka Trojans, Chloe and I will be there to report on the game, she's going to be taking pictures while I take notes, she's not a big football fan."

"You are?"

"My Dad was a High School football star and we're diehard Metropolis Sharks fans. Pete's Dad always had cable so we'd go and watch the game at his house. Pete's moved away now though, so I guess we'll have to watch it somewhere else."

"Have you ever seen a live game?"

"Only once, my Dad took me to a game when I was 12, we were at the back, but the whole experience was thrilling. I love the crowds' atmosphere, and the food. Sharks dogs are awesome, whenever we are in Metropolis my Dad and I go and get one."

Lex looked thoughtful for a moment and then looked as if he'd decided something.

"I think I will come to the game tonight, it's time I got more into the swing of the Smallville social scene. A lot of my employees will probably be there, it'd be a chance to meet them in an informal setting."

"Great! Everyone goes to the Crows games. Wear red or yellow, those are our colours, I know you like darker tones but the Trojans are black and gold and you're liable to get some dirty looks if you turn up in a black shirt in the home section!"

"I've got it, football etiquette will be observed. Should I bring a baseball cap with beer and straws attached and a foam hand too?"

"I'll think you'll survive without them."

Clara bade goodbye to Lex and he watched her leave for school. He had a few calls to make concerning the Metro-Sharks.

It was quite convenient his father owned them.

...

School that day was a buzz of activity to prepare for the big game. Work was minimal, the teachers knew from experience that getting anyone to concentrate the day of a football game was almost impossible. So, strategically through the week the teachers had loaded them with homework in order to compensate. The Crows and the Cheerleaders were in attendance but their minds were clearly on one thing. Lucas Lang sat with his compatriots speaking the secret language of manoeuvres while Whitney had corralled her squad and was lecturing them on the formations and moves.

"Chastity! If you don't straighten your leg on the splits in that move so help me God I will find someone else who can! You'd think someone who spent so much time with her legs apart would get more flexible!"

Chastity Dorne was notoriously popular with the male community, there were rumours about her and the young art teacher Mr Patterson, but that was a very unfair pronouncement. But Chloe and Clara had other things to worry about; it was a busy day at The Torch. Chloe thought she had some major dirt on the uncouth practices of the Football Coach and they had a half day for the game. While they worked they'd offered The Torch room as a Creche until the game, the cheerleaders and footballers who couldn't keep their floury offspring with them paid $3 each. It would go towards local children's charities. They'd paid Donny Gleeson $10 to watch them all during the game; he hated crowds and needed money to feed his comic book habit, he was obsessed with Warrior Angel, Clara had to confess to being a fan of that comic too. So far they'd made $65, minus Donny's minding fee.

It came to 6pm and Chloe and Clara left Donny to watch the flour babies with his stack of comics. They'd elected to keep Kevan with them, the sling made him no trouble for Clara and she had to admit she was getting used to him. It seemed Kryptonian's had parenting instincts too. It was strange to get so attached to a bag of flour. Clara had very acute hearing and eyesight, and so she wouldn't need to sit right next to the field to see what was going on, she chose a seat in the middle of the stands. The rest of the benches began to fill out quickly, parents and families as well as Crows fans and former players in their pride colours. The Crow stadium, dubbed "The Nest" was the one thing Smallville poured its money into. It was one of the only ways for a farmer's son to get a scholarship, the Metro-Sharks sent scouts to Crows games, for both footballers and Cheerleaders.

Lucas and Whitney had to both be aware that their futures rode on a good performance. Although, Clara had no idea that Whitney's situation had made her even more desperate. Chloe had decided against telling Clara, she was not very good at hiding her emotions and Whitney would pick up on sympathy. Also, it was not her secret to tell. Chloe thought it was almost frightening how good she was becoming at keeping secrets. She'd taken up her station by the sidelines, snapping shots of the crowd and notable members of the community, she'd also take pictures as the teams filed out. What didn't go in the paper was bound to find its way onto The Torch Online and in the yearbook.

As more people filed in Clara saw her mother and father enter The Nest, they waved to her and took a seat closer to the front, they knew she was working. Clara had written a list of players and cheerleaders names and spotted the talent scout near the front when she saw Lex walk in. He had donned a crimson red suit-shirt for the occasion, as well as what looked like designer jeans. It was strange to see Lex in something other than a suit. She supposed he was trying to blend in a little and he looked around the field with interest, his eyes moved to the stand and then spotted her, he smiled and she waved before he came up and sat with her. Clara could hear the choice comments and her parents had glanced their way, Lex gave them a greeting too, Martha waved back with a smile but Jonathan stiffly nodded his head.

"Hey Lex, you decided to come after all! How do you like The Nest?"

"It's the newest thing I've seen in this town, I can definitely see where the peoples enthusiasm lies."

"So, how do you like my casual look?"

Lex opened his arms out for Clara she raked her eyes up and down his body, Lex seemed to enjoy the appraisal."

"It suits you, makes you seem less otherworldly, the people of this town are bound to think you're some kind of vampire in your black suits and castle."

"Oh no, not a vampire, I'm definitely more the evil genius type, I'm Devilicus in the making."

"No, you're a Stephen Swift, you rescued me didn't you? All you needed was a red cape."

A look of surprise and admiration came across Lex's face: "You read Warrior Angel?"

"It seems you do to. I used to read Pete's copies growing up, we were nutty about him."

"I've always been a fan, perhaps because Warrior Angel is one of the only superheroes with a bald head, it comforted me. I have every edition, including the first."

"Really? You'll have to show me sometime, us geeks need to stay together!"

Lex smiled at her, this was another thing they had in common. It seemed he was learning something new about his Angel of Mercy every time they met and each time it was something good. In his experience the more you know about someone the less you like them. Clara seemed to break all his preconceptions. He looked at her as she pointed out some of the notable members of the community and he filed them away for future reference, he saw she was writing them down as she said them. Her handwriting wasn't fancy, or particularly neat, completely unlike his flowing Calligraphy. It added to her charm. She spoke animatedly, her blue eyes full of light and her hair flowing around her as she spoke. He loved her hair, so long and dark, it curled at the ends in the small of her back. As her lips moved he saw they were rosy and plump, her teeth white and straight beneath them. Her skin was pale and clear despite the amount of time she must spend in the sun; it complimented her well fitting "Crows" t-shirt nicely. Lex had seen many of the High-School kids wearing them, even some of the parents but none of them looked as good as Clara.

Lex thought he really needed to stop thinking about his friend this way; she was 17 and the purest and sweetest person he knew. However, the darker part of his mind, the part that spoke to his darkest desires, reminded him that tomorrow she was 18 and those thoughts could be put into actions.

Or, it whispered, if he wouldn't act upon his feelings, he could stop anyone else from getting near her.

Lex was thankful when the marching band fan fare began; the darker part of his mind was hard to control at times, the Devilicus inside.

The Teams streamed out to their sides followed by their Cheerleaders and mascots. Clara knew that Jimmy Wilson was inside the Crow "Cornelius" or "Corny" for short. Corny the Crow faced the crows, flapping his wings and running up and down. The Topeka Trojans Mascot was Max the Mighty, a suit just like their own crow with a large helmet and exaggerated muscles; he was named after the High Schools Alumni author Max Yoho. Clara spotted some of Topeka's reporters from their High School paper "The World" and saw Chloe jostling with their photographer for the best shots of the teams.

Clara looked at Lex and saw he was frowning slightly, looking intently at the field. He was looking at Whitney and the Cheerleaders chanting at their Trojan opposite numbers.

"Ready? Ok! Trojans think they're really big with shields and spears and bows, but in the end they're going to bend and be a Feast for Crows. Oh Smallville Crows you Caw! We'll beat them to the floor!..."

Clara didn't think their chants were especially inspiring but the scout seemed to like them. She was gladder than ever she'd decided against the Cheerleading squad. The teams had flipped the coin and were huddling.

She touched Lex on the arm to distract him from his death glare. He started but then looked at her hand on his arm and his whole body seemed to relax. They wouldn't have been able to hear each other over the crowd but he seemed to get the message, his own hand reached out and patted hers before she retracted it to keep writing. She scratched at her eye with the other, they were burning slightly, Clara took some calming breaths. It wouldn't do to set The Nest on fire.

The game progressed, Smallville were up against the Trojans and the crowd loved it, home field advantage was definitely at play.

Clara could see her parents cheering near the front and glancing over to Lex she saw he was quite enthralled with the game.

Corny the Crow and Max the Mighty almost came to blows at half time, but were separated by the officials. Chloe got some good photographs of that incident.

The sun had set before the game but after halftime the air chilled slightly, Clara didn't feel the weather as others did but she had to keep up appearances. Other members of the crowd were donning jumpers and pullovers. Clara adjusted Kevan then reached into her rucksack and pulled out a blanket, she'd packed it for this reason, and she indicated to Lex to pull it over his legs too. He smiled gratefully and edged closer to take some blanket. Clara could feel the heat radiating from his skin next to her, their legs were almost touching. She blinked a few times to reduce the burn in her eyes, her heart had quickened and she fidgeted as minutely as possible.

Clara was thankful that her parents had not seen her manoeuvre; they were enthralled by the players.

Lex was pleased with this development, although he thought it was more an offer of kindness of Clara's part than a concerted attempt to enter his personal space. He had no idea that Clara did not need a blanket at all.

The game went well for the Smallville Crows, beating the opposition 53-20. The after game celebration consisted of enthusiastic cheering, some acrobatics on the cheerleaders parts and the star player, Lucas, was bathed in Gatorade and man-hugs.

Clara checked on Kevan and stood up to clap and then reached down to her bag. Lex folded up the blanket and handed it to her. She was touched he had done it for her. Clara saw Chloe talking with Coach Arnold down on the field, obviously getting the scoop on the win. She then received a text.

"Hey, I've got this, you take off, we'll compare notes on Sunday. Happy Birthday for tomorrow! Xxx"

Clara quickly text back "Thank you" and then packed her bag, leading Lex down the bleachers through the crowds towards her parents.

"Clara-Lily!" said her mother as they approached.

"Lex! How did you enjoy the game?"

Lex shook hands with Martha and a Jonathan.

"It was quite an experience, Clara gave me the inside scoop. You've got quite a talented team there; I'll have to come to a few more games."

"That's great, Clara, we're headed home now if you want a ride?"

"Yeah, thanks Mum, I'll see you soon Lex, you've got to show me that Warrior Angel collection and I still owe you a town tour."

Lex smiled and nodded "I look forward to it"

"Goodbye Mr and Mrs Kent, I'll most likely be seeing you soon."

He nodded to them all and then walked into the crowd, greeting people as he went by and clearly headed for some of the important citizens Clara had pointed out.

It only occurred to Clara once she was in her Father's truck that not once tonight had she had a more than friendly thought about Lucas, despite his performance. All her attention had been focused on Lex, his reactions to the game, his proximity, the quirk of his mouth when she spoke, the ice blue of his eyes...

She was doomed.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading, please review!