21

"I brought nails-several different sizes-and I've got sardines. I've even brought some of that cherry pie in a can. If you could not combine all three in front of me, I'd appreciate it."

Clark sighed and took the groceries out of Jimmy's hands and started to fix a plate of just sardines and cherry pie filling. Ooh, and he might add some of that Cayenne pepper Lois had dropped by the farm the day after his "hangover." That could be pretty awesome.

Jimmy eyed Clark's plate warily and then, shrugging, pulled out a bag of potato chips and fixed a bowl for himself. "Ah, you can have some chips too, if you like."

Clark shrugged and, around a mouthful of fish added, "Chips and sardines? Nah, that'd be gross."

"You know, it's a testament to how much I love Kara and my arms intact that I don't take the easy set up you just gave me."

"To each his own," Clark replied, picking up his plate and sliding down onto the sofa and clicking on the TV. The Sharks have a game against the Gotham Knights. I figured that would be worth watching.

Jimmy sat down on the other end of the sofa, giving the two of them some much needed space. It was a guy code thing. "That's fine. I, uh, don't like football, actually. I really like the Wolverines better."

"It's December, no baseball," he said, flipping the channel. "Ooh, Simpsons . That's cool, right?"

"Definitely."

"Yeah."

It took about five minutes before Homer strangled Bart. It took Jimmy five minutes after that to try the talking thing. "So, uh, how's it going?"

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Aren't we supposed to just stare at the TV and then laugh at Bart's antics and then never speak of feelings again?"

"Technically, yeah, but Kara put me up to this."

"Hey!"

"Not like that. I knew you first. We're friends."

"Well, yeah."

"Cool, but Kara was kind of worried and she might have mentioned something about too much chick stuff."

Clark sighed. "It's the hazard of having only girl friends and a Lois. Even with me, you, Shelby, and Kon, we're totally outnumbered."

"And Connor's not even here yet."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Clark said, reaching for his stomach and then, realizing that Jimmy was watching him, he dropped his hand away. "Sorry."

Jimmy shrugged. "I hate to tell you this, CK, but I kind of figured out you were pregnant. It's a little obvious now."

"Just a little?"

"Okay, blatant, but you don't have to be all weird about the resting your hand on Connor. I'm not going to grab a pitchfork or anything."

Clark narrowed his eyes at him, "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a way with words, Olsen?"

"Nah, I'm a photographs guy," Jimmy said, completely oblivious.

"Right."

"So, seriously, I...uh...heard that Lana probably isn't coming back to the farm."

He snorted. "Did Kara do a happy dance for that one?"

"She was ecstatic, but Chloe seemed about ten times happier. Hell, Lois wants to buy you a present. She'd have made it champagne but you're you know."

"Pretty much a beached whale. Wait, Kara came by The Planet?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she and Chloe went off for something even I can't know about."

"Sorry. The superhero thing is about secrecy."

"Oh, I get it," Jimmy replied dreamily. "She's got the Warrior Angel life style and it's so cool. I'm kind of glad to be the towel boy in all of this. But, you finally decided to get her out of here?"

"Everyone's excited about that," he replied glumly. "I...I know it's probably better this way."

"Probably? CK, I know I'm new to this whole thing, but I can guess that the Kryptonite isn't all that good for Connor's health."

His eyes widened. "Kara's the worst secret keeper ever."

"No, sometimes she gets into jams, but she is smart enough to have a cell phone. There was this thing with some green meteor rocks and a meteor mutant at the ravine. I have one nice save on my record."

Clark let his heart stop racing from the thought of his cousin in trouble. She clearly was fine and had been for months. "Well, and Chloe could tell you this, but sometimes humans save the day just fine."

"Yeah, I gathered she was helping you out a lot even before she found out she was meta. It's just, I think this is for the best. I never really liked Lana anyway. I could see that whole manipulative bitch thing a mile away, femme fatale, the whole deal."

"Jimmy, you don't really have to cheer me up."

"No worries, CK. I'm happy to do it."

Except he sucked at it. Having someone tell him about how bitchy Lana was, was not helping. It just gave him flashes of all the stuff she'd done, the things that Kara has labeled as Evil Lady Luthor actions.

"I know, but she's Kon's mom."

"I don't think you get to keep that title after the suggested child poisoning."

Clark sighed and set his plate aside. Then he settled his head in his hands. "I've made so many mistakes."

"CK, really, I know that Connor wasn't exactly planned, but he's not a mistake."

This time he did grab his stomach. "No, I'd never mean that. I love Kon."

"So does everyone else it seems. Man, you should see the shower plans. It's going to be legendary."

"Low key, on the farm please."

"No way. Kara's inviting Oliver Queen, of all people, and I think he's going to accept. You, CK, have so many powerful friends."

"Tell me about it," he muttered. "No, I'm glad Kon's here. It's just that I don't know. I just wish that he weren't half Lana's." And it was funny to say that out loud because he'd spent the first six months wishing desperately that Kon wasn't half his . He loved his son; he'd just wished that he could have kept him normal.

But that was never going to be Kon's destiny in the first place.

Now, though, he just felt sick about everything that had happened with Lana. He'd tried so hard and she still wanted tests. He understood that she was scared. He was terrified and he still needed someone, somewhere to look after his medical care, but he just...he couldn't live with her anymore.

He might be able to let her have some way to see Kon and they might be civil enough to get through the last of his just check-ups, but he couldn't live like this anymore, not exiled to the sofa, not struggling to defend her with lies so transparent, he could have told them.

He still couldn't prove that Nell's meant Lex's, but she'd smelled of scotch, and she'd lied so many times before.

"CK?"

"Oh, yeah," He said, shaking his head. "Sorry I spaced."

"It's cool. You have a lot on your mind nowadays. CK, can I ask you a question?"

"Just did."

"I'm serious. If anyone could have been Kon's mother, erm, other parent...uh, you know what I mean."

Clark sighed. "Whatever dignity or manly pride I had left got shredded by the first sonogram. But you want to know who'd I pick now if I got a do-over."

"I think I know," Jimmy replied. "And it's so not Lois."

Clark shuddered. "Oh god, a kid with Lois's personality and my superpowers. He'd be supreme leader of all in a week and nothing but 80s hairbands would be on the radio."

"It's probably better for civilization as we know it that that didn't happen. You know, I always thought you and Chloe were screwing behind my back."

Clark's eyes widened at Jimmy's coarseness. "It's funny you should put it that way, since you and Kara have been having sex for months without telling me."

"Kara's twenty, at the very least, and she doesn't have to report to you."

"I know. I just wanted her to be more careful than I apparently was," He replied, ruefully, clutching at his stomach.

"We are," Jimmy said, shifting nervously. "Please don't kill me now."

"I won't. You make her happy and she'd kill me if I let anything happen to you." He sighed and shook his head. "You really thought that Chloe and I would have done that to you?"

"Not now, but I didn't know or understand everything then. What was I supposed to think? You supposedly live almost three hours away, but you're always on her desk. Every time you ask for a favor, even on our dates, she drops everything for her. And you should see her when she talks about you. Her whole face lights up. She was never that way about me."

"You talk like it's all present tense. She loved you a lot. You were her guy ."

"Only because you wouldn't step up to the plate. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, believe me. I'm over it and Chloe and I are good friends now. It's better this way, but I know what I was seeing...am still seeing. She's totally gone on you."

"Right," he replied, snorting. "I've disappointed her too many times. Fuck, I'm pregnant with another woman's child-"

"Only in your world is that a possibility. Ah, CK, you are sure that it's not like communicable, right?"

"I promise, Jimmy. Only I'm this lucky."

"Cool, and I don't think she cares about where the rest of Connor's DNA. It is DNA right?"

Clark shrugged. "We're not carbon-based."

"Wicked."

"You, Olsen, are as warped as Chloe and Lois."

"Great minds. When Lex is finally gone, The Planet's style of journalism is never going to be the same."

"Inquisitor stuff."

"Hardly, but we like the unusual."

"And too many comics rotted your brain."

"Maybe, maybe not, but I know Chloe pretty well now. She loves Connor probably more than even you. She doesn't care that he's Lana's."

"Maybe."

"Definitely."

"I'm not ready for anything right now, and she's never going to believe that this isn't just another down swing in the roller coaster of me and Lana. I just...seriously, why would she have me?"

"Dude, are you serious?"

"Yeah, why?"

"So you're a state-winning quarterback who had scholarship offers from every big program out there. You're nauseatingly tall and good-looking and not in the 'I'm secretly gay way' but in the 'I get so sick of every woman in the basement sighing at you' way. Plus there would be about a dozen superpowers."

"Right. Then there's the part where I'm the last of my entire species and apparently just barely a guy."

"Huh, I thought-"

"We're not finishing that line of questioning. I mean, I am, but the pregnant thing really messes with a guy's self esteem."

"You know, I feel uniquely qualified to speak here."

"You've been pregnant?"

"Oh thank god no. Not that you don't look all glowing and all that other great stuff."

"Don't try and cheer me up anymore."

"Can do, but Lana and I are the only two people on the planet who've had long term relationships with Kryptonians. I've been dating Kara almost as long as Lana's lived on the farm and, technically, I think we've had more sex."

"She's my cousin!"

"Okay, backing away from that subject. However, I've done the whole traveler significant other thing."

"What's your point?"

"Lana's a bitch."

"That's a running theme of the day," he replied.

"CK, it's not some great burden dating Kara just because she wasn't born here. I mean, okay, she might have sprained things on accident a few times and I kind of miss having a headboard that isn't charred into ashes-"

"Move on."

"Yeah, well, my point is that I don't care where she's from or what she can do. I think it's amazing, really. She's probably the coolest person I'll ever meet and it's not just the fanboy stuff about how she can fly. By the way, how's that going?"

"Only in my sleep. It's a pain sometimes."

"I'm sure you'll get it before Kon does."

"Gee, thanks."

"I live to help. Anyway, it's not even the powers. She's selfless and she helps people. She's funny as Hell, even if she doesn't mean to be half the time."

Clark chuckled despite his mood. "Her less-than-perfect-mastery of expressions is pretty funny."

"Exactly, and she's strong, not in the I can lift 10,000 pounds way. She lost everything...you both did, technically, and she doesn't cry about it all that much. She just picked herself up, embraced being marooned on an alien planet, and built a whole life for herself and then the universe threw all of you a huge curve ball and she's serving as the impromptu obstetrician.

She's amazing."

Clark smiled at the awe he heard in Jimmy's voice. "You really do love her?"

"Why wouldn't I? She's one of the best women I know."

"Yeah, but she's not...I mean, we're not-"

"Human?" Jimmy asked, shrugging. "In the long scheme of things there are tons of worse things you could be. In Kara's case, a massive bitch. In yours, some kind of psychopath who keeps labs full of meteor-infected to torture and cut into. Really, there are a lot of humans-millions of them out there-who are far less human than you've ever been."

"But we're different."

Jimmy shrugged and shoved some more chips into his mouth, "And it's awesome. I mean, so you float in your sleep. Kara does too."

"I don't like thinking about how you know that. I...she, uh, mentioned that today."

"I know. Please don't kill me."

"Not today," he replied, eating another sardine, bones and all.

"Still, it's an adjustment but it can be done. She just wraps her arms around me-"

"No more details please."

"Anyway, you could have taken Lana with you, if she'd wanted it. It's not weird. I think it's smoking cool, actually."

"Chlo says that," Clark replied softly.

"Where do you think I heard it from?"

"Yeah, she's pretty great too. Maybe after I get Lana's things moved out and work out, I don't even know what, doctors' visits maybe? Then I could ask Chloe out or something?"

"Try some Bogart. She likes that. Ooh, I bet she'd really dig His Girl Friday . I know a guy in archives who can get original film prints. That would be nice."

"Uh, thanks man."

"Don't thank me. I'm the messenger. Kara and Lois have been maneuvering this for three weeks."

"Damn, we are outnumbered," Clark said and then shifted a little, rubbing his stomach when Kon kicked. "Ouch."

Jimmy's eyes widened. "He's awake?"

"And how."

"Is he gonna, um-"

"Do the whole poltergeist kind of route?" Clark asked wryly. "No. If he gets really upset, which mostly happens around his mot...Lana, things shatter. But otherwise? It's just kicking."

"Oh, cool."

"Jimmy?"

"Yeah, CK?"

"You're staring at my stomach."

"Well it's on commercials."

"You're palm is half way to my stomach."

"Ah, yeah. Okay, look, I promise on pain of death never to talk about or ask this again, but could I just this once-"

"You want to touch my stomach?" Clark asked, horrified. He shifted closer to the arm rest. "Wrong cousin."

"Of course, because I'm totally like that. Come on, man. I'm dying of curiosity here."

"That is not winning me over."

"I feel left out. Lois and Chloe's hands are practically glued there."

"Not Lois's," he groused. "Fine, just this once, only , and Kara will never know this happened."

"Agreed," Jimmy said resting his palm on Clark's belly and taking in a sharp breath when Kon kicked. "Wow, he is strong."

"Hand now."

"Oh, right, of course," Jimmy said, withdrawing his hand. "Really, that was pretty cool. So you don't ever get like these Sigourney Weaver flashes?"

"Huh?"

"You know Alien ? Is there stomach bursting or something?"

Clark paled and felt nauseous. "No! Of course not. There's not bursting anywhere."

"So how does he-"

"We're done now. Look, Mr. Burns just did something evil, laugh."

"Look, I was just curious. I've pretty much figured how Kara would have our kids."

"Oh you are not having kids ever. She's going to live in some kind of protective foam bubble or something."

"Yeah right. I'm just...I cannot do the math on this one."

"It's better if you don't," he snapped.

"God, Kara's right. You are so bitchy."

"I am not," he replied, biting into some of his nails and grinning when Jimmy finally registered the use of his speed. "You people just annoy me."

"Uh-huh. I'm just saying, big guy, this whole thing is a question for the ages."

"It is not and, oh God." He said, bolting up from the couch.

"Oh God what?"

"It's Kara. Her heart's stopped."

Clark hadn't ever run faster in his life and he thanked whatever crazy gods were out there that looked after aliens that he wasn't glitching on the speed right then. He never consciously listened to Kara anymore than he did Chloe or his mother or Kon. There were just four heartbeats that made up the white noise of his life and he was innately attuned to them. When Kara's just stopped, he'd felt the absence like a physical blow.

It weighed that heavy on him.

He couldn't trace Kara by her heartbeat, but he could trace Chloe. He took him five seconds to blur off from Jimmy and to reach Chloe outside of a warehouse on the edge of the harbor.

"Clark?" She gasped, grabbing at her chest when she realized he'd materialized next to her.

"Boy Scout, what the Hell?" Oliver asked.

It was then that Clark registered that it was only Chloe and Ollie in front of him.

"Where's everyone else?"

"It was recon. We sent Supergirl in to check things out first since you guy scan see through anything. The rest of the League is following up a lead on something in Star City," Oliver finally gave him a good look over. Clark was too panicked to care much, but it was pretty obvious how different he was from a year ago. The fact that he was wearing one of his older t-shirts and it was stretched to the tearing point just made it moreso. "Clark are you?"

"Not now. Where is she?"

"Clark, what's wrong?" Chloe prodded.

"Kara's heart stopped. I can't hear her at all. Where is she?"

"No, that's not possible. She had five more minutes until rendezvous and she has a comm link. If anything happened-"

"Something did," Clark replied, grabbing Ollie by the shoulders. "You have to tell me what part of the building you last saw her in."

"Far east corner. Can't you?"

"Lead fucking paint," he replied, zipping into the warehouse before Oliver could reply.

"God, Kara! Kara please! You have to help me out here," he shouted, speeding through the bottom floor. As he raced up the stairs, he finally registered noise in the building. He'd been listening so hard for her voice or her heart beat to restart, that he hadn't even noticed the other individuals in the building. He could hear them now, two men arguing and trying to drag something out the fire escape.

Kara.

Clark burst through the door at the farthest end of the hall and stepped back at the sight of the familiar glow.

"Put her down!"

The two men, dressed in the tailored suits Lex's security detail preferred, had her suspended between their arms. "Boss wants this one so I don't think so."

"Let her go," He said, hesitating at the doorway. Each of the men had a pendant of Kryptonite-about ten times the size of Lana's necklace-around their necks. Duct taped to his cousin's chest was a piece of green K the size of a baseball. "Take it off of her."

"I'm not going to bargain with you," One of the men said, shooting at Clark. He rolled his eyes and shifted into superspeed, easily avoiding the shots. Out of spite, he reached up to pull the last one out of thin air.

He screamed when it sliced through him like Van's bullet had all those years ago.

God, he'd never checked to see if his invulnerability had come back.

It'd been six hours and he just assumed it had.

Clark cursed and clenched his right hand to his chest. "I...put her down."

"Yes, we're intimidated now. The other one put up more of an effort."

Kara, oh god.

Wait, she'd done this for him before with the beauty pageant.

Clark took a deep breath and concentrated, forcing his heat vision into a fine stream that seared the green K to black and then into nothing. He'd tilted his head and was praying that he could do the same thing without accidentally slicing into Kara when the rock exploded into a million particles that were quickly carried away by the wind of the open window.

"God, a guy could get used to that," Clark replied, blurring into superspeed and knocking both the guards across the floor.

Wasting no time, he set Kara gently on the ground. "Come on," he begged, giving her CPR, the way he had when he'd found her in the D.D.S. "Kara, come on. One, two, three..." he paused to give her a breath. Press and breathe, press and breathe.

After the fourth round, Kara sat up and gasped. Her heart beat was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

"Kal-El?"

Hugging her was awkward with Kon between them. "You moron. 'It's just recon,' my ass. The whole League wasn't here."

"Kal, Kara can't breathe."

"Oh, right," he said, pulling away. "You scared me. Don't ever do that again."

"I won't, Kal, if you promise not to run off half-cocked and fuck!" She shouted running around him and crashing into the first recovered guard. He'd had a drawn gun and leveled at him. Clark was rushing over to help her with him when he felt the stab of pain in his back.

Then he felt nothing at all.

Clark woke up to see Chloe staring down at him. Shifting his position, he was able to figure out that he was in one of the guest rooms of Ollie's penthouse in Metropolis. "Chlo?"

Her arms were around him so fast that he'd have thought she was the one with superspeed. "Goddamn it, Clark! We had that under control."

"I missed you too," he said, pulling away from her. "What happened?"

"You got shot, you idiot. Kara said your powers glitched at ISIS today. Why in the world did you come here?"

"Kara was dying ," he said as if that should be obvious.

"Ollie and I could have handled it."

"Lex's 33.1 ringers were dragging her off when I got there."

"God, Clark. I'm sorry. We've worked so well together so far. Nothing like this has ever happened."

"It's why I'm here. I know I have to stay healthy for Kon but it won't be worth it if I lose her because of it. I have to take care of both of them. We're all there are."

"I know."

"I...is she okay?"

"She's fine. She's yelling at Ollie as we speak about his lack of intel."

"That's my cousin," he said proudly. "Did you?"

"Pull a Lazarus act with you? No, Kara sped you here and removed the bullet herself, but once she got it out, your powers must have come back online. You were sleeping it all off though. It's almost 10 AM."

"Your job."

"Perry's got it covered, trust me." She smiled and leaned down to hug him again. "You had me so worried. Kara spared enough time to tell us what was happening and you were so pale. It was like with Gabriel all over again."

"I'm here," he replied.

Chloe laid her right palm on his stomach. "You're both here. My nephew's okay, isn't he?"

Clark squinted down at Kon. He'd rolled over enough to angle his body to the rays of the sun that the large windows were letting in. Perking up his ears, Clark counted.

Four heartbeats.

One steady and strong although slighted muted by being across the Atlantic.

One beating with a fast ferocity. Kara's. She was pissed.

One so quick it whirred in his ears. Connor's and as healthy as always.

The final one a vibrant rhythm, one he'd been listening to for comfort for over a year.

"He's fine. He's sleeping, but he's totally unfazed by everything."

She smiled and he grinned back at her. "That's great, but if you ever pull something like this again, I'll let Kara kill you herself and then I won't be resurrecting you, you dumbass. You scared all of us."

"Well Kara scared me so we're all even."

"Not good enough," Chloe said, slipping into the sheets and next to him on the bed.

"What happened to boundaries?" He asked.

"Fuck them. I'll worry about them later. You almost died. Kon almost died. I couldn't live with that. Besides, I heard that you're not inviting Lana to come back to the farm after she finishes with her latest ISIS research."

"No, I'm moving her stuff to her aunt's tomorrow. Whether Nell is surprised to see Lana after months of 'visiting' or not, I have yet to see. I want to believe that what Kara's been ranting about isn't true."

"Clark, you don't have to talk about this."

"I know," he said, leaning down and wrapping his arms around her. He'd have liked to roll over and draw her close to his belly, but he couldn't. He stopped even sleep-floating on anything other than his back a week ago.

Chloe fixed that problem by scooting lower, pillowing her head between his stomach and his chest. "Don't scare me like that again. I was so worried."

"I'm immortal."

"Kon's not. I can't lose him before he's even born. Hell, I can't lose you and if anything happened to him, you'd never be right again."

"No, I wouldn't, but it was Kara. If you or Kara or mom were ever in danger like that, I'd never hesitate. No matter what. I wouldn't place any of you over the other."

"Kon matters more than me. He's family."

" You're family."

"Not the Kara-kind, though?"

"I'm actually relieved we aren't blood family."

"Why?" She asked picking up her head and looking him in the eyes.

"Because then this would be so inappropriate," he replied, leaning down to kiss her. Chloe wrapped her arms around his shoulders and threaded his fingers through his hair. Their kisses were frantic, burning with an urgency that contrasted the nine years of lead up to all of this. Chloe was pressing tighter against him, her tongue teasing deeper and deeper, when it happened.

"Hey!" She called indignantly, pulling away from him for a second. Leaning down, she glared at his stomach. "Can you give us a minute here?"

Clark blushed, "I'm sorry. He, uh, has this conspiracy against me."

The rest of that sentence felt like it should be getting laid .

Chloe smiled and gave him a quick kiss on his stomach, ducking away a little when Kon shifted. "No way, mister. I might self heal but I am not taking it on the chin from you."

"Chlo, you don't have to."

"I don't have to what?" She asked, propping herself up a little on one elbow. Her other hand, as always, was tracing delicately over Kon.

"I know this is really, really disgusting."

"Right, it totally is," she replied, leaning in to kiss him again.

He was just enjoying it and halfway convinced that Kon wouldn't restage the World Cup right then, when someone coughed. "Watchtower, Boy Scout, I'd rather you didn't ruin the bed."

"We're not," Chloe yelped as she hopped off of him. "I..." she frowned at Clark. "I didn't mean to do that. It wasn't very professional."

"Far be it from me to interrupt fun times," Oliver said.

"Right," Clark conceded, pushing himself up with some effort into a sitting position. He tried pulling the sheet back up to his chest, but the insufferable smirk told him that Oliver had it all figured out.

"So, Clark, when are you due?"

Clark sighed theatrically. "You didn't tell the others did you?"

"Are you kidding? Kara helped me take some digital pics to send to Cyborg while you were out. I think I could hear Impulse laughing from here."

"Oh man."

"Oh, A.C. offered to consult with Kara."

"Why?"

"Male seahorses," Chloe supplied. "They carry the babies."

"I see," Clark replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "You think Bart's still laughing?"

"I think he'll get over it. He demanded to take the phone and then he and Kara were trading advice over shower gifts. I think he's aiming for baby sneakers, myself."

"This is so embarrassing."

"You were just never going to tell us? I'm hurt."

Clark arched an eyebrow at his tone. Ollie really did sound genuinely hurt that Clark hadn't let him in on everything. He kind of wish he'd gone to Ollie's doctors first instead of Lana's. Yeah, Lex had poached his staff once before but there'd never been extortion involved before. "You wanted to know?"

"We're friends, and I could have helped with some stuff, besides the diamond fencing."

"That was a huge help," Chloe added. "Now Connor can go to Columbia. They have an awesome journalism program."

"Watchtower the helicopter mother."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm not at all."

Oliver smirked wider at him. "Oh, so it's an alternative lifestyle thing. Well, that's a new one. But we all kind of think A.C. swings that way, so you are totally fine here man."

"I'm not gay! Why do people keep assuming that?"

"You're the one who's pregnant!"

"That sounds so bad."

"It's true," Chloe conceded. "Lana's the mom. I have no idea how this works. If you need the biology stuff, ask Kara."

Oliver looked back at Clark and, much like Jimmy had yesterday, he turned a bit green. "I'm good. So, Lana got you pregnant?"

"It was a mutual thing, and this is really embarrassing. Now you know why I don't go out in public anymore."

Oliver's smirk faltered and he sighed. "Clark, everything is copasetic. The Bros aren't going to make fun of you anymore than we do the can opener or the fishboy."

"And they say we're the good guys."

"Really, they're all really excited for the shower. Kara said there'd be a slip and slide and a donkey."

"Why would there be a donkey?"

Chloe sighed, "She has party games mixed up. She thinks it's literally putting a tail on a donkey."

Oliver shook his head. "Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"Where is it you two are from again?"

"Uh, Eastern Europe. It's a whole Cold War, pump babies full of steroids thing."

Oliver sighed. "You're going to need a better lie than that one. I'd have bought something nuts like you're a space alien over that one."

"Heh, about that-" Clark started and then flinched when J'onn crashed through the window.

Oliver groaned. "I am sick of letting you borrow the penthouse. You never leave it like you found it and all your friends ruin everything. I assume you are a friend of Clark's."

The Manhunter straightened his nifty Shaft coat and glared at Clark. "I'm his guardian."

"Hmm, are you from the U.S.S.R. too?"

"I'm a Martian."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "You are really shitty liars, Clark. I'll help you work on something better for next time. Watchtower, Guy who'll be paying to replace my window," He added as he slipped back out of the room.

"That was fun," Chloe quipped, reaching out and taking Clark's hand.

"Chloe, what did you do?"

"Me? Wait. Why am I the one in trouble?"

"You're the mother, aren't you?"

"Aren't you psychic?" She reminded him.

"I don't invade peoples' privacy like that."

"I see," she replied, tiredly. "I'm not the mother, J'onn. Lana was living on the farm last time you visited."

"I see," J'onn sighed and shook his head. Turning to Clark he frowned. "Kal-El, do you have any idea what you've done?"

He rubbed his stomach and stared back at the Martian. "I'm beginning to have an idea."

"How are you faring?"

"I...what do you mean?"

"You've started glitching, obviously, I wouldn't have felt that kind of pain emanating from you if you hadn't been injured seriously. What happened?"

"Kara got in trouble and I tried to fix it. My invulnerability was out at the time and I ended up a little shot."

"A little."

"He healed fine and his invulnerability is back, J'onn."

"Chloe, I expected more from you. You've been so helpful in my search for Brainiac, but you kept this from me."

"Blame later, explain glitching now because Kara's been a font of nothing."

"I've known Kryptonians for a long time."

"I've noticed," Clark replied, squeezing Chloe's hand a little. "So what?"

"You're not the first Kryptonian to have a child with a human."

"The Kawatchee."

"Among other tribes. There've been cases in Egypt and China as well."

"I'm not surprised, actually."

"You are the first Kryptonian man-"

"Barely these days," Clark grumped.

"You're still the first male I've ever known who was pregnant. It's not a custom of your people any more, certainly not by the time they started trading with ours."

"No shit," Chloe grouched.

"Chlo, it's cool," Clark replied. "When it happened with the others, what took place exactly?"

"Most of the pregnancies were successful. If you took the time to trace the DNA of certain ethnic groups, you'd find anomalies, gifts of a sort from your ancestors. It is possible under the yellow sun to interbreed."

"And that makes me feel like a zoo animal just that much more."

"You know what I mean, Kal-El. It has happened before here, but only a handful of times, and, from the records I've seen, they were not easy pregnancies."

"You can say that again."

"His powers are fading in and out. He's exhausted all the time and some things are in over drive-he's floating in his sleep and his heat vision has been flaring."

"I'm not surprised. It's only going to get worse from here."

"Worse?" Clark gaped and he tensed enough that something crunched.

"Fuck. J'onn, could you not panic the Kryptonian when he has my bones in his hands, please?" Chloe said, yanking out her hand and willing it to heal.

"Jesus, Chlo. I'm sorry. I've never-"

"Shh," she said, patting his shoulder with her now healed hand. "It's fine. I blame J'onn, not you. Don't frighten him like that. Fuck, don't frighten me. What do you mean worse?"

"The glitches started out as maybe minutes or seconds, right?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head.

"They'll change. They've already gotten more frequent and longer, haven't they?"

"Some of them. The invulnerability was out for half a day."

"By the end of the pregnancy, I don't know how many of your abilities you'll have left or what condition they'll be in."

"You don't know either?" Chloe demanded, putting her hands on her hips. If he wasn't so scared, Clark would have laughed. Chloe, despite her amazing ability, was nowhere near a physical match for the Manhunter, but he could tell by the set of her shoulders that she was thinking of giving it a try.

"These are the archaeological anecdotes of his people. It's not necessarily my area."

"My biological parents should have sent along a doctor," he mumbled. "What can I do about the glitches? The heat vision?"

"I do not know yet, Kal-El. I'll have to review what I know of your people, and what I can recall from the records."

"Is Kon going to be alright?" Clark asked, his voice nearly a whisper. Chloe's other hand had slipped easily into his. It made him feel less alone.

"Kon is?"

"My son."

"I see. I do not know. Most of the pregnancies went to term, but not all of them were successful, even with your abilities here. And there hasn't been a male pregnancy in so long, let alone one for an alien child. For not the first time in your life, you are unique."

"Perfect."

"But will the baby die?" Chloe pressed, her voice rising in pitch.

"I cannot predict that, but that is not my biggest concern. In the pregnancies that went wrong, it was not just the infants who were lost."

Clark's heart stopped right there and he had to remind himself not to crush Chloe's hand in his grip. "I...what?"

"Kal-El, you should never have done this. There is a substantial chance that this could kill you."