Author: Mitch

Title: Operation: Humbug

Series: Epilogue

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Clark/Lex

Spoilers: None.

Feedback: Thanks again for all the reviews! You've made this poor little college student very happy.

Author's Note: I was thinking about waiting for Christmas Eve to post this, but besides the fact that I'm not that evil, I know that the day before the holiday is always busy. So here it is. Everyone have a fun and safe holiday!

**********

December 25, 2002

6:38PM

Darkness started to unfold. It was slowly pierced with dots of colorful light. Like stars. Everything was warm and safe and... peaceful. All the fear, all the pain and doubt were gone and he wondered if this was it. Heaven. It was just as all those who claimed to have been there had described it, but more. Happiness in a sense that he'd never known filled his heart. The very air was alive with love and he breathed it in, letting the warmth cleanse his soul. Soon there were warm hands covering his own and he laughed at their familiar feel. "Mom?" he whispered.

"Sorry, Lex. It's just me."

Not his mother. But a voice so soft and loving it had to be that of an angel. The small lights began to take on shape and he saw that it was a Christmas tree. He could hear music playing softly and those warm hands were now squeezing his. He looked into the face above him.

"Clark."

Clark smiled, tears filling his eyes. "That's right, baby. Everything is going to be okay."

With the suddenness of an electric shock, Lex remembered everything. He sat up in a panic. "Sam! Clark, we have to go back for Sam!"

"Sam is fine, Lex. He has a bump on his head, but he'll be okay. And Brandon has been taken into custody."

Suddenly aware of the bandages all over his wounded body, Lex lay back down on what he realized was the Kents' living room couch and his head began to spin pleasantly. He wasn't sure of the brand or the dosage, but there was definitely some kind of narcotic floating around in his system. He closed his eyes as Clark caressed his face.

"Clark, I was stabbed," he said dreamily.

"Yes, you were," Clark countered, never missing a beat.

"So where's the hospital?"

"We just got back. The wound wasn't too serious and your arm wasn't broken, so they kept you overnight and let you come home with us."

"Us?"

Lex heard movement as Jonathan and Martha entered the room. "Welcome back, Lex," Martha said softly, kneeling next to the couch.

Lex opened his eyes. "You all weren't in the hospital this whole time, were you?"

"I could think of worse ways to spend Christmas," Jonathan chuckled. "Besides, it was important to Clark. It was important to all of us."

Lex shared eye contact with the eldest Kent, who he knew was responsible for saving his life, and felt a certain understanding. He knew that Jonathan was only being this kind because Lex was injured, and because Clark was present. But he could also feel another side. Jonathan was finally letting his walls down, testing the waters so to speak. Lex vowed to himself that he wouldn't fail that test.

Martha stood up. "Who's ready for presents?" She went to the tree and started to hand out the untouched gifts.

"Do you think you can sit up again?" Lex nodded and Clark gently cradled his neck, helping him into a sitting position. Once there, Clark scooted in close enough that Lex was halfway in his lap, with his head resting against Clark's shoulder. Lex looked at Clark's parents, slightly alarmed, but neither of them seemed to notice.

The Kents proceeded to open their gifts. They didn't have anything for Lex, but they included him in all of their conversations and jokes, making him feel like he was part of the family. And Martha fed him so much of her homemade fudge and eggnog he thought he would burst.

After a short time the unwrapping was finished. Jonathan and Martha got up to clean the mess of colored paper all over the floor, and Clark stayed at Lex's side, kissing his cheek and running a finger over his thigh. They were both working on their third cup of eggnog.

"This has been the best Christmas ever," Lex sighed.

Clark pulled a Santa hat from the couch next to him and put it on. "I hope you got everything you wanted," he bellowed in a deep jolly voice.

"I could do with one thing more."

"What's that?" Clark asked raising his eyebrows.

Lex pointed to the ceiling. Clark looked up and saw a sprig of mistletoe. "Well, I'll be damned," he laughed. "And I was even the one who put that there."

"I hope it was me you were planning to share this couch with," Lex shot back teasingly.

"The couch, the coffee table, the floor. I wasn't thinking about where we landed so much as what we'd do when we got there."

Lex's eyes widened, and before he had a chance to say something truly tasteless, he kissed Clark firmly on the lips. Clark cupped his face, deepening the kiss and Lex could have sworn he heard the little bells on Clark's Santa hat start to jingle. They flinched at a flash of white light coming from across the room and they both turned to see what it was. There was Martha, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. With a camera.

"I'm sorry," she giggled as her face turned red. "It was just so... I mean with the hat and everything... I'll just be going now." She returned quickly to the kitchen leaving Clark and Lex to their shocked laughter. Then Lex's eyes lit up.

"Clark! Now we have something to put in the frame!"

"The frame?" Clark repeated.

"Yeah, the one you gave to me. I must've dropped it back at the mansion. You know, after it saved my life. But don't you think the picture your mom just took would be perfect?"

Clark crinkled his eyebrows. "Uh, Lex? I didn't give you a frame."

"Of course you did. It was all part of your mission, the little Operation: Ho-Bag or whatever."

"Humbug, Lex."

"That's what I said. It was a green frame with little Christmas decorations painted all over it." Clark didn't show any signs of recognition. "Come on! Are you seriously telling me that you aren't my Secret Santa?" Lex flipped the tip of Clark's hat for emphasis. Clark started to laugh, finally catching on.

"Oh! Secret Santa, that's right! I remember now."

Lex shoved Clark playfully. "You jerk. Thank you, by the way. It was a lovely gift."

"Yeah, it was," Clark beamed. "It was Cindy."

Lex choked on his nog. "Say that again?"

Clark started to laugh harder, clearly enjoying the shock on Lex's face. "Yep. The frame, the painting, the Secret Santa. It was all Cindy. I just helped."

"Cindy from the party? I didn't even know her until that day!"

"Nah, but she knew you. Her class went on a fieldtrip to the crap factory and you held the door for her. You've been her hero ever since. I guess now she's your hero too."

Lex sat with his jaw hanging open for near a full minute as Clark's laughter became brighter and more hysterical. "You've got to be shitting me," were the only words he could manage.

"Nope." Clark finally started to calm down and wiped the tears from his face. "I told her I'd help her if she promised that once Christmas was over, I could have you back."

Lex looked at Clark wryly and shoved him again. "You did not tell her that."

"No, I didn't." Clark leaned over and kissed Lex on the cheek. When he spoke again his voice was quiet and serious. "But I do have a gift for you. I'm sorry I didn't have time to wrap it, but things got... kind of scary there for a minute." Clark's lower lip started to tremble and Lex took it into his mouth, sucking on it gently to comfort him.

"Yeah, they did," Lex said as he pulled back. "But it's over. Everything is going to be okay now, just like you said."

Clark nodded. Then he looked probingly into Lex's eyes and took a deep breath. With a shaking hand he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small picture taken with a Polaroid. "Merry Christmas, Lex," he whispered.

Lex took the picture and studied it, trying to decipher the shadowed image. He couldn't be sure, but it looked almost like some sort of craft. A tiny spaceship.

"Clark, what is this?"

Clark swallowed and attempted to smile through the tears welling up in his eyes. "The truth." Before he could say more, Lex took him into another thorough kiss.

"I love you, Clark."

Clark smiled and pulled Lex into a tight hug. Lex played with the hair at the base of Clark's neck as Clark rubbed up and down his back. Although it nearly caused him physical pain to do so, Lex pulled away one last time.

"Clark? There's something I need you to do for me."

"Anything." The love in Clark's eyes was overwhelming.

"Take me upstairs," Lex finished quietly.

Clark gave Lex the most brilliant smile he'd seen since the very beginning of their friendship. And for Clark, that was saying something. He rose from Lex's side and effortlessly picked him up, cradling him and taking an exhilarated breath as Lex kissed his neck.

They started up the stairs, Clark taking infinite care not to bump Lex's toes against the railing. At the end of the upstairs hallway, they entered the bedroom and Clark closed the door behind him with his foot. He then placed Lex on his bed and lay down ever so gently on top of him.

He leaned in to kiss Lex, but stopped when he heard the jingling of the Santa hat. Laughing quietly, he reached up to take it off.

"Clark?"

"Hmm?"

Lex blushed. "Leave it on."

Clark grinned devilishly as he leaned in for his kiss.

THE END