Chapter Four: I'm Not Dead; Let's Have Dinner

Lance swallowed hard, trying to sort through the tangle of emotions in his head. Part of him wanted to help find the rat who'd shot his pseudo uncle, but he trusted his uncle and Team One to have that well in hand. The rest of him was alternating between hope that Clark wouldn't be too mad at him and fear that Clark would never want to have anything to do with him again.

I thought I'd have more time… the teen thought miserably, trying to cobble together a halfway decent explanation that didn't involve magic; he was done with hiding his magic from his 'family', but a busy, bustling hospital wasn't the time or the place to tell Clark the truth.

A head of curly brown hair caught Lance's eye and he knew he was out of time; he'd just have to wing it. Clark didn't see him at first as he hurried along behind Roy, his gray eyes worried, his eyebrows knit in distress, and all his focus on his father.

Auror Onasi quietly chased off the nurse hovering over Uncle Ed and asking questions, promising that Roy could supply her with all relevant medical information soon. Brown eyes flicked to Lance and the Auror winked, trying to boost the young man's spirits, but Lance couldn't muster even so much as a smile; his stomach was tied up in knots and his hands felt clammy.

As soon as Clark was close enough, he blurted, "Dad, what happened? Are you okay?"

Lance, sensing a reprieve, pulled back as his Uncle Ed sought to reassure Clark. "Buddy, I'm okay. I'm okay. How's your Mom?"

"I don't know," Clark complained at once, "They won't tell me anything."

"They're getting her set up for a C-section," Roy put in over his nephew's shoulder, before Ed could demand answers from him. "She and the baby are stable right now, but the doctor told me they're gonna do the C-section as soon as the anesthetist gets here."

"How long?" Uncle Ed grated out, but Roy shook his head regretfully; he didn't know.

A dark blonde doctor appeared from behind Lance, leaning over and informing the patient, "Mr. Lane, we're going to get you something for the pain, okay?"

"Okay, no," Uncle Ed refused, "You know what? Just tell me how my wife's doing."

The nurse Auror Onasi had chased off only a minute earlier was suddenly back with her clipboard and pen; she descended on Roy to get him to sign off on the surgery. Spotting her, Uncle Ed growled, "I'm not doing that right now."

"Ed," Roy protested automatically as his brother pulled the oxygen tubes free from his face and laboriously sat up.

"Mr. Lane…" the female doctor chided.

The nurse with her clipboard instructed, "Lay back, Mr. Lane."

Even Clark moved closer as his father kept levering himself upright, worry growing. "Dad, just…lay…"

"Give me the chair," Uncle Ed ordered, his eyes slipping past Clark to a nearby wheelchair; that he was completely and utterly determined to make it to his wife's side was clear…whether he was capable of making the attempt was much less so.

Lance bit his lip, unsure of what he should do; he didn't want to hide any more, but maybe it was better if he stayed in the background until the crisis was past. If he stepped forward now, he'd just be adding even more stress to an already stressful situation. The teen looked up at Auror Onasi, but the Auror looked just as unsure as he felt; when Auror Onasi felt the teen's gaze, he offered a little shrug of helplessness.

"Mr. Lane, the longer we wait, the lesser your chance of a full recovery," the blonde doctor informed the injured man; Clark looked rather alarmed at that possibility.

"Look…" Uncle Ed grated out, his eyes fixed on his son. "I wasn't here when my son was born. I promised my wife I'd be here today." A tear slipped free from Clark's eyes as he stared back at his father. "So you gonna help me or not?"

Lance quietly slipped around the group and snagged the wheelchair, coming back with it before the doctor could give in. "I will," he offered.

Clark snapped around, his eyes saucer-wide as they landed on the slightly younger boy. As the moment hung, Clark gawped, his mouth working soundlessly.

Instead of backing down – which he really wanted to do as Clark kept staring at him – Lance forced his most cocky, daredevilish grin on his face and quipped, "I'm not dead. Let's have dinner."

Alanna groaned theatrically, burying her face in her hands. As Clark turned towards her, confused, she threw her head back, rolled her eyes at the ceiling, and declared, "Only you, big brother mine, could pull a line from Sherlock at a time like this."

"Y-You…you…you…" Clark stammered, looking between the siblings and even glancing back at his resigned father. "You're alive?"

In his peripheral vision, Lance saw Roy tug the confused doctor and nurse away to give them the hasty official cover story. But he stayed focused on Clark and nodded once in confirmation.

"How?" Clark whispered, right before his eyes hardened. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Lance cringed and dropped his gaze, rubbing at his shoulder as he fumbled for an explanation. "I needed time," he told the floor, unable to meet Clark's disbelieving and hurt gaze. "And…and things were crazy and they're still crazy, but I can't hide anymore."

The teen peeked up to see Clark's brow furrowed in confusion; before Lance could stumble over another attempt to explain, Auror Onasi cleared his throat and stepped in. "Perhaps we can discuss this later, Mr. Lane? I imagine your mother is getting anxious to have you and your father back by her side."

Clark swung towards his father. "Does Mom know?"

"Not everything, buddy," Uncle Ed replied, meeting Clark's half-accusing gaze. "Clark, 'crazy' is an understatement and I promise you'll get the whole story, but not right now."

Clark studied his father for several long moments and finally nodded acceptance. But he wouldn't let Lance help any further and made it very clear that he was still angry at the younger boy.

Giles Onasi frowned and traded grim looks with his partner. Roy evaluated the situation, frowning himself at Clark's behavior. As the group made their way to the elevators and squeezed into one of them for the ride up, the partners silently debated the best course of action. Once they reached the Maternity floor, Giles made his move and quietly tugged Clark to the side; Roy tapped Lance on the shoulder and gestured him towards Giles and Clark.

One of the Maternity ward nurses hesitantly pointed Giles to a currently empty room and Giles wasted no time in pushing the two young men inside. Once inside, he pinned Clark with a glare. "I would have thought, Mr. Lane, that you would be willing to give your friend the benefit of the doubt."

Clark crossed his arms, looking mulish at the mild rebuke, but Giles was having no part of it.

"Since that seems to be beyond you, let's run down the facts, shall we?" Giles inquired, deliberately being as condescending as possible. "After being hit head-on by a drunk driver, Lance here was rescued from Sergeant Parker's burning vehicle by a woman who decided to keep him as a replacement for her dead son."

Clark jerked back, his eyes going wide. "What?" he blurted, looking between an unsympathetic Giles and a red-faced Lance.

"Naturally, Lance objected, but he was in no condition to escape her custody, particularly since he was still injured from the car crash." Giles leaned forward, dropping his voice to a growl. "And it's not Lance's fault that he was prematurely declared dead by the coroner, a declaration that was made on the basis of a faulty forensics report. As a matter of fact, Mr. Lane, it was your uncle and myself who found Lance alive, still in the custody of his rescuer/kidnapper and in the middle of being smuggled out of the country." Giles let his statements hang, then cocked his head to the side and inquired sarcastically, "Any questions?"

He was unsurprised when Clark could only stare, completely stunned by the bombshells Giles had unceremoniously dropped on him. With a snort, Giles ushered Lance out the room and pointed the teenager in the direction of Sophie's room. Then the Auror turned back to wait for Clark to regain his mental footing enough to start asking questions, instead of simply assuming.

It took several minutes, but Clark finally came out of his funk enough to drop into a chair someone had left in the room and run his hands through his hair. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

The question was hurt and plaintive. Giles sighed heavily and reentered the room, closing the door behind him. "I'm giving you the bare basics, understand?" Clark nodded without looking up; the Auror found another chair and pulled it over with one foot in front of Clark, though he didn't sit down immediately. "Some of it, I can't tell you, not here at the hospital at any rate."

"Huh?"

Giles' jaw twitched. "Classified," he offered ruefully.

"Oh." Clark's frame slumped.

"Look, kid, I'm not saying you can never know," Giles remarked, feeling awkward. Clark's head came up. "Just that I can't tell you here, okay?"

Clark considered the Auror's words. "So, no one told me because it's…classified?"

Giles looked down, debating with himself for several moments. Then he reached into his jacket and tugged out a thick yellow envelope. "I'm going to let you hang onto a picture for a while, all right? If you can figure out why I gave you this picture and who's in the picture, then I can tell you more while we're here at the hospital." The Auror shrugged. "If not, then consider the picture one more thing I'll have to explain."

"But this picture is part of it?"

The Auror hid a smirk as he passed Clark a photo of a young boy with brown hair and bright blue eyes. "You might say it's the whole reason your father couldn't tell you."

Author note: I could definitely use some prayer this week. On Sunday, I either lost or had my wallet stolen. Praise the Lord, I did get it back (intact, no less), but I'd already cancelled all my cards. Thankfully, my local bank can print debit cards right in the branch or my week would probably be very, very long. Then, once I finally got home and started squaring other things away, I discovered that my prescriptions were a bit...messed up. Naturally, all of this is right around the New Year when banks and doctor's offices tend to be closed. So...fun times.

Thank you very much to everyone who's been reading and an extra special thanks to those taking the time to review my stories.

In honor of New Years, I'm also posting a Side-Story called, "Of Fear and Overcoming It".

Please enjoy and Happy New Year 2019!