The Memoirs

It had been a day to remember. Strange, how the best and worst nights of your life usually were the same one. After the long shower, he and Lionel had slept together for the better part of a day...then when stomach rumblings awoke them, they'd gone to dine in Metropolis...an exchange for eating McDonalds for lunch. They were strangely quiet around one another but no less loving, caressing when they could, exchanging those deep seated glances of love, linking hands when they thought no one was looking. They joked a bit...talked about the newest reality TV show that Dominic's assistant had gotten them both addicted to. But nothing, NOTHING was said about the previous night...other then to comment on how outrageous the sex had been. Nothing about the photographs, or the heavy cry Dominic had had on his lovers shoulder. Nothing that would upset either of them.

 

Lionel wrapped his fingers through Dominic's, about to say to hell with the rest of the world and take him into his arms right there.  His thoughts were returning to one thing, over and over again, and he never mentioned it to his beloved.  Instead, his thumb rubbed gently over Dominic's palm as he teased it, looking at him softly over the table.  "You feel up to packing, or should we stop by and pick up someone to do it for you?  I mean... that's assuming that... you want to move.  With me."

 

He tipped his head, watching him with a soft grin, perching a brow up as he tasted another bit of the catfish Lionel had told him he'd love, and he did. "Where are you moving to, beloved?"

 

Lionel shook his head, smiling.  "No.  I meant, would you like to move your things into the penthouse in Metropolis, and try living with me."  He squeezed Dominic's hand tightly.  "Eventually I'd like to talk to Lex; I know he wants to stay in Smallville because of Clark, and I have no problem with that.  I'd like… I'd like to stay in Smallville too, eventually.  While Lex is overseeing the rebuilding of the plant, I'd like to have a small office built in Smallville where the majority of our business could be conducted from.  And again, I'd have to talk to Lex, but the estate is big enough… we could have a wing of it to ourselves, provided Lex is willing to share his home.  But  all this… all of this, Dominic, hinges on you, and what you are willing to do."

 

He set his fork down and looked at him with serious eyes. The sling his arm was trapped in pressed tight to his body, and he hoped Lionel didn't see the tremble go through him. Wow. Bigness. Bigness of big. Except was it, really? They'd lived together in a way for most of the time he'd worked for him...whether it be sleeping at the office, on planes from place to place, in the limo, after a bout of sex....and later, making love. He hadn't been apart from Lionel's side for as long as he could remember...but could he give up Metropolis? Really? "You want to live in Smallville?" He looked at him in question. "To be near your son?"

 

"I do.  And yes, to be near Lex.  I haven't changed my mind about wanting him to take the reins of LuthorCorp in the future, and if I move the offices to Smallville, then he can, without disrupting his life or his plans, slowly begin to learn the intricacies of the business, and... yes.  I would like to be near Lex.  Finally... if we are serious about having a family... I don't want to raise another child in Metropolis.  I want this child to know what it is like to have others to play with, know what it is like to live in a home, with friends and such around."

 

He listened quietly, biting his lower lip. "This...wow." He breathed it, slowly. "Lionel, this is huge."

 

"I know.  That's why I'm not asking you to decide this moment.  Well, I am about the penthouse," he teased.  "But only because we're in Metropolis.  Dominic... I can wait for you to decide what you want to do, and I will be happy with whatever choice you make."

 

He smiled a bit, nodding, and decided it would be something to seriously consider... this wasn't fun and games anymore, it was a huge move. Just putting the powerhouse to one of the worlds largest corporations would be huge...the manpower, not just in Smallville but in Metropolis as well. Someone trustworthy enough to run the Met office and hire the right people to replace the ones brought to Smallville. Selling his apartment...getting all his things to Smallville. And then Smallville, itself. Their move wouldn't make it so small anymore...business would flourish, the town itself would see a rise in populace as well as the fact that he is mentally babbling while at a romantic dinner overseeing the skyway of one of the most powerful cities in the world. "Lionel..." He breathed it again, reaching for his hand. "This...it would be a huge decision."

 

Lionel held his hand out to Dominic, watching his reactions carefully. "Yes.  A very huge decision.  With quite a few consequences to quite a few people."

 

"The move itself...hundreds of people would be able to get jobs, the town would flourish. You could single- handedly put it on the map. The economy would flourish in a way never seen before." Was it obvious he was thinking with his business brain before his romantic brain right now? Yep. Even though the two were completely intertwined. "Lionel... have you thought it through? Talked to the share holders?"

 

"I have thought it through; I haven't brought it up to the board yet, although I'm not sure that it's necessary.  The main headquarters will still remain in Metropolis, and the offices in Smallville will be for my son and myself.  And... if I put this move into motion soon, the people who lost their jobs at the plant can get work with the either of the rebuilding teams."

 

A sudden grin overtook his features, delight in his expression, one eyebrow raising, the other lowering. "You're asking me to move in with you, aren't you?"

 

"Yes, I am."  Lionel smiled.  "And I hope you'll say yes."

 

"I think I'm going to have to say a big old yes." He beamed at him, squirming in his chair with the want to whoop and bellow and lay a smacking kiss on his mouth, but, oh yes, nice, reserved restaurant where people were talking in whispers. "You don't mind? Really? That I snore, and I leave my socks by the bed, and I've got the habit of eating junk food at inappropriate times?"

 

Lionel shook his head, a large smile lighting his features.  "If you can put up with my autocracy, my occasional bouts of bad temper, and my thoughtlessness."  His smile grew wider.  "And you have to share your fries."

 

Alright. He didn't care. He leaned over and pulled him in with his free arm, hugging him softly and manly like, clapping his shoulder incase of paparazzi or whatever, and barely restrained from kissing his ear. "I love you."

 

"I love you," he answered softly, damning the press and hugging Dominic in return.  "I'm so glad you said yes; you've made me the happiest man in the world right now."

 

"Hush. You're gonna make me all emotional." He murmured it, sitting back with a smile. "I promise, on my oath as a Senatori, I will never eat French fries without offering you some, I will hook you on Taco Bell and Blockbuster Friday night video runs, and you will sit beside me and damn the American Idol judges every week until Christmas." He crossed his heart, nodding seriously as his eyes danced with mischief. "Speaking of it, what do you want for Christmas, lovely?"

 

"I will never be caught dead watching American Idol.  I will, however, sit in the bed beside you, doing paperwork and rolling my eyes as you curse them."  Lionel sat back and gazed at his lover.  "What do I want for Christmas?"

 

He laughed again, taking a bite of the steamed yellow rice from his plate. "You say that now...wait until they vote off some gorgeous woman and keep the losers." He wriggled his brows, sat back and took a sip of his wine flute. "Christmas. You know, falalalala. Mistletoe. Roast beast. Christmas."

 

Lionel kicked Dominic under the table in a surprisingly childish gesture.  "I know what Christmas is, and I am even familiar with the concept of giving and exchanging gifts.  However... I can't think of anything that I want in my life that I don't finally have."

 

He kicked back, laughing out loud, then trying to hush it as the Maitre De' gave them a dirty look. "You're like the Sexy Grinch. Lionel...I'm going to have to get you into the Christmas spirit. Its only five weeks away...and this year you don't have me to go shopping for you. HAH." He pointed and snickered at him. "You're going to have to get out and actually join the throng of people in the hell that is battling for that last gift." A huge sigh. "Lionel, I'm like the Queen of Scary Christmas Cheer. I adore the holiday...my mother used to make a huge deal out of it, and I think us kids just got addicted to it. I do the decorating, the Christmas caroling, the snow ball fights...my sisters come down from Vancouver every year." A glancing smile. "I'd love for you to meet them."

 

"A queen?" he teased softly.  "Dominic... I adore you.  I will do anything for you.  However, I will not brave the general public, searching for a gift at the last moment.  That is why I employ Christine as my personal shopper."

 

"Wimp." He grinned at him, eyes twinkling. "Lionel, it'll be alright to have my family for the holidays, yes? My mother doesn't travel well, but she said she'd be here this year. I'd planned for it to be at my home, but..." He looked at him.

 

"Of course it will be," Lionel answered instantly.  "Meeting your family... would be an honor."

 

He laughed again, getting another dirty look from the waiting staff, and pushed his plate away a bit and wishing for a cup of coffee. "You'll review your choice of words after Belinda asks you every personal question under the sun and Shayla jangles in with her...numerous piercing." He raised a brow at him, eyes dancing. "And my younger brother and his wife, and their five kids. Are you sure you want them at the mansion?"

 

"I'm sure, Dominic.  They're your family, which means they will always be welcome."

 

"Again, you say that now." He grinned broadly and motioned to him, asking without words if he was finished.

 

Lionel nodded, leaving a hundred dollar bill on the table as he rose.  "I don't care if your family is a pack of convicted felons on work release--they are your family, and are therefore welcome in my home."

 

His eyes were dancing as he pulled his jacket on his free arm, leaving the other over his shoulder. "You're sweet, Lionel." He followed him down the few steps, tugging his gloves on. "What have you got planned for the rest of the night?"

 

Lionel waited for the car to pull around as he donned his own gloves.  "A trip to the closest coffee shop for coffee.  Then... since you've agreed to move in with me... first we go to your apartment and pack your things, and move you into the penthouse.  Unless you'd rather not do that tonight; otherwise, I have no plans, such as they are."

 

"Mmm. Coffee." He stamped his feet and shivered, muttering under his breath about it being damned nippy. "Can I take this blasted strap off my arm now?"

 

"No, you may not."  Lionel's voice was stern.  "Not until the doctors release you."

 

"Liiionel." A whine, The Pout, and his lower lip stuck out as he gave him the most pitiful look ever. "Please?"

 

Lionel wavered.  "Dominic...."

 

A sniff, he bit his lower lip and let his chin tremble. "Please?"

 

Lionel was broken.  "All right.  All right.  God only knows... You can take it off."

 

The Pout was promptly replaced with a grin from ear to ear, reaching into his jacket, behind his shoulder, and unsnapped it. It came loose and he tugged it loose from around his waist, beaming as he stretched his elbow carefully. "Score. ..I mean!" A smile at him, and if they'd been alone... "Much better. It's fine, really! It doesn't hurt as much anymore, and see?" He shifted his arm as he tugged the rest of his thick wool duster on. "I can move it around."

 

Lionel growled darkly as he held the car door open for his lover. 

 

Another flashed grin and he stepped off the curb and he slid into the car, scooting over the cold leather and waiting for his lover to follow.

 

"You are going to be the death of my reputation," Lionel lamented, once they were ensconced in the car. 

 

"You say that like its a bad thing." As soon as he closed the door behind him he reached over and pressed a hot kiss to his mouth, not giving a rats ass if the driver was watching or not...it was Phillip. He knew of them, and was paid a pretty penny to keep quiet about it. "Coffee. Apartment. Have you ever been to my home?"

 

Lionel wound his arms around Dominic and returned the kiss eagerly.  "No, I don't think I have," he said around mouthfuls of his lover.

 

"You'll be surprised." Muffled into a cheek as he snuggled in close, trying to get warm and make up for all the touching they hadn't been able to do while sitting in the restaurant. "By the way, your kicking me under the table? So mature." He rubbed his leg and pouted. "I'll be getting you back. Don't worry."

 

Lionel shrugged.  "I am suddenly feeling a very, very intense fear running through my veins," he said dryly.  "You bring out the best--or the worst, depending on your point of view--in me."  He nuzzled Dominic's neck.  "And as long as you don't have the walls wallpapered with photographs of me, then I won't have a problem."

 

He laughed out loud into warm skin, looking up at him and cracking up all over again, giving him a shove. "You are a jerk, Lionel Luthor." He barely said it through the snickers and chuckles as Phillip pulled away from the curb and started to drive without asking. "Excuse me, I keep my Lionel shrine in my closet, right next to the rosemary and locks of virgin hair." His eyes danced as he looked up.

 

"The only shrine I want to be kept in is right here," Lionel said softly, placing his hand over Dominic's heart.  He pulled his lover close, holding him tightly to his side.  "Thank you, by the way."

 

He cuddled in close, linking their fingers as he lay his temple against Lionel's...close and tight. "For what lovely one?"

 

"For saying yes," Lionel answered, looking down at their intertwined fingers. 

 

He snorted softly, but it was only half way, because this was serious. "Of course I said yes. I want to make a life with you, Lionel...and we can't do that if I'm in one part of the state and you're in the other." He squeezed his hand hard. "Thank you for asking me."

 

Lionel caressed his lover's cheek carefully.  "I... didn't think you'd say yes so soon after... we fought.  But I wanted to ask; wanted you to be with me."  He squeezed Dominic's hand firmly.  "If you want to keep your apartment, as a place just for you... I'll understand."

 

"To tell you the truth, baby...I wouldn't have said yes if we hadn't fought." He murmured it, caressing the fingers linked with his, tugging their hands in his lap and warming the interlocked leather softly.

 

Lionel's brow crinkled.  "I don't... understand?"

 

"We've had an amazing six weeks, Lionel. Amazing. Before that, we had an amazing working relationship, and a private relationship that was both giving and trustful. But Lionel...after telling you I loved you, I was afraid I would submit to your anger like I did before, when I was just your assistant. However...fighting with you...it helped to remind that we're both just human. And though I wanted to clock you in your head with something that could shatter...I still wanted to take you to my bed." He paused. "Does that make sense? It might just be the medication talking." Another pause. "And Lionel...I'd like to keep my apartment, but for it to be...a home away from home. Like your penthouse is to you."

 

Lionel thought for a moment.  "You mean that you had to be sure that you could stand up to me as an equal lover and partner, not just someone who worked for me."

 

"Yes. Exactly." A nod.

 

Lionel nodded as well.  "I understand, both.  I don't blame you for keeping your apartment; my office is more my home than the penthouse nowadays, but... I intend for that to change."

 

He grinned and pinched his side softly as they neared a high power coffee shop that sold cups for nothing under 50 dollars. "You'll just bring your work to bed and watch me yell at the television and the bloody idiotic people on it."

 

"Yes, I will."  He leaned over and kissed Dominic gently.  "But at least it will be in our bed, in our home, together."

 

"Our home." He murmured it...feeling it work over his tongue, saying it again to feel the way it was in his mouth. "Our home."

 

"Yes... our home.  Even if it a wing of the estate, it will still be our home.  Or... if you don't want to live on the estate... I will build you a home." Then Lionel shook himself.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't realize... I'm pushing you.  I didn't mean to.  They're just... thoughts.  Things that I've been thinking of."

 

He squeezed his hand and sat up, tipping the driver without a word. "I want French decaf. Mmm." His head bobbed with a nod, and he leaned in. "Then I want to go to my home...and show you how I live. Before you start vowing your life to me." A silly grin, raised brow as he opened the car door and held it open for his love. "You'd think, wouldn't you, with my appetite that I'd be twice the man I am now." He sighed and patted his flat belly, shaking his head. "It's a damn shame."

 

"You?  Decaf?  I didn't think you did anything without caffeine," Lionel said, climbing out behind his lover.  "And no, I think you get quite the workout to burn off whatever junk you eat."

 

He snickered. "Champaign makes me tipsy. Decaf fixes it." Solid nod and he closed the door, stepping onto the sidewalk. "Lionel, can I ask you something?"

 

"Always."

 

"Its a bad choice, I know. A horrible business move. But Lionel...will we ever be able to walk down the street and hold hands?" He said it quietly, but their conversation got cut off in the busy coffee house. The slim woman recognized them immediately and took them back past the waiting crowd to a small room that was reserved for the more prosperous people in Metropolis. He nodded to one of their board members and immediately went on guard, making sure not to make any contact with his lover as they sat, despite his question.

 

Lionel studied his lover across the table from him, giving only a cursory greeting to the board member to their left, which was nothing out of the ordinary.  Lionel had never been known for his egregious nature.  "I certainly hope we can, Dominic.  I don't know for sure; I only know that I want it, and as... who I am... I have a funny way of making the things that I want to happen, happen."  He paused quietly while they placed their orders with the same woman who had shown them back, and then he turned back to his lover.  "And frankly, Dominic... bad business move or not, I don't care.  If people can't accept the fact that I now have a personal life where I didn't before, then that is most definitely... their problem."

 

"Yes. But...Lionel, you know as well as I do that the public isn't as giving as you'd hope. People will talk. There goes Peoples Sexiest Man title after five years running. You see where I'm going with this?" He crossed his arms and sighed, leaning his elbows on the table and looking down at his hands with a soft sigh and partial yawn.

 

"Do you really think I give a damn about the title of Sexiest Man?"  Lionel raised an eyebrow.  "Let someone else have it; hell, let them give it to Lex for all that I care."

 

He laughed softly, eyes dancing. "He was so mad when he came in runner up to you last year."

 

"Yes, I imagine that he was.  Odd thing, that... I wonder if it was the hair that made a difference," he thought musingly.  "I'd have thought that the general population would have found baldness more attractive."

 

"Oh, it is." He said it to his hands, trying to look innocent. "Except, Lionel, you're a damned devilishly handsome man. People see that. Baldness comes in second."

 

A vain snort.  "I need my hip-waders, Dominic."

 

He glanced up and snickered, smirking wickedly without heed at all to where they were. "Mmmm. Wading in hips."

 

Lionel smirked.  "There's only one set of hips that I want to be wading in, beloved," he said, softly enough to remain within the confines of their table.

 

"Perv." He grinned at him privately as the waitress brought their cups, then sat back in his seat and sipped the warm, spiced java with a sigh. "I think you secretly like being the sexiest man five years running."

 

Lionel lifted his cup in a quiet toast.  "Perhaps it does feed my inner vanity."  Then he grinned.  "Although it never quite made an impact on my social calendar. After all, Dominic... let's be honest.  I'm not the youth I used to be; it's somewhat flattering to still be found desirable at my age."

 

He rose a brow at him in confusion. "You're not old, Lionel."

 

Lionel sipped his coffee.  "The nurse at the hospital thought that you were my son."

 

He barely controlled the laugh, keeping his face carefully blank. "I hope you know I plan on teasing you about that for the next twenty years."

 

Lionel glared.  "Not if you value your life."

 

He grinned then, letting his amusement show. "You're only as old as you feel. You ate French fries in bed with me not but 24 hours ago, love. You're not old."

 

"Tell that to my beard," he said, pointing to the graying areas at the corner of his mouth.  He ran his fingers through his hair.  "And I'm just waiting for the grays to show up here."

 

"I remember you without a beard." He grinned at him, crossing his legs and kicking comfortably back. "That was decidedly the strangest phase you went through. Besides...the gray makes you look distinguished and damned sexy." His eyes danced. "You'll go gray, I'll go bald. We'll match! And, as my mother always says. As long as Clairol continues to make their dye, she will never be white haired."

 

Lionel shuddered.  "A phase which I hope never to repeat, quite frankly... though if..."  Lionel's train of thought ended immediately as Dominic said that.  "Ma--my son's mother used to say that," Lionel said quietly.

 

The strange way he had that had him stopping his next teasing comment, tipping his head. "Lillian? Her hair was red as fire, I don't think she'd ever had been able to find a dye to match it." He grinned, remembering as he always did, a happy smile on his face. "She was such a beautiful woman."

 

Lionel shook his head.  "Lillian would never let dye touch her hair... she ranted against the evils of it in fact."  Lionel was almost unaware that he was speaking out loud instead of merely remembering.

 

"She used to tell me she found you intensely amusing every time you tried to get near her when she had it all done and gorgeous. Like if you touched it, it would break." He smiled a little softer at the memory, looking down into his coffee.

 

"I did feel that way, sometimes.  She... she was so beautiful, she seemed like a porcelain doll that a rough man like me would shatter with a touch."  Lionel stared down into his coffee for a long moment.  "She liked you, very much."

 

He nodded, took a swallow of his coffee. "When she died...it seems foolish of me, but I felt like you lost her. In every way possible. Lex had lost all his hair, the only bit of her left. And when she was gone...she was gone. It'd be the last time we'd see her and her beautiful hair." He glanced up, and despite the audience, reached over and squeezed his lovers hand. "Lionel, I can say these things because I love you. But with her...you were a happy man."

 

"I was a happy man," Lionel admitted.  "I loved her much as I love you, and she loved me much as you do; I felt completed with her, and with you.  Which was a feeling I had not had since... Jonathan." 

 

"You, my friend, are a very lucky man." Dominic eyes met his, free fingers dragging through his short hair. "Not many people find love in their lifetime....you found three people. That just goes to show you who you are, and what you hold dear."

 

"Or just how lucky I am to have found it three times over," Lionel pointed out softly.  "Because each time... it had to come to me.  I didn't seek it out; you had to practically drag it out of me, and Lillian... Lillian had to reawaken it herself."

 

He tipped his head at that. "Lillian did? Really?"

 

Lionel nodded.  "She did.  I had cared for one other person, but... it wasn't meant to be.  By time I met Lillian... I had closed myself off."

 

"I always knew she was a strong woman." A quiet nod at him. "Where did you meet her?"

 

"She was the youngest daughter of one of my father's business acquaintances," Lionel said quietly.  "I met her at one of the many business dinners that Phillip threw, and I was drawn to her, because of her beauty and her intelligence, and she was drawn to me too, and worked hard to bring out of me what she had somehow seen without me showing."

 

"She was always a lady." He smiled at that, tipping his head to watch Lionel's expressions as they moved across his face. "Wild at heart. That's what she gave Lex. That wildness from her spirit."

 

Lionel smiled sadly.  "Yes, she did... and I think that's what I tried to break out of him all these years."

 

"You failed. Utterly. Just like she never gave it up...her son never did either." He smiled at him though, and squeezed his hand. "Coupled with your stubborn head, and Lex is quite the package. He makes grown men cry."

 

Lionel nodded.  "And part of me is glad that I failed.  I don't want to deprive Lex of the last things he has to remind him of his mother." 

 

He finished his coffee with a sigh, setting the cup down and uncrossing his legs. "That was by far the most satisfying cup of coffee I've had in a long time." He smiled and with a glance at the room that had emptied, reached over to take a vanilla latte kiss from him. "Come home with me? Maybe you can tell me what you've been trying to say for the last hour."

 

Lionel returned the kiss, and slipped his hand into Dominic's as he rose.  "I'd love to come home with you."  He put his hand on Dominic's shoulder.  "I'll tell you, Dominic... but you will have to swear to me, that you will not reveal it."

 

"Enrique's an illegal immigrant?" Question as he squeezed the fingers, not even realizing their hands had clasped as he pulled a hundred dollar bill out of HIS pocket, setting it on the table and following.

 

Lionel led the way out of the coffee shop, a soft grin on his face as he laughed, his hand still laced with Dominic's.  "No... Enrique's completely legal."

 

"Ms. Birds illegal--.." He noticed. He didn't bring attention to it...but he smiled, ignoring the people watching them without trying to watch, breathing in the cool night air and sighing. "Don't tell me Ms. Birds illegal. I love her. To bits."

 

"No, nothing that... trivial."  His hand involuntarily squeezed Dominic's tighter.  "It's... about my son."

 

Oh. This was serious. He watched him with interest, moving a little so a passing couple could get into the packed coffee house. "Do you want to wait till we get to my house? Its much more private then the street...if its as serious as you say."

 

"Yes... privacy would be a good idea."  He stood close to Dominic as they waited for the car.  "You... you may be angry with me again."

 

"Is it that serious, Lionel?" He paused to look at him.

 

Lionel nodded.  "Yes.  It is.  But... I trust you.  And I don't want to keep any other secrets from you."

 

And with those words the car came and sped them downtown. Dominic's gaze kept flickering to his lover, but not once did they let go of one another, fingers to fingers, palm to palm. They reached lower Nantucket in record time, to a fancy shamcy, older in a good way apartment building. "Here we are."

 

Lionel looked around.  "You chose a beautiful neighborhood."  He kept tight hold on not only his lover's hand, but his slightly rising panic.  He didn't know how Dominic would react to this news, and held himself tightly in check.

 

If he noticed, he didn't comment. He tipped the driver again, letting him know he wouldn't be needed until the next morning, and got out of the car. As the night progressed the air got cooler, and his arm was beginning to lock up and get tight. He didn't show his discomfort, simply pulling Lionel along as he tugged his keys from his pocket. "I liked it because of the architecture. This building has been here since the 1920's...look at how gorgeous the stucco is. The molding. They're all angels wings."

 

"Angel's wings... how appropriate," he said softly.  He followed Dominic inside, catching the keys as they fell from his lover's hand and passing them back silently.  "You're... amazing."  He squeezed his lover's hand tightly.  "You are willing to share your home with me."

 

He smiled and pulled him into the building, pausing to stick the keys in his pocket and glance at the foyer. Mailboxes all to one side, a woman guard who smiled a hello, and the feeling of the 1920's was alive in this building... down to the furniture and the creamy tile. "C'mon. Its the ninth floor...we can take the elevator. I'll even let you push the button." His eyes danced as he waved at Pamela, squeezing Lionel's fingers as they walked to the set of elevators.

 

"If you make a single 'el-le-later go down the hole' joke, I shall be moved to physical violence," Lionel teased darkly as he pushed the button on the wall.  "Simply because that ridiculous cartoon was showing in the children's hospital the day I was there reading to them does not mean I like it."

 

His smile was this side of wicked, eyes dancing. "Last time I said that you debauched me in said el-le-lator.." He murmured softly, leaning in to gently nip his lower lip.

 

Lionel kissed him desperately as the doors opened behind them, and he stepped in, pulling Dominic in with him, not breaking the kiss as the door closed.

 

Pamela clucked her tongue and sighed, watching her favorite tenant and this new man he'd been mewling over for the last three months. Lord, she was too old for this. She smiled despite it, and as was her way, clicked the cameras in the elevator off for a minute to give them their privacy.

 

"Oh.." He groaned, kissing back just as fiercely. Warm top lip...heavy lower lip, the familiar rasp of cozy beard against his cheeks. The taste of vanilla latte and expensive food and HIM, and it was like a drug.

 

Lionel's hands slid to the small of Dominic's back, pressing him close as his tongue pressed into his lover's mouth, swirling and inhaling and possessing, not caring about anything but the man in his arms, and hoping that what he told Dominic tonight wouldn't send him running.  "I love you, Dominic," Lionel murmured into his lover's mouth, insinuating himself between his lover's legs.

 

He murmured something about infamous elevators and he bit the lower lip hard but not bad, licking it gently a moment later before he leaned down and sucked the spot right under his jaw, licking and tasting...mming as he spread his legs and let him in close. "Love you, hip wader."

 

Lionel slid his hands down to Dominic's hips and slid them up his leg until Dominic was situated against him, thighs clasping Lionel's legs as their groins pressed together, as did their chests and mouths. 

 

He groaned something quietly, smiling huskily as he rocked up into the offered valley of his thighs. He was shorter, but thankfully not by much, and he moved easily, grunting with the feeling. "Knew you were." He rubbed his hips in slow circles against his lovers, reaching in to nibble at an offered ear.

 

The elevator chimed softly as the doors open, and Lionel reluctantly released his lover.  "I hope your apartment is close."

 

He let go with a wet, slick sound, grinning at him as he took his hand. "Down the hall." He let him down a thick maroon runner, the walls half wood and half pale wallpaper with angels on them. It was classy, very, very classy. He stopped at a door...163. He slid the key into the door with his sore arm, glancing at Lionel a moment before unlocking it and pushing the door open.

 

Lionel followed Dominic into the spacious apartment.  "It's beautiful," he said, looking around quietly.  It was impeccably kept, which did not surprise him as Dominic was too much of a neat freak to let it be otherwise.  "Dominic... I think we're going to need a drink for this." 

 

It was gorgeous. No other word for it. Just...gorgeous. The first thing you saw upon entering was a mile of glass windows, all overlooking the city, and the bay. Deeply colored leather furniture, creamy tables and happy, bright colored throw pillows. The kitchen, an open space, was off to the left hand side, a huge kitchen counter breaking the living room and kitchen into two separate rooms. Their were rugs everywhere, paintings by John Waterhouse as he loved the mans art hanging everywhere. But most prominent...photographs of his family. Artwork his nephews and nieces had done magnetited on the stainless steel fridge. A horribly ugly, incredibly childish sculpture of a flower someone had done sitting in the middle of that kitchen island, steel and wooden stools in front of it. He mixed his personal life, his taste, and his love for life perfectly, and he tossed his keys on a small hall table as he struggled out of his coat. "It's home." He hung his coat up on a set of small hooks behind the front door, watching his lovers expression with the barest hint of trepidation. "What would you like? I've got a bunch of everything. Except milk, as its probably bad by now."

 

"Alcoholic.  Strong.  And a lot of it."  Lionel inspected the family pictures in the living room, sliding his fingers over younger photographs of Dominic where his lover was smiling, laughing and happy with other members of his family, imprinting those images on his mind instead of the horrible images of the other photographs.

 

He slid his dinner jacket off as well, rolling up the sleeves comfortably before dipping his hands under the faucet in the kitchen, washing his hands a moment before drying them with a paper towel. He opened the fridge, glancing in to inspect what he had and what he needed to buy...then remembered quite suddenly he wouldn't need to, because, yes, moving in with Lionel. Heee. "Ah...lets see. I've got cognac, brandy, some vodka. Oh, and wine. Any preference?"

 

"Brandy... brandy sounds perfect."  He continued down the row of photographs, his eyes seeking out his lover each time, watching him age with his family.

 

He poured a round glass of it, walking over to his love with a smile as he inspected the photo's with the same concentration he inspected stock reports with. "My family. We're quite boisterous, aren't we?" He offered the glass, sipping from his own. "This...this is Eleanor." He pointed to a tiny, pixie faced child, with wild blond hair and huge blue eyes. "She's my queen, my goddess. She's also the creator of the art you see in my kitchen." He mimicked the tiny voice. "”Uncle Ommie, put my pi’tures on your friiiidge!" Uncle Ommie is a sucker." He grinned.

 

"I think you've got a wonderful family."  Lionel smiled.  "Thankfully Lex never presented things to be tacked onto the refrigerator, although..." and Lionel blushed.  "I do admit to secretly taking a few of his pieces and hanging them on the wall of my office at home."

 

He laughed quietly, patting his arm. "I know. Kids are....priceless. And Christ if they know how to work you but good." He offered his hand. "You need to talk to me, Lionel. What's going on?"

 

"I think it's a universal trait of all adults to be suckers to any child under the age of ten."  Lionel swirled the brandy in his glass before downing a huge gulp of it and taking his lover's hand.  "There... there is something that you should know.  About my son.  But... first... there's more history that you should know.  About me."

 

"You can tell me." He nodded, leading him through the short hallway off the living room and kitchen, back through an airy hallway...passed a comfortably cluttered office, to a bedroom done in all light colors. Whites, beiges, creamy shades against just as pale furniture. And yet, somehow, it was still painfully masculine, with shapely artwork and the lack of flowers giving it that male lack of touch. He set his glass, and Lionel's, down on the desk beside them and he slowly began to unbutton his lovers shirt...not in the rushed, impassioned way, but the way he did to make Lionel comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. "Talk to me."

 

Lionel took a deep breath, trying to calm himself with his lover's presence.  "After... after Jonathan, I didn't allow anyone to grow close to me.  I liked people well enough, but I didn't dare to let anyone in.  Until I met a very beautiful, very determined and caring woman.  She wasn't exactly part of the Luther's social circle, but she was in her own way a very formidable person to deal with, and I slowly grew to care for her.  I didn't love her; I don't think I was capable of loving her at the time, though she deserved it.  We had a brief relationship; two and half months before she started classes at the university, and met her husband.  She married, and found out a few days after the wedding... that she was carrying a child."

 

Lionel brought his hands to grip Dominic's hands tightly.  "My child."

 

His eyes went wide. Alright...definitely not what he was expecting, but he held on to Lionel's hands anyway, squeezing them with the revelation. This....yes, jealous stab in his gut, but it was a woman, and this was more serious then just a sexual relationship. This had a baby involved. "I...." Don't have any clue what to say? "Wow. Do you...what happened?"

 

"When she realized, she came to me first, and then to her husband.  By the time she came back to me, I had met Lillian, and she had agreed to be my wife.  I explained the situation to Lillian, and... when my lover came back, Lillian and I agreed to take my child and raise it as our own.  When the child was born... he was given to us, and we raised Lex as our child."

 

The breath whooshed out of him, and he had to sit down. He did so, on the edge of the bed, swallowing hard as his eyes flickered a bit...then shut tightly. "Lex wasn't Lillian's son?"

 

"Not by blood, no.  But she loved him more because of it."  Lionel remained standing, but moved close to his lover.

 

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" He looked up at him, eyebrows creased as he tried to absorb it, this....Christ. Lex? Not his mothers son? "Does he know? Does Lex know?"

 

"No.  Lex doesn't know.  And he can never know.  No one knows, Dominic.  No one knows except for the four of us... and you now.  But you don't know everything... just... give me time.  Lillian and I, and my lover and her husband.  We are the only four who know, and it's a secret that must go to our graves."  He knelt before his lover, elbows resting on Dominic's knees.  "Please swear to me, beloved... swear that it will die with you."

 

"I...." Another whoosh of air as he tried to catch his breath. "God, of course. Yes. I'd never tell anyone. Lionel...you can never tell him. Lex...he'd be destroyed. He'd feel motherless, even more so then he is." He swallowed, looking at him with wide eyes. "I swear."

 

"I don't ever intend for my son to know this, Dominic.  I wouldn't rip that away from him."  He wrapped his arms around Dominic's waist.  "His mother... his mother is... Martha Kent."

 

I... huh? What? Whoa. Wait. Huh? What? "What? Wait...go back. What? His mother is...but you and Jonathan...I..." He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed. "After you broke up with Jonathan, you met Martha, had a fling with her...and she, through some twist of fate, married Jonathan, but was pregnant with your child? And he didn't hunt you down and tear your eyeballs out? And Lillian? How old was Lex when he came to you? Did you adopt him? She loved him so much, I always thought....And he and Clark...god."

 

"Martha Kent--Clark, when I knew her, Martha Clark--was born to a well to do family in Metropolis," Lionel explained quietly.  "It was she that I met before Lillian, and when she met Jonathan at the university... I knew she was the woman who would make him happy.  I let her go, because I knew I could not love her."  Lionel massaged his temples.  "It wasn't a twist of fate, Dominic.  I sent her to him.  I didn't love her as she should have been loved, and Jonathan could.  I loved Lillian, and when Martha came to me with our child... I could not turn her down.  Jonathan... was not happy with things, but put the child's welfare and his wife's welfare before his own anger and hate of me and allowed Lex to be my son."

 

"Lionel..." He looked up at him with a shake of his head. "This is unbelievable. That's why Martha loves Lex so much...why she wants him to be with Clark." ...and with a startling sort of clarity, he murmured, "Because Clark's not human."

 

"Lex was only a few weeks old when he came to us; he knew no other parents.  And no... we didn't adopt him.  Certificates were forged, and a pregnancy faked for my wife, who conveniently went abroad for several months, and returned with a child."

 

Then Lionel paused.  "Clark... isn't human?  What are you talking about?"

 

He pictured teeny baby Lex, and alright, dweeb, don't even grin, right now is not the time for it. "She loved you so much... and she loved Lex like he was hers. It... its just an amazement to me." He rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Exactly what I said. That, or they’re feeding him something extra special on that farm. Lionel...just now, I remembered, while you were talking. Roger was about to shoot me in the head...he had the bomb strapped to his chest. And suddenly...Clark was right there, and I saw him twist the shot gun like silly putty under his hands. He stopped the bullet before it hit me." He blinked....because yeah, he sounded nuts. "I'm not insane. Roger said something similar to me. "He doesn't deserve for Lex to be his son". I couldn't remember, but now I do. Lionel, I saw it with my own eyes."

 

Lionel blinked, nearly opened his mouth to dispute his lover, and then something clicked into place for him.  "Lex knows. About Clark."

 

"How do you know?" He glanced up at him with confusion…then clarity once more. "Lionel, it fits. He saved Lex's life I don't know how many times, he dragged me from that building after it exploded, Lex hit him with his car. Excuses, but it just...fits."

 

"Because if he didn't know, then he wouldn't have been fighting so hard to protect Clark and his family from me.  It's why he doesn't want to leave Smallville, why he refused me months ago and every time since."

 

"Because he knows Clarks...whatever he is." A heavy sigh and he rubbed his head. "This is like a soap opera. Except theirs no cheesily delivered lines and no twin brothers." A pause, and he shot his gaze up. "No twin brothers, right?"

 

"None that I am aware of," Lionel said, meeting Dominic's gaze.  "I can't... I won't.  This is another secret we have to protect.  I owe Clark your life; this is the least that I can do to repay him.  But... we will have to talk to Lex as soon as we get back to Smallville; anything that has yet to be covered must be covered now."  He shook his head.  "I should have realized something was special about the boy when they adopted him through my facility."

 

"Didn't you close it a few months afterwards?" His eyebrows creased at him, still unsure of how to take all of this...betrayed Lionel didn't tell him, relief and a sort of pride that he did...glad to share the knowledge he'd come by, but not sure of how to deal with that knowledge.

 

"Yes, I did.  I closed it as soon as their papers were legally finalized.  I didn't want to risk the shady circumstances coming to light, so I shut down the facility and sealed the records."

 

"Lionel...in the coming weeks, make sure those records are still sealed, as are Lex's." He stopped a moment...grasping his lovers hands between his. "Why did you tell me, Lionel?"

 

Lionel looked down at their clasped hands, and then back up at his lover.  "Because I found out the hard way just how dangerous and damaging secrets can be.  And I couldn't risk it."

 

He bit his lip hard and leaned in, lacing his fingers around Lionel's neck to tug him in for a tight hug. "Lionel...thank you. God...just that you trust me is enough. Thank you."

 

Lionel wrapped his arms tightly around Dominic, his face pressing tightly into his neck.  "Of course I trust you, Dominic.  I love you; this is part of my life, and I want you to share this with me." Lionel tightened his arms.  "You're not angry with me?"

 

"Not angry." Firm nod. "Surprised...shocked. ...Shocked some more. I never would have thought that Lex..." He shook his head again, bringing him in closer to cuddle as he lay back against the soft pillows and sheets of what home was to him. "Its just…wow."

 

Lionel lay quietly next to his lover, arms still wound tightly around him.  "I was afraid you would be angry with me.  Shocked I can understand."  He stroked his lover's back gently.  "I am glad you're not angry."

 

"No, lovely one. Just very, very shocked. I would have never, in a million years, guessed." It got quiet for a bit as he shifted, spooning his back to Lionel's chest. "God gave you a great gift in him."

 

"Yes... He did."  Lionel slid his arms around Dominic's waist.  "One that... I'm afraid I abused."  He kissed the back of Dominic's neck.  "But I intend to rectify that mistake.  Tomorrow, beloved... remind me to find somewhere in this city that sells caramel apples."

 

"We'll find it...don't worry." He yawned softly, curling in closer. "Lionel?"

 

Lionel pressed his face into Dominic's neck, holding him close.  "Yes, love?"

 

"I dreamt of this in this bed so many times. Of what...what we're doing right now." He made the confession quietly, looking out the huge glass window at the night sky.

 

Lionel closed his eyes for a moment, saying nothing as he squeezed his lover tightly to him.  "What else did you dream about?" he finally asked quietly.  "And... thank you for telling me that... it makes me feel so... good to be able to make your dreams come true."

 

"I...just...I would think of you hot and naked. Mine. But the dreams where we did nothing but kiss, or hold each other, or spill all our darkest secrets, or eat in bed and have fantastic love making... those were my favorites. Always. Just you...touching me and holding me." He swallowed a little at the confession, shifting so he could roll and face his lover. "Just like this. Sometimes I'd imagine you in the morning light, your face and body...here in my bed."

 

Lionel's grip tightened.  "We... I had... dreams.  Thoughts.  Wishes sometimes myself.  Most were... foolish things.  Things I could have had from you if I'd demanded, but nothing I'd have thought you'd ever given freely."  He squeezed Dominic's waist.  "That you'd welcome me into your home... that you'd sit beside me somewhere and not worry about if I was going to snarl or not, and just be yourself with me."

 

He smiled at that, pushing the long locks of hair out of the way so he could touch his lips to his lovers. "Here I am. Myself. Sitting beside you, knowing you cant growl at me and mean it." He paused a moment. "You thought of me, Lionel?"

 

A small, quiet nod.  "I did.  And when I would... ask you to be Lex... it was a test of a kind, to see if it would drive you away or not, and when it didn't... I almost felt safe enough.  Finally... I decided to take a chance that you wouldn't hurt me."

 

"Can I ask you about that?" He tipped his head a little to look at him, gently stroking his hair. "Why Lex? You can barely stand being in the same room with him. Was it just a test...or is there more?"

 

A heavy sigh.  "There's more, but it's very... twisted."  He leaned into Dominic's comforting caresses.  "I want Lex to love me."

 

"Its not twisted. Lionel...you've been through more then you should have ever had to, alone." He leaned in and pressed his mouth against Lionel's. "Lex already loves you, and you know that."

 

"I do now.  I didn't then," he pointed out softly.  He returned the gentle kiss of his lover.  "When you didn't condemn me or leave, I realized that perhaps you would be the one I could love, and you are."

 

"Lionel?" He murmured it softly, tugging him in closer, linking their legs and it must have looked ridiculous, two business men, still partially in their suits, clinging to one another like they were drowning...but to him, here, now, it was amazing. Just...amazing.

 

"Yes?"  The response was quiet as Lionel clung tightly to his lover, the warmth of his body welcoming and soothing.

 

"What do you want for Christmas?" Quietly into his cheek as he kissed, still stroking the hair with his fingers but now he looped it in-between, letting the silk slide through the digits, and kissed him softly.

 

A soft laugh as he wrapped himself around his lover.  "I have everything I want, right here."

 

He smiled softly. "Well duh. I mean, what else do you want? And, you know, don't make it a small nation because I've got nice digs, but this is as nice as it digs."

 

Lionel stopped and considered.  "I've never had to do this before; is there some sort of protocol?"

 

"Lionel? When was the last time you got a Christmas present?" He got up on an elbow to look down at him. "Theirs no protocol...just...tell me.” He grinned. "And if it ends in "island", then don't expect to get it.”

 

"The last time I got a Christmas present?"  He stopped and thought.  "Lex... Lex gave me one the year of the meteor shower.  I hadn't expected it, but... it was waiting for me under the tree, addressed in his handwriting, and he'd wrapped it himself.  A small wooden box, no larger than my hand... and inside it was hair.  His hair, a lock that he had found and put away, I suppose, and a piece of his mother's... and a piece of mine, though to this day I don't know how he got it.  They were all three braided together."  He closed his eyes.  "The box is still in my dresser."

 

He'd promised he wouldn't get teary eyed, but...dammit. "Twelve years." He nodded, sat up, crossed his legs Indian style and rubbed his hands. "Alright. So its gotta be good. Chocolate wont suffice here." He hmmed dramatically.

 

Lionel pulled himself up to look at his lover.  "I don't need presents to know that you love me, Dominic."

 

"No, but they're a hell of a lot of fun." He paused a moment, as if suddenly realizing something. "You know what? I've got it."

 

"Am I allowed to ask what it is, exactly, that you've got?"

 

"C'mere." He rolled off the bed...tugged him over to the terrace doors of his bedroom.

 

Lionel followed, wondering what Dominic had in store for him.  "All right."  He gave his lover a smile as he followed, catching Dominic's hand in his.

 

He squeezed warmly, opening the doors...dammit, it was cold. He didn't mind, not really, just tugging him over to a slim telescope that was bolted into the ground. "Look inside."

 

"A telescope?"  Lionel looked through the telescope, admiring the powerful view of the stars.  They seemed to almost dance in front of his eyes as he looked through the telescope, and he nearly raised his arm to reach out and touch them.  "They're beautiful."

 

He leaned down with him, watching his face as he spoke. "Count from the left. Six over, and then down one." And while he spoke, he walked back to his bedroom, returning a moment later with a sheaf of papers.

 

Lionel looked back in, and counted as he'd been told, ending up on a particularly bright star with a bluish sheen.  "It's brighter than the others."

 

Slim fingers through the long hair...down to touch his neck, then slide down his back, warming him softly as he leaned in close, murmuring into his ear. "It's your star."

 

"My.... star?"  Lionel was dumbfounded.  "What do you mean, my star?"

 

He offered him the sheets of paper in his hand, where scrolled at the top in a beautiful label and font said, 'The National Star Conservatory'. "It's your star. 35bsouth west, 58gnorth, are the exact coordinates. Our ages." He watched his face for reaction, hoping against hope he hadn't been a huge dork about this, just swallowing and watching.

 

" 'O no, it is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken; it is the star to every wan'dring bark, who's worth's unknown,' " Lionel quoted softly.  "Dominic... I... no one has ever done anything like this for me.  Ever."  He ran his fingers over the scrollwork at the top of the page that his lover held out to him.  "This... to know that you believe that I am worth this... it humbles me."  He turned to face his lover, and his eyes shone with everything he couldn't find the words to express.

 

He reached foreword and touched his face with the back of his knuckles, skimming that warm cheek as gently as if it were the first time. "You are worth more then a single star. Then all the stars in the night...Lionel, you guide me, you care for me. You love without prejudice, with so much understanding." He swallowed hard and looked down at the papers. "I was going to save it...but after the last few days...I needed to show you what you mean to me."

 

Lionel wrapped his arms around Dominic's waist, sliding gently to his knees in front of his lover and resting his face against Dominic's thigh.  "I love you, Dominic... I don't know how or why you love me; it's enough that you do, and I promise you now, under this star that we share, that I will always love you and keep you close to me."

 

The tears slipped. Two, right down his cheeks, and not in sadness. God, no. Not in sadness. "I love you, too. So much. I love you so much."

 

Lionel felt one of the tears splash onto his bare shoulder, and he looked up to see his lover crying.  "Don't cry, Dominic, please... don't ever cry because of me."

 

He laughed at that, quietly, sliding down to his knees to cup his face. "You make me so happy."

 

"Not nearly as happy as you make me," Lionel said softly, firmly.  "It's just... impossible.  I feel so... alive around you."  He raised his hands to wipe Dominic's cheeks clean. 

 

He pulled him in and hugged him, there on their freezing terrace, as it began to snow...and with it, with this embrace, of lovers and friends, business partners and life mates... something started. Something neither of them would ever be able to control again. Their destinies were entwined, for better or worse, for sickness and for health. No priest needed to say so to make it the truth. He caught the palm as it slid over his face, kissing it softly, holding the fingers to his skin and swallowing hard. "You always will. I'll always be here for you."

  

-fin-

 

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