The Memoirs

Lex had been burdened down with pretzels, orange soda, and dog kibble.

 

Which really, was only fair.  Because Clark?  Had his hands full with enthusiastic puppy, and Lex would rather have been a pack mule for the rest of his life than try to keep Samson out of the nooks and crannies on the long staircase.  "We're taking this dog to PetSmart in Metropolis as soon as humanely possible and buying a leash," Lex grumbled.

 

He juggled the bottles and bags in his arms as he pulled out the keycard and swiped it through the lock.  He keyed in the security code, and then palm printed himself into the lab.  He held the metal door open with his foot, and then let it clang shut and lock behind Clark.

 

The lab had been cleaned since the last time they were down here.  The empty animal cages had been moved to the closet, and Lex looked longingly at the closed door and then back at Samson. 

 

The vault door had been replaced with a titanium-over-lead state of the art vacuseal door, and the walls inside had had lead plates installed in them.  Behind the door were the chunks of green and red meteor rock that he'd confiscated from Clark, the red meteor rock vials that Hamilton had given him, and several other chunks of green rock that he'd come across.  They were sealed safely and could only be opened by Lex himself.  Not even Clark could enter the vault.

 

The counter stretched around the walls, stainless steel shining brightly in the light that came from the overhead fluorescent bulbs, and stools lined in front of the counters.  The biohazard shower was still in the corner, the immersion tub was sitting against the back wall, and the new electron microscope had been installed, right beside the cathode ray tube.  He looked back at his lover.  "Particle accelerator's being moved here in a couple of weeks, and the cyclotron's coming the week after that."

 

Clarks little giggly puppy was trying his best to get out of his arms, but Clark was busily scanning for dangers that little babies could get into. There wasn’t immediate danger, so Clark let him down and got a good look around. A few things had changed since he'd last been down, but he still smiled and said with a heavy, mock sigh. "Look. That’s where my hand came off. And there! That’s where you pushed my skin flap to kiss me." He covered his mouth with a hand, mockly sniffled. "Oh, Lex. The memories."

 

This was a whole new cold white place.  And it was BETTER.  It didn't have all the people smells, which meant this was a new place for people and dogs and the first thing he did was raise his leg in the far corner and started to mark his new territory.

 

Lex rolled his eyes, and walked over to kiss his lover again, softly.  "You, dear... have a very odd definition of memories."  Then he caught sight of the dog.  "And your dog is pissing on my dissection table."

 

"Its just a little. Be happy I’m not the one peeing." Clark smiled innocently, kissing him right back and glancing around as he walked in with the basket. "You’ve changed stuff... it looks good." He grinned over his shoulder. "It just needs a big bed, and I’m sure you could live here no sweat." Clark set the basket on the large counter, sighing softly as he turned to look at his love and raise his hands. "What’s the what? What should I do? Or! Oh! You can tell me what we're going to do, I’m curious."

 

Lex boosted himself up on the nearest stool.  "Well, that depends on you, Clark.  What do you want to know first, and what you want to know the most is where we'll start."

 

"My insides." Clark nodded without hesitation, slipping into the seat next to his lover. His feet, bare but for socks, dangled from the stool haphazardly, palms on the seat itself between his legs. He hooked his feet over the lowest rungs and leaned forward, moving about like he did when he was nervous. The yellow t-shirt brought out the tan in his cheeks, though how the hell he managed to have a tan in the middle of the winter were just good genes or his permanent coloring, and he shifted a little bit as he tipped his head. "I want to see what I look like inside.  What’s there. What does what."

 

"Mmm.  Okay.  We'll start with ultrasound, then x-ray, then cathode imaging."  Between the three, we should get a good idea of what you look like inside.  If we're lucky, since your outer anatomic structure is roughly equivalent to that of humans, your inside anatomy will be as well, but we won't know until we've taken a look."  He rubbed his hands together.  "Okay.  The first thing I need you to do is strip, and then up on the dissection table."

 

A blink. A raised brow. "Lex, was that a come on?"

 

Lex snickered.  "No, it's an actual request.  Besides the fact that I love to see you naked, the ultrasound won't work through your clothes.  Think of a pregnant woman, Clark.  Her belly has to be bare.  Since we're doing all of you, you have to strip.  Then, I'll rub you down with conductor jelly, and start stroking you with the probe."

 

"Okay, that was a come on. Wicked man, with your jellies and probes." Oh, but Clark snickered wickedly and climbed to his feet, pulling his t-shirt up over his head. He set it on the counter with the basket, unbuttoning his jeans too. He wriggled and squirmed out of them, pulling them off his legs, plus socks, and his nice and clean briefs underneath it all. "Alright. Naked. Where to?"

 

"The table, here."  He patted the stainless steel dissection table who's leg Samson had just sprayed.  "Up on the table."

 

"You know, to your credit, I’m not freaked out." Clark climbed up on the table, yelping at the cold metal, and slowly lay back, the cold not fazing him so much as shocking. He squirmed, shifted, and didn’t know what to do with his hands, so set them on his belly. There was total, hundred perfect trust, and he shifted again, feeling like a huge dork.

 

Lex's hands moved Clark's to the side of the table.  "Hold onto the side, if that makes it easier; just keep them off your torso," he explained quietly.  "We don't want them in the way of the picture."  He leaned over and kissed Clark gently.  "I'm... I'm shocked, really, that you're not freaking out; I don't know that I wouldn't be losing my mind if I were in the same place.  The trust you have in me... I swear to you, I won't break it."

 

"Its cool." Clark shrugged it off, as if it weren’t a big deal, and grinned up at him as he held onto the sides of the table and kissed him back. "I’m alright. A little, you know, chilled. All your specimens must hate laying here, its like a slab of ice. Thank God I’m not like your other specimens." He wrinkled his nose. "Scales would be kind of gross. Look! I’m babbling." He quieted, squirming, and it was more excitement then fear. ..Alright, maybe a lot of fear too, but that didn’t really account to much.

 

And of course Samson picks that moment to make himself known.  WHIIIINE 

 

His little paws scratched at the metal leg, whimpering to get up to the Clark.  "Arro?"

 

"Its okay, Samson." Clark soothed softly, speaking to him now, gently, to get him to calm. "Its alright, baby, I’m right here. See?" He wriggled his fingers out from the table.

 

He tried to jump.  But he couldn't get up!  And this wasn't RIGHT!  whiiiiiine  He whimpered, and gave sad little cries as he cowered on the floor.

 

Lex sighed, and put down the rubber gloves and the jelly, and he picked the puppy up and sat him on the table at Clark's thigh.  "There you go.  But please... don't piss on Clark.  And stay."

 

Right, whatever.  "ARF!"  He was cool.  He was up with The Clark.

 

"Sammy! Good job, baby, stay right where you are... Lex? He's going to lick the jelly off. He's going to get sick! Why did you put him up here?" Clark glared, but he was rubbing Samson’s little paw with his fingertips.

 

"Because I can't work with a crying dog under my feet," Lex said gently.  "And he won't eat the jelly; watch."  He dipped his finger into a glop, and held it out to Samson.

 

The Lex was offering him a treat!  Way COOL!  He sniffed at it, and then made a bad face.  Bad stuff!  he didn't like that!  He sneezed once, to get the smell out of his nose, and turned his back on the Lex, raising his tail and showing the Lex his butt.

 

Clark. Nearly. Fell. Off. The. TABLE.

 

He burst out laughing, whooping as Samson turned his butt on Lex's hand, and picked the dog up, giving him a big smooch on the head. "Yes! That’s my baby! Good job, you never accept fingers with glops of lube baby! Good for you, good Samson, that’s my baby!" Clark gave him a big hug, still laughing, and set Samson at his side before being the good patient. "Shouldn’t you be wearing a white coat?"

 

"Only if I'm handling toxic chemicals; otherwise they're too binding and restrictive." 

 

YES!  Attention!  Samson wagged his puppy tail, his butt shaking as hard as he was wagging, and he snuggled up to the Clark's leg.  Okay, yeah.  He was a good Samson.  He could deal.

 

Lex wiped the small fingerful of jelly off on a nearby towel, and then snapped on his rubber gloves.  "Ready, Clark?"

 

"I’m ready. Ready as I'll ever be." He leaned back, closed his eyes...then snapped them open. "If I get a hard on, don’t you dare laugh."

 

"I'm a man of science, Clark."

 

"You’re also greasing me up like a slip n' slide."

 

"In the name of science," Lex reminded as his hands slid easily over Clark's chest, making sure the tan skin was coated in a thin layer of jelly.

 

"Muh." Clark murmured, closing his eyes. The jelly was cold but good against his skin and he sighed, keeping his eyes closed as he shifted. Sure, the cold surface under him wasn’t the sexiest of things, but he was going to be seventeen in three days. He was perpetually horny, and the thought made him chuckle.

 

Lex's hands moved lower, skimming over nipples and unable to resist giving them a greasy tweak as he rubbed over his abdomen and belly.  "Nice six-pack you've got there, Clark."

 

"Nice sexy fingers you got there, Lex." Yeah, his breath had caught when his lover had skimmed over his nipples...and now, belly, and he felt himself filling, to his mortification.

 

Alright, Clark-Brain. Think. Old lady titties. Gravel. Courtney Love. Samson’s poop. Come on. Be good to me for once, will you?

 

The image of his parents going at it had his brain refilling with blood.

 

Lex's brain snagged several images floating through their link and tried to bury his snicker.  "Okay."  Lex raised his voice.  "Begin voice-activated recording system."  A click and a whir in the ceiling and Lex nodded to himself.  "Subject is named Clark Kent.  Clark is an adult male, seventeen years of age, six feet, four inches tall, weighing--" Lex consulted the scale at the foot of the table "--270 pounds, give or take five pounds for the dog currently sitting on his lap."  A brief smile.  "Beginning ultrasound procedure now, insert timestamp for transcription purposes."  He dragged the machine over, and turned it on.  He started at Clark's throat, and waited for the image to appear.  "We're starting at the top of the thoracic cavity; heartbeat is a three-pulse rhythm with approximately 2 seconds between beats.  Adam's apple is present, and there appears to be no differentiations in the throat area."

 

"Two hundred and seventy? Damn." He was terrified. Yep. His heart began to push blood and his throat that Lex was currently looking at swallowed hard. Alright. This was Lex, Clark. Lex. Lex, who would never hurt him.

 

Alright. That made him feel better... maybe it was just the terror of actually being almost three hundred pounds. Weird, man.

 

The thought made him grin, and his heart slowed again as he breathed softly, gazing at his lover as he consulted the machine and spoke. "Throat’s the same? I know I’ve got one of those dangly things, but that’s all I knew. Lex... how are we so alike?  Lex... how do I not squish you?"

 

Lex stopped for a minute, and stroked the back of his hand over Clark's forehead.  "I don't know.  Usually divergent evolution theories would prevent your culture from producing a humanoid carriage, much less one as anatomically similar to Terrans as you are."  He kissed Clark's mouth gently.  "But, I also believe the universe does what it wants to, and I believe that you are here, and like us, and that's all I know."  Then a grin.  "The dangling thing is called a uvula."

 

"Uvula, dangling thing, its all the same." He grinned, cheerfully. "I’m glad we have the same throats. Its kind of comforting. Somehow. You know?" He kissed right back but didn’t move much, so the machine wouldn’t get messed up. "What else? Come on, Dr. Lex, don’t get all detaily on me. I want to know if I have, like, tiny lungs or things growing inside or something."

 

"Sorry, but you've awoken the inner geek."  Lex put the probe back on Clark's chest.  "Following the sternum down; ultrasound verified the tactile assumption of a breastbone as well as what appears to be a shortened ribcage; exploration of the right and left thoracic column to follow."

 

"Hear him, Samson?" Clark looked at his pup. "Isn’t he the total sexy? I’m telling you, man, when he starts doing this doctor speak my limbs get all aquiver."

 

"Brwow!"  Little yip of pleasure as he wagged his butt at the Clark.  The Clark was warm, and quiet, and still, and that meant puppy sleep.

 

Lex shook his head and kept moving down, glaring indulgently at his lover.  "Following the breastbone to it's terminal point, ultrasound shows the presence of a diaphragm or diaphragm like division, and we're going into the lower thoracic and upper abdominal cavity now."  He was silent for a long moment as he studied the readout on the screen.  "Side and back views needed to confirm this, but Clark appears to have a second stomach behind the first, which would possibly explain the shortened rib cage."

 

Oh, Clark burst out laughing.

 

Lex picked up the probe and glared.  "What do you find so amusing?"  He knew.  Two stomachs.  Which explained a lot.

 

He just laughed, cracking up and ruining the read out on the ultra sound as he whooped, laughing until tears pricked his eyes and they fell down his face. He laughed himself hoarse, and finally when he was able to contain himself, he squeeked, "My m-mom always said I ate like t-two people!" Oh, God, and he was laughing all over again and holding his stomach.

 

S.

 

At the first laugh, Samson shot up in the air, his little claws scrabbling for purchase on the stainless steel table.  A puppy snarl at The Clark for ruining Samson's nap.

 

Oh, God, he laughed harder, petting his little baby and giving him a big smile to sate him again, still chuckling and coughing s he cleared his throat. "Okay. Sorry. I totally won't laugh anymore." He giggled, coughing again, straightening, and biting his lip. "Mom'll die. I always told her I ate like two people, but noooo."

 

"Lay back down," Lex said, hands on his hips.  "Good God, the software's going to have a hell of a time transcribing this."  He waited until Clark was settled, and put the probe back on his lover's skin.  "Side view confirms the possible second stomach, I expect a back view to completely verify the findings."  He slid it over.  "Other anatomy seems normal; appendix extant and normal, colon and intestines extant and apparently normal."

 

"Are you telling me that besides two stomachs, I’m the same as you?" A sigh. "I knew I should have gotten an x-ray when Summers tossed me across the school year, but nooo. Dad said no, and my ribs were all smushed."

 

"So far, that appears to be the case."  He slid his hand over Clark's ribs.  "I can't wait to see how those fractures healed."

 

Clark took it as it was… little boy excitement. He grinned, crookedly, and tried not to move too much as Lex did his investigation. He looked down, watching as Lex moved the probe over his belly and stomach, blinking at him with a raised brow. "Did you even have to ask about my colon?"

 

"Well, yes.  I did."  Lex grinned with glee.  "I have to be thorough."  He moved back up.  "Starting with upper right thoracic quadrant.  Verified through closer inspection that the ribcage of the subject is indeed shorter by five ribs, as he has only seven instead of twelve.  Lungs appear to be larger than usual, by approximately three to four inches.  Expect a comparative printout to help define the size differential and expect it to drop to no more than two and a half."

 

"Seven ribs? That’s probably why I can suck my own cock." Clark deadpanned, smiling sweetly and peering at the little monitor that was all gobledy gook to him. "Why would my lungs be bigger then normal?" He tipped his head, watching Lex work, and his heart caught as he smiled, eyes dancing at his lover as he did his science thing.

 

Lex shook his head.  "Autofellation would have nothing to do with your rib count and everything to do with the fluidity and flexibility of your spine and neck muscles," Lex corrected absently as he studied.  "There appears to be, due to the shortness of the rib cage, additional inflation space for the lung.  There's also a shadow behind the lung and breastbone; I expect the shadow to persist during the left thoracic examination and upon a back view, I would guess the shadow turns out to be another organ."

 

"Cool." And yeah, it was. He was living a comic book dream. Sure, it scared the living fuck out of him, and creeped him out on every level possible, and gave him a sinking feeling as to how different he really was than everyone else... but he was a cheerful guy. So he smiled, looked at his lover crookedly, and spoke. "Want to go see a movie this weekend?"

 

"I'd love to." Lex continued to study the shadow behind Clark's lung, trying to get a better angle on it.  "What do you want to go and see?  Gangs of New York?  The Two Towers?" 

 

"Do you have to ask? Have you not seen my collection of Tolkien novels?" A cluck of his tongue. "I’m a sci-fi nerd, you should know that by now. And hey, do you want me to turn on my side?"

 

"The Two Towers it is.  I hear Legolas does this nice trick with a horse."  He was still studying.  "No, not yet.  Not until I've done your other side.  Then I'll send you into the shower to wash off, and I'll grease up your back and get a rear view."

 

"Three come ons in twenty minutes. I’m getting a stack." But he said it softly, watching him work and swallowing softly. "I get scared sometimes. Of how different I am. That’s okay though, right? I mean… its not like, emasculating?"

 

Lex put down the probe at that, and hoisted himself up to sit on the table beside Clark.  "You're not that different from us, Clark.  And you're the same in the ways that count, and better in most."  He stroked his cheek again, and smiled.  "It's not emasculating at all to be afraid."

 

"I’m afraid sometimes. A lot of times, actually." He nodded a little, looking up at his lover, but grinning anyway. "It helps... to know, you know? That I’m not that weird, that I’m not that different. it helps to know I have intestines and… yeah, two stomachs, which is really funny." He snickered all over again, and reached up to stroke his lovers face. "Thank you for giving me this."

 

"You're welcome."  He caught Clark's hand against his cheek, turned his head to kiss the palm softly.  "Thank you for trusting me enough to let me give this to you."  He sighed.  "Your father might not be too thrilled."

 

"My dad isn’t thrilled about a lot of things, so what’s new?"

 

"That's true, but knowing that you willingly put yourself on a Luthor's dissection table might not win me those son-in-law points I'm going to be needing."

 

Clark grinned softly, pressing his cheek softly to Lex's cheek as he squirmed and handed his lover the probe again. "I’m here because I want to be, baby. Not because I have to be. That’s the difference. I want to know what’s inside me, what I look like...I want to understand what I am."

 

"I know."  Lex pressed his lover back down.  "Let me do the other side."

 

He straightened on the metal table, sighing softly as he watched Lex work, and grinned crookedly at him as he walked. "I really do get turned on when you do scientist speak, you know."

 

"I know you do, and I find it indecently amusing, to quote a friend."  He grinned, and nibbled Clark's ear as he moved the probe over.  "Upper left thoracic cavity... interesting.  Same lung enlargement, same shadow, which suggests the hidden organ is symmetrical in nature.  Also... the heart is located higher in the chest cavity, beneath the collarbone, which I can personally vouch for, as I've felt it and listened to it beat quite a few times.  The structure of the heart is hidden by a thick wall of dense, striated muscle tissue, which I would guess, due to the density and striation, is nearly invulnerable."

 

"When I run a lot, or I’m working really hard and using my powers? The muscle... it helps my heart beat." Clark nodded a little. "Especially when I run a lot… or when I come. My heart slams and the muscle helps it beat. I can feel it, especially when I get tired afterwards. And especially when I’m around green meteor fragments." Clark nodded it, rolling his head on the metal to look at his lover. "Any ideas what the organ behind my lungs is?"

 

"Not a clue, baby.  I'd have to see more of it to even hazard a guess."

 

"Me neither. I don’t ever feel it... I was never aware of pain coming from it, or anything." Clark shifted on it, distinctly aware of it now. "Weird."

 

"No, it's not weird.  Humans have quite a few organs that we never feel either."

 

"Really?" he gazed up at Lex. "I thought you could feel them."

 

"Not unless they trouble us.  The appendix, for example."

 

"My dad had his out when I was little." Clark smiled softly. "I used to wonder what the hell happened to him, and why he had a scar. I remember I wanted a scar so bad, but no matter what I did, I never got one."

 

"I seriously doubt that you can scar."  Lex flipped off the ultrasound, and picked up the printed out images.  "There... you can go shower now, and we can either do your back side now, or we can move on to something else, up to you."

 

"We can keep going onto my back." He smiled and sat up. "I have a few scars, now. From when I was molting… I’ve got some on my hips, and one on my foot. They’re really light though, and I’m pretty much the only one who can see them. But they’re there!"

 

Lex smiled softly.  "Show me when you get out of the shower."

 

"Okay." He slipped a little as he climbed down from the table… nodding sagely like he slipped everyday, and padded silently to the shower.

 

Lex boosted himself up on the table, picked up the snoozing Samson, and stroked him as he dictated more notes, waiting for Clark to come out of the cold shower.

 

Bruce was a man of few words. Very few words. In fact, if he really sat down and thought about it,  the total sum of words spoken during his entire lifetime exactly correlated to the total sum he had spoken in three weeks worth of time. He didn’t like that. He was used to people understanding him with grunts and nods... his secretary back home could decipher his Brucese as easily as a second language. So why didn’t the Luthors? And their respective others?

 

Sigh.

 

Take this morning, for example. He had woken up, rolled out of bed, grunted at his lover still snoring beside him. Showered. Whistled a jaunty tune, admittingly, but not a word said. Got dressed... made out with Dick. Came down… muttered at Ms. Bird, and she gave him coffee. And that was it. He hadn’t said anything!

 

Not until Lex and his alien had gotten home, dammit.

 

Which is where he was headed, actually. He'd followed the sounds coming down to Lex's lab... and the door clicked shut before he could slip in. So he'd gone back up the steps, gotten his own copy of the card, and slipped downstairs again.

 

Then felt kind of weird, rolled his eyes at himself, and knocked lightly on the steel door.

 

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!" Lex called out.  "Go away!"

 

Dammit. He was being forced to speak. Again. So much for the brooding aura. "You wish you had a hair. Open up Luthor."

 

"Bruce.  Hi!"  Lex's voice was surprisingly, perhaps even, suspiciously, chipper.  "Just a minute!" he sang out.

 

An eyebrow rose up. High. "Turn the Bunsen burners off, Lex. What did I tell you about it before?"

 

There were several beeps of the computer keypad before the door swung open.  "Sorry about that, but I put the override on while I was working with Clark."  He smirked.  "The burners aren't on."

 

He still had his eyebrow up and stepped over the threshold warily, glancing around a minute... and not spotting pissed off alien. Good. While he was at it, though, he took a chance to look at Lex's lab, and the improvements made on it. The rats and monkeys were gone, the telescope replaced, a wall kicked out entirely. It had been upgraded, remodeled, and it...

 

Yeah. Playground.

 

He coughed and kept the giggly, emasculating glee inside his throat, tipping his head as he looked at Lex. "I came to apologize."

 

Lex raised his own eyebrow.  "You can play with my toys, Bruce," he said, knowing his friend's hidden glee all too well.  Then he hitched himself back up on his stool.  "Apologize to me, to Mrs. Kent, or to Clark?"

 

Okay, what was this?  This person smell was different, kind of dark and cold, and he growled.  Sharp little angry yips because he'd smelled this person on The Lex before and the Clark yelled after the smell was on the Lex.  Not a happy friendly person, and so Samson didn't LIKE him.  He lunged forward and sunk sharp little teeth into Bruce's ankle.

"GRAH!" Yeah. His quote on unmanly cries since he came to Smallville? Through the roof. Bruce reached down, grabbed the little puppy by the scruff of the neck, and lifted him up, dislodging teeth the painful way--pulling them out of his skin. He lifted the little guy up and peered into his face, blinking at the puppy with one eyebrow raised. "Alright, sir, that’s quite enough."

 

Samson snarled at Bruce, snapping at his nose.

 

Lex was losing it.  Completely.  "That's Clark's puppy, Bruce, I'd advise you to be careful."

 

"Animals usually like me." Bruce sighed it, and gently set the little puppy on the dissection table before crouching down so they were eyelevel, and peered. "That’s enough, pup. You and I can be friends, and I won't hurt your masters. Alright?"

 

Why was he talking to a dog?

 

Alright, the dog was damn cute, but that was despite the point.

 

Bruce turned to glare at Lex, who was oddly giddy, and settled himself into the stool beside him. "I came to apologize to you and Clark. Though why I should have to alludes me, but Dick said it was the right thing to do." He grumbled it softly. "You’re back together, aren’t you?"

 

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!  YIP!"  Samson jumped to his little paws on the steel tabletop, toenails clicking on the steel as he ran to the edge of the table and snapped his little teeth back at Bruce's nose again.  "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!"

 

Lex reached out and picked Samson up, cuddling him in the crook of his elbow and rubbing behind floppy ears.  "Yes.  We are back together."

 

Hello. He winced at the dog but looked back up, shaking his head and sitting back in the stool comfortably... making stool sitting look so natural. "Which I’m glad for. Is everything alright?"

 

"Well, aside from the fact that Clark apparently wants to rip you limb from limb, yes.  We talked for a long time... slept for even longer... then talked again."

 

"My matchmaking skills are still up to par." The fact that he hadn’t had any still amused him. "Good. I’m happy for the both of you. ....Clark won't hurt me, will he?"

 

Panicking? Batman? Never.

 

"Well, he's said that since you're my friend he won't murder you, but that leaves a lot of open territory."  Lex's eyes were turned down towards Samson, scratching him and soothing him, deliberately not looking at his squirming friend. 

 

"Ah." Shit. "I don’t want there to be bad blood between he and I, as you’re my best friend… and I plan on talking to you no matter what." And he was terrified of being murdered in his sleep, though he wouldn’t let on about that. There'd been something primal, dark, and instinctive about Clarks fury, and he swallowed as he remembered his face just upstairs.

 

And got a second chance to see it as Clark stepped from the shower.

 

Wet, streaming with water and a towel on his shoulder, he was the picture of the pure, perfect masculine form. He was gorgeous, like an Adonis, or a statue of some Greek god from yesteryear.

 

However, Bruce didn’t get a chance to enjoy in the sheer male beauty, because he found himself leaping off the stool and backing up, one hand held up. "Alright… Clark, calm down."

 

"I TOLD YOU to stay AWAY from my AUSHNA'!" Clark bellowed.

 

He didn’t quite realizing, or remember for that fact, that he was wet and naked. No. Fury was so hot in his veins that the adrenaline coursed through him, and his muscles all tightened and hardened, grew unnoticeably larger and stronger as he snarled. "Stay away from him, AWAY!"

 

Lex remained on his stool, stroking the puppy.  "Clark.  Clark, please.  Calm down.  Bruce isn't here to hurt anyone, he's here to apologize."  The calmness and serenity that came from petting a small furry animal filled Lex, and through Lex as he let it flow into his beloved.  "He's here to apologize; come here, sit by me and listen."  Then he changed his words to Bruce.  "If I were you, I would get on the opposite side of the room; what did you do to him, Bruce?"

 

And normally, normally, it was enough. But all Clark could think was that Bruce had outright DEFILED his HONOR by threatening to take Clarks mate away. Who the fuck did Bruce think he was, trying to impose himself on Clarks territory like he had? Who the hell did he think he WAS? NO ONE threatened to take away his AUSHNA‘, GODAMMIT.

 

Oh. Oh, God. Clark wasn’t listening, and Bruce kept backing up, both palms out in front of him. "I’m not near him, Clark, I was just talking to him." He said it calmly and quietly, nodding gently.

 

Lex tucked Samson into his elbow as he crossed the room.  "Bruce... I'm telling you... get on the other side of the room."  Lex had his eyes on Clark as he walked over.  "Clark... aushna', listen to me.  I don't know what's going on, but I am here.  I'm here, my aushna'."

 

And Bruce watched, with enormous eyes, as Clark turned and rapid fired a language Bruce had never even contemplated at Lex. It was full of clicks and musical intonations… with thickly stressed sounds when he was emphasizing. It was guttural... but not, as if some strange instrument had lodged in his throat and was playing. It was beautiful, and he found himself staring, dumb founded...a scientists wonder in his heart and mind.

 

"He threatens your honor!" Clark cried it at his lover, snarling at Bruce. "And mine, as well. I won’t have him talking to either of us like we are garbage, like what we have is nothing less than extraordinary, like he has the power to take you AWAY from me!"

 

Lex understood it, as though he was hearing it in his lover's thoughts as well.  "No one has the power to take me away from you, aushna'," Lex reassured, though his rendition of the language was unnatural in his throat, less musical and tonal than Clark's as though his body were unused to speaking it.  "Your honor is served when his pride debases itself to come and ask forgiveness for the dispersions he cast upon you, which he is here to do."

 

Bruce was staring. He couldn’t help it, no matter how rude it was. He could have sit here, listening to the both of them for eternity. The sounds Lex was emitting were distinctly human, unlike Clark, but the words were no less beautiful coming from him. It was like some forgotten language unearthed in two primal beings, and if Bruce knew he wouldn’t have gotten killed for it, he would have stepped forward, opened Clarks mouth, and peered inside.

 

Clark thought about what his lover had said a moment… the rivers of his mind lacing, the water of it slowly joining at the center, like threads of a tapestry, as the thoughts clicked. Lex knew what was best, and Clark understood what he was saying. Bruce had come to beg forgiveness. And it was in Clark to forgive, because he couldn’t say no to anyone, and he visibly calmed. He offered his hand to his lover, looking into his eyes to solidify his choice.

 

Lex's fingers twined immediately through Clark's, stroking the backs of his fingers with a thumb as a wiggly puppy tried to scramble over to his master's arms.  His steely gray eyes met his lover's with a firm nod of approval, even as he moved to stand in front of Clark, shielding Clark's nakedness from Bruce and pulling Clark's arms around him.

 

Samson's head cocked to the side as he listened to the Clark and the Lex... talk.  It wasn't like any talk he'd heard them say before, but he liked it, and he wagged his tail as he tried to move over to Clark's arms.

 

Clark reached over, scratching Sammy behind the ears once… before turning his harsh gaze over at Bruce. He pulled the towel from his shoulder because he understood his lovers need to protect him as well, and he brushed a kiss over his head as he hooked the towel around his hips and held his lover.

 

And looked expectantly at Bruce.

 

"Oh, I..." Bruce blinked at them, obviously dazed.

 

Samson's tail wagged as the Clark petted him, and he flopped his head down on Lex's shoulder, staring soulfully up at the Clark.

 

"Bruce... I'd suggest that whatever you said to Clark before, you take it back now.  Quickly so."

 

"Clark.." Another blink, and he cleared his throat. "I’m sorry that I threatened to take Lex away. I'd never do it, and I have a feeling that’s what you're upset over." He shifted. "However, that being said, I’m not sorry I called and threatened you. Because its obvious that the both of you need each other."

 

Clark relaxed some more. Alright. The enemy was apologizing. Alright. He could deal with this. And yeah, it seemed his alien tendencies came out more and more each day, but he'd forgotten why he had to apologize for them. So he just didn’t any more. He shifted, nodding at Bruce, and relaxed completely against his lover. "I accept your apology. You speak to me, or Lex, that way ever again and I'll kill you in your sleep."

 

Meep? "Understood." And he reached over, for Clark’s hand. And was relieved, insanely so, when Clark reached out and shook it.

 

A little tightly, but he could forget that part.

 

Lex still stood in front of Clark, and didn't relax when Clark did.  "You told him you were going to take me away from him?" 

 

"I...threatened it." Bruce looked his friend straight in the eye. "It got the results you both needed."

 

"You had no right to threaten that, Bruce.  It was one thing to point it out to me; it was another thing entirely to threaten Clark.  You do not threaten him again, do you understand me?"

 

Bruce’s eyebrow rose, and anger simmered in his veins. "I won't threaten him again, under my own choosing, and not because you told me to, Lex. Remember who you're talking to, and why your sanctimonious bullshit doesn’t work."

 

Clark’s own brow rose, but instead of being angry he was puzzled. He gripped Lex a little tighter though, and watched silently.

 

Lex shook his head.  "This is different, Bruce.  This isn't me telling you to stay away from a company or asking you not to leave.  This is me telling you to not threaten my aushna' again."  His spine was straight, and he didn't melt under Bruce's stiff gaze like he normally did.

 

"I won’t." But he gave Lex a hard look, then up to Clark. And instead of wasting more words, turned, picked up the paper work that he'd brought down with him, and opened the huge steel door, stepping through it silently and starting back up the steps.

 

"Apologize to Mrs. Kent," Lex called out after him.  "You had no reason to be short to her."

 

"You have hurt him." Clark said softly, and turned let go of his lover to take Samson from him. "Hello, yes, my little baby is well trained, isn’t he?" He grinned up at his dog where he had him in his arms, then pulled him into a warm cuddle. "My baby is a good boy! Yes! Yes, he is! My baby is a very good boy!" He kissed his pup’s little head and snuggled him tight, walking back over to the dissection table and setting Samson on it so he could pull the towel off. "Alright Lex, the backside, now?  Ooo! Do you get to rub lube on my ass?"

 

Samson wiggled and licked the Clark's face, tail wagging harder and faster.  "Yip!"

 

Lex shook his head.  "I will apologize to him later; he had no right despite his intentions.  No one will take you from me or me from you."  His hand stroked Clark's shoulder possessively.  "Yes, your backside now."  He grinned at that, the tense mood broken, and he pressed a kiss to Clark's throat.  "Yes, I do get to rub jelly on your ass, though I wouldn't suggest it for interior use."

 

"Maybe I shouldn’t tell you what I’ve used for lube, then." A little wince though it was coupled with a blinding grin, and he climbed back on the table, grabbing the steel for purchase.

 

As soon as his cock touched the cold table, though, he yelped loudly, flailed, and fell off the other side.

 

He hit the concrete with a thud, blinking up at the ceiling as his cheeks flushed red.

 

And all you could hear was a windy sigh.

 

Lex really was trying not to laugh. 

 

"One snicker from you, and you're stripping and putting your dick on that sheet of ice. Are we clear?"

 

Lex made the motion of zipping his lips as he nodded, biting down savagely on the inside of his cheek to keep the snickers in.

 

Clark climbed back to his feet... rubbed his fingers through his hair, and met Samson’s blank stare with one of his own. "You tell anybody about this, Samson, and you and I are kaput. Deal?"

 

"Bawr?"  His tail thumped the cold table.

 

"Amen, little guy." Clark climbed up onto the table again, glaring deeply at his lover, before slowly.. .slooowly laying back down. Yeah, he yelped again, but he didn’t buck himself off the table, instead making a horrid face as his nipples came next. "Holy God."

 

"I could ::cough:: get a ::choke, cough:: blanket if you'd like?"

 

"Lex, you're very quickly losing all of your sex privileges. As it is, I'll never bare you any kids." He winced as his balls turned to ice, and he closed his thighs around them to get them warm again. Alright. So he was embarrassed silly, so he just put his arms under his cheek, and looked up at his lover with a cocked brow. "Get to lubing, will you?"

 

Lex changed into a fresh pair of rubber gloves, and squirted more of the jelly onto his palms.  "Okay, this is going to be a little cold."

 

"No, you think?"

 

With a small smirk and no small amount of sadistic glee, Lex slapped the double handful of cold conductor gel right on the small of Clark's back.

 

Except instead of yelping, Clark moaned. The whole area was still tender, strangely so, from their last make-out session and the whole area was tender to touch. He'd been washing himself off in the shower when he noticed it… but his lover so close, the heat of him close by, made him shiver. "Muh."

 

"Feel good?" Lex asked, spreading the jelly over Clark's back, down over his ass, and then up, up over his spine and shoulders.  He paused a second, then massaged the area again gently, pressing lightly and exploratory.

 

A tremble raced through him and he pressed his face into his arm, biting it as he tried not to let out the harsh cry that wanted to erupt. He was hardening, no matter the circumstances of his poor icy dick, and he shuddered again as he pressed his cheek into his arm. "G...yes. Oh, God."

 

Lex moved his hands, and replaced it with the probe.  "Let's see what we have here."  He cleared his throat.  "Begin recording, insert timestamp, rear examination of Clark Kent, companion to previous examination.  Method, ultrasound." 

 

He was still trembling, and now that the probe thingy was over it, he was full out shuddering. It went from his brain to his dick to his brain again, and shivers raced up his spine as he contained the moans. Barely. "Y... yeah. Okay." I won’t put a dent in Lex's exam table. I won’t put a dent in Lex's exam table.

 

He studied the readout.  "Ultrasound shows a small protrusion at the base of the spinal column, similar to the coccyx in a human though it seems to be more pronounced.  As the coccyx is the simian remnant of a tail, I am led to believe that this is something equivalent.  There is a connection the sexual/pleasure center of Clark's brain to this protrusion; and I have to admit, I get off on knowing I can touch his back and make him hot for me.  Strike last comment from readback."  He paused again, and stared harder.  "Printout of the ultrasound will support this, but I see what appears to be a small, membranous sac underneath the protrusion."

 

"Sac?" Clark asked, keeping his hips still and really, it was an act of God. "T...tail? I have a tail?" he had to look over his shoulder, and did so, though he didn’t understand any of what he was seeing on the ultrasound monitor, it was still really weird. "I’m kind of gooky, huh?"  Then he glared. Deeply so. "You’re wanting a dent in your table, aren’t you?"

 

"No, you have the remnants of a tail, just as humans do," Lex murmured softly.  "I can't wait to get my hands on the new ultra sound next month," he said, stroking the tender area.  "It's three-dimensional and Cadmus will be packing it up to send me." 

 

"Mmm." Didn’t hear a word. He purred, softly, like a cat, sighing and forgetting his contempt as he lay his head back down. "Wha... What’s the sac? Thing?"

 

"Mmm... I don't know, baby."  He kept rubbing as he watched the ultrasound.  "It appears to me that the sac is connected to your... second stomach through these small tubules, here and here," Lex pointed out on the screen.  "That's... no."

 

He moaned, softly, arching his back just a little so Lex would rub harder, and he undulated his hips without meaning to. A soft, throaty sigh and he kept his eyes closed, stopping himself forcefully again. No sex in front of the puppies, and he turned his head to look at Samson and sigh. "You’re lucky I love you, cause I’m ready to grab baldy and push him through this table."

 

"Arf!"  Samson wiggled his little puppy butt, but kept way away from the Clark cause he was covered in the smelly stuff.

 

Lex stroked more firmly, barely noticing Clark's arch into his touch as he studied the screen, and the printout.  "The sac is anchored to the pleasurable protrusion, and seems to have tubules connecting it to the second stomach and to the neighborhood capillary structure.  There are undeniable similarities to a human female's amniotic sac during pregnancy."

 

Clark wasn’t hearing. Or, actually, he was. He was listening to everything his lover said, but the pleasure was outrageous, and he pushed his hips into the steel without his brain telling him to do it. It was instinctual, primitive--you thrust hard when that place was touched. And yeah, his erection, pressed tight against his belly, didn’t really mind he was masturbating with a block of ice. As long as he could get. Off. He moaned harder, trembling with pleasure as his lover spoke, and he croaked out, "P… pregn… oh, God… Samson… gonna... g-gonna teach you crush, kill, bite his ankle off." Clark croaked again, turning his face away from his baby so he wouldn’t feel guilty for feeling this way around him.

 

"That's what it looks like, though I'd have to verify with x-rays.  I don't see an conduit for sperm or anything, or anything that would produce eggs."  He smiled.  "Bite my ankle?"

 

Samson's tail wagged.  "Rawr?"  He wiggled up to Clark, chewing his hair and licking it.

 

"Not...a...chic." Yeah, what was pushing against the steel wasn’t… and when Lex stopped rubbing he let out a soulful little whine, much like his little puppy’s. "L.."

"I'm sorry, baby."  Lex's hand moved back, stroking and rubbing the area again as he studied.  Both hands moved to massage, kneading and pressing gently against taut muscles and the hard little protrusion.

 

Wiser now, Lex cupped his palm around the protrusion and pressed down, then slid up a little and down, almost as though he were jacking the knob off.

 

"Keep… the p-p...fuck...probe on it," Clark moaned, gasping and shuddering. Close, he was close, and he grunted as he got up on his elbows, all the muscles in his back, backside and thighs rippling, and reached underneath himself to grab his cock. "See..w-what it... fuck, oh, God, does."

 

Lex nodded, and moved the probe to press lightly against the protrusion.  There was a slight pulsation in it, as though it were swelling a little and filling with something, possibly fluid.  "The knob seems to be growing larger, perhaps filling with fluid.  I'm supposing either semen or a component of the seminal fluid as this knob seems to be part of his reproductive/sexual system."

 

Oh, God.

 

Oh. God.

 

Lex had to do the sexy scientist, I’ve-got-numerous-degrees voice, and Clark grasped himself hard, jacked twice, and came. He felt himself tighten, expand...then explode in his hand, coming hard and deliciously before orgasm hit. A gasp… and he moaned wordlessly, long and gutturally, shaking with pleasure as he lay back on the table, cheek pressed to the cold steel on his overheated skin, and moaned. Loudly.

 

His dick wasn’t cold anymore. Plus, anyone?

 

Lex struggled to keep speaking normally.  "Ejaculation of semen seems to be unconnected to physical pleasurable climax, as they occur seconds apart instead of simultaneously.  The knob does fill with some sort of fluid, though it is not seminal in nature because the swelling did not deflate until after ejaculation.  Physical climax seemed to trigger the expulsion of the fluid into the membranous sac."

 

Clark was moaning wordlessly, panting as he lay there… still unable to look at his dog, and yeah, shame lit his face. Crap. He'd probably scarred his dog for life. He sighed, heavily, closing his eyes as Lex continued touching him... and it wasn’t so much need to come now as being sated, soothed, the fingers over his back making him murmur softly in appreciation and sigh softly.

 

He reached out… looking for Lex's fingers wordlessly, and he squeezed them tightly, murmuring his pleasure as he rested after the orgasm, and sighed. "Never thought your table'd be s'sexy."

 

"BARK!"  Samson was sitting at the corner of the table, staring up at the Clark like Wow!  The Clark had just made lots of fun noises and there was fun smell on the Clark now, but icky stuff on his back, and Samson's head was just cocked to the side, watching.  "Arf!"

 

"Arf, baby." Clark turned his head and smiled at his dog. "I’m sorry, baby. I couldn’t help it. I'll try harder for you next time."

 

Lex laughed softly.  "I think he's trying to figure it out."  He ran his hand along the side of the table.  "I never thought it would be either."

 

Samson bounded up the table, toenails clicking on the steel as his tongue lolled out, slurping all over Clark's happy, non-smelly face.  His tail wagged, his butt wiggled, and he was happy with The Clark and The Lex.

 

"I love you too, my little Samson." Clark snuggled him close, grinning at him sleepily even as he arched his back. "Keep looking, baby. I want to learn more. So far I’ve got that I’ve got two stomachs, normal intestines and stuff and big lungs. What else?"

 

"That it's very possible you could bear children, if we can figure out the way to get you pregnant, and that your spinal column seems to be identical to humans.  You're also more tactile responsive than humans, which is unusual given your invulnerability.  Now, lay still and stop wiggling; I want to slide higher and see if I can get a better look at whatever was casting that shadow before."

 

Bear children.

 

Clarks stomach roiled with nerves and pleasure, and he stopped moving suddenly, staring at Samson even as his heart kicked, hard, and joy slipped into his brain. Alright, okay? It was fucking weird, and emasculating, and...more weird, but he grinned at Samson softly, rubbed his head, and skipped over that for now.

 

Cause, yeah. He was a seventeen year old kid. He really didn’t want kids right now. Heh. Talk about teen pregnancy.

 

The thought made him snicker, and he squirmed a little. "Lex, what does tactile mean?"

 

"Responsive to touch," he answered absently.  "I'm actually surprised that you're as responsive to touch as you are; for your skin to be invulnerable, it's amazingly sensitive."  He took a brief moment to clean the eye of the probe before setting it back against Clark's skin, at the base of his spine.  "Hmm... enlarged pancreas, but that's not surprising; considering you have a second stomach, the pancreas would have to be enlarged in ratio to it, to make up for the increased need for insulin.  That is, assuming you even need to worry about insulin in the first place." 

 

"I do. Sugar, right?" He said it with a sigh, keeping his eyes closed as he relaxed. "When I don’t eat enough of it I get really tired. Cranky." The thought made him smile though, and he looked back at his lover a little, watching him out of the corner of his eye. "Lex? Why didn’t you become a doctor?"

 

"Yes, sugar's a part of it.  Insulin helps turn sugar into glucose, which your body then burns for energy; considering that you use great amounts of energy, then your entire endocrine system--adrenals, pancreas, everything--should be enlarged."  Brief flash of something in his eye.  "I thought about it; made the motions of sending out applications to several premed programs, one at Princeton and one to Julliard.  My father found out shortly thereafter, and I was summarily pulled out of school, as I had obtained the necessary degrees, and put to work for LuthorCorp."

 

"Don’t take this the wrong way, but your dads an asshole." Clark said easily, and because he wanted to, reached for his lovers free hand. "You'd be a kick ass doctor. With your little doctor coat and stethoscope. I think... if you still wanted to do it, you could. You can do anything, you're so smart. But being a doctor would fulfill something." Clark murmured softly. "If you were going to do it… I'd stand behind you a hundred percent."

 

Lex gripped Clark's hand tightly.  "I always told you my father was an asshole," he said softly.  "But it's done with, Clark.  I don't think that I want to be a doctor any longer.  If anything, I'd be a research and development person.  Biochemistry, bio-engineering.  But even that, the field advances so quickly, like technology, half of what I know now is obsolete, and I wouldn't fulfill half the requirements.  My degrees will likely stay half-finished." He kissed the strong hand that held his heart in it.  "But thank you.  You don’t know what it means to hear you say you would support me."

 

"Don’t sell yourself short." Clark squeezed, tightly. "You’re the smartest guy I’ve ever met. You're strong, and you're capable. I think you could do it… but you do what’s right for you in your heart. Politics, medicine, law, whatever. I’m right behind you." Clark squeezed again, brought him in for a soft kiss, then arched his upper back for his lover. "Come on, check out this spot. I know your inner scientist is screaming and running around in circles." Oh, he snickered. "I should know, I can hear him."

 

"Yes, yes, he is.  I have to admit, you've worked him up into a screaming frenzy."  He moved the probe up carefully, and he gestured to his lab.  "Part of me will always be a scientist, Clark.  That's why every residence I have will have facilities like this.  But it's too late for me to be anything other than what I already am; my father's seen to that."  He put the probe back on Clark's spine.  "All right, my shadowy little organ, let us see what you are." 

 

"I don’t know about that." He put his arms under his head, spreading his shoulder blades further for his lover. "I think when you and your dad come in here, to make the baby… I think that’s going to open his eyes to what he denied you." He looked off to the far wall, thinking a moment. "He loves you. I felt, it in the link. He loves you, so much it terrifies him. That’s why he keeps you as close as he does, and keeps you from going out on your own. He loves you so deeply, so desperately. He thinks of you as that little boy who crawled into his mom’s bed. In his eyes… you're still that little boy."

 

"Maybe you're right," Lex said quietly.  "I don't doubt you, Clark.  I just wish... that he'd treated me like his son.  I would have done anything he'd asked, if he'd just asked instead of ignoring me until I got too obnoxious to ignore.  I'd have worked by his side, learned everything he had to teach me, and loved every moment of it if he'd only... been there."  He sighed, and rested his head against the soft fluffy hair of his lover's head. 

 

"I know." He closed his eyes. "Your mom dying hurt him. I’m only so sorry I brought it up, took the memory from him. When he comes home... I have to go to him, and ask him for his forgiveness."

 

"You didn’t do anything wrong, Clark.  She was my mother too; she was my memory to give to you."  Lex pressed his lips to the crown of Clark's head.  "You didn't do anything wrong."

 

Clark smiled a little at his lover. "Regardless. I want things to be right between he and me… especially if I’m going to have your kids someday." Which he said offhandedly, with dancing eyes, and lay back on the table, pressing his cheek to the now warm metal.

 

A little jump in his stomach at that.  "You are going to have my children."  He said it with a firm belief.  "Things are never right with my father and anyone, with the possible exception of Dominic."  He cleared his throat, pressed another kiss to the back of his head, and went back to work.

 

"I really like Dominic." Clark stated it as easily as he said he hated Bruce--and it was from his heart. "He's a cool guy. Kind of sad sometimes, but usually he's always nice to me." He turned a little so he could watch his lover work, the plastic rolling over his back. "I hope maybe when the babies born, you guys will finally be friends. I mean… cause, you know."

 

"We... We are kind of friends now," Lex said quietly.  "I mean, he helped me shave my beard and wax my chest, I kept him from killing my dad when he came home from the hospital... we bonded at three in the morning after the first rounds of testing on your skin."  He sighed.  "We're not like... best friends or anything, but... we're getting there."

 

"You know you've got a friend when he'll willingly wax your chest and not gag." Clark deadpanned… coughed innocently, though the grin peaked up around the edges of his face as he hid it in his arms.

 

Lex thumped the back of his beloved's head.  "Be quiet and let me work," he said through the grin, kissing the corner of Clark's grin as it peeked through.

 

Clearing his throat, he pressed the probe back against Clark's shoulders.  "There it is.  The shadow does appear to be a symmetrical organ behind the lungs.  approximately the same size as the lung, this organ appears to situate itself against the spine so that possible inflation will not interfere with normal lung usage."

 

Clark blinked a moment... listening to his lover and frowning in thought.  "That’s weird, Lex. What would I need an organ that’s like a lung behind my lungs? Is it a lung, too?" Clark asked softly, looking over his shoulder as he squirmed and wished he could see through himself at the angle he needed to check it out. "Did you know, I can’t see through my own skin baby?"

 

"No, I didn't know that."  Lex sighed.  "Take a deep breath, and hold it as long as you can; and don't breathe unless you're about to lose consciousness."

 

"Okay." Clark inhaled deeply, and held his breath. He blinked a little at Samson, keeping his eyes squinted as he watched his little baby, and closed his eyes.

 

Clark's lungs filled, but as he continued to not exhale, something began to flutter in the mysterious organ.

 

It started filling with air.  The... well, Lex supposed they were major lungs... were slowly deflating, and the air was being stored in the... well, minor lung.  Absolutely fascinating.  "Clark?  Are you all right?  Nod for yes, shake your head for no."

 

He nodded, though his heart was fluttering in fear. He had… this small, tiny little horror that he didn’t tell anyone about. And that was... not getting enough air. But he held on, because it wasn’t exactly hard. He kept his eyes closed, relaxing as he felt his chest burn with what he supposed were his lungs deflating.

 

Lex nodded, and placed a soothing hand on the back of Clark's neck, stroking gently as he watched.  The third lung was almost entirely inflated now, and Lex would have bet anything that it wouldn't deflate until the first breath of air. 

 

"All right, Clark... breathe."

 

He let go of the breath he'd been holding and swallowed air, panting softly and looking over his shoulder. "I could have gone for longer. What did you find?"

 

The third lung deflated instantly, the air moving, he presumed, back into the major lungs for expulsion.

 

"You have a third lung that works when you can't breathe."

 

Holy fuck. Clark blinked a little bit... then had to laugh. Dude. He laughed softly and shook his head, getting up on his elbows and shaking his head. "Lex, I’m a freak show." The laugh was bordering on hysterical so he let his mouth shut with a click, fingers flat on the metal as he let his face fall on them. He waited a minute...two. "I want to find out how long I can do these things, Lex. I want to find out how long I can hold my breath, and how fast I can run. Baby," Now he looked up. "I need to know."

 

"You're not a freak show," Lex said firmly.  "Your speed will be easy to register; I've got several contacts who have supersonic speed registers that they'll lend me; I just have to give them a call and arrange it.  "Your breath?  That's a little harder, unless you don't mind submersion."  He looked at the tub.  "I can have a submersion tank brought here in a day."

 

He looked up at his over and met his eyes. There was fierce determination in them, as hard and strong as anything, and he nodded. "I need to know. If I don’t find out, I'll go nuts. You... you are the first person who," He sat up, slipping and sliding on the jelly as he sat on it, but didn’t mind it. He just scooted back where he wanted to be, and grasped Lex's biceps softly. "You need to understand that I know nothing of who I am, where I come from, and why I’m here. I don’t know... I didn’t.." There were tears in his eyes. "You've given me this enormous gift. Can you understand that? You have given me the window to my inside… to who I am. I need that in my life, AJ." He gently rubbed Lex's forearms, and set his forehead on his lovers. "I want to know everything I can."

 

Lex climbed up on the table with him, kneeling on his haunches between Clark's knees.  "I understand that, baby.  More, maybe, than you realize I do."  He pressed his head against Clark's.  "There's equipment I want that hasn't been created yet; LuthorCorp R&D are building a prototype now and it'll be ready in a year.  But it's a new kind of imaging technique; it combined echosound and 3-D imaging to create an entire, fully rotatable image of someone's body cavity.  As soon as the prototype is available, I'm taking it."

 

Clark closed his eyes as their foreheads pressed together. "In school, we would learn about the human anatomy. And when I was little, old enough to understand I wasn’t like everyone else and young enough to not understand why..I'd come home, after those classes, and cry in my moms arms. Because I knew I was different, and I just couldn’t understand why I was different. Why I didn’t have a heart where it should be, and other things. Why. You know?" He shifted. "I understand now. But that little kid inside me is still crying, because he doesn’t understand all of it yet. I want to know, Lex. I want to know what I can do, and who I am."

 

Ignoring the jelly that smeared over his arms, Lex wrapped them around his lover.  "It's all right, Clark.  You don't have to cry.  I'll help you understand everything that I am able."  He stroked Clark's hair gently, trying not to get it messy.  "Come on.  Let's get you in the shower and get this crap cleaned off you, okay?"  he didn't let go, he just rocked.  "It's going to be all right, I promise."

 

"I know." He smiled it. "Its okay, now. You make things okay." He stroked his lovers head gently. "Lex... don’t you ever feel that its fate?"

 

Lex gave a soft smile.  "I told you that the first time we met, Clark."

 

"I know." He grinned now, and hugged his lover a little bit… not enough to get his clothes messed up with the jelly, but enough to let him know how much it meant. "A thousand things had to happen for us to get where we are, right now, and it seems like it would be so impossible. But...here we are. I came to earth, instead of Jupiter or Mars or whatever, in my space pod. And you, you were in that field on that particular day." He grinned a little, at himself, and softly. "I think too much. Come on... shower, than whatever else you've got plans. Oh, and fried chicken. I’m hungry."

 

Lex balked.  "I am not showering down here.  I am going upstairs where there is hot water.  Then we'll go out for..." Lex consulted his watch.  "Dinner.  And then come back and figure out where we're going to go next."

 

"Mmmm. Dinner sounds--" A sudden blink. "Hey... remind me if my Clark-Brain is having post orgasmic shut downiness, but have you even seen my space pod?" He slipped from the table, almost slipping on the floor… straightening himself, coughing, and continuing on.

 

Lex blinked at the abrupt change of subject.  "Come to think of it... no.  I haven't."

 

"Dinner and a space ship. Isn’t that romantic."

 

 

-fin-

 

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