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apachefirecatTitle: Wonderful
Dedicated To: <3 My beloved J, who inspires such love and confidence and who, just like Lex, is so often right <3
Fandom: Smallville
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: CLex (Clark/Lex)
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Clark worries over his child's future.
Word Count: 2,807
Written For: FFFC s151: Making Headlines - August 3: Multi-Million Dollar Baby Pictures Published; 1 Million Words A to Z: K; and 100 Fandom Hell Fandom #12
Warnings: Future AU
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
He had been waiting for this opportunity. When the reporters fell, he was there, swooping to the rescue as always, but not without a grim determination. He hooked his fingers in the necks of their jackets, keeping them both aloft but dangling them precariously miles above the ocean. They may have been on the right path with this latest attempt to get the reality of the ongoing war -- And why was there always was a war? Lex was right, as he so often was. Humans were such a petty lot.
Their screams broke through Clark's abrupt reverie. "CAN'T YOU CARRY US UP ANY HIGHER?!"
"PLEASE! HOLD ME! LIKE YOU DO THAT LOIS GIRL!"
Lois Lane had always possessed far more courage than these two had combined, but then, too, she never would have stooped to the pictures on which they had just recently built their fame. "Before I fly you to shore," Clark called to them, bouncing them a little in the salty breeze, "there's a little matter we need to discuss."
"I KNEW SHE BLEW YOU!"
Clark almost let the reporter go. His fingers loosened, but he caught again just before she could fall. "That is NOT true!" he almost roared. It had been years since he'd been so disgusted by humans. His mind flashed back to another time that was so long ago it almost felt like a lifetime ago. He and his husband had been merely boys, though Lex had been, legally, a man. He had never been so tempted to end a life as he had been that reporter's, the slimy con artist who had put his father in the hospital and had threatened to kill his mother as well.
That had been bad enough, but this time -- this time went beyond any horror he could have imagined. He had always known that his children would be easy prey for the vultures, especially since he had finally caved and married Lex. Clark Kent was only a mild-mannered reporter, easily lost in the way of the world, but that same world hounded Lex almost as badly as they did him. His thoughts thereon made Clark realize that he had to be careful with his choice of words. If he so much as hinted to these paparazzi rats that he and Lex were together, what little peace they did have would swiftly become non-existent.
"YOU RATS," he announced, deciding not to mince words too much, "HAVE HURT A FRIEND OF MINE!"
"I haven't hurt anybody!"
"He means with our reports, you idiots!"
"YOU LET HIS CHILD BE FLASHED ACROSS THE PAPERS!"
"Whatever we report, there's a reason for it! The world has a right to know!" Clark almost dropped the reporters again when the female, who had just recently been in the tabloids for being forced by a prison to pull her skirt down when she walked their grounds for an exclusive interview, snatched her camera man's camera away from him and snapped his picture. "JUST LIKE THE WORLD HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW YOU DON'T REALLY WANT TO RESCUE US! SUPERMAN'S NOT REALLY A HERO AFTER ALL!"
"Anyone who has the patience to deal with your lot and not turn evil is a hero!" They were really hitting every one of his proverbial buttons, but he never going to let evil win, and that included not succumbing to the impulses that he himself felt. Being good was not simply a choice to do the right thing. It was also, and often more so, the decision to refrain from doing the wrong thing. He didn't hurt the reporters; he didn't smack them, no matter how much they deserved it. He took his frustrations out on the camera instead, snatching the camera before the reporter had a chance to send her reporter, crumpling it, letting the pieces fall into the ocean, and making a mental note to apologize to Arthur later.
He shook the reporters as rage, for a brief moment, got a hold of him. He could definitely understand why Arthur was so furious so often with the human species. He had always been protective of his family, and this ilk had endangered his son! "CHILDREN HAVE NO PLACE IN YOUR RAG PAPERS!" It was bad enough that the paparazzi hounded he and his beloved husband as badly as they did, but he would not tolerate it where their child was concerned!
"WE GIVE! WE GIVE! WE GIVE!" the camera man hollered and then began to beg for his life.
He shook the female reporter again, and she finally broke from her screaming to promise, "WHOEVER IT IS, WE WON'T DO IT AGAIN!"
"You're right you won't, not if you want my help ever again nor will you endanger any other children's lives!"
"WE DON'T ENDANGER CHILDREN! YOU HEROES DO!"
"SHUT UP, REBECCA!"
"DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP, STEVE!"
"I'LL TELL YOU TO SHUT UP WHERE MY LIFE IS CONCERNED!"
"YOU WON'T TELL ME THAT WHERE YOUR JOB IS CONCERNED!"
"THEY WERE ALL RIGHT! YOU ARE ONE CRAZY BITCH, REBECCA! FUCK YOU! I QUIT!"
"BOTH OF YOU," Clark thundered, shaking them once more, "SHUT UP!"
"This would be a great story!"
"YOU'RE INSANE!"
"SILENCE!" Clark roared, shaking them both again. He let Rebecca dangle dangerously from his fingertips.
She grasped his arm with both hands, panicking. "OKAY! OKAY! I GIVE! I'LL REMOVE HIM FROM THE PAPERS! WHO IS HE?!"
"JONATHAN KENT JUNIOR!" Clark shouted with a sense of pride. He was tempted to add a threat reminding them to never forget that name and to never harm his child or bring his name into any kind of muck ever again, but he knew that would be going too far. It would have the opposite effect: None of them would ever have any peace again if these selfish, greedy rats realized that mild-mannered reporter and multi-billionaire Lex Luthor's husband Clark Kent was the great superhero Superman! They all wanted a piece of him, often for the worse! They wanted Lex for other reasons, but he would not allow them to eat away at their son like they had them their entire lives!
"The millionaire playboy's son!" Rebecca snickered.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you -- "
Clark shook them again. Maybe Lex was right; maybe he did need to start seeing a therapist. "HE'S NOT A PLAYBOY!" Gulping, he hushed quickly as he realized that he had almost given himself away.
"Really?" He could practically feel the reporter's delicately designed and thinned eyebrows shooting up on her face. "I thought he was your enemy, not your -- "
"OF COURSE HE'S MY ENEMY, BUT HIS CHILD ISN'T! THERE'S NO REASON FOR YOU PEOPLE TO KEEP REAPING MONEY OFF OF CHILDREN!" He should dump them in the ocean... But they were too far from land, Clark argued, and would most likely die without his aid. They would have already died without his aid if he hadn't stopped them from being shot earlier before he'd carried them away from the helicopter and sent it crashing back to its homeland. With Americans like these, it was no wonder other countries hated their people!
They were rats! No, his husband was right. They were worse than rats, worse than the vast majority of the enemies, aliens and Earthlings, that he fought on a daily basis. These were people who pretended to be the upper crust of society, good people who were actually leeches in disgust, far more than ready and willing to make money anyway they could, even by stealing children's childhoods away from them and ruining their lives while they were still in papers.
"That's fine on other kids," she said, "but you know, those pics of baby Lex were multi-million dollar baby pictures! His first kiss will be worth way more, and just wait until he starts following in dear, old dad's footsteps!" She snickered, and Clark dropped her.
Yet no sooner did he drop her than he zipped back after her and caught her again. "Oh, my publisher is going to love this! Superman on the rampage after enemy Lex Luthor's son!"
"You have no proof -- " Clark started.
"First-hand eyewitness accounts."
"They won't believe you!"
"They will for the right price, and you should see what photomanips can do these days!"
"FINE! BUT LEAVE THE CHILDREN ALONE!" He might have to find a way to convince Perry to call out against the other newspaper, not that wasn't already wanting a piece of the filthy rag like it was, or maybe Lois would know how best to fight that libel. Regardless, as long as they left his child alone, he would take whatever punishment they wanted to hand him. He didn't care what they did to him. He just wished he could also somehow protect Lex, but Lex was right. Regardless of Clark or Superman, the multi-billionaire son of Lionel Luthor would never be allowed by the paparazzi to rest in peace. It was one of many reasons why he had hated the idea of Clark taking his family name and had instead striven to take Clark's. His father had never been worth respecting, and Lex had always yearned for a way to rid himself of the family name.
An exhaustion he couldn't quite name suddenly overtook Clark. A sullen expression fell over his face that belied his years, making him look far older than his actual age. He flew wordlessly over the ocean, and no matter how hard Rebecca tried, she could not get him to rile again. At one point, he started to open his mouth to defend his son and husband again, and that was when he actually soared into his super speed. In seconds, he was depositing them both onto the roof of their publisher. "AND IF YOU EVER HARM ANOTHER CHILD -- "
"WE DIDN'T TOUCH THE BRAT!"
"IF YOU EVER HURT ANOTHER CHILD, IN ANY WAY, I WILL KNOW, AND I WILL COME AFTER YOU MYSELF! YOU WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SUPER VILLAINS!" Honestly, he thought, as he flew away, they were the worst villains he had encountered in a very long time. He knew there were other, worst people out there, people who exploited children in other and worse ways, and he could barely stand the thought of all those with whom his own child may yet, and probably would one day, come into contact.
No wonder his father had tried so hard to protect him and keep his secrets silent! For so long, he had not understood his parents. For so very many years, including after his death, he had been angry at his dad, but his father's anger at him had always come about, Clark could see now, looking back, because he had been trying to protect Clark from Clark's own bullheaded determination to live a normal life, which included opening himself up to predators like the two whose miserable lives he had just saved.
He was still trying to battle down his anger when he reached home. He was glad Lex had finally succumbed to both their affection for farm life and opened up the estate to be a sort of retirement home for cows, horses, and other animals who, for whatever reason, did not make it to the butcher. He still missed their actual farm, however, or perhaps rather he should say his parents' farm, although they had both spent several years there tending it like ranch hands and caring for the animals and crops. Lex had once admitted to him that the Kent farm had quickly become more of a home to him than anywhere else had ever been, but with their jobs, it made sense for them to live this close. Of course, he could have simply, swiftly zipped them home, but then there would be even more questions aimed at them by the paparazzi.
There should be a worse word, he thought, than paparazzi for those vultures. Calling them vultures, rats, even Vampires were insulting to the actual beings who had those names. He'd met kinder and more honorable Vampires, and even Vampires who were ruthless, blood-thirsty killing machines but still managed to possess more honor than that wretched woman had! He walked through his home away from home, trying to calm his nerves. He knew he was needed elsewhere, but right now, with the way he was feeling, the despondency that was threatening to overtake him, the other heroes could handle whatever other issues arose. If they needed him that badly, they could always call him. Right now, he was hurting. Right now, he --
He needed Lex, he thought, seeing the light on and the door open of his lover's office. Lex worked from home more often than the office now. He refused to let a nanny take care of their baby whenever he himself could do so, and with his fortune, they could easily afford to keep him home forever. Clark knew Lex would get bored with office work eventually, but right now, his main concern was, just as it should be, their child.
Jonathan was playing quietly on the floor with his designer learning blocks when Clark stepped into the office. Lex looked up and instantly tossed his pen onto his desk, jumped from his chair, and walked over to him. Without saying a word, he wrapped his husband into a huge, tender, and tight hug. He hugged him and hugged him, squeezing him as tightly as he could. Whereas Clark hugged him in return, he did have to be careful with how much pressure he exerted, lest he break one of Lex's ribs again.
"I finally got the chance," he whispered into his ear.
Lex looked at him, his eyebrows rising slightly and his eyes searching his. Despite their growing age, his blue eyes still shined as brightly, brilliantly, and breath-takingly as they always had. His husband definitely would have been the world's hottest bachelor if they had not fallen in love as kids, and if he had not refused to allow their different beliefs, which often -- and often very publicly -- made them clash. There was no better feeling than his beloved's arms wrapped so tightly around him right now.
Lex gazed up into Clark's eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked. He cupped his face in his hands, and Clark knew he would know if he tried to lie to him. Slowly he gulped but nodded. He was desperately upset, but there was nothing they could do about such horrid villains except deal with them one at a time as they encountered them. He just really, really did not want their son to have to deal with them!
Lex rubbed his cheeks slowly with his thumbs. "It's okay," he told him, speaking softly and reassuringly. "He's our son. He's going to be fine."
"That's what worries me," Clark admitted. "They're never going to leave him alone!"
"Oh, they'll leave him alone all right, if I have to buy every damn one of them." Clark raised a questioning eyebrow. "I bought out their company today, and all the companies associated with it."
"Good. Fire Rebecca."
"Already done."
Clark felt pride swell into his heart, slowly replacing his worry. Perhaps Lex was right -- as he so often was. With them as his father, Jonathan Kent Junior would learn to find a way away from the cruel, outside world just as his namesake had. There had been a reason why his father had chosen to settle out in Smallville rather than here In Metropolis. He never would have been as safe here in the big city as he was out there in the secluded farmland.
"Clark, I've been thinking," Lex said slowly. "I think it may be time we went home. The world is changing, in some ways for the better, in some ways not."
"In most ways not," Clark muttered.
"Fair." Lex inclined his stunningly bald head in a thoughtful nod. "Regardless I think it's time we go home and raise Jonathan Junior where you were raised, and where I found a home, happiness, and love for the first time in my life. A love that will last a lifetime," he added, eyeing Clark's rosy, pink lips.
"I'd like nothing more," Clark answered honestly, "other than being with you forever."
"That's a given," Lex replied, grinning.
Clark threaded his fingers with his husband's. Lex really was right so much of the time; Clark would prefer it no other way. He leaned forward and kissed him, his eyes drifting closed as he concentrated on the warm silkiness of Lex's lips and the heat and reassurance that sent soaring all the way through his body. From the top of his tall, dark head to his curling toes, Clark felt loved and safe, and he knew the Kents' future together was going to be wonderful indeed.
The End
Dedicated To: <3 My beloved J, who inspires such love and confidence and who, just like Lex, is so often right <3
Fandom: Smallville
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: CLex (Clark/Lex)
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Clark worries over his child's future.
Word Count: 2,807
Written For: FFFC s151: Making Headlines - August 3: Multi-Million Dollar Baby Pictures Published; 1 Million Words A to Z: K; and 100 Fandom Hell Fandom #12
Warnings: Future AU
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
He had been waiting for this opportunity. When the reporters fell, he was there, swooping to the rescue as always, but not without a grim determination. He hooked his fingers in the necks of their jackets, keeping them both aloft but dangling them precariously miles above the ocean. They may have been on the right path with this latest attempt to get the reality of the ongoing war -- And why was there always was a war? Lex was right, as he so often was. Humans were such a petty lot.
Their screams broke through Clark's abrupt reverie. "CAN'T YOU CARRY US UP ANY HIGHER?!"
"PLEASE! HOLD ME! LIKE YOU DO THAT LOIS GIRL!"
Lois Lane had always possessed far more courage than these two had combined, but then, too, she never would have stooped to the pictures on which they had just recently built their fame. "Before I fly you to shore," Clark called to them, bouncing them a little in the salty breeze, "there's a little matter we need to discuss."
"I KNEW SHE BLEW YOU!"
Clark almost let the reporter go. His fingers loosened, but he caught again just before she could fall. "That is NOT true!" he almost roared. It had been years since he'd been so disgusted by humans. His mind flashed back to another time that was so long ago it almost felt like a lifetime ago. He and his husband had been merely boys, though Lex had been, legally, a man. He had never been so tempted to end a life as he had been that reporter's, the slimy con artist who had put his father in the hospital and had threatened to kill his mother as well.
That had been bad enough, but this time -- this time went beyond any horror he could have imagined. He had always known that his children would be easy prey for the vultures, especially since he had finally caved and married Lex. Clark Kent was only a mild-mannered reporter, easily lost in the way of the world, but that same world hounded Lex almost as badly as they did him. His thoughts thereon made Clark realize that he had to be careful with his choice of words. If he so much as hinted to these paparazzi rats that he and Lex were together, what little peace they did have would swiftly become non-existent.
"YOU RATS," he announced, deciding not to mince words too much, "HAVE HURT A FRIEND OF MINE!"
"I haven't hurt anybody!"
"He means with our reports, you idiots!"
"YOU LET HIS CHILD BE FLASHED ACROSS THE PAPERS!"
"Whatever we report, there's a reason for it! The world has a right to know!" Clark almost dropped the reporters again when the female, who had just recently been in the tabloids for being forced by a prison to pull her skirt down when she walked their grounds for an exclusive interview, snatched her camera man's camera away from him and snapped his picture. "JUST LIKE THE WORLD HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW YOU DON'T REALLY WANT TO RESCUE US! SUPERMAN'S NOT REALLY A HERO AFTER ALL!"
"Anyone who has the patience to deal with your lot and not turn evil is a hero!" They were really hitting every one of his proverbial buttons, but he never going to let evil win, and that included not succumbing to the impulses that he himself felt. Being good was not simply a choice to do the right thing. It was also, and often more so, the decision to refrain from doing the wrong thing. He didn't hurt the reporters; he didn't smack them, no matter how much they deserved it. He took his frustrations out on the camera instead, snatching the camera before the reporter had a chance to send her reporter, crumpling it, letting the pieces fall into the ocean, and making a mental note to apologize to Arthur later.
He shook the reporters as rage, for a brief moment, got a hold of him. He could definitely understand why Arthur was so furious so often with the human species. He had always been protective of his family, and this ilk had endangered his son! "CHILDREN HAVE NO PLACE IN YOUR RAG PAPERS!" It was bad enough that the paparazzi hounded he and his beloved husband as badly as they did, but he would not tolerate it where their child was concerned!
"WE GIVE! WE GIVE! WE GIVE!" the camera man hollered and then began to beg for his life.
He shook the female reporter again, and she finally broke from her screaming to promise, "WHOEVER IT IS, WE WON'T DO IT AGAIN!"
"You're right you won't, not if you want my help ever again nor will you endanger any other children's lives!"
"WE DON'T ENDANGER CHILDREN! YOU HEROES DO!"
"SHUT UP, REBECCA!"
"DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP, STEVE!"
"I'LL TELL YOU TO SHUT UP WHERE MY LIFE IS CONCERNED!"
"YOU WON'T TELL ME THAT WHERE YOUR JOB IS CONCERNED!"
"THEY WERE ALL RIGHT! YOU ARE ONE CRAZY BITCH, REBECCA! FUCK YOU! I QUIT!"
"BOTH OF YOU," Clark thundered, shaking them once more, "SHUT UP!"
"This would be a great story!"
"YOU'RE INSANE!"
"SILENCE!" Clark roared, shaking them both again. He let Rebecca dangle dangerously from his fingertips.
She grasped his arm with both hands, panicking. "OKAY! OKAY! I GIVE! I'LL REMOVE HIM FROM THE PAPERS! WHO IS HE?!"
"JONATHAN KENT JUNIOR!" Clark shouted with a sense of pride. He was tempted to add a threat reminding them to never forget that name and to never harm his child or bring his name into any kind of muck ever again, but he knew that would be going too far. It would have the opposite effect: None of them would ever have any peace again if these selfish, greedy rats realized that mild-mannered reporter and multi-billionaire Lex Luthor's husband Clark Kent was the great superhero Superman! They all wanted a piece of him, often for the worse! They wanted Lex for other reasons, but he would not allow them to eat away at their son like they had them their entire lives!
"The millionaire playboy's son!" Rebecca snickered.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you -- "
Clark shook them again. Maybe Lex was right; maybe he did need to start seeing a therapist. "HE'S NOT A PLAYBOY!" Gulping, he hushed quickly as he realized that he had almost given himself away.
"Really?" He could practically feel the reporter's delicately designed and thinned eyebrows shooting up on her face. "I thought he was your enemy, not your -- "
"OF COURSE HE'S MY ENEMY, BUT HIS CHILD ISN'T! THERE'S NO REASON FOR YOU PEOPLE TO KEEP REAPING MONEY OFF OF CHILDREN!" He should dump them in the ocean... But they were too far from land, Clark argued, and would most likely die without his aid. They would have already died without his aid if he hadn't stopped them from being shot earlier before he'd carried them away from the helicopter and sent it crashing back to its homeland. With Americans like these, it was no wonder other countries hated their people!
They were rats! No, his husband was right. They were worse than rats, worse than the vast majority of the enemies, aliens and Earthlings, that he fought on a daily basis. These were people who pretended to be the upper crust of society, good people who were actually leeches in disgust, far more than ready and willing to make money anyway they could, even by stealing children's childhoods away from them and ruining their lives while they were still in papers.
"That's fine on other kids," she said, "but you know, those pics of baby Lex were multi-million dollar baby pictures! His first kiss will be worth way more, and just wait until he starts following in dear, old dad's footsteps!" She snickered, and Clark dropped her.
Yet no sooner did he drop her than he zipped back after her and caught her again. "Oh, my publisher is going to love this! Superman on the rampage after enemy Lex Luthor's son!"
"You have no proof -- " Clark started.
"First-hand eyewitness accounts."
"They won't believe you!"
"They will for the right price, and you should see what photomanips can do these days!"
"FINE! BUT LEAVE THE CHILDREN ALONE!" He might have to find a way to convince Perry to call out against the other newspaper, not that wasn't already wanting a piece of the filthy rag like it was, or maybe Lois would know how best to fight that libel. Regardless, as long as they left his child alone, he would take whatever punishment they wanted to hand him. He didn't care what they did to him. He just wished he could also somehow protect Lex, but Lex was right. Regardless of Clark or Superman, the multi-billionaire son of Lionel Luthor would never be allowed by the paparazzi to rest in peace. It was one of many reasons why he had hated the idea of Clark taking his family name and had instead striven to take Clark's. His father had never been worth respecting, and Lex had always yearned for a way to rid himself of the family name.
An exhaustion he couldn't quite name suddenly overtook Clark. A sullen expression fell over his face that belied his years, making him look far older than his actual age. He flew wordlessly over the ocean, and no matter how hard Rebecca tried, she could not get him to rile again. At one point, he started to open his mouth to defend his son and husband again, and that was when he actually soared into his super speed. In seconds, he was depositing them both onto the roof of their publisher. "AND IF YOU EVER HARM ANOTHER CHILD -- "
"WE DIDN'T TOUCH THE BRAT!"
"IF YOU EVER HURT ANOTHER CHILD, IN ANY WAY, I WILL KNOW, AND I WILL COME AFTER YOU MYSELF! YOU WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SUPER VILLAINS!" Honestly, he thought, as he flew away, they were the worst villains he had encountered in a very long time. He knew there were other, worst people out there, people who exploited children in other and worse ways, and he could barely stand the thought of all those with whom his own child may yet, and probably would one day, come into contact.
No wonder his father had tried so hard to protect him and keep his secrets silent! For so long, he had not understood his parents. For so very many years, including after his death, he had been angry at his dad, but his father's anger at him had always come about, Clark could see now, looking back, because he had been trying to protect Clark from Clark's own bullheaded determination to live a normal life, which included opening himself up to predators like the two whose miserable lives he had just saved.
He was still trying to battle down his anger when he reached home. He was glad Lex had finally succumbed to both their affection for farm life and opened up the estate to be a sort of retirement home for cows, horses, and other animals who, for whatever reason, did not make it to the butcher. He still missed their actual farm, however, or perhaps rather he should say his parents' farm, although they had both spent several years there tending it like ranch hands and caring for the animals and crops. Lex had once admitted to him that the Kent farm had quickly become more of a home to him than anywhere else had ever been, but with their jobs, it made sense for them to live this close. Of course, he could have simply, swiftly zipped them home, but then there would be even more questions aimed at them by the paparazzi.
There should be a worse word, he thought, than paparazzi for those vultures. Calling them vultures, rats, even Vampires were insulting to the actual beings who had those names. He'd met kinder and more honorable Vampires, and even Vampires who were ruthless, blood-thirsty killing machines but still managed to possess more honor than that wretched woman had! He walked through his home away from home, trying to calm his nerves. He knew he was needed elsewhere, but right now, with the way he was feeling, the despondency that was threatening to overtake him, the other heroes could handle whatever other issues arose. If they needed him that badly, they could always call him. Right now, he was hurting. Right now, he --
He needed Lex, he thought, seeing the light on and the door open of his lover's office. Lex worked from home more often than the office now. He refused to let a nanny take care of their baby whenever he himself could do so, and with his fortune, they could easily afford to keep him home forever. Clark knew Lex would get bored with office work eventually, but right now, his main concern was, just as it should be, their child.
Jonathan was playing quietly on the floor with his designer learning blocks when Clark stepped into the office. Lex looked up and instantly tossed his pen onto his desk, jumped from his chair, and walked over to him. Without saying a word, he wrapped his husband into a huge, tender, and tight hug. He hugged him and hugged him, squeezing him as tightly as he could. Whereas Clark hugged him in return, he did have to be careful with how much pressure he exerted, lest he break one of Lex's ribs again.
"I finally got the chance," he whispered into his ear.
Lex looked at him, his eyebrows rising slightly and his eyes searching his. Despite their growing age, his blue eyes still shined as brightly, brilliantly, and breath-takingly as they always had. His husband definitely would have been the world's hottest bachelor if they had not fallen in love as kids, and if he had not refused to allow their different beliefs, which often -- and often very publicly -- made them clash. There was no better feeling than his beloved's arms wrapped so tightly around him right now.
Lex gazed up into Clark's eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked. He cupped his face in his hands, and Clark knew he would know if he tried to lie to him. Slowly he gulped but nodded. He was desperately upset, but there was nothing they could do about such horrid villains except deal with them one at a time as they encountered them. He just really, really did not want their son to have to deal with them!
Lex rubbed his cheeks slowly with his thumbs. "It's okay," he told him, speaking softly and reassuringly. "He's our son. He's going to be fine."
"That's what worries me," Clark admitted. "They're never going to leave him alone!"
"Oh, they'll leave him alone all right, if I have to buy every damn one of them." Clark raised a questioning eyebrow. "I bought out their company today, and all the companies associated with it."
"Good. Fire Rebecca."
"Already done."
Clark felt pride swell into his heart, slowly replacing his worry. Perhaps Lex was right -- as he so often was. With them as his father, Jonathan Kent Junior would learn to find a way away from the cruel, outside world just as his namesake had. There had been a reason why his father had chosen to settle out in Smallville rather than here In Metropolis. He never would have been as safe here in the big city as he was out there in the secluded farmland.
"Clark, I've been thinking," Lex said slowly. "I think it may be time we went home. The world is changing, in some ways for the better, in some ways not."
"In most ways not," Clark muttered.
"Fair." Lex inclined his stunningly bald head in a thoughtful nod. "Regardless I think it's time we go home and raise Jonathan Junior where you were raised, and where I found a home, happiness, and love for the first time in my life. A love that will last a lifetime," he added, eyeing Clark's rosy, pink lips.
"I'd like nothing more," Clark answered honestly, "other than being with you forever."
"That's a given," Lex replied, grinning.
Clark threaded his fingers with his husband's. Lex really was right so much of the time; Clark would prefer it no other way. He leaned forward and kissed him, his eyes drifting closed as he concentrated on the warm silkiness of Lex's lips and the heat and reassurance that sent soaring all the way through his body. From the top of his tall, dark head to his curling toes, Clark felt loved and safe, and he knew the Kents' future together was going to be wonderful indeed.
The End
