Title:  Another Time and Another Place - Book Two

Author: danceswithgary (danceswithgary@yahoo.com)

Pairing: Kal-El/Lex

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: None

Spoilers:  None

Word Count: 23,800

Archive: Fine, just let me know

Summary: Kal-El has another chance to get it right, if Lex will let him try.

cover by justforspite for completing sv_renaissance WIP Challenge

Another Time and Another Place - Book Two

The water passing beneath the bridge was murky and slow-moving, only an occasional ripple betraying the presence of life. Leaning against the metal railing, he stared down sightlessly as he thought about his assignment, trying to convince himself that he needed to remain professional and detached. He'd been lucky the last time, and hadn't suffered too badly for his mistakes. There was no guarantee he'd survive another set of ill-advised decisions.

The sound of squealing tires took him by surprise, and there was no time to react when he turned to see the car hurtling toward him. The blow that drove him back through the railing took his breath away, and he registered little else until shock of the cold water forced him to move. Surfacing, he looked up at the bridge to see a gaping hole, but no sign of the vehicle that had struck him. A large bubble of air that rose next to him made it clear where it had disappeared to, and he instantly dove back under to see if he could help the driver.

The dim light that made it through the muddy water made it hard to see anything, but finally a gleam, as if from a hidden pearl, caught his eye. A few more strokes downward and he could see the car and its hapless driver. Motionless, a body floated free inside its metal prison. His attempts to open the door, failed. A hole at the top of the windshield beckoned and the roof broke free, peeling back with surprising ease. Ignoring the burn of lungs pleading for oxygen, he reached in to collar his prize, and kicked to the surface without further delay.

Towing the limp body to the nearest bank, chest battling for air in rasping heaves, he swiftly positioned the head to allow him to share his breath. Breath, compression, breath, compression, the rhythm continued in a mockery of life until a gasp and cough signaled his success. Sitting back on his heels, he looked down at the man he'd rescued and lost his own capacity to breathe.

"K...Kal?" Blue eyes gazed up in puzzlement, black-clad body lax in shock.

Blinking, Kal-El searched for words, something to say after years apart. He settled for a brief nod, brushing gently against a pale cheek marred by a crescent of blood.

Pushing up onto an elbow, water still dripping from a head unprotected by any hair, the resurrected man protested, "Are you hurt? I thought I hit you!"

After a quick glance over his shoulder at the bridge where spears of metal dangled over the water, Kal-El frowned back down at the other. "You did, Lex. I have no idea how or why we're still alive, either one of us."

Sitting up further with a groan, Lex shook his head. "I guess I'll just add that on to the list of questions I have for you, starting with 'Where the fuck have you been for the last two years?'"

// Two years earlier //

"Kal? Why's the door unlocked?" Frowning down as he engaged the lock on the apartment door, Lex noticed a crystal glint on the carpet near the jamb. Bending over, he retrieved the leather and stone bracelet he'd bought Kal at the club. Examining it casually, then with a greater concern, he noted that it was still knotted, the leather abraded and torn apart, rather than cut, as if it had been ripped away from Kal's wrist.

Worried, Lex turned to scan the apartment, looking for evidence of a struggle. "Kal? Where are you?" Not receiving an answer, he darted down the hall to the bedroom, then through to the bathroom, searching for the other man. "Kal?" The kitchen and dining area were also empty, leaving Lex retracing his steps in an effort to determine why Kal was missing, the bracelet clenched tight in one fist.

In the center of the bedroom, he pivoted, searching for clues. The suitcase Kal had brought in was gone, as were all of his clothes, implying that he'd left on his own, or whoever had removed him had known what to take. Walking back into the living room, he paused at the window that overlooked the parking lot and verified that Kal's car was missing.

Turning back to the room, Lex noticed a crumpled piece of paper near the sofa. Picking it up and smoothing it out carefully, he saw that it was the photograph of him and Kal, torn from the previous day's newspaper. Frowning, he looked up to scan the room once more, but found nothing else out of place. Dropping the paper on the nearby table, he pulled out his cell phone, looked up a number, dialed, and waited impatiently for the call to go through. The moment he heard an answer, Lex growled out, "Where is he, Phelan?"

The chuckle at the other end of the line left Lex gripping the phone tightly, enough to crush it with a little more pressure applied. "Who, Lex? Your father? I imagine he's in his office at this time of day."

The low, vicious snarl left no doubt of the extent of Lex's fury. "You know exactly who the fuck I mean, Phelan. I want to know what you did with him. Now."

"If you're taking about your little friend, Lex, I haven't seen him since yesterday. Why don't you check around some of the street corners downtown and see if someone made him a better offer?"

"Fuck you, Phelan!" Lex took a deep breath and tried to bring himself back under control. "I'm warning you, if I find out you had anything to do..."

A bark of laughter interrupted him. "Get real, why don't you? Why would I do anything to your pretty boy when all I had to do was to wait for him to get tired of hanging around with a freak? It just happened a couple of days sooner than I expected."

Closing the phone, Lex raised his arm in a rage, only the realization that it would take time to get a replacement saving the device from a ruinous impact with the nearest wall. Sinking to the sofa, he buried his face in his hands, the bracelet and phone pressing hard against his cheekbones and eyes. After a minute, he sighed deeply, and pocketed his phone before knotting the bracelet back together and wrapping it around his wrist. Rising, he headed for the door, pulling out his keys. One final look around the apartment, and he was gone.

. . .

"I just got a call from your son." The gravelly voice issuing from his desk phone left Lionel Luthor frowning. "He thinks I had something to do with his latest boyfriend disappearing."

Steepling his fingers together, Lionel leaned back in his chair before responding. "And do you?"

"No. I delivered the warning, and that was it."

"I see. Well, then it must be just a fortunate happenstance. It will be one less nuisance to deal with in the future. Do let me know if he shows up again." Reaching out, he punched the button to hang up. Swiveling his chair around, he looked out over the city that he intended to own one day, and his eyes narrowed. "Dominic, when does construction begin?"

The other man in the room, silent until then, shifted in his chair as he consulted the thick file he held. "The last of the purchase papers were signed yesterday and we already have the contractors bringing in the equipment and materials beginning today. The estimation time of completion on the new level is eight months, the factory fully operational in nine, after the refit."

"I want the estimates cut by two months, cost is no object. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. And the castle?"

"Continue with the transfer and reconstruction, I want it habitable by the end of next year. It will make a splendid venue for the New Year's Ball."

Rising from his chair, the younger man inclined his head. "Of course, sir." He left the office without another word, his employer still staring silently out over the busy streets of Metropolis.

Hearing the click of the door closing, Lionel turned back around and stood, walking to the nearest wall and shifting aside the de Kooning oil hanging there. Punching in a series of numbers, he disengaged the lock on the wall safe and opened it slowly. Reaching inside, he pulled out a manila envelope and a silver cuff before closing the safe again. Carrying them back to his desk, he sat down and pulled a printed report from the envelope. Setting the cuff down on the desk, he caressed the cool metal absently as he reviewed the pages of test results, a disquieting smile stretching his thin lips.

Throwing the report down, he reached out and dialed a number on his desk phone. It was picked up immediately. "I want the surveillance continued, but make sure they don't know they're being watched. I'll be very angry if they're frightened away by sloppy methods. Understood? Good. I'll be in touch."

Hanging up abruptly, he picked up the cuff and weighed it in his hand with a quiet chuckle. "Six months, then we'll see exactly what you are, Kyle Hunter...or perhaps we'll just call you...Kal."

. . .

"A piece of scanning technology, a multi-channel analyzer, has not been recovered. The components were concealed beneath normative indigene functionality and the power source became inert after 72 hours, as such, the risk is minimal. Nonetheless, Second Searcher Kal-El's actions have compromised our presence at the landing site, so I am recommending withdrawal to another, more remote location until the full damage has been assessed." The grim tones of the senior member of the on-world team made his position clear. "All evidence of our presence at the landing site and surrounding area has been erased from the associated records, and all information supplied to any eyewitnesses has been verified untraceable. The Zod Consortium holding companies are concealed under shell corporations successfully used by the indigenes to shield illegal activities. The assets and records are locked and inaccessible to anyone except Second Searcher Kal-El, and me. Access for the new junior will be added on arrival."

"Recommendation accepted, Second Searcher Zak-Tor. Commence relocation on personnel transfer."

. . .

Lex had successfully convinced the building's caretaker that his friend needed his plants watered, and had forgotten to leave Lex a key, and it had only taken a fifty. Lex had been prepared to pay ten times as much to get in. Kal's apartment was empty, and there was no evidence that he'd ever been there, nothing to show that anyone had lived there at any time in the past. The registrar at the college had been able to supply no useful information on Karl Jager, and Kyle Hunter was a ghost at the magazines he'd submitted articles to in the past.

Returning to his empty apartment, discouraged after asking around at the club and hoping, waiting too long for Kal to show up, Lex pulled off his clothes and let them drop to the floor carelessly. Crawling into the bed that still held their scent, the remnants of the last time they'd been together, Lex flopped to his back and stared up at the ceiling, the faint shadows drawn by the streetlights outside bringing back memories.

Their last night together, pulling up the sheet and blanket from the foot of the bed, he'd covered Kal and himself. Lying down on his side, propping his head up with an elbow, he'd studied Kal's face in the dim light as he slept, vulnerable to Lex, all his defenses down. He'd watched Kal earlier, after he had taken care of his injuries, but it was different then. Days later, he was looking into the face of someone who had given him something that no one else had touched before, if he could believe Kal. Lex had examined those green eyes and had seen an arousing mixture of fear and desire, and did believe him because up until then, Kal had lied badly and Lex had exposed every lie.

To Lex, Kal had been a strange mix of maturity and naivete, shifting like quicksilver between the two, as if he had missed several important lessons as he'd grown up, and was only just then understanding how some things worked, how people were expected to act in certain situations. Asleep, he'd looked young, too young to be what he'd claimed, perhaps even too young to be in Lex's bed, and to carry the secrets he held so close.

Reaching out, Lex had brushed the silken hair back from the broad forehead, making sure it would not mask Kal's eyes if he woke. The long, thick lashes were still, not a quiver betraying Kal's dreams, and then they'd fluttered open. Kal had turned to Lex and sleepy green eyes looked across the pillow, and Lex had fallen into them and could not look away, until the tip of a tongue wet the lips below. A smile had stretched lips that spoke words that Lex could not immediately process because he was too busy watching and wanting, and then taking.

Remembering, aching from a need he'd never felt before, Lex traced the stones and leather wrapped around his wrist and closed his eyes against the lonely dark. Fearing the worst, he wished he knew all of Kal's secrets, the ones he could not or would not share with him, needed to find out the truth. Exhausted, he fell into dark dreams of fire and pain, feverish and alone, not waking until late the following afternoon.

. . .

"Bruce, that guy I called you about yesterday morning? The one that I thought needed help? He's missing. I came back to my apartment and he was gone. Have you found out anything about him yet?" Lex paced the length of the hallway and back as he spoke on his cell phone, his steps quick and impatient.

The voice on the other end was dark and deep, sounding as if the owner lived in perpetual night. "No, Lex. I've checked out the addresses and names you gave me, and I've hit nothing but dead-ends. Whoever set this up is good, which suggests that you're right, something is going on. Have you remembered anything else you can tell me about this kid?"

Stopping, Lex leaned his forehead against the wall and closed his eyes. "Not really. I can't help thinking my father's involved somehow, though. The only other thing is that Kal said he was investigating the meteor shower." He sighed. "I'm going to drive out to Smallville and see if I can find out anything there."

"Do you want me to come with you? I can be there early tomorrow."

"No, Bruce. I appreciate the offer, but you've done enough. I don't want you to get in too deep if it is my father. I don't want to lose you, too. Everything you've done with the investments, and..."

"Lex, you're not convincing me that staying away is the right thing to do. This kid could be out to scam you, or pull you into something dangerous."

"You didn't see him...hear him when I suggested taking a...shortcut. Listen, if you don't hear from me in a couple of days, then I'll expect you to storm the battlements and take on my father. You'll be my dark knight to the rescue, okay? Until then, it's all speculation on my part, Bruce."

"All right, Lex. Two days and if you don't call me, I'm there."

 <;/span>

"Thanks." Lex closed his phone and juggled it in his hand as he considered his next move. It was late, and everything would most likely be closed by the time he drove out to Smallville. He could try to find a place to stay overnight there, or drive out early. Still feeling tired and feverish, he decided to make it an early night and leave in the morning. He suspected it was going to be a long and frustrating day in Smallville. At least he was sure his father wasn't stupid or crazy enough to kill Kal, he'd just make him hard to find.

// Eighteen months earlier //

The beat of the music forced the young blonde to lean in close so she could be heard. "I hope you don't feel obligated to entertain me, Lex. Jude's only gone for a couple days."

Shaking his head with a grin, Lex signaled the bartender. "I don't believe in obligations, Amanda. Besides, your fiance did me a favor. I wasn't looking forward to a night out on my own."

A delighted laugh greeted his gallant statement. "Something tells me you wouldn't have been alone for very long."

Sighing dramatically and rolling his eyes with a laugh, Lex disagreed. "You'd be wrong. I've gotten out of the habit of taking home strangers. One too many morning-afters, I'm afraid."

Nodding, she picked up a matchbook from the bar and flipped it over. "Zero Consequences. I guess that's a promise this club has a hard time keeping."

Taking two martini glasses from the bartender, Lex offered one to Amanda, inclining his head to acknowledge her.  "It has had its moments." He offered a toast. "To my good friend Amanda on her engagement."

Sipping her drink, she smiled and held out her hand to admire the flashing diamond on her left hand. Looking back up, her smile slipped, and Lex slowly turned around.

// Twelve months earlier //

"Don't you think you've had enough?"

Wheeling around, with only the slightest of staggers to suggest that the question had merit, Lex grinned at the man who had walked up behind him. "Bruce! What brings you to fair Metropolis? Tired of hanging around gloomy old Gotham? Or should I say flitting?"

Frowning deeply, the dark-haired man, who stood a few inches taller and at least forty pounds heavier than Lex, reached out and removed the half-full glass from Lex's hand, placing it on the bar. He shook his head at the bartender and looped his arm around Lex's shoulders, pulling him away and towards the exit. "I thought it was time for a visit, Lex. It's been a while."

Breaking away impatiently, Lex turned back to the bar, intent on rescuing his unfinished drink. "I wasn't done, Bruce." Finding the glass already gone, he slammed his hand down and yelled, "Tony, another round!" Angry at being ignored, Lex began to hoist himself up on the bar when he found himself hanging head down over his friend's shoulder, staring at the black silk that rippled across Bruce's broad back and the flex of an ass well-defined by black leather pants. He might have enjoyed the view more, if the sudden change in position hadn't left him convinced he'd was going to be very ill, very soon.

"Bruce..." With a speed that did nothing to calm his roiling stomach, Lex found himself propped against a brick wall outside the club, his head being held surprisingly gently as he rid himself of the last six or seven drinks he'd consumed in the last hour or so. They definitely did not taste as good coming up as they had going down. "Fuck, Bruce...you..."

"Here." A dampened handkerchief appeared, along with a bottle of water that had been opened for him, since his hands were shaking too much to manage it himself. "Rinse and spit, then drink the rest, you idiot."

Doing as he'd been told without any further argument, Lex straightened back up and shifted a few feet away from the mess he'd left before leaning back against the wall again. His head went back against the brick, his eyes closed as he breathed deeply and evenly for a few minutes. Finally, he opened his eyes and rolled his head to the side to look at his dark, silent friend. "All right, you've made your point. Let's go back to my apartment and talk."

. . .

"Toby called me." Bruce's voice rumbled an explanation as he paced slowly back and forth in front of the couch where Lex was lying down on his side. The drive back to Lex's apartment had been in silence, Lex's eyes closed against the glare of passing headlights.

"Can you sit, please? You're making me dizzy." Another round of vomiting, just a few minutes after their arrival, had left Lex's voice gravelly and raw. "Shit, I must really be looking bad if Toby turned me in. It's not like he's got a lot of room to talk."

Shoving the coffee table back from the couch, Bruce sat gingerly on it, a few feet away from Lex's head. His cool fingers tested Lex's cheeks and forehead as Lex's eyes closed with a murmur of relief. "He was right. You look like hell." Reaching down, he picked up a water bottle where it was sitting on the floor and offered it to Lex. "Drink some more, and then explain why you're self-destructing."

Sitting up so he could drink, Lex emptied half the water, shrugging before he drawled, "Sometimes, it's just easier to crawl inside a bottle or take the damn pills, Bruce."

"Bullshit, Lex. You've never taken the easy way out before. What's going on? Why haven't you called me?"

Laying his head back on the couch, water bottle dangling between his knees, Lex sighed. "There's nothing you can do, Bruce. My father..."

"Your father is a complete ass. That's nothing new. Is that how you picked up that scar?"

Rubbing a finger across his upper lip where a white line bisected the chapped skin,  Lex shrugged again, his muscles lax against the cushions. "A little souvenir, courtesy of a new ring he's sporting, a lovely bit of meteorite he's decided to wear in celebration of his heir's taste of Armageddon. He was upset about the shooting at the club, that his son managed to put him in the position of covering up something a little more serious than a drunken brawl, or a charge of public indecency."

"That was six months ago, Lex, and you told me it was self-defense. Toby corroborated your story; he's the one who stitched up the knife wound, the one that just missed your heart. I never understood. Why you didn't just call the police when it happened?"

"I wanted to keep Amanda out of it, Bruce. It was bad enough I managed to get her fiance killed, when all I wanted to do was show her that he was cheating on her, lying to her." Lex's jaw clenched as he tried to hold back the pain that threatened to break through, his breathing ragged. "'I've always said that I'd do anything for a friend, Bruce, but...I really fucked that one up." His forearm came up to shield his eyes. "Jude Royce dead, Kal still missing, and...my father is keeping me here in Metropolis by screwing up my masters program applications. I can't get in anywhere else. I tried..."

"You could just leave. You've got the money. The investments have done well."

"Sure I could. I could let him win, and give up on my education, my goals, and go do...what? Hang out in Gotham with you and Alfred? Go to work for Wayne Enterprises? You can't fight him. Look what he did to Kal. Everything we tried to find him was a dead-end, even Smallville. The bastard owns Smallville now, and Kal...is gone, as if he never existed. I don't want that to happen to you, Bruce."

"He could try, but he can't hurt me, Lex." Reaching out gently, Bruce tugged Lex's arm down so that he could look into his bleary, blue eyes. "You're letting him win anyway. Even your enhanced healing can't handle the abuse you're putting your body through."

Standing, Bruce strode across the room, heading for Lex's bedroom. The sound of drawers being opened and closed, along with the rasp of hangers sliding across bars, kept Lex on the edge of consciousness until Bruce returned, carrying a loaded duffle. Offering his hand, he waited for Lex to take it and pulled him up from the couch. "C'mon, you're taking a few days off. Alfred has been asking when you were going to visit. It's time." Ignoring Lex's muttered protest, he looped an arm around his friend's waist and ushered him to the door. "When you're feeling a little better, we'll work something out, something better than chemical seppuku."

// Six months earlier //

"Although I haven't been able to get many details, there is definitely something going on in Smallville, and it looks as if Luthor Corp is heavily involved."

Pacing back and forth impatiently in his living room, Lex nodded at his friend's report, his eyes narrowing as he assessed his options. "And you think it has something to do with the meteorites?"

"Considering the bounty being paid on any meteorites found and turned in to the Luthor Corp plant, I'd have to say it's a real possibility, Lex. I'm also picking up rumors about some strange occurrences in the area, sightings of creatures that don't sound like they could be real. No one really wants to talk about them."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Lex stopped in the center of the room and thought. Bruce had been an enormous help getting him back on track, pulling him out of the depths of a depression that had seemed insurmountable. The older man's continued investigations, using connections he'd established since he'd left school to take over Wayne Enterprises, had been invaluable. They had made it clear that Smallville was at the center of a number of issues in Lex's life and it was becoming apparent that something was going to need to be done about it.

"I think I need to go out there and look around myself again, Bruce. Maybe get inside the plant and check it out. I feel like I'm missing something important by just going to class and working in the lab. Granted, I'm almost through my courses, but..."

The muffled sound of protest at the other end of the line made it clear that Bruce did not agree with the proposal. "Lex, you can't! All you need is your father thinking you know something you shouldn't..."

"I know, but what if it was his idea to send me out there?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've just been reminded of a story my mother used to read to me, about B'rer Rabbit and the briar patch. I do believe I would be most upset if my father punished my misbehavior by sending me to the very place where I lost my hair all those years ago."

There was a heavy sigh over the line. "Great. Just...try not to get stabbed or shot this time, okay?"

. . .

The red sun beat down on Kal-El's head relentlessly, and he wiped the sweat out of his stinging eyes again, wishing his uniform wasn't so tight against his skin. The heat of this planet's summer was nothing like the mild temperatures found on Level 3 planets he'd been assigned to previously. Grasping the magnetic stylus once more, he continued to make notes on the early-phase Level 2 indigenes he was studying, perched high above them on a branch-covered platform. It was on days like these when he missed Earth the most, the sweet-tasting freedom he'd enjoyed for an all-too-short time.

He'd been fortunate to keep his rank as Second Searcher, and despite his current discomfort, his current assignment was not a punishment and could lead to advancement in the ranks if he was diligent. However, his teammate was taciturn, prone to going for days without exchanging any words outside the bare minimum required to perform his duties. Kal-El missed the ease and closeness of his previous postings. Even the constantly grumbling Zak-Tor had shared stories of his past assignments on other planets.

Of course, there was something, someone else he missed, every hour of every day that passed. It was an ache deep inside that he desperately tried to ignore, but it never left him. He dreamed at night, alone in his narrow bed, and those dreams were filled with pale skin, ice-blue eyes, and strong hands that held him close.

Lex.

Using his sleeve, Kal-El swabbed the gathering sweat away once more, refusing to admit that it could be anything else that dampened his cheeks.

/ / Three months earlier //

"Mr. Luthor, we've found the men you hired us to locate."

"Amazing. Wonderful. It only took you a year."

"Sir, by the time you called us in..."

"Never mind, I don't want to listen to any of your excuses. I'm just interested in the results. Send me the details, immediately."

"Yes, sir. A courier is on his way as we speak."

"Good."

Hitting the release button on his speaker phone, Lionel set back in his chair and steepled his fingers across his chest as he contemplated his next move. They'd gotten away, completely slipped his surveillance for almost a year and a half, but now he was back in control and a decision needed to be made, to simply watch them, or bring them into the facility and start the tests. Tapping an index finger against his pursed upper lip, he nodded his head and reached out to buzz the outside office.

"Dominic, come in here. We have some plans to implement."

// Two months earlier //

"Second Searcher Kal-El, your orders have been changed. You're being posted to Sector AS-17W56 – 3, effective immediately. Return to base, you'll be picked up for transport on arrival."

" Sector AS-17W56 – 3? That's...but..."

"I have no idea what backward planet you've been assigned to, and I don't care. I'm not pleased that I've spent all this time preparing you to take over here, and now you're being transferred, and I'm forced to start training another fresh-from-the-academy Second Searcher. Dismissed."

// One month earlier //

"Here is the background information on your assignment, Second Searcher. You'll be arriving on-planet in the new location, then transferring to affected area using indigenous transport devices."

"What about Second Searcher Zak-Tor? And the other...will they be coming back aboard? Can I talk..."

"Second Searcher, read the background, and then ask your questions. The details, as we've been able to determine them, are all included in there. We've pulled you back because you're now the foremost on-planet expert for this sector. I can tell you that we have a serious situation. Second Searcher Zak-Tor is missing, and his junior...is dead."

// Two weeks earlier //

"Phelan, what am I paying you for? This is the fourth time this month alone, that my son's indiscretions are the top story in all the Metropolis newspapers, even the Daily Planet."

The hard-faced man shuffled his feet, ill-at-ease as he stood in front of Lionel's massive desk. "I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor, but he's out of control. He's out almost every night, raising hell. I've tried, but he ignores me.  All I can do is pick up the pieces, that is, unless you'll give me permission for something more drastic." His eyes glinted at the thought.

Eyes narrowing as he considered the offer, Lionel shook his head almost imperceptibly. "No, I think we've seen that taking action against him physically does nothing. Has he indicated any reasons for this behavior? There has to be something, considering he's still managing to maintain his grades despite all this nonsense."

Shrugging, Phelan frowned. "I don't...wait...he said something about..." His brow wrinkled as he tried to recall. "Nightmares. He said he might as well be out because he couldn't sleep anyway."

A grizzled brow rose. "Did he say what they were about?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, Phelan grimaced as he struggled to pull the details from his memory. "Fire? Maybe something falling on him?" His face suddenly cleared. "Smalltown...no...Smallville. I overhead him say he kept thinking about a place called Smallville, that it ruined his life."

"I see." Lionel waved a hand in dismissal. "Fine. I'll be making some arrangements and I'll be in touch." He waited as the other man turned and left the office without a word. A muscle clenching in his jaw, he swiveled in his chair to gaze out over Metropolis, his eyes distant in thought.

"Sir?"

Sighing, Lionel spoke without looking at his assistant. "Dominic, make arrangements to have Lex sent to Smallville. I want him to take over managing the plant, in name at least, even if you'll still be overseeing it."

A small sound of surprise escaped the other man before he replied evenly, "Sir? The security? We've had some...incidents."

"I know, we've gotten some attention from certain elements who suspect the plant is more than it seems." Turning back around, Lionel's smile at Dominic sent a shiver down his back as he stood there waiting. "Lex's poor reputation will actually work in our favor." He laughed dryly. "Who could possibly believe I'd send my incompetent, degenerate son out to manage the facility, if it was truly important to me?"

// One day earlier //

Pulling up next to the industrial gray building, Lex stepped out of his Porsche and stood looking at the sign over the entrance gate that announced he'd entered Luthor Corp Fertilizer Plant No. 3. Frowning up at the overcast sky, he pulled his black jacket a little tighter over the gray silk shirt and tailored black pants. Pulling off his black leather gloves, he tossed them on the seat before slamming the door shut.  Glancing around the quiet parking lot, and up at the tall building once more, his mouth quirked in satisfaction and he murmured under his breath, "Thanks, Dad."

// Now //

"Lex, I..." Pushing bedraggled locks out of his eyes, Kal-El sought for some way to explain his disappearance without compromising his mission. The ache that arose at the thought of offering anything less than the truth to Lex left him stammering, struggling to say something intelligible. "...I...there was..."

Throwing up a dismissive hand, Lex never let him finish. "Just stop. Don't try to come up with another lie, Kal. I've heard too many already."

Kal-El flinched at the fury that radiated from the man struggling to rise from the rocky bank of the river. The hand he offered was spurned with an angry gesture, and he stood there irresolute, unsure of what to do next. The slam of a vehicle door, and the offer of assistance from the truck driver that had stopped on the bridge, sent him scrambling up the bank to assure him that they were both unhurt and only required transportation to the nearest phone. Lex, who had followed him, changed that to ask the driver to take him to the castle where he would arrange for the Porsche's resurrection from its watery grave.

Kal-El's offer to walk back to his current residence received a swift glare from Lex. Unable to argue, he soon found himself sitting on the tattered bench seat next to Lex, while their rescuer chattered non-stop about how lucky they'd been, sharing tales of past accidents and courting one himself whenever both hands left the wheel to demonstrate. The air blowing fitfully from the old truck's vents was cool, and when Lex's shivering grew too obvious for Kal-El to ignore, he wrapped an arm around Lex's shoulders, and drew him close into his body to share his constant warmth. At first, Lex was stiff with anger, but as the heat from Kal-El's body began to penetrate his damp clothing, his shivers began to dissipate and tense muscles softened.

Pulling up to the gates of the castle, the driver let them out with some folksy advice to drive a little slower in the future, and left in a cloud of oily exhaust. Keying in the code to open the gates, Lex pointed without a word towards the front door, and they trudged up the long drive side-by-side.

The minute Lex entered the front hall he began to yank off his wet clothing, letting the pieces fall to the marble tile without any regard for their condition, stopping at the base of the stairs to toe off his shoes and socks before proceeding upwards. Kal-El fidgeted off to the side, waiting for some sign as to what Lex expected from him, ready to bolt at a moment's notice. Stripped down to clinging silk boxers and pale gooseflesh, Lex turned to Kal-El with a sound of exasperation. "Come on, get those off and follow me. We need hot showers and something dry to wear."

Not wanting to keep Lex standing in the chill air, Kal-El ripped off most of his clothes, more than one button or seam suffering from the speed of his actions. He was no more than a foot behind Lex when he reached the top of the stairs and followed him closely into one of the rooms off the long dark hallway. Lex pointed out the attached bathroom and left, muttering that he'd be back with something for Kal-El to wear.

Frozen by indecision, Kal-El remained motionless in the center of the room, no longer controlled by Lex's presence and demands. Only his eyes retained any semblance of life, darting between the exit and the bathroom Lex had directed him to use. He feared a return of the overwhelming need he'd felt at the river to tell Lex everything, to explain who he was, where he'd been, and why he was there. Only the knowledge that Lex would pursue him if he left finally convinced him to enter the spacious, porcelain-tiled room.

Stripping off his jeans and blue cotton boxers with a sigh of relief, he let them drop to the floor by the door and opened the door to the capacious shower stall. After studying the controls for the multiple shower heads, he managed to successfully turn them on and adjust the water to a reasonably comfortable temperature before stepping inside. The pulsating spray from three sides of the enclosure met in the center where Kal-El stood with his eyes closed, luxuriating in sybaritic pleasure he'd not indulged in since he'd left his last Level 3 assignment.

Rolling his head to release the tension in his neck and shoulders, he grasped the soap dish on the wall and leaned forward, allowing the hot water to wash away his anxiety. He finally let himself think about the man he'd craved for so long, so close to him now. He shuddered at the sudden descent of organs retracted since the day he'd left Earth two years earlier, and stroked the aching flesh, seeking relief. The crash of the bathroom door rebounding off the wall brought the tension and anxiety flooding back, and the soap dish snapped off the wall as Kal-El jerked in reaction.

"Dammit, Kal, I want..." The shower door flew open as Lex shouted, and Kal-El turned, soap dish in hand to face his livid host. Lex's eyes widened as he took in the sight of Kal-El under the cascading water, the sleek, golden skin that glistened over carved muscle, the hand that held unmistakable evidence of Kal-El's arousal. The shout tailed to a profane whisper as Lex's tongue flickered over parted lips. "...some...answers...fuck..." The clothes he was carrying tumbled to the floor unnoticed.

The soap dish shared the fate of the clothes when Lex stepped into the enclosure, ignoring the fact that he was still wearing the sweats he'd changed into. The soft material soaked up the water and clung heavily to every curve as Lex shoved Kal-El against the wall, and took his mouth with a curse. Several tiles on the shower wall cracked when Kal-El's fist smacked down, his knees unstable under the onslaught of Lex's furious passion.

"Damn...thought you were dead..." Lex growled, his words guttural between kisses that bruised and left his lips bleeding against Kal-El's. "Fuck...wanted...you so much...damn you, left me...Kal...Kal..." His frenzied movements slowly stilled under Kal-El's gentling hands, held tight against the broad, strong body that had pulled him from the depths of the river.

Pulling back, Kal-El blinked through the water that still pounded against them, and searched Lex's eyes for a return to rational behavior, one hand rising to slip over Lex's skull in a tender caress. "I missed you...so much. So sorry, Lex, I never wanted to..." Kal-El's heartfelt apology was lost to another kiss, one less damaging, although still heated. Slim hands stroked endlessly over his body, as if seeking confirmation that Kal was truly there, no mirage or hallucination.

Trapped by desire, needing his own affirmation, Kal tugged at sodden clothing, seams parting with shocking ease, the tattered cloth falling to lie in a heap beneath their feet. His hands wandered across pale flesh, slipping downwards until he weighed Lex's desire, heavy and hard, in one broad palm. The other hand flexed, grasped a hip, fingers pressing deep into alabaster flesh until Lex moaned in protest, his mouth too occupied with the taste of Kal's skin at the hollow of his throat to form intelligible words.

Panting heavily from teasing nips along his jaw and lips, Kal-El tried to interest Lex in a change of venue. "It's been...so long, Lex. Could we..." Impatient at the continued interruptions, Kal-El pulled his lower lip free from Lex's teeth so that he could finish his request. "...find a bed...or at least someplace drier?" The silent thrust of Lex's hips against his, aligning their cocks in the warm stream, made it clear Lex wasn't willing to wait, but Kal-El wanted more. Lifting Lex so that his legs came up to cling around his hips, Kal-El stalked out of the shower and into the bedroom, not bothering to turn off the water or close the shower door. The castle could flood as far as he was concerned; he wanted Lex, on a bed, on a table, on the carpet, somewhere horizontal, immediately.

Thankfully, a bed was just a few feet away and Kal-El peeled Lex away from his body and dropped him onto the duvet, still dripping wet. When Lex growled at him, and yanked on the hair he'd managed to snag in one fist as he fell, Kal dropped to his knees on the bed and crawled until he was poised above Lex's body, panting, his green eyes devouring fevered blue. Lowering his head at Lex's demand, he possessed the passion-wounded lips once more, laving away the slow-oozing blood.

Pulling his hair free, Kal-El licked and nibbled his way down Lex's body, first touching with trembling fingertips, then tasting each pale curve and shadowed hollow. Slightly calmer, Lex lay quiescent beneath Kal-El's sensual exploration, eyes flaring hot as he watched Kal-El traveling downward, only the occasional shiver revealing the extent of his restraint. When Kal-El reached the apex of his desire, he spent no further time delaying gratification. Lex groaned as Kal-El slid him into his heated mouth, tongue circling the taut, swollen head and then sliding along the underside as Kal-El swallowed.

Kal-El jerked at the flavor, the pure taste of Lex that he'd dreamed about, the reality leaving him shaking with need. He rubbed against the duvet, sliding against silken flesh as his head sank and rose, drawing sweet groans as pale fingers sank deep into his hair. It had been too many lonely days and nights for them both, and as Kal-El drank down pulses of hot sweetness, he spilled with a deep moan. Suckling until Lex tugged him up for a heated kiss, Kal-El slowly collapsed to the side, shoving the sodden duvet off the bed, and dragging the sheet up over them. He gathered Lex in, tucking him under his chin to lie on his chest, and stopped his questions with soft fingers and an even softer shake of his head. "Please, Lex. Later."

Kal-El felt the muscles under his hands relax, and the sigh that warmed the skin over his heart let him close his eyes in relief, knowing it was too soon for hope.

. . .

The clink of his belt buckle woke Kal-El, although it also could have been Lex's absence from the bed finally penetrating Kal-El's dreams. He blinked sleepily, his hand sweeping out across the sheets in a futile attempt to locate the warm body he'd held close through the night. Some quiet sounds from the foot of the bed brought him sitting up in a rush to find Lex seated there, holding Kal-El's jeans, wallet and belt, his back rigid and unyielding.

"Clark Kent. That's different from your usual style of alias, isn't it?"

Kal-El used the palm of one hand to rub the sleep from his eyes as he thought of how to address Lex's question. He still felt the compulsion to tell the truth to Lex, although he didn't feel the need to volunteer information. "Yes, it is."

Dropping the jeans and wallet on the bed, Lex carefully examined the belt before unzipping the concealed pocket. He pulled out a folded piece of paper, one that looked as if it had been treated to resist water, although it was still creased and stained. It was opened up before Kal-El could utter a protest.

Lex's voice grated a little as he read the note aloud. "Lex, I'm sorry, but I have to leave. My destiny lies elsewhere. I'll never forget you. Kal-El." Tracing the few short lines with a finger, Lex ignored Kal-El crawling across the bed toward him. "Interesting symbol. What does it mean? What language is it?"

Kal-El froze, his throat working desperately to suppress the answers to Lex's questions. His mind whirling with alternative answers that would still be the truth, he blurted out, "There's no exact translation in English. The language is different from any other on Earth." Coming up behind Lex, Kal-El folded himself around him, warming the chilled, pale flesh. He attempted to retrieve the note only to have Lex shove his hand away, fold the note back up, and tuck it into the pocket of his sweats, the only thing he was wearing.

"It may have been delivered two years late, Kal, but it's mine." Still refusing to look at Kal-El, even though he accepted Kal-El's warmth at his back, Lex continued, "Don't think I didn't notice how you sidestepped those questions, Kal. I'm still waiting for real answers. Am I going to get more lies or the truth?"

Kal-El kissed along the top of Lex's shoulders, finding each freckle and paying it homage. "The truth, Lex, I'll tell you the truth." Dropping his forehead at the top of Lex's spine, Kal-El sighed. "I want to tell you the truth, Lex. It's just that...don't ask me who I work for or where I've been. Please. I...I can tell you that I'm not here to hurt anyone."

An angry jerk from Lex dislodged Kal-El, and he jumped up from the bed to pace while Kal-El remained behind, tangled in the sheets and blankets. "Why should I believe you now? You lied that day, Kal."

"What are you talking about?" Kal-El frowned, puzzled.

"That first day when we were lying on the floor, surrounded by broken glass and orange juice, you looked at me and I believed you. And you lied to me. You said you would give me three truths. Yes, I still believe your name is Kal, and that you were investigating the meteors, but...the third 'truth' was a lie."

Kal-El had relived every moment he'd spent with Lex, cherishing the time, the words they'd spoken. Still, he was amazed that Lex remembered after all the time that had passed. "I said I would never hurt you. But I haven't Lex, everything I've done...."

Lex whirled and stalked back to the bed, shoving Kal-El down backwards and raging, "It hurt me when you disappeared without a trace, when I thought you were dead." Shoving down his sweats, he stepped out of them before climbing onto the bed. "Do you have any idea what that did to me, Kal? I'd never let myself care about anyone. I was always the one in control, and then you walked into my life and blew right by all my defenses." Kal-El, still tangled in the bedclothes, did nothing to stop Lex from straddling him and placing his hands around Kal-El's throat, thumbs poised at his windpipe. "I would have died for you, Kal. Can you say the same?"

Tipping his head back, offering no resistance to Lex's tightening hands, Kal-El gazed calmly into Lex's furious ice-blue eyes and said clearly, "Yes." He swallowed with difficulty, feeling Lex's thumbs pressing in relentlessly. "I left to protect you. I had no other choice." His green eyes softened as he raised one hand to Lex's twisted mouth, a finger caressing the scar that bisected the upper lip. His voice rasped under the increasing pressure. "But you weren't safe, were you? I'm sorry. I...wish I could have been there...that this happened...to me, instead."

Eyes searching eyes, hands feeling the throb of Kal-El's life beneath tightening sinews, Lex waited for the inevitable struggle, waited for the lies. Kal-El's hand dropped back to the bed and lay palm up, still offering no resistance as his breathing grew progressively shallower. His only response was involuntary and due to the asphyxiation. Lex felt it beneath him, the heat and hardness increasing with each second that passed.

A jerk and a shudder rolled through Kal-El's body, a tensing of muscles held in check, a slackening, and then there were no more breaths left. Lex watched in disbelief as the blue-tinged lips stilled and eyelids dipped half-closed over green that no longer glittered with life. Damp heat spread beneath him and Lex drew his hands back in horror. "Kal?" Checking for the pulse under Kal-El's jaw, Lex gasped, "Kal!" Scrambling off him, Lex quickly propped Kal-El's head in the correct position for CPR and began to breathe for him. Stopping, Lex compressed Kal-El's broad chest to stimulate his heart and then returned to breathing once again. Counting in his head, Lex could feel the seconds stretch to minutes with no response. Breathe and then compress, breathe, and then compress, a litany of 'please, Kal' screaming in his head between the vital numbers that climbed inexorably higher.

But there was no response.

Lex sat back on his heels and looked at Kal-El sprawling, lifeless in his bed. Clasping his hands together over his head, Lex brought his fists down as hard as he could on Kal-El's chest, slack arms and legs jolted into new positions. Checking for a pulse, he grimaced and tried again, a crack joining the sound of panicked breathing. Suddenly, Kal-El's chest expanded with a gasp and then he was on his side, writhing as he struggled for deeper breaths.

Pulling Kal's upper body into his lap, Lex rocked him as his breathing began to stabilize. He murmured into the sweat-damp curls at Kal-El's temple, "I'm sorry, Kal. I'm so sorry. Why did you let me do that? I nearly killed you. God, I did kill you!"

Coughing, Kal rasped, "I deserved it for hurting you, for letting you be hurt."

Shaking Kal in frustration, Lex growled, "No one deserves that, Kal, and least of all you. Don't you ever fucking give up like that again, do you hear me?"

Nodding in agreement, Kal-El protested, 'I didn't mean to let it go so far, Lex. I just wanted you to know you could trust me and that I trust you, but then I just felt really weak and I didn't want to struggle anymore." With a tentative smile, Kal-El ventured, "Lex, have you ever investigated anger management techniques?"

Frowning, Lex dismissed the weak attempt at humor. "I don't understand. How could I do that if hitting you with my car didn't even leave a bruise?"

Kal-El shrugged and coughed again. "I don't know. Maybe you're stronger than me or maybe my throat is able to be damaged or...."

"Or you tend to have a really hard time coming up with believable reasons?"

Kal-El pushed himself up and out of Lex's arms. "I'm not lying, Lex. I don't know!" Wiping himself clean with the sheet, he got out of bed to pace, his arms waving as he tried to explain. "Listen, the meteorites changed you. You know that. Well, I think that maybe they changed me the last time I was in Smallville. I checked my exposure when I started noticing...differences, and it was high. Off the charts high."

"I guess that explains my sweats in two pieces on the bathroom floor. Anything else?"

Running his hands through his hair, Kal-El stopped and stared at Lex in disbelief. "Anything else! Don't you think that's enough mutation to deal with right there: strength, speed, and apparent invulnerability?"

"So just now, I shouldn't have been able to kill you even if I'd wanted to, could I?"

Kal-El's eyebrows rose and his eyes widened comically. "I'm not sure. Are you thinking about asking me to get back in bed and then trying again?"

Lex's mouth twisted into a wry grin as he surveyed Kal-El standing in front of him, naked, interest reviving quickly. "Well, at least one part of you liked it."

"Not that much! Did I mention the high probability of insanity that goes along with the mutations?"

"I'm not insane, just really pissed off at you. At least I was, and I'll probably think of more reasons to be for a while."  Leaning back on his arms in the bed, he arched his back in a stretch, grinning when he saw Kal-El's involuntary step forward. "Why don't you come back here and we'll try something a little less kinky, this time. Maybe you can show me what you've learned in the last two years."

Shuffling forward slowly, Kal-El ducked his head shyly. "That would be nothing, I'm afraid. There hasn't...I haven't...."

Reaching out, Lex yanked Kal-El back onto the bed and rolled him over before sliding back on top of him with a triumphant grin. "Then we've got a lot of lost opportunities to make up for, don't we?" With some wiggling and stretching well-appreciated by the man beneath him, Lex was able to yank open the nightstand drawer, spilling the contents to the floor. Groping over the side of the bed, he pushed aside a leather and stone bracelet before grabbing several condoms and lube.

Neither man noticed the green glow emanating from the bracelet shoved under the bed.

. . .

Pulling the sheet and blanket up from the foot of the bed, Lex covered Kal-El and himself. Lying down on his side, propping his head up with an elbow, Lex seemed to be studying Kal-El as he drifted towards sleep. A hand brushing back his hair brought Kal-El's eyes back from beckoning dreams and another smile to his face.

"Mmm, Lex? What are you doing?"

Serious blue eyes assessed Kal-El, and Lex considered his answer carefully. "I'm looking at you."

Kal-El felt warm color race across his cheeks and his eyelashes dipped shyly before his eyes returned to Lex's face. Rolling to his side, Kal-El arranged himself so that he could look back at Lex more easily. "What do you see?"

"I don't know." Lex's face stilled, revealing nothing. "I'm not even sure that this isn't all another nightmare that I've managed to concoct out of my subconscious."

Unease flickered in Kal-El's eyes and he reached out to rest his palm on Lex's chest, above his heart. "Nightmare?"

Lex studied Kal-El's face. "I've had quite a few since the day I came back to find you missing. All I had to go on was your broken bracelet, and the fact that my father wanted you out of my life. The thing is, none of my nightmares ever ended with me killing you."

"I'm fine, Lex. You didn't...."

Lex jerked away from Kal-El's touch, anger flaring as he sat up. "It's not that simple, Kal. What is wrong with me, what have I turned into...a monster like my father? Ten minutes after I broke one of your ribs using CPR because I choked you to death, I'm fucking you!" Shoving the blanket and sheet away from Kal-El's chest, his fingers hovered over the vivid bruise there, and then the circle of finger marks on Kal-El's throat. "Not even in my worse days in the backrooms of the clubs...why, Kal? How?"

Sitting up, Kal-El reached out and pulled Lex close after a brief, useless struggle on Lex's part. Slowly rubbing along Lex's stiffened back in broad sweeps, Kal-El murmured, "You didn't do it on purpose, Lex. I know that it was an accident, on both our parts. It just got too intense too quickly. And afterwards...I wanted you. I still do." He sighed heavily. "Listen, we still have a lot to talk about, and maybe the bedroom isn't the right place for it. Why don't we get cleaned up, put on some dry clothes, and then find another room so I can answer your questions. At least, the questions I can answer."

With an abrupt nod, Lex pulled away and got out of the bed. "Why don't you go first? I'll find you some clothes."

Kal-El crawled out on the opposite side and headed towards the bathroom. "I won't be long. Being faster has to be good for something, after all."

. . .

"I found some clothes that should fit you." Lex stopped short as Kal-El walked out of the bathroom drying his hair with one towel while wearing another around his waist. "Kal, what happened to the bruises? You heal fast, too?"

Looking down at his own chest in surprise, Kal-El shook his head, baffled. "I don't understand. The car doesn't hurt me, then you can...and then I heal in a matter of minutes?" Dropping the towel on the floor, he accepted the sweats and tee shirt from Lex. "This doesn't make sense. Then again, I have no idea how I was exposed to the meteorites, either."

Picking up the discarded towel and taking the second one when Kal-El handed it to him, Lex shrugged. "I guess we'll add that to the list of questions to be answered." He walked into the bathroom, leaving Kal-El standing alone and debating what to do next.

Spotting his wallet on the floor next to his still-damp jeans, he picked it up and tucked it away in the pocket of the sweats. Lex's sweats were also lying there, and for a moment, Kal-El debated on whether to retrieve the note he'd carried for so long. In the end, he decided that it was Lex's to keep, so he simply pulled it out of the pocket and carried it over to the nightstand. He grinned at the sight of the carelessly spilled drawer and knelt to pick it up, as well as the scattered contents. As he groped under the bed for an elusive condom, a wave of dizziness washed over him and he leaned against the bed with a groan.

"What's wrong?" Lex was suddenly there, and Kal-El closed his eyes against the spinning of the room as Lex helped him up onto the bed.

"Don't know. Dizzy." Kal-El immediately starting feeling better as soon as he was off the floor and lying down, and that fact puzzled him. "Lex, is there something on the floor? Or maybe spilled on the carpet that I'm allergic to?"

Lex went to his knees to examine the carpet more closely. Not seeing anything obvious, he peered under the bed and recovered a condom and the bracelet. Standing back up, he shook his head. "I can't tell if there's something on the carpet or not. All I found were these." Holding out the items, he started to show them to Kal-El, who moaned at the return of his dizziness. "Kal?"

"Move them away, please," Kal-El panted, and then sighed with relief as Lex backed up a few feet. "It's one of those. It has to be." He sat up, recovered. "Put one down, and then come closer." Lex set down the bracelet and carried the condom towards Kal-El, who shook his head. "It must be the bracelet."

Walking back to pick up the suspect piece of jewelry, Lex protested, "This is the bracelet I gave you right before you left. How could you be 'allergic' to it?" Returning to Kal-El, he stopped when Kal-El raised his hand. "Okay, so it is the bracelet." Looking down at it centered in his palm, he held his hand out towards Kal-El again, gasping when he saw the green stone flare. "Whoa, it never did that before!"

Waving Lex back, Kal-El wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead and grimaced. "I've seen that type of reaction before, but only under laboratory conditions, two years ago. We'll have to have it analyzed to be sure, but I suspect we may have found the source of my exposure, Lex. It may also explain how you were able to hurt me. We'll need to get it shielded."

Lex looked down at the bracelet in his hand and crushed it inside his fist. "Fuck." He backed further away from Kal, his face drawn and paler than usual. "How do we shield it?"

"Lead or about six inches of steel should do it. Do you have a safe we can use?"

Crossing to a low bureau, Lex opened an ornamental box and placed the bracelet inside, closing the lid with a dull thud. He picked it up and carried it back to Kal-El, who had risen from the bed and was waiting. "The mythical armor of Saint George will have to do for now."

Tracing the raised crest on the lid, Kal-El asked, "Armor?"

"My mother found it in a bazaar in Morocco, and the claim was that it was crafted from the lead armor of Saint George. Obviously, it's a fake but she liked the story. She gave it to me just before she died. Fortunately, it really is lead." Grabbing Kal-El's arm, he guided him toward the bedroom door. "Let's go find some food and figure out what we're going to do next."

. . .

 "So...Clark Kent?"

Chewing and swallowing the food in his mouth, Kal-El nodded. "Clark Kent was the adopted son of Jonathan and Martha Kent, former residents of Smallville. He was six years old when the meteorites hit, but there's no record of exposure. Jonathan died of a heart attack when Clark was fourteen, and he and his mother moved back to Metropolis to live with her parents, leasing out the farm. The parents are both dead and, sad to say, so is Martha, who was killed in a car crash. Clark was in the car with her, and now he's in a coma that he's not expected to recover from."

"So you took over his life?" Lex was only toying with his sandwich, too interested in Kal-El's answers to have any appetite.

Kal-El shrugged. "There have been no visitors or contact from Smallville, so we were confident that he could return to the family farm and finish out his senior year without suspicion. He's...I'm eighteen and don't require a guardian. Smallville is a very insular community and it's become much harder to get anyone to talk about the mutant phenomena." Taking a sip of lemonade, Kal-El shook his head ruefully. "Someone perceived to be a member of one of the oldest families in the area should be in a better position to obtain information. Any facial differences and missing memories can be ascribed to the years away in Metropolis and the car crash."

Lex raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I don't understand why you're just telling me this, without any issues about secrecy or need to know."

"I told you that I don't want to lie to you, Lex." Kal-El covered Lex's hand with his. "As long as you don't ask me who I work for or where I'm from, then you'll get all the answers you want."

"So you're back here in Smallville again to investigate the effects of the meteorites?"

"Not exactly." Kal-El frowned, pushing his half-eaten sandwich away. "I'm here to investigate a murder and a possible kidnapping."

. . .

"I still can't believe you were sent here to investigate with no backup. It doesn't make sense when one of your team members was killed and the other one is still missing." Pulling into the executive parking lot at the LuthorCorp facility, Lex parked and turned off the Mercedes sedan with a grimace. He hadn't been happy with the choice of vehicles available in the castle's garage, and missed his now-defunct Porsche. Unfortunately, the late-model Mercedes would have to do until his new Porsche was delivered later that week. Getting out of the car, he waited for Kal-El to exit carrying the lead box before activating the locks and alarm. Kal-El looked around the deserted lot and raised a puzzled brow. Lex shrugged. "It's a good habit to have, even outside of the city at three o'clock in the morning. You never know who might try to take advantage of your carelessness."

Nodding in agreement, Kal-El walked around the front of the car to meet Lex and follow him into the building. Passing through the night security station, they headed for the lab where Lex was sure they'd find the necessary equipment for testing the bracelet. Kal-El had considered using the analyzer he had hidden at the farm, but decided he'd revealed enough to Lex for the present. In the end, they had stopped there just long enough to Kal-El to change into clothes that fit before heading to the plant.

Entering the codes for the door, Lex held it open for Kal-El to pass through and then let it shut and lock behind them. Flipping on the lights, he scanned the area for the piece of equipment they needed. With a nod of satisfaction, he headed for a bench along the wall. "Here it is...an electron microprobe. I thought I'd noticed one when I took the tour the other day. They should have the meteorite signatures recorded for comparisons based on the local soil testing." Taking the box from Kal-El, who had followed him to the bench, he waved him back. "You better stand over there while I run this through."

Taking the bracelet out of the box, Lex set both items down on the bench while he looked for a tool that would allow him to cut the stone free of the leather. He found a sharp pair of shears in a drawer and with a few quick snips had the green stone separated. Dropping the remains of the bracelet back into the box, he closed it before placing the stone on the test plate of the microprobe. He never noticed Kal-El retrieving the box to carry it back to another bench across the lab.

"Why is it this didn't cause problems when you were wearing the bracelet two years ago?" Lex rubbed the back of his neck as he watched the microprobe churn through its analysis. "We definitely would have noticed it then." He turned around and leaned against the bench, watching Kal-El across the lab. "If it is an allergy, maybe it required a certain level of exposure first, like an allergy to bee venom or peanuts."

"That makes sense." Kal-El nodded as he toyed with the lid of the lead box. "I didn't have any exposure after I...left, so it could have developed in the interim." He frowned down at the box. "I wonder...what about the other stones...." Lifting the lid a fraction, Kal-El waited for a reaction while Lex lunged forward with a wordless protest. Feeling no effects, he reached inside and picked up the bracelet just as Lex arrived at his side.

"Are you insane!" Lex scrabbled at Kal-El's hand, trying to retrieve the bracelet. "I was going to test those next!"

Kal-El's head rose slowly, and Lex was almost positive he saw a flare of red in his normally green irises before a feral grin spread across Kal-El's face. His voice was a dark purr as he leaned in towards Lex and licked his face from jaw to temple. "Not a problem, Lex. I feel fine. In fact, I feel great." He tossed the lead box over his shoulder and it landed on the lab bench with the sound of shattered glass. "As long as we're waiting, why don't we try out one of these benches? I feel like indulging a longtime fantasy of mine."

Eyes wide, Lex backed up slowly, his hands raised in a calming gesture. "Kal, I'm not sure what just happened here, but why don't we slow down a little?" His eyes darted around the room in search of something he could use to subdue his obviously altered companion, but found nothing at hand.

Kal-El prowled closer, stalking Lex. "I had slow for two very long years without you, Lex. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life doing nothing but dreaming and regretting." Standing in front of Lex, who'd run out of space to back up and was pressed against a bench, Kal-El bracketed him with both arms resting on the bench and insinuated a muscular thigh between Lex's legs. His head lowered until his mouth hovered a few centimeters above Lex's and he whispered, "There was no one before you, Lex, and no one after. Tell me why I shouldn't take whatever I want, whenever I want it, now that you're here with me."

Lex stared into Kal-El's eyes and saw blazing need, but no menace. He closed the distance between them with a groan, his hands coming up to bury themselves deep in Kal-El's ebony locks. Their kiss caught fire, desire burning away any remnants of caution. Lex found himself bent back, arching into Kal-El's heat. The sharp edge of the bench caught him just above his hips and when he hissed in pain, Kal-El brought his hands up to pull him away, flipping them around so that he supported Lex. Large hands roamed over Lex's back soothing away the hurt and Kal-El lifted his head long enough to lick away the blood oozing from a split in Lex's lower lip. His broad hands flexed and shifted to grasp Lex's buttocks and lift him up...and then there was small rattling noise behind them on the floor.

A shudder ran through Kal-El's body and his hands released so quickly that Lex staggered for a moment before regaining his feet. Shaking his head and blinking, Kal-El slumped against the bench with a groan. "Lex...what...." His knees began to give way and Lex caught him in time to ease him to the floor.

Stepping back, Lex felt a crunch beneath his shoe. He glanced down and saw that he was standing on the bracelet. Snatching it up, he hurried over to the bench where the lead box was lying in the middle of broken glassware. He quickly shoved the bracelet inside and closed it. Grabbing some paper towels, he wet them in the lab sink and carried them back to Kal-El who was propped up against the leg of the bench, head sunken on his chest and moaning softly. Kneeling in front of him, Lex placed several fingers under his chin and lifted so that he could bathe Kal-El's sweating face.

Dark lashes fluttered and bewildered green eyes met Lex's concerned gaze. "Are...you all right, Lex? Did...did I hurt you?" A shaking hand came up to stroke the slightly swollen lip tenderly. "I'm sorry...I don't understand what...why...."

Lex shook his head and smiled gently, with only a little wince as the injured lip split a little more. "I'm fine. I've had much rougher kisses from people I didn't even like." He leaned forward and brushed a kiss across Kal-El's twisted mouth, and then sat back on his heels. "I think it's safe to say that the red stones in the bracelet need to be analyzed, too. It looks like in your case, both red and green mean stop."

// A week later //

The rustle of clothing, a soft moan, and a hiss were all the warning Lex received in the dimness of his bedroom before the mattress dipped under a new weight. "Kal?"

A whisper came out of the darkness as warm arms pulled him close. "Yeah, it's me. Sorry I'm so late."

"I was beginning to think you'd decided to sleep at the farm for some reason." Lex returned the apologetic kiss with enthusiasm, reluctantly pulling back as Kal-El chuckled.

"That's not going to happen unless you kick me out, and maybe not even then. Cold, lonely twin in a remote farmhouse or warm, double occupancy, oversized king in a castle...tough choice there." He rolled to his back, taking Lex along with him as a human blanket.

Nipping along Kal-El's jaw, Lex teased, "I don't know. You could have decided to take to the bus to school and wanted to be sure to catch it in the morning. After all, you're the senior chaperon on the tour of the plant tomorrow."

Kal-El's laughter rumbled as he lightly massaged Lex's lower back. "Really stretching, Lex. I have a nice, new, shiny, bright-red pickup truck that some rich guy had delivered after I saved his life last week. I am the envy of the school when I pull up in it, and it's a great conversation starter. Why would I give that up to ride in one of those deathtraps they call a school bus?"

Elbowing Kal-El in the ribs, Lex conceded, "All right, you win. Why are you so late, Kal?"

Kal-El sighed. "You know, it's a good thing I told everyone my nickname is Kal. You'd blow my cover in an instant." When Lex prodded him again, he shrugged. "It was another mutant that I had to take care of, and then turn over to the police."

Shoving himself up with his hands planted in the mattress, Lex tried to make out Kal-El's face in the dim starlight that sifted in through the open drapes. "You okay? I heard you make a noise when you were getting undressed."

Kal-El shook his head and pulled Lex back down for another kiss. "It was nothing. Just a little...stiffness." Thrusting up with his hips, he hinted, "Oddly enough, it seems to have relocated."

Lex hummed sympathetically. "I believe the usual treatment for stiffness is moist heat." He slithered down Kal-El's body slowly, applying his lips and tongue to make sure he wasn't missing any place that Kal-El might have been injured. As he neared his goal, he heard a fumbling noise at the head of the bed. "Kal?"

A frustrated sigh answered him. "I can't find the condoms. Did you move them?"

Lex shook his head as he stroked Kal-El's heavy length, bringing it to his lips for a soft kiss. "I'm not going to fuck you, Kal. I just want to suck your cock."

"But, you always...."

"You told me there's been no one else after me, right? And you always used protection before me, so I don't think there's any danger, Kal." Lex licked a long stripe from the base to the tip. "I want to taste you, like you've done to me. I've never tried that with anyone."

With a groan, Kal-El abandoned his search and shifted his hands to Lex's shoulders instead. "If you keep talking like that, you'll get your wish in the next five seconds."

Lex didn't bother to reply. His mouth was otherwise engaged. Not missing the taste or texture of latex, he was savoring the smooth heat under his tongue. He traced hot veins with the tip; he licked away sweet drops that presaged a flood. Finally, he took pity on the man moaning above his head and swallowed, opening his throat to allow Kal-El entry. Heavily muscled thighs twitched beneath his palms as he raised and lowered his head, Kal-El holding back in fear of injuring his lover. A full-body shiver and Kal-El arched with a rumbling, wordless shout to deliver what Lex had sought.

Suckling gently, Lex let Kal-El's softening cock slip free from his mouth. Crawling back up his slack-muscled body, Lex bent to lick across Kal-El's panting mouth and whispered, "I love how you taste, Kal. You're honey-sweet, and I'll be back for more, later."

Catching the tip of Lex's tongue with his lips, Kal-El suckled his taste and hummed in satisfaction. Pressing gently, he coaxed Lex to lie next to him and he caressed the smooth skin he loved to touch. Rising over Lex, he placed sweet kisses across his face and whispered, "My turn."

. . .

"We're getting nowhere on this, Kal."

Sighing heavily, Kal readjusted Lex's head on his shoulder and pulled him closer to his side. "I guess we're not going to sleep, yet. What's wrong?"

"I haven't found anything in the plant's records pointing to work with meteorites, yet you claimed your team was certain research was taking place in Smallville based on the containment protocols they were able to discover. Maybe we should have Bruce come out and take a look."

"I think we should hold off on that. I know it's frustrating, Lex, but we have to take it slow. We can't afford to be careless and expose ourselves. I don't want to take a chance on you being hurt or even killed because of this. Besides, I am picking up a lot of information on the mutations at the school. It's a hotbed of exposure. It seems consistent with a theory I've developed."

"Which is?"

"The mutations are triggered by strong emotions or desires, and teenagers are certainly prone to those. In addition, a perception of danger seems to be a trigger. Look at yours and compare it to the young man who could manipulate electricity, the boy who took on insect characteristics, and even the one who absorbed heat. All associated with fear or need or even wishes."

Lex was silent for a few moments and then nodded his head against Kal-El's shoulder. "It makes a surprising amount of sense except...what about you? What was your trigger?"

The words came haltingly through the darkness. "I swear to you that I will never do anything to hurt you, and that I will do everything in my power to protect you from others that may try, for as long as I am able." Lex tensed and Kal-El's arm tightened automatically to hold him in place. "I made you that promise, remember? I also recall falling asleep that night wishing that I could stop anyone and everyone from ever hurting you again."

Lex took a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly. "I was your trigger? You can do all these things...the speed, the strength...because of me?"

Kal-El kissed the top of Lex's head lightly and whispered, "The symbol on the note stands for the one...the only...and possibly even what some would call love. I told you there is no direct translation. I can also tell you it's rarely used because it speaks so strongly of devotion and...forever."

There were no more words. Silence ruled the night. Lex's fingers slid along Kal-El's jaw to stroke his lips gently before his hand returned to its former position over Kal-El's heart.

. . .

"I don't care how fast you heal, Lex. I still want to look at that lump on your head and make sure the cut is clean. I'm angry that you wouldn't let the paramedics check you over. "

"And have them discover I was already completely healed after having my shoulder dislocated? I don't think so, Kal. How did you manage to pull both of us up anyway? Jenkins was permeated with meteorite particles."

"I have no idea. Adrenaline? I understand how I did it about as much as suddenly being able to see through walls so I could find a bricked-over elevator."

The two men were so busy arguing as they entered the bedroom that it took a few moments to register that the drapes were drawn, and that they weren't alone. Immediately, Kal-El moved in front of Lex, shielding him with his broad body.

A dark shadow rose from the chair in the corner of the room and rumbled, "It's about time you two idiots got here. Have you been out informing the rest of the world about all your secrets?"

Lex stepped out from behind Kal-El and growled back, "What the fuck, Bruce! What are you doing here, and what do you mean, 'idiots?' We handled the situation with no loss of life and minimal property damage."

"I wasn't talking about the well-televised hostage situation at your plant, Lex." The visitor waved his hand around the room. "I was referring to the listening devices planted in almost every room of the castle."

Lex closed his eyes and winced as his rubbing hand hit the bruise just at the top of his spine. "Fuck! It has to be my father." He looked up at Kal-El, who'd turned on a light so that they could see each other's faces. "I had no idea, Kal. I'm sorry."

Kal-El reached out and brushed the side of Lex's face gently. "It's not your fault. I should have thought of it, too." He turned to Bruce and asked, "Every room?"

B