Title: Unstoppable
Authors: Lex's Lady & Mistress Ace
E-mail: winter@sapphire-dragon.net & rosewood@inreach.com
Feedback: It's the icing on the cake. We write because the story demands to be told. Feedback lets us know if we struck a chord with you.
Distribution: Our website, of course, www.fandomwriters.com. The list archives are welcome to it also. Anyone else, please ask first. We'd like to know where our fic is going.
Rating: NC-17 (eventually – or maybe quickly depending on the whim of the muses)
Category: Crossover, Romance, Angst
Spoilers: All of season 1 of Smallville and season 6 of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
Pairings: Buffy/Clark/Lex, m/f, m/m
Disclaimer: We don't own the characters at all (however much we might wish we did). Buffy and all references to BTVS are property of the great god Joss Whedon, et al. Clark, Lex and the Smallville storyline belong to Miller-Gough et al. We're just borrowing them for a while. We promise to put them back unharmed and perhaps a little happier.
Notes: ** denotes internal thought, * = italics.
Summary: What if the Summers girls moved to Smallville? What if Buffy discovered that Clark had a secret and thought he could use a confidant?
Dedications: From Em: To Ace, for her never-ending support and her willingness to work on this with me. She writes both Clark and Lex in a way I could never hope to achieve, and I couldn't possibly have done this on my own.
From Ace: To Em for reminding me why I love Buffy. To Beth for being my Smallville watching partner even when the scripts were awful. To the whole Clark/Lex list for opening my eyes to the potential here. And finally to Christina for her great story; Runaway Trains at 3 A.M. which was part of our inspiration. You can find it at: this site.

Chapter 25

The air was crisper than it should have been for late May but Lex paid it no attention. He stood in the fading light, overlooking the remaining devastation of the grounds and the fields beyond.

Inside they were probably debating the reason for his abrupt departure and he honestly didn't blame them. How could he tell Clark that Rog had been blackmailing him? That he'd dug up the few police records that still existed and held them over Lex's head in hopes of payment. Lex read them before burning the file and everything was so damned tame compared to what he'd really done.

There was no mention of the drugs or the arrest for solicitation. Nor was there any mention of the other side of the coin, the times he'd been picked up for prostitution. His father had made certain every mention of that had been erased from the face of the earth...

Of course if the old man hadn't withheld access to the trust fund and his allowance for six months, Lex would never have stooped to that particular vice. And how the hell was he supposed to confess all that to them? To Clark who had been up until today, a poster child for everything decent and moral and good? Or to Buffy, who while he was squandering his youth had been laying down her life to save the world.

He didn't deserve them. Either of them.

Buffy's eyes followed Lex until he disappeared on the other side of the door. "Okay, you're right baby, that's irritating." She sighed and shook her head. "We should give him some down-time, if that's what he needs, but if he hasn't come back in ten minutes I'm going out after him," she concluded. She had no idea what was going on, but thought it had something to do with controlling this Nixon guy. Or, more accurately, failing to.

Since she didn't have enough information to theorize, she left that train of thought alone. Instead, she turned to Clark and looked up at him for a long moment, thinking. Wondering if she could provoke that shifting look in his eyes in attempt to confirm her theory about him.

She decided against it, though. There had been so many revelations today; some things should just be left for another time. Especially with Lex angsting on them.

"He does that when he gets upset. I think..." Clark got up from his seat and settled down on the floor beside the coffee table. He toyed with a bite of mashed potatoes before eating them; his eyes fixed on the closed doors. "I think Nixon had something on Lex. He's told me a couple of times that there's things in his past that he's not proud of."

Catching the concerned tilt of Buffy's head, Clark looked up at her and shrugged. His self-confidence was shredding more and more every minute that Lex was gone. "Lex was involved in a shooting at a club in Metropolis about three years ago. The guy got killed and Lex took the blame for it... But he didn't do it. There was a girl and she shot the guy and Lex said he did it because his dad would protect him but not her... When I asked him why he did it, Lex told me he'd do anything for his friends. I think... I think he loved her."

Looking down at his plate, Clark pushed the food around a little. "Mom says the people in Lex's world grow up too fast. She told me to cool it with him and that was a little weird cause isn't that what your mom says when you're getting in too deep with someone else. Not the friend kind of deep... but this kind of deep."

On those last words, Clark looked up at Buffy again, his mouth half-open in shock. "Oh God... do you think she knows? I mean about Lex wanting this... and me wanting this?"

Buffy shook her head. "She might suspect, baby," she said softly. "Mothers are good at that kind of thing. Most of the time, anyway. But I don't know if she suspected Lex of anything. She might just think it was another crush. Like Lana, maybe?" She slid off the couch to sit beside her young lover. "Try not to worry too much. We can keep it a secret, honestly."

She studied Clark for long moments, watching him push food around and occasionally glance at the balcony doors. "This is really tearing you up inside, isn't it?" she asked very softly. "Do you want me to talk to him, bring him back inside?" She suspected that Clark would rather do it himself, but she was the more likely of the two of them to understand what Lex was dealing with.

There were things in her own past that she wasn't proud of and, though she probably hadn't done as many bad things, it still gave her a basis for understanding.

Torn between wanting to go after Lex and knowing it was probably him that was causing the problem, Clark finally nodded. Lex had things to hide and Buffy seemed to as well and maybe this was something he shouldn't be involved in. "Yeah... Just tell him I love him, okay? No matter what."

"I will baby, I promise. We'll make everything right again." Buffy smiled and kissed Clark softly, then got to her feet. She pulled the robe closed around her body and tied the belt in a knot. "I'll do the best I can, love. If we're not back in ten minutes, come out after us. Okay? And try to eat something while you wait," she added with a smile. "One of us should, at least."

She waited for Clark to nod, then headed outside with one more caress against his cheek as she moved past him. The doors opened quietly and she slipped out into the stillness of the evening. Her heart twisted at the sight of Lex, leaning against the railing with his head bowed. He was silent, not crying... but it seemed to her that he was close to it.

She silently glided to his side, wrapped an arm around his waist and rested her head against his arm. "Hey," she murmured gently. "Want to talk about it?"

"Sure you want to be seen with a pariah? There's a reason why my father exiled me here." Bitter words, each of them harsh in his head and in his mouth before they fell from his lips. His father had sent him here to fail and when he didn't, the old bastard had tried to destroy everything Lex had built.

"You're not the only one with events in your past that you're not proud of," Buffy said, keeping her voice soft and gentle. She was familiar with this kind of bitterness, and getting angry would only make the situation worse. "And yes, I'm quite sure that I want to be seen with you. There are only three people in Smallville, right now, whose opinions I value: you, Clark, and my sister." She didn't really know anybody else, but no matter.

"If the rest of the town wants to label me outcaste for associating with you, let them. They'd classify me that way on my own sooner or later, anyway." Another truth - Slayers never really fit in anywhere. "So, again I ask, do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

"Care to compare police records? You've probably got what... breaking and entering, defacing public property, being out after curfew?" Lex stared out over the trees, wondering if he should just do them all a favor and take the leap that his pride never allowed him before. He loved Clark and... he was coming to love Buffy and his past could destroy them. Especially Kent. "Rog was black-mailing me."

His mouth quirked upward into a humorless smile. "Ineptly but it was still black-mail. He had my juvenile record, the petty stuff that Dad didn't bother to buy off. And I found out how he got it..."

"How did he get it?" she asked lightly. Then, after a moment of thought she added, "And my record? Breaking and entering, defacing public property, being out after curfew, yes. Plus arson of city property and murder charges, though those were dropped when my Watcher testified and gave a vamp's description as the real killer. Oh, and a trip to the LA Mental Institution on my public record."

That last was said softly. After the hallucinations from that demon poison, her institutionalization was a raw wound.

Lex whistled, seemingly impressed by her recitation. "His brother worked in the juvenile court system." When he turned toward Buffy, it was evident that the whistle had been part of the mask. His eyes were cold and dead, his hands tucked into the pockets of his robe and he'd never looked more distant. "There's an innocent boy in there that we've just fucked six ways to Sunday. Clark's so clean, he squeaks when he walks..."

No movement from Lex, not even his eyes as he continued to speak, "Breaking and entering... not my style. Got the attempted murder charges. Plus solicitation at age fourteen... that one cost me my allowance for six months. You can imagine what the prostitution one cost..."

Buffy stepped into Lex's personal space and wrapped her arms around him, her head tipped back so her gaze could hold his. Her eyes were soft, loving, concerned for him. "It only matters to me because it matters to you. I don't care what kind of record you have or who you used to be. I care about who you are. The man under the mask. And that's who Clark cares about too." She tilted her head and looked up at him.

"You're so worried about protecting him that you don't see how it tears his heart to shreds every time you do something like this. He'd rather know the truth than have you walk away from him. All that confidence he had a little while ago? It began to crumble when you shut him out." It was evident in Clark's big, soft eyes that so much of him was tied up in loving Lex. He needed to know Lex could and would share with him.

"Clark loves you, Lex. He loves you more than anyone alive, including me. He needs you to be open with him every bit as much as you needed to know the truth about him. Won't you come back inside, please? Talk to us, both of us. You'll find no judgment with me, I swear to you. And I honestly don't think you'll find it with Clark, either."

His words had been intended to wound, to drive her away but instead they pulled her in closer. Lex looked from Buffy to the doors still firmly closed beyond which lay his salvation. Clark was more than his friend, more than his lover and if Lex turned away from him now, there would be no going back. "Beauty, how can either of you love a monster?"

Ahh, and here we get to the root of the problem. Once again, he reminded her of Angel. But because of that, she thought she knew how to deal with the situation. "Lex, love, you're not a monster. Believe me, I've seen them. Been tormented by one of the worst, witnessed the lives he tore apart just to get to me. I've seen great evil, Lex, been to Hell, and I don't see any of that in you. You are not a monster."

"Not a monster? Are you sure? What kind of man turns his best friend over to someone like Nixon? If Clark wasn't what he is, he'd be dead now." Lex reached out to Buffy and took her arm. He should lead her down to the garage and show her the wreck. The Kent's truck had blown sky-high, the flames were seen for miles around.

Clark dead. Clark's perfect body shattered and that thought alone was enough to make him sick.

In the other room, Clark heard Lex raise his voice. Up on his feet and at the door in the space of a heartbeat, he listened to the muffled conversation and debated stepping out onto the balcony. Buffy shouldn't be fighting his battles for him. The problem lay between him and Lex.

And there was the vague sense of agitation. The voice in his ear telling him he needed to make peace between his mates. Being with Lex and being with Buffy made sense to him at beyond an emotional level, it was almost cellular. Maybe this really was the way his people lived... with male and female lovers at the same time.

"If Clark wasn't what he is, you both would've been dead long before I came to town," Buffy replied reasonably. "And as for what kind of man sends investigators after his best friend... the same kind who wants to know how his best friend survived being hit by a car at 60 mph. The kind who desperately wants to know the truth and has been unsuccessful at getting it from the source." She sighed softly and looked up into Lex's eyes again.

"It isn't your fault, Lex, and it isn't Clark's. But there have been too many secrets, too many lies. And that is the truth. You're not a monster, Lex, and if you consider yourself one I hope to God you never come into contact with a true monster. But you are human, and humans make mistakes. Nixon was a mistake. You know that. You also know the truth, now, so there's no reason to continue investigating. And there's no reason to shut us out, either. It will only cause more hurt, more problems, and lead to more mistakes being made. None of us wants that."

"I stopped the investigation when Clark... when Clark got hurt. Some kid tossed him across the parking lot and cracked his ribs, damn near fractured his skull. I called Rog off then." Lex's tone was thoughtful and while he spoke, his arms finally encircled her. Pulling Buffy in close, Lex kissed her temple. "I hope you're right. That he'll understand... I can't... I don't want to live without him."

Another kiss, this one closer to her ear as he whispered, "or without you."

Clark's hand pressed against the cold window, trying to reach them. All he would have to do was open the door. Just open the door and walk out onto the balcony. Pull his Rahlma into his arms and kiss him until his mind and body stopped fighting each other. Hold him down and press in until their bodies were one again. Then all this foolishness would stop...

Buffy reached up and twined her arms around Lex's neck. "Or I, without you. Or without him," she whispered back before turning her head to catch his lips with hers. She kissed him long and deep before pulling away. "And now, I think we'd better either call Clark to come out here or go inside before he breaks down your door, love," she said with a smile and a wink, tilting her head towards the door, where a palm was clearly visible on the glass.

Lex nodded in agreement and when Buffy slipped out of his arms, he placed his hand on the glass over Clark's. As with the earlier kisses, he felt a shock and that powerful urge to be with Clark was back again. Stronger than before.

Gasping for breath, Lex wrenched himself away from the glass. He staggered back, stopping when the cement railing brought him up short. The curtain twitched aside and the stranger was back. Chisled features, more refined than Clark's, every hint of childhood stripped away and hungry, hungry eyes.

His thought that Clark was some kind of god might not be far off the mark. The man on the other side of the glass was quite worthy of worship.

Buffy's eyes were also drawn to meet Clark's, and she gasped when she saw the difference in him again. "Oh, God, it's happened again." With a glance at Lex, she frowned slightly. She could only think of one way she would be able to deal with Clark in his current state without being badly affected by it. She was going to have to let the Slayer loose. Of the two parts of herself, the Slayer was more resistant to compulsions of any kind.

"I hoped it wouldn't come to this," she murmured, almost to herself though Lex probably heard. "I hope I don't scare him..." She sighed and closed her eyes, then slowly - so slowly - released the bonds that held the Slayer dormant within her.

As Lex watched, Buffy changed as well. She grew taller, her head held high and all feminine softness disappeared. No longer his fallen angel but one of God's warriors in the flesh. Her hand raised to meet the one on the glass right before the doors were opened.

Silent appraisal from the being who wore Clark's body. Infinitely dark eyes swept up from her toes, lingered on her hips and the swell of her breast. The gaze was not one that Clark would ever use. Deep and sensual and knowing.

Not exactly frightened, Lex watched and waited. He wasn't used to being the one protected. Not from Clark... or whatever Clark had become. Standing there, Lex could feel the pull... the need to step forward into what would be a welcoming embrace and probably one of the greatest fucks of his life. That wasn't what they needed now... despite what his body was screaming.

Buffy took another step forward, moved so that Clark's - or whoever this was - eyes met hers. "What are you doing to us?" she asked. Even her voice was different; lower, more intense tones rather than her usual soft, light voice. "Why are you doing it? Won't you tell me?" They needed to know. They very much needed to know. She didn't want to have to resort to this every time Clark got emotional or a conflict came up.

Her senses were going haywire, and her - well, her aura, she supposed - seemed to spark when she came into contact with him. Two differing energy fields, struggling to form around each other. It was... odd. He was definitely not of this world. They could adjust, certainly, but for now... it felt very strange.

He cocked his head to one side as if he were trying to absorb her words. When he finally spoke, the voice was deep and clear. The very sound of it made Lex want to weep, to beg forgiveness for whatever he'd done to be cast outside of this, his lover's arms. "Rahlma, sithlal te ma."

The words made no sense at all and then they made perfect sense as the language twisted itself. They were repeated in the same deep voice and calm tone. "Lover, what is it that's disturbed you?" And more were added as the stranger stepped forward, reaching with one hand to sketch the lines of Buffy's face and the other to touch Lex's arm. "You've been gone so long."

Somehow Lex evaded that touch and sidestepped the next caress as well. "You're not Clark... Who are you?"

A tiny frown appeared between perfect brows as the question was digested and an answer found. "I'm who he will be. When he's finished growing and adapting to this world." While Lex felt a wave of curiosity overwhelm the stark terror, their companion turned to Buffy in order to answer her questions. "Your language doesn't have the right words... The boy feels your pain and he doesn't know how to respond. You and Rahlma are mine... My chosen ones."

The Slayer's expression cleared and she nodded. She understood as well as she could expect to. "You're the part of him that remembers where he came from. Just like the part of me that you see now is the Chosen One. Part of the whole, but separate too." She had the right idea, at least. "What is your name?" she asked; the questions flowed easily despite the rougher-than-usual tone of her voice.

The tone was typical of the Slayer, as the fighter lacked the innate gentleness that Buffy herself had in spades. But she still managed to make her concerns known and there was enough of Buffy present to take away the sharp edge the words might have had otherwise. "And can you tell me why you affect us so profoundly that I have to be super-natural in order to cope with it?"

"Kal-el," he responded quietly. This time the hand actually touched her, cupping her cheek and trailing down her neck. The air around them changed, grew heavier and for a moment, Lex caught a hint of the lemony smell he was coming to associate to with Clark.

Lex's mind was clearing even though the deep compulsion was still there. When Kal-el touched Lex this time, his bones didn't melt although Lex did sway towards him. "I see inside you. There's so much pain. You shouldn't hurt, Rahlma... Lexxx... No one can touch you. Never again."

Well, that was interesting. Kal-el was as sweet and as protective as Clark. Which made sense, because they were part of the same person. Just as the Slayer was massively protective of the people Buffy loved, and as gentle with them as she knew how to be. The true lightness came from Buffy, though. The Slayer walked the edge of darkness, but the woman who personified her belonged to the light. And that was as it should be; the balance needed.

"Lex? Is the feeling it getting easier to handle?" If it was, she would turn this encounter back over to Buffy. The Slayer felt out of place with emotional entanglements. These were her lovers, her mates, and she was fierce in her emotion for them... but she wasn't good at expressing that emotion with words or in gentler times. She would be back, oh yes... she would claim her mates in time. But for now... this was an uncomfortable place to be.

"Yes. It is..." Lex moved of his own accord into Kal-el's open arms. There was infinite comfort there as well as the buzz of sexual energy. When a warm and incredibly talented mouth covered his own, Lex found it easy to let go of his fears about his past and the things he'd done in favor of simply being.

While the alieness was terrifying on the one hand, on the other it was infinitely compelling. Need and heat and want washed through every cell of his body, only to be replaced with a sense of complete and utter peace when Kal-el released him. Everything was gone except for the certainty that he was loved without question.

Even though she didn't physically change, Buffy felt smaller when the Slayer retreated within her. Her presence diminished, and she was simply herself again... and Lex was right, Clark wasn't projecting compulsions anymore. Or, rather Kal-el wasn't. He must either know how to control them or his own emotions had shifted away from physical desire.

She was content to just watch her lovers hold each other for as long as they wished. She could even smile about it - they looked so good together. And she loved them, whether Clark was himself or Kal-el. There really weren't a lot of differences, aside from the whole language-culture thing.

Lex swayed and opened his eyes when broad hands kept him upright. Looking up, he found Clark smiling down at him. The otherness had retreated, leaving behind his friend... a friend who was showing a lot more confidence than ever before but that was fine with Lex. Clark needed a little more self-confidence...

"Lex... Buffy, come inside." Clark's smile warmed both of them as he took Buffy's and then Lex's hand in his. He led the way back into the bedroom, skirting the bed. The remains of dinner was still awaiting their attention although at least half of Clark's had been eaten.

Buffy followed along until Clark placed her before the coffee table with a plate and bottle of water in front of her. She took the hint and sat down, picked up her fork and started to eat. After she swallowed a few bites, she looked at Clark. "Will you finish telling us what happened during the storm, with your ship, Clark?" she asked. "I think I can explain what happened, but I'd like to know how, if you can tell me."

"What you found was the key to the ship, Lex. Or at least we think it is." Settling down onto the floor, Clark took a bite from his own plate and waited until Lex took a seat beside them. Amazingly dinner wasn't that cold. Clark touched the plate and found that the mat underneath it was warm. Some of Lex's toys never ceased to amaze him. Place mats with built-in heat systems.

"A key?" Reaching across the table, Lex commandeered one of the bottles of water and drank a sip or two. "Kent... I really want to see this ship. Any chance of that happening without your dad using me for target practice?"

"Uh-huh... they're going to visit Grandpa Clark next week for three days." Concentrating on his plate, Clark pushed away the blood-soaked image from his waking nightmare. If Buffy was with them, it wouldn't happen. "Mom said it changed. That for a few minutes it opened up and..." He closed his eyes, wracking his memory which was hazy at best. "I found her on the ground beside it and... it did look a little different."

Buffy shivered at the thought of going down into the cellar for real... partly because of the nightmare she saw in Clark's mind, and partly because it was just creepy. "That sounds a little strange, for a ship to do all by itself. Of course, we don't really know anything about it, either." Hopefully it wasn't dangerous... that was really all she could think about it.

Then it occurred to her - Kal-El might be able to tell them about it. If he chose to make an appearance while they were down there.

Clark nodded, spearing another piece of chicken and chewing thoughtfully. "I don't remember much. But I've been having dreams. Nothing really clear, just little things. Words and symbols and stuff." He could practically hear the gears turning in Lex's head as he talked. Calculations and plans and worst-case scenarios... everything that Lex rambled about on the few occasions that he talked about the plant.

"You don't remember much?" Toying with a bite of mashed potatoes, Lex tilted his head to one side. "You found your mom on the ground beside it... What happened next?"

"I heard this humming sound..." Closing his eyes, Clark concentrated on pulling things out of the haze surrounding that half hour or so. "I turned around and the ship was... hovering. And there was a lot of light coming from it." After a moment, Clark rubbed his temples in response to a sharp, sudden pain behind his left eye. "Next thing I knew, Dad was shaking me awake."

"I think I can tell you what happened," Buffy said softly after a few moments' thought. She saw Clark look over at her and Lex's attention diverted to her from Clark. She decided not to make them ask and just continued, "My best guess is that somehow you gained or regained memories of your world, Clark. Either suppressed racial memory or some sort of mental transfer; both are equally possible." She shrugged at that; they didn't know enough about Clark's people to determine one or the other.

"But the end result was the emergence of another side of you. This Kal-el, who speaks another language and projects compulsive feelings. Basically, Clark, you now have a dual nature in a similar manner that I do. And," she finished wryly with a rather resigned expression, "it would seem that only with the Slayer dominant, can I resist the compulsion he emits enough to talk to him for more than a minute or two."

"Um... compulsion?" If anything Clark looked very confused which led Lex to believe that while Buffy's dual nature was more blended, Clark's was very separate. More like a split personality where the two halves were barely aware of one another, if at all. "Is that why Lex was all over me a few minutes ago?"

"Something like that," long, slow drawl as Lex lifted the bottle to his lips again and drank. This was a very interesting turn of events. Buffy's explanation would fit why there had been those moments of disassociation where Clark was no longer Clark. While Kal-el was amazingly sexual and the very thought of his touch was enough to send a shiver down Lex's spine, he wasn't sure how much he trusted the alien.

Buffy nodded her agreement. "He makes us feel... like we have to touch you, be as close to you as possible. It's highly sexual, most of the time. But there are a few times when it's just... soothing. He cares about us as much as you do, baby, but I'm not entirely sure how much we can trust him. We don't know what motivates him."

"I do think, though, that you and he share enough of the basics of your mind that he can't do anything contrary to what you would want. I don't think he could hurt us, or your family or friends. For me," she added as a bit of insight to her Slayer persona, "the Slayer feels just as strongly as I do for the people I care about. She's very protective and rather fiercely possessive, which is part of why she scares me sometimes. She's very... primal. Feral, almost. She wouldn't hurt anybody on purpose, but she doesn't always know her own strength, either."

"Sexual?" No, please... his voice didn't just break on that word, did it? Lex's raised eyebrow and bemused expression was confirmation enough that Clark's vocal chords had decided to revisit puberty for a few seconds. "I didn't... I didn't force you to do anything, did I?" That thought terrified Clark. He was so much stronger than both of them, it would be too easy to just take what he wanted.

"No, Clark." Lex set his fork down and covered his younger lover's hand with his own. It was strange to feel Clark trembling in fear. Not too strange given the earlier events of the day but strange enough. "You didn't make us do anything we wouldn't normally want to do. Understood?"

Buffy was surprised that the thought crossed his mind, but then recalled Clark's intense fear of hurting anyone and hastened to add her own reassurances. "You didn't even try, baby. I promise, you didn't. It really just enhanced the feelings we already had, and I'm honestly not sure if it would have worked on us had we truly not wished to give in. The problem," she finished with a smile, "is that we really didn't want to fight it."

Clark still looked dubious as he pushed the remaining food around on his plate. The hand over his tightened and he looked up into steel-grey eyes that for once hid absolutely nothing. There was lust and love and out-right need in that single glance from Lex. Followed by a silken voice that was a caress in and of itself. "Trust me, Kent. After wanting your perfect ass since five seconds after meeting you, I'm willing. There's nothing that you want that I won't give you. Nothing at all..."

Buffy smiled softly and nodded her agreement. "And certainly not in that respect," she added gently, placing her hand on top of Lex's. "You want me, any part of me at all, you only have to say so." And she did mean it. Even if she were dead-tired and sore from a battle, she'd still find it in herself to give him what he asked for. Though she doubted he'd let her, if she were in such a state.

The only time she could even think of denying either of them would be if she ever got pregnant, and then she'd only stop when her body got too uncomfortable to do anything. But there was no point in mentioning that now, since it was still only a maybe-someday possibility at best. And perhaps not even that.

Clark was starting to relax, the tenseness in his body easing as they held his hand and talked quietly to him. After a few moment, he leaned over to kiss Buffy and then Lex. Soft and gentle, brushing his lips over theirs before pulling back and concentrating on the rest of his food. If this was any indication of how meals were going to be like around the two of them, it was a good thing Lex had the heated place mats.

He'd told the truth. Anything Clark wanted, Clark would have. Even if he wanted to tattoo 'property of Clark Jerome Kent' on Lex's body, it would be allowed. All Lex would stipulate was where the mark would go. Someplace that could be hidden from his father and from the eagle eye of Jonathan Kent...

Buffy also returned to her meal. She had to concentrate on her manners in order to not attack it like she was starving, even if she nearly was. For all that her body was used to not eating much, she still needed to eat. And it would be really nice when she could start doing so regularly again... when she didn't have to worry about having the food or money to feed Dawn, who was still growing.

"This really is good," she commented, despite being aware that she'd said as much earlier. "You must have a really good cook, Lex."

It was Clark rather than Lex who answered that comment. Mainly because Lex had retreated into some other place. He was there but obviously thinking about something else, given the half-smile and the way he sucked on the bottle of water. Which was probably one of the dirtiest things Clark had ever seen. "Andre's the best. He's a little intense and you don't want to get in his way."

Andre with a knife was a very scary thing. Even to a boy with impenetrable skin. The first time Clark had ventured into the kitchen had been an eye-opening experience. Apparently Andre hated Lionel Luthor as much as Clark did and he'd just been ordered to make dinner for the man. It was a good thing that Lex kept the rat poison locked up.

Buffy began to laugh and shook her head. "Clark, baby, if I want to be in the kitchen I will be. And I rather doubt that Andre wants to get in my way. Remember my aim with those darts? I'm better with knives, you know, and I carry them with me most of the time..." Hidden, of course. In her boots, usually. Just as she almost always had stakes stashed about her person. Today had been the exception, because she really hadn't planned to be out long. But she did have a stash in her car, so she wouldn't have to go home before her sweep.

Rise of the left hip-bone would be a perfect spot, it was one place that just about everything he owned would cover with the exception of a low-slung pair of leather pants that he still kept around from his clubbing days. The position having been decided, Lex took an interest in the conversation again. "No threatening the help," he said quietly before sucking down a final swallow of water.

"Who says I'd have to?" was her only reply. Her eyes twinkled merrily as she continued eating. She didn't really think she'd have to threaten much of anyone to get her way, around here. And she would definitely like a chance to cook for her lovers, sometime. Perhaps the best place for it, the first time at least, would be at her place. Though Lex might not care for her little apartment.

It was a pretty small place, but she and Dawn didn't really need much. And couldn't afford anything larger anyway, especially if she was going to have to put Dawn through college. Give her sister the education she hadn't been able to finish for herself.

*****

Translations:

Rahlma - Lover (masculine)
Sithlal te ma - Tell me what is wrong

*****

Go back to the Smallville page.