“Every Rose Has Its Thorn”

Special thanks to Farlas!

Disclaimer: Smallville is owned by the WB, CW and DC. No maliciousness intended in anyway, shape or form.

Clark looked down at his hand in the dim light of the limo. Strong long fingers were curled around his. There in the darkness they caressed each other’s hands.  A twinkling ring rested on the other hand. It knocked against its twin that was on Clark’s hand.

“I don’t suppose you’ll be able to wear this all the time,” Lex sighed reluctantly as the limo speeded down the highway from Metropolis.

“I’d do anything for you Lex.” Clark said softly.

“I know. But I understand why that ring won’t go well with farm chores,” Lex laughed, despite wishing that ring would never come off. The unspoken truth was that Jonathan and Martha would hit the proverbial roof if they knew that Clark was pregnant by the one man they couldn’t stand.

Clark remained quiet for the rest of the journey back from Metropolis where they’d eloped, thanks to Lex’s connections with the governor. Lex kissed him gently goodbye and let him out at the yellow farmhouse, Clark had called home all his life. As he watched the limo pull away, Clark knew the ring would stay on. Bracing his shoulders back, he summoned his courage to tell his parents.

It failed him two steps away from the door. With a sigh of defeat, he walked out to his barn hideaway. The Fortress was an escape and he was man enough to admit it. He soon found himself staring out the hayloft doors rather than face his parents.

This was too important to mess up. Finally he walked into the farmhouse. His parents were sitting at the table drinking coffee and exchanging stories of the day. With a gulp, he tried to find a breath and sat down with them.

“How was the concert?” Martha asked frowning at the odd expression on her son’s face.

“We, um, actually decided to do something else.” Clark winced once he said it.

“Son?” Jonathan leaned forward sensing trouble as easily as he could smell the weather turning.

Clark put his hands out on the table and began to nervously play with the ring.

“Jonathan,” Martha whispered, gesturing toward the ring. Her hand clutched her husband’s hand like a lifeline and Clark couldn’t help wishing Lex were still holding his hand.

“I think you better explain yourself son and I better not hear the word “married”.” Jonathan’s lips were pursed into a thin, white line.

Picturing how happy this would make Lex, Clark plunged in where only fools would tread. “Lex and I eloped today, so our child could have a family.”

Jonathan sputtered, jumping up from his seat. “You’re PREGNANT?”

“Jonathan,” Martha pulled her husband back into the chair. “Please sit down.” She turned pleading eyes to her son. “Clark, how do you know?”

“I went to the caves –“

“WHAT? I told you to stay away from them Clark!” Jonathan raved.

But Martha remained calm, scaring Clark even more than his father’s expected reaction. “Is Lex the father?”

“Yes.”

That was it. Jonathan stood up, picked up a chair and threw it out the window before storming from the room. Martha remained stock-still. Clark got up to go after his father but was stopped by a quietly intoned, “Stay right where you are young man.”

Years of being Martha Kent’s son meant you were doomed to be obedient. This was one of those times. Clark had sat down before he even had time to process the order. “Mom?”

“Zip it. You have some serious explaining to do.” Clark thought about pointing out the fact that his mom had just told him to shut and to explain. How could he do both? Then he realized how stupid a move that truly was. He stared at his ring, willing it to given him answers.

Martha sighed loudly. “Clark, how long has this been going on?”

“A couple of months,” Clark admitted. “It all started when I started to show off.”

“Show off?” Martha asked nervously.

“I kind of stopped Lex’s Jaguar by raising it up into the air after we had a fight,” Clark fidgeted at the memory. There was no way he’d admit to how turned on it had made Lex and how the older man had taken him right then and there. Clark had admitted his feelings and Lex had forgiven him for keeping the truth to himself.

Later Lex, in scientist mode, declared that Clark was ‘displaying’ for his mate. Much to Clark’s embarrassment the Jor-El from the caves agreed with Lex.

During his musings, Martha had gotten up to grab the lone bottle of whiskey from under the sink and was taking a few sips right from the bottle. Clark stared at her back, willing her to understand. It would be hard enough to deal with his dad. He needed his mother in his corner. “We didn’t know it could happen –“

“That I can believe.” Martha said sadly. “Oh, Clark. Your father and I had such hopes for you. We never dreamed you-“

Clark felt suddenly angry. “Dreamed I’d what mom? That I’d disappoint you both? Well, I’m sorry. It’s not what I planned on either. But he loves me.”

Martha shook her head and took another swig. Clark gave up and went looking for his father.

Jonathan was in the barn pounding away on the tractor. The hammer hitting metal clanged loudly in the suddenly still air. “Dad?”

“How you could do this to us?” He threw the hammer across the barn. “Married to a LUTHOR for Crissakes? And what about this …” he pointed at Clark’s stomach and Clark reeled back as if he’d been struck. The sheer hatred and fear flowing from the eyes of the man he trusted more than life itself burned a hole into his heart, branding that pain there forever.

There was a gust of wind and Clark vanished.

Clark was running full out. Anger and other emotions tumbled through him. Tears were ripped from his cheeks as he continued to run and run. Eventually he reached a river and stopped. Looking around he found that he had no idea where he was.

He crumpled to his knees in the middle of a remote farm field. Cradling his head in his hands for only a moment, before throwing his head back to scream, Clark never felt so alone. It was a scream of frustration, of despair and of fear. A sharp pain made him gasp and double over. Incredible fear filled him when he realized the baby was in trouble. “Lex.”

The darkness came over him and he collapsed in the field.

Lex hadn’t gone home. He was worried about Clark. The limo driver dropped him off and he jumped into his favorite sports car before zipping away back the way he’d come. A bad feeling was settling into his bones. And he’d learned long ago that when “feelings” had to do with Clark Kent a.k.a. Kal-El, last son of Krypton, it was best to listen.

He hadn’t gone too far when a shimmering image appeared before him on the road. Instinct had him slamming on the brakes even though his brain had already registered it as a hologram. The Ferrari skidded to a smooth halt, spraying rocks through the unwavering image.

Lex registered a small blip of metal headed his way just as Jor-El began to speak. “Mate of Kal-El, you must follow the ship that brought my infant son to your planet. He is in grave danger. You must rescue him and the ship will send you both to the Fortress.”

As usual Jor-El didn’t wait for questions. He shimmered out of view in the same manner he had so jarringly appeared. Cursing under his breath, Lex looked up at the small ship. Before he’d fallen in love with Clark, he wouldn’t have hesitated to kill to get that ship. Now he’d kill anyone who got in his way.

Lex mused that it was funny how Clark Kent had that effect on people, especially him. Lex was caught in the web of Clark’s eyes from the first he’d seen them on that riverbank. Now they were joined in union. As the car bounced along causing thousands of dollars in damage, he smiled, warmed by his love for the farm boy-alien who was going to give him a child. Nothing would ever be normal between the two of them. Certainly the Ferrari would never be the same.

He laughed wildly for a moment, lost in the absurdity of it all. His alien husband had run away and he had to follow the orders of a long dead alien and a ship to find him. Only his life could be so bizarre. But in a way it fit Clark and they were together. It was chaotic, it was nerve wracking and it was the best thing to ever happen to him.

Lex drove miles and miles of remote farms roads and dirt drives, thinking of what brought him to this point. After a particularly hard bump, he silently apologized to the car, but nevertheless slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The car stubbornly pressed on and Lex at long last noticed the ship was slowing.

As he released the steering wheel, he noticed distractedly that he was shaking. His mind had also focused to two things: Clark and the baby. Distantly he realized he was already running to where a trench was recently formed in the soft earth. Lex found Clark in a ball, one arm clutched tightly around his stomach protectively. Before Lex even had a chance to look at the ship to confirm they were together he found himself shivering for a new reason, he was crouched down on a sheet of ice.

“Mate of Kal-El, you have done well. The medi-tech robots will cure Kal-El now. However, you must impress upon my headstrong son that he cannot run beyond the capabilities his body can endure.”

“What do you mean? Isn’t he invulnerable anymore?”

“Not until after the baby is born. All of Kal-El’s strength will be diverted toward the child. It is imperative that my son carry on the Kryptonian race.” Lex blocked it out having heard of the great planet Krypton before. It wasn’t until he heard the word “tube” that he tuned back in. “Tube?”

“Kal-El is reckless, it would be best for both he and the unborn child he carries to be placed in this vessel.” Jor-El’s image pointed to a tube that reached from floor to ceiling. It appeared to have fluid in it already. “They will both be completely safe here and the child will be taken at the right time. There will be no pain to either. I will tell you when they are done.”

“When they are done? You are making my new family sound like a meal waiting to come out of the oven! I don’t know how they did things on the late, great planet Krypton but on Earth we share the birthing process.”

“Kal-El’s heartbeat was elevated, as was his blood pressure. If he had run one more of your Earth miles, both he and the child would have perished from the combined stresses on his body. Is this how you take care of each other during the ‘birthing process?” Regeneration is a time for great rejoice on Krypton, not such neglect.”

“I was not with Kal-El when he ran off. He was with the Kents. Undoubtedly, they didn’t take the news well. Men on this planet don’t have children.”

There was an odd sound in the fortress. Lex thought it sounded like a snort of disbelief. “Perhaps you should ask them. But before you do, when you said Kal-El and the baby would die, you sounded very sure of yourself. Isn’t there a good chance at least one would survive?”

“No. In our regeneration process, if the child dies so does the parent. The loss of a child is too detrimental to bear. Thus it was decided long ago to develop this gene to mutate and kill the parent should the child not survive.”

Lex thought on this a moment. He’d always heard that no parent should outlive his or her child. It was weird how now that he was facing impending fatherhood it finally made sense. “Can you implant this gene in me as well and let me be with them?”

“Yes.”

“Do it.”

“Honey, where do you think Clark went?” Martha asked worriedly from her station by the front windows where she stared hopefully at the horizon.

“How should I know Martha? This just goes to prove my point; he’s too young and immature for this to happen. And with Lex Luthor? And since when is my son gay?”

“Would it be easier if it was MY son who’s gay?” Martha snapped. “You’re a grown man Jonathan Kent. It’s high time you learned to control your temper. Until then you can sleep on the couch.” She stormed out of the house, banging the door off its hinges.

Jonathan sighed. “I should have stayed in the barn.”

Martha screamed in fear from the front porch and Jonathan instantly forgot their spat. He ran faster than he had in his football glory days to get to his wife. When he practically exploded out of the front door, he spotted Martha clutching at her throat and a glowing orb with Jor-El’s face on it only inches away.

Silently he wrapped his arms around his wife before glaring at the orb. “He’s not here.”

“Kal-El is with his mate. He has elected to be implanted and share in the Lo’rah.”

“Lo-rah?” Martha whispered shakily.

The orb’s field of vision shifted, blurred and resolidified to show the tube that now contained their son and Lex Luthor in some sort of suspended animation.

“What the hell!?” Jonathan cried in outrage. “You can’t do that!”

Jor-El’s face returned. “They will all be released after the baby has come to term. During their time in the Lo-rah they will share life experiences and they will be bonded as a family in the oldest of our traditions. I will notify you when they are to be released.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What followed were months of pure hell for the Kents as they tried to explain not only Clark’s disappearance but Lex’s as well. At one point Lionel Luthor, Lex’s father, tried to convince the local authorities of the Kent’s guilt in Lex’s disappearance. Luckily a local farmer, who was once town mayor, had seen Lex drive away from the farm.

Still the family savings was tapped. They were sure to lose the farm. The Kents couldn’t afford the extra farmhands. Clark had done the work of at least five farmhands alone. His absence meant more work for Clark’s parents. The neighboring farms came to help when they could, but they all had farms to attend. Even then, Jonathan and Martha were hard pressed to explain how just their son, needed to be replaced by a team of men. Rumors began that Clark was a mutant. Eventually, the neighbors just stopped coming and the locals shunned them. Jonathan started to take their produce further and further away to escape the rumors, innuendo and mistrust.

Sometimes Jonathan would go to the caves. He’d spend hours yelling and pounding on the cave walls to get Jor-El’s attention but to no avail. Martha would often sit on the front porch, staring up into the air to the exact spot where Jor-El’s face had appeared to them. So it came as a shock the day it finally did. She began to yell and this time Jonathan ran to the house from the barn.

Jor-El’s smile was a relief to their frazzled nerves. “All is well. Kal-El is no longer the last son of Krypton. The House of El rejoices this day. Prepare the way.”

They blinked at the odd message but couldn’t miss the message behind it. They had a grandson. Martha smiled lovingly and happily at her husband for the first time in months. “Lex sacrificed his life to be with Clark and the baby.”

“I know,” Jonathan said looking away.

“Be nice,” Martha warned.

“I’ll try Martha. That’s the best I can offer. I’ll do it for Clark and the baby.”

“Thank you Jonathan.”

“Hey, do you think they’ll name him after me?” Jonathan asked hopefully. Martha rolled her eyes and went inside to bake. Jonathan took his cue and double-checked the basinet upstairs. They’d never gotten to use it for Clark and were both hoping the baby could use it.

“Mom? Dad?” Came the soft, call from downstairs. Martha called out happily. “They’re home!” She hugged Clark and Lex in turn before turning her full attention to the baby wrapped in Clark’s arms. Tears rolled openly down her face.

She thought of the sacrifice Lex had made, that Clark had made and how she and Jonathan had endured. No matter what she’d never allow her family to be separated again. In their own corner of the universe, far, far away from the remnants of the planet Krypton they’d shown their own alien strength and superpowers. It was called family. And families stick together no matter what. She smiled as the memory of her grandmother saying that to her seemed to assure her on a deep level that all would be fine.

Clark seemed to echo her thoughts. He put an arm around her as she sat down with the sleeping baby. “No matter what this baby would know it was born from love. “

A smile was shared around the room, along with gratitude and relief it was over. It would be a long road to haul. But they would do it together, for the littlest member of the House of El, Luthor and Kent. His name signified the joining of Earth and Krypton was well underway, Terr-El.

Lex slipped out to the front porch and Jor-El soon re-appeared. He couldn’t help himself he simply HAD to ask his father-in-law the one question that ate at him all during their time in the lab.

“Can I expect this every year?”