Note 1: The characters from Smallville belong to DC and the WB. The characters from Mutant X belong to Marvel and Tribune. All other characters and scenarios are fictitious and are of my creation. Please send comments to dante0220@yahoo.com.

Note 2: This story takes place in the Duboisverse during the weekend following the end of "Legacies". A recent thread on the "BeyondtheSea" list inspired this piece. 

 (Adult themes/Sexual scene/Adult humor)


[New Sanctuary]

Clark rose from the guest bed and stretched his arms. It does feel good to be able to say I'm wake. I guess nearly dying will do that to you. Putting on a pair of jeans and his flannel shirt, he walked out the door and down to the kitchen area. 

****

Lana straightened up things in the kitchen, tidying a bit here and there. I'm glad Adam let us stay over last night. Talking to him and Emma really helped. She glanced at her bracelet. And to think that Clark and I are actually engaged! Wow.

"Penny for your thoughts, Lana?" Chloe asked, joining her.

"Oh, Chloe! Good morning. How are you?"

"Great," the reporter agreed, helping herself to the coffee pot. "Mmm...now I'm ready to face the day."

"Not quite as good as the Talon's, is it?" 

"No, but it's caffeine and it's hot. For now, it's okay. So when are you going to tell Nell about the engagement?" Chloe wondered.

That's the question, isn't it? From the beginning, her aunt had tolerated Clark's presence, hoping that Lana would be attracted to somebody much more successful-say Lex. With him and Chloe being so happy, I'm glad that Clark and I are finally on the right track. "Have you said anything to your Dad yet?"

"I told him to keep it a secret. He sends his congratulations along. I hope you and Clark are as happy as Lex and I are," the blonde mutant replied. "When you're in a great relationship, life is really good."

Lana nodded and turned to see her fiancé stride into the area. "Good morning, Clark."

"Morning," he agreed, giving her a kiss. "Why are you up so early?"

"According to Adam's log chart, it's my turn to deal with kitchen duty." the former cheerleader shrugged. "Besides, having coffee ready is never a bad thing. Right?"

"With the inquiring mind lurking around in the early morning, I'd agree," he jabbed.

Chloe raised her eyebrow at that comment. "Don't even dream about coming between me and my coffee, Kent. Besides, now I know how to really kick your ass," she teased back. 

"Trust me, guys, that would be suicide," Lex concurred, approaching them in his purple sweats. Sweat beaded across his brow. "Shalimar was right. This place is quite a place to go jogging in."

Clark took two pieces of wheat bread out and spread some peanut butter on them. "I can imagine. How many laps did you do?"

"Three. That's a good two miles. I hear Professor Dubois does the same routine twice a week," the businessman told them. "Gotta keep up the endurance, you know."

Chloe shook her head. "I wonder why, Luthor."

He smirked. "Hey, to keep up with you, Sullivan, I'd need to be playing tag team with the Energizer Bunny."

"Lex!" She flushed pink, looking around. "We're in the Sanctuary."

"So? These are Clark and Lana we're talking to, right?" he replied.

"Yeah. But the walls have got ears here, Lex," Lana pointed out. She sighed.

"But we're adults, right? Wait a minute...don't tell me you two haven't.... You're married for crying out loud!"

"Lex!" Clark hissed, his cheeks turning red. 

Lana shook her head. "We are and we aren't, all right? Besides, Clark and I decided to wait until after the ceremony here."

Lex nodded. "Old fashioned and traditional...I can respect that. Still, I don't think I could have ...well... you know...waited for Chloe."

"I'm glad you didn't," his girlfriend said, a brilliant smile spreading across her face. "That night in Ithaca was something else."

"Anyhow, if you want to talk about it or want tips, just let me know," Lex continued as he made his own sandwich. "You wouldn't want to hurt her, Clark."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd have plenty to say, huh?" Shalimar Fox cracked, joining them along with Brennan Mulwray. 

"Look, Lex, give a rest, huh? Can't you see that they're...well...getting used to the idea?" Brennan added.

Clark getting used to having Lana? Yeah right. "Okay, okay...I didn't mean to get pushy. I'm sorry, no harm meant," Lex apologized. "I was just trying to be helpful is all."

The two senior new mutants glanced at each other and then at him. At least he apologized.

"Okay then," Clark agreed and taking the opportunity to change the subject. "So about that workout...."


****

[That night]

Chloe put on her robe after a long day of tests and training exercises. Adam never lets up. Wow and I used to think that gym class was Hell. Geez. Still after a good meal and a hot shower, she felt refreshed. Walking into her guest room, she stretched out on the bed and thought about that morning's interchange. I wish Lex hadn't rubbed it in like that. Clark looked like he could have sunk through the floor.

She heard a knocking at the open door. "Yes, Luthor?"

"Are we developing a telepathic talent too?" Lex wondered, the smirk on his face as always.

"No, I just knew to expect you is all," she told him, patting the other half of the bed. "I wanted to talk to you."

Crap. She's still pissed about this morning. "If this is about this morning, I apologized, all right?"

"Yes you did, and I'm glad. But you're not exactly the god of sex, Lex," she commented wryly.

"Oh and I suppose you are? Funny, I thought I was making you happy," he replied.

"Well, I do know a few things."

"Which I showed you," he retorted.

"Other than what you showed me," she corrected.

He sat up on the bed, suddenly feeling angry. She wouldn't two-time me, would she? 

It's working. Seeing his reaction, she continued, "I've seen a few things on film."

Whew. "Oh...been dipping into the adult movies, have we, Sullivan?"

"Well, a girl's gotta do something to satisfy herself," she teased. "And they're not exactly those type of movies."

He stared at her with a puzzled look on his face. "If anyone's been making...."

She retorted sharply, "What kind of girl do you think I am, anyway? As if I would do that." Regaining control, she continued, "No, I was referring to the education of a real expert who schooled you too, Luthor."

He glared at her. She would have to bring Desiree into this, wouldn't she? Figures. "And what did the ever charming Ms. Atkins have to show you?"

"Films about animal reproduction. Well, part of them at least..." she chuckled.

"I suppose I reminded you of the lion, didn't I?" he supposed.

"I was thinking of the hippo actually," she cracked. 

"Hippo? HIPPO??" he queried, feeling very ticked off.

"Something the matter, Luthor?" she asked, looking at her fingernails and trying to keep a straight face. "You do have a resemblance to them, you know."

"And you look like a hyena, all right?" he retorted, trying to regain the upper hand in the verbal judo fest.

"I'm not a scavenger," she stated.

"You're a reporter...same difference," he shot back.

"No, I thought that was reserved for the multi-billion dollar business types. Gee, now who do I know who's in that boat?" she quipped.

"Can it, Sullivan."

"What's the matter, Lex? Can't take the heat? Petering out on me, are we? Must be those marathon runs of yours, huh?" she slurred.

Trying to change the subject, he asked, "So what happened in the rest of the film?"

"I don't know," she replied. "Clark had a hot flash-literally--and fried the screen."

"He was looking at Lana, I take it?"

"Give it a rest, Luthor," she advised tersely. "Besides, are we going to sit here talking all night, or am I going to do some more undercover research on you?"

He grinned and noted, "Gee, Sullivan, I can't give up all of my secrets, you know." 

She sat up and slid his sweatshirt off. Rubbing her hands over his chest, she advised, "I always believe in follow up."

"Like being thorough, do you?" he asked, kissing her neck.

"Yes," she replied, barely managing to keep her voice below moan level to pull his sweat pants down. "So, Mr. Stud Muffin, you want help with the protection?"

After helping her with her robe, he shook his head. "No, I think I can handle it." He opened the familiar blue package and put on the "silencer". Kissing her shoulders, he muttered, "Are you ready?"

She smirked. "Is that the best you can do, Luthor?"

"No, but aren't we demanding?" he chuckled, guiding her onto the bed. "I was hoping for a little preliminary activity first."

"Let's skip to the main part, shall we?" she sighed passionately, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him on top of her.

He kissed her gently all over until she finally moaned. "Had enough yet, Sullivan? I feel like I'm about to explode."

"Well do it then!" she urged.

He nodded, spreading her legs and entering her. Over and over, they moved to that old rhythmic dance, expressing their passion to each other. Wave after emotional wave hit their collective beach, spurring them on.

But then, something happened....His earlier words, it seemed, were in bad taste.

As they were coupled, Chloe felt something weird. That feels like skin not latex. What the? Damn! She pulled back from the embrace, pushing him away at the same time.

"What gives, Sullivan?" he muttered. "Too much for you?"

"Not exactly," she cracked. "What are you doing? I thought you had a condom on?"

"I do."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," he assured her. Then he looked down to see his bare erection creating a puddle under him. "What the?"

She picked up the scraps of the condom. "Congratulations, Luthor. You're the first man in the history of the Universe to blow through a Grade A top of the line condom. At least, they can't say you can't hit the broadside of a barn anymore."

"That's not funny, Sullivan. Are you okay?"

"Well, since your...gusher nailed me in the right place, I'll need to get checked over by Adam in the morning. Until then, we have to figure out what to do with the sheets and...the evidence. Oh, the blackmail possibilities...."

"You wouldn't!" he protested.

"Try me," she replied, getting his goat and trying to cover up her nervousness about a potential pregnancy. She held the latex remains up. "And we were worried about Clark's libido."

He frowned, his ego really nailed by that comment.

"Come on, you big baby," she chuckled. "Let's strip the bed and get some more sheets." She bagged up the shredded silencer and tossed it in the trashcan. 

Just after they got their robes on, a knock came from the door.

"Lex, Chloe?" Clark called.

"Hey, give us a minute," the billionaire directed.

"Why?" Lana asked. "Are you both all right in there?"

"Uh...yeah. We...uh...spilled something is all," Chloe added.

"What is it?" Lana inquired. "We can get it cleaned up if we work together."

"It's...okay," Lex assured them.

Clark sniffed about and smelled something really strange. "Lana, what's that smell?"

"I don't know," she said, wrinkling her nose at the odor. "Clark, can you see what's going on there?"

"Lana!"

"Clark, they could be hurt or something."

He sighed and focused on the door. I feel like a rat doing this, but... With his x-ray vision, he saw through the door and into the chamber. There, he saw that the bed was stripped clean and that the two lovers were wiping the mattress for some reason. "They're cleaning something up, all right. They're okay."

At that moment, the reporter opened the door. "Clark, Lana, what are you doing here?"

"We...umm...heard the commotion and decided to see if you were okay," Lana stated. From the room, the odor was stronger. "Can we come in for a sec?"

"I...uh...sure," Chloe agreed, albeit hesitantly.

The couple entered to find Lex sitting on the bed in his sweats once again. 

"Hey, guys, did we make that big of a ruckus?" the entrepreneur wondered.

"We heard you and I'm sure everyone in this wing heard her," Clark told him. "What happened anyway?"

"We spilled something and...it messed up my robe," Chloe told them.

The two newcomers looked skeptically at her. Over the years, they had learned that Chloe wasn't a practiced liar. 

"Uh huh," Clark agreed.

At that moment, Emma, Brennan, and Shalimar were at the door as well. 

"Hey, guys," Emma said. "What happened? I felt Chloe's fear across the complex."

Oh great, Lex mused. Now, they'll know too.

"We're trying to figure out what the smell is," Lana noted.

The feral cast a look at her teammates and smirked. "You don't suppose she means that odor in the air right now, do ya?"

"Yeah, I think so." Brennan smiled wickedly.

"You know?" Clark wondered.

"We have an idea," Emma chuckled. "Guys, we ought to give them some privacy now."

"Come on, Emma. Hey, guys, so where are the sheets?" Shalimar wondered, peeking her head in the closet. Finding them, she held them up to the light where she saw the spot. "Hmmm...yeah, I think we've found the culprit."

"Lex...I mean X marks the spot," the electrical mutant assessed. "Real expert touch there, Chief."

The billionaire frowned and shook his head. I'm going to get them for this.

Chloe blushed with embarrassment. Oh, Luthor, are you going to pay for this.

To top everything off, Clark spied something on the floor. He picked it up to find a piece of shredded latex. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Give that to me, Farm Boy!" Chloe yelled.

"What do you think this is?" Clark wondered, looking at Lex. 

"Clark, I'm warning you," Lex advised.

"Let me see that," Lana requested. When he handed it over, she giggled, "I do think this is the poor remains of a condom. Clark?"

Her fiancé blushed with embarrassment. "It...uh...looks that way."

"Way to go, Lex," Brennan cracked, rubbed his shoulder. "By the way, next time, don't dive in so... hard, all right? Remember, the door's always open if you want advice."

"Yeah, and ask Adam for an extra strong one the next time," Shalimar added, sticking the verbal knife in deeper. Going into the hallway, she came back with a fresh set of sheets. "Take care with these, all right, Lex?"

He just smirked sarcastically at them. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of them."

"Do that," the feral concluded humorously, arching her eyebrows and walking out the door.

"Well, seeing as you two are set, we'll leave too," Lana agreed, pushing Clark into the hall. 

"Guys, not a word," Chloe muttered.

Lana's eyes sparkled and she chuckled. "Sorry."

After everyone was gone, Lex and Chloe looked at each other sheepishly. 

"You realize how dumb we look?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he agreed, crestfallen over being caught with the mess. 

"Kind of ironic, isn't it?" she asked him, a smile starting to appear on her face.

"What are you smiling at?" he demanded. "Don't you understand? We'll be laughing stocks."

"No, Luthor, you're the laughing stock. I might be worse off-if you got me pregnant."

"I couldn't have..."

"Well, you did...explode inside of me," she cracked and began laughing. "Maybe we should start calling you Vesuvius for short."

"Very funny, Sullivan." He shook his head.

"I think so. You know something, Luthor?"

"What, Chloe?"

"You know that your ears turn red when you're angry?" she noted with a bit of the Chloe charm, kissing his cheek.

He lounged back. Well, if I had to get caught, at least I picked the right one to get caught with. "Come here," he told her, hugging her with his right arm. "Let's enjoy the rest of the evening, all right?"

She smiled. "Sure." With that, she relaxed beside him.

****

[The Next Day]

At mid-day, Adam finished his scans of Chloe and tabulated the results. Fortunately, it wasn't her time of the month. Still, she should be more careful. He smirked as he went over the account given by Brennan, Emma, and Shalimar. Time to get this over with. He walked out of the lab and down the stairs to the living area where Lana, Clark, Chloe, Lex, and Miranda waited for him. At their side, the Mutant X team members sat, watching their leader's face anxiously.

"Guys," Adam started. "I just got the results back."

Lex looked at him anxiously. "And?"

"Chloe, you were lucky this time. It umm...well...wasn't your time of the month. In the future, you really should be more careful."

"Maybe you might invent and market an extra-strong condom?" the reporter suggested humorously. "Volcano strength, maybe?"

The others cracked up at that verbal jab. It seemed that the accident hadn't affected her ability with the verbal judo.

"Or perhaps, there should be a better standard," the geneticist agreed. "Still, Lex?"

"Yeah?"

"I've seen the world you're dealing with and I've walked a bit in your shoes. Count your blessings you're with the right woman, otherwise you might have been staring at a paternity suit here," Adam told him.

"I know," Lex somberly agreed. "And last night really well emphasized something I've been thinking about anyway. Ever since the mess with Ashlocke I've been thinking about Chloe and me in a much different way.... a much more serious way." He turned to his girlfriend and continued, "I didn't want to say anything before because that was Clark and Lana's moment, but when everything was going on, I realized how much I need you. I haven't said that to a woman since my mother died and well..."

Lana and Clark smiled, guessing where this was going. 

Chloe stared at him. "Lex, I love you too, but it's no big deal really. We're okay. Everything's all right."

The businessman stood up and got down on one knee. "Chloe Sullivan, will you marry me?"

The reporter gaped. "You mean...you want me to....Lex, I...I."

"Well?" he asked, the smirk on his face.

She collected herself, took a deep breath, and responded, "Well, who else is going to keep you on the straight and narrow, Luthor? Of course, the answer is yes." She threw herself into his arms.

"Well now, we have two weddings to plan," Miranda said, thinking of what she was going to say to her uncle and the others. 

Everyone shook hands and congratulated the couple.

"This is what it feels like?" Chloe asked.

"Exactly," Lana told her, her eyes shining.

"And, Lex?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, Clark?"

"I'll be able to give you some advice on weddings if you want," the farm boy cracked.

Lex smirked and hugged his friend. "Don't change, Clark. Don't ever change."


THE END (for now)

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