Must Be Dreaming- Epilogue
Title: Must Be Dreaming
Series: Sequel to So Much Dreaming
Pairing: Clex!
Rating: NC-17!
Summary: After being abducted by aliens and discovering that Jonathan Kent is alive, Lex must come to grips with his shifting relationship with Clark and an unexpected pregnancy.
Spoilers: Through S5, after Cyborg.
Warnings: mpreg, character death
Chapter One ♥ Chapter Two ♥ Chapter Three ♥ Chapter Four ♥ Chapter 5.1 ♥ Chapter 5.2 ♥ Chapter Six ♥ Chapter Seven ♥ Chapter Eight ♥ Chapter Nine ♥ Chapter Ten ♥ Chapter Eleven ♥ Chapter Twelve ♥ Chapter Thirteen ♥ Chapter Fourteen ♥ Chapter Fifteen ♥ Chapter Sixteen ♥ Chapter Seventeen ♥ Chapter Eighteen ♥ Chapter Nineteen ♥ Chapter Twenty ♥ Chapter Twenty-One ♥ Chapter Twenty-two
Epilogue
Once Clark had gone to the Fortress himself to check if Zod was there, he found the ice palace empty. He brought Chloe with him afterward, and she connected with the computer, treating it as though it had been corrupted by a virus. Using Clark’s crystal with the House of El symbol on it, she rebooted the computer with what she told him was a ‘clean install.’
The voice of Jor-El was very different; very calm and with a flatter accent. It was also much more apt to taking commands, and had less of a personality. It was, frankly, just a computer program to interact with in the Fortress. With the program’s help, Clark soon figured out how to access the multiple rooms in the Fortress and the huge amount of information available to him. Everything that Zod had blocked off while he was in control of the Fortress was now a resource for Clark. He wasn’t sure how to use it yet, but he knew that he could talk about it with Lex and get some grounding.
One thing that he had learned to do right away was how to make another bracelet for Lia, so he could give Lex’s back to him. Lex seemed unconcerned, but Clark would never forget the day that Lex had died. Ever.
Since that horrible, horrible day when they had taken out the Brainiac ship and Zod’s AI, they’d neither seen nor hear from them. In fact it was a long time before they would be threatened again by an alien, and it was an unrelated drop in to their planet.
This relative peace made life seem so smooth and easy that even when Clark was cramming for classes and Lex was trying to juggle running an international company and a family, nothing seemed insurmountable. They had split up and come back together. Lex had accomplished the seemingly inconceivable tasks of giving birth and then resurrecting from the dead, respectively. They’d thwarted the ‘dark force’ from Krypton, and amazingly, not fought for too long afterward about Lex’s erratic actions while he’d been under the influence of all that power.
As far as Clark was concerned, his husband (who he determined Lex was with or without a legal ceremony) was a big damn hero.
And Lex was convinced of the same, since Clark had destroyed the threat to their impossible, beautiful family with his bare hands.
Although they didn’t know it, and would never be told so, even Brainiac (or rather, other incarnations of him) appreciated the work that the two men had done that day, because now he could go on to greater schemes of his own, which he determined were much less stupid, convoluted, and limited in scope. And he hoped that one day Zod did escape from the Phantom Zone... so he could kill him.
***
“Bop! Bop! Bop! Bop!” Lia chanted as she hung safely in the lavender sling on Lex’s chest.
“Bop!” Lena replied, leaning over to her niece with a big grin.
Lia laughed, ever the happy baby.
The penthouse on top of the second LexCorp tower was certainly spacious, and Lex wouldn’t have wanted to live there by himself. He suspected it would be big enough for Clark and himself, as well as Lia and the child he’d dreamed of but not yet told Clark about. It was good to have some mystery in life, and Clark knew that Lex wasn’t opposed to the idea. That was enough.
A feeling of deja vu hit him as he walked into the bedroom, and he tightened his lips as he looked around. He could see where the bed went in his minds eye, the dark oak table where the flowers had been in the vase.
He didn’t particularly want the Kryptonian powers back. And sometimes he wanted to throw the precognition out the window as well.
“That’s not happy,” Lena pointed out. “You don’t like the place.”
“Just remembering something.” He paused and looked at her. “That’s going to happen.”
“You’re so weird.” Lena grinned.
“You’re weird.” Lex turned his head and smiled softly. “Clark’s here.”
“I didn’t hear him. Did he buzz up?”
Lex shook his head and put his hand on Lia as he hurried to the far side of the apartment. Clark was waving at them from the balcony. Lex unfastened the latch to let him in.
“I have to say, that’s probably the most unique entrance I’ve ever seen.” Lena put her hand on her hip. “How’s the farm? And Ghost?”
“Both doing well. Ghost likes the quiet, and Mom likes having a little boy around, even a quiet one.” Clark came up to Lex and gave both him and Lia a kiss. “This place is enormous. Is that for... entertaining, or our eventual thirty children?”
“It’s so that our extended family can spend holidays with us, if they so desire,” Lex answered seriously. “Though I wouldn’t be opposed to staying at the manor. It’s not as intimate now that there are more students there, but... it is where our family had its first Christmas.”
“We can talk about that when the time comes. I’m sure Mom and Dad just want to be where we are.” Clark hugged Lex’s shoulders with one arm. “They loved doing things at the manor, and they’ll love doing things here. Are... hm. Are Romi and Domovoi coming with us?”
“No. Domovoi’s teaching, and I think he likes that better than buttling anyway, and the students need him there. Romi agreed that she’d prefer to cook for the school as well. We never gave her enough to do. With the apartment, well, it’s smaller than the castle or the manor. I think we can just have day help and do for ourselves the rest of the time.”
Lena crossed her arms. “And also, you have a nosy big sister with two sharp young girls who would be willing to come over and teach you how to cook.”
“I’m not a bad cook,” Clark said. He gave Lex another squeeze. “As long as you like it here, I don’t care about any of that stuff. I can fly to China and get us take out, if you want.”
Lex chuckled. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary, but I appreciate it.”
“Maddie wanted to know if she and Ruji could have a sleepover here when you get the furniture moved in,” Lena said. She moved closer to Lia and let the little girl squeeze her finger.
“We’d love to have them. A down-side of getting our own place is that I won’t get to see all of our little foundlings as often.”
“And the upside is more privacy,” Clark added. His arm slipped around Lex’s waist and he waggled his eyebrows.
“Wait until the bed is in here, at least,” Lex told him.
Clark grinned. “Who needs a bed?”
“I’m not sure I need to know about this.” Leaning over to kiss Lex’s cheek, Lena smiled warmly and wrapped Clark into a hug as well. “I’m glad you two are doing so well your first year in. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done as it is.” Lex leaned against Clark, as was his habit when he was chilly. “Will you be at the board meeting tomorrow?”
Lena saluted. “Bright and early. Don’t have them make me a member, though. I really am not that thrilled with the idea of running that big company.”
“I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. But legally-”
“I know I get Lionel’s shares and all that, but a small business owner is not qualified to run a multinational company, no matter what you think of my business acumen.” Lena ran her fingers over the marble frame of the fireplace. “I’m happy to ‘assist,’ though. If it takes pressure off you and helps you have more time to hang out with this lovely baby!”
“And me,” Clark said, letting Lia grab his finger and dancing her hand back and forth.
“Okay. I do have to go now. For what it’s worth, I do like the place.” Lena kissed her fingers then waved them at Clark and Lex as she backed out of the room.
“Did you think she didn’t like the place?” Clark asked.
“I was... hesitant. But I don’t suppose it matters where we are.” Lex stretched his back. “Lia, you are getting big.”
Lia stared up at the ceiling obliviously, and Clark took her out of her sling to hold her for a bit.
“She’d going to be walking soon,” Clark muttered as he held her high in the air.
“Or flying.”
Clark looked to Lex with a bright, beautiful grin.
***
Lex steps off the balcony and finds himself wandering through the wilderness. It is strange to be alone without Clark or his daughter, and he crosses his arms over himself as he explores. He knows he is dreaming, and that this one may mean something, so he tries to discipline his mind to remember what he sees.
The silence is what strikes him first. A forest should be quiet, but not without the sounds of all the creatures that live there. After a time he comes upon a clearing, where a glass coffin sits, and a golden haired woman rests inside. Lex approaches.
He shivers as he looks upon Chloe. Her hair in large shining curls around her face, lips blood red, face pale as snow, and deathly still. She wears a simple blue shift and nothing else, but her hands hold a black rose whose thorns dig into her flesh.
“Oh, Chloe,” he whispers. His voice feels like an interloper in this forest of death. “I’m not your prince, I’m afraid.”
Behind him, the deep-throated chuckle of a woman begins. He looks behind, but soon it surrounds him. He pulls out a long blade to defend himself and absconds from the clearing, knowing that in the waking world, Chloe lives still.
The laughing quiets as he reaches a precipice but never truly leaves. The canyon, Lex realizes through the logic of dreams, is so deep that those who fall in may end up in a hell dimension. He is not sure what this means, but it is not the first time he has known the history of a place during a dream, as though the dreamscape had communicated it to him.
A flash of color catches his eye and to his amusement he sees Clark, dressed as a jester and dancing about, cartwheeling, juggling. With a chuckle he steps toward the familiar sight, but Clark doesn’t heed him and continues his fooling, drawing ever nearer to the edge.
“Stop!” Lex cries.
He pulls on Clark’s multicolored, puffy sleeves, but it is no use. With a smile plastered over his lips, Clark steps over the edge. Lex leans over the cliff, reaching for him, and screaming.
Clark will soon be in hell.
Clark was shaking Lex rather hard and pleading him to wake. Lex heard his own groan before he was fully conscious, then looked up at Clark with a frown.
“So I guess that wasn’t a particularly fun vision.”
“No.” Lex struggled into a sitting position and pulled his knees to his chest.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Clark wrapped his arm around Lex and rested his chin on his shoulder.
“Not... not right now.” He shuddered, but Clark’s warmth helped. The image of Clark smiling as he walked straight into his doom was burned into Lex’s memory. No fear of forgetting that one.
“I love you.”
Lex dipped his head and smile. “I know.” He took a deep breath. “Thank you. For being here.”
“I don’t like it when your dreams scare you,” Clark murmured into Lex’s neck.
“I’m not terribly fond of them either, but they are awake now, and I don’t think I can put them back to rest.”
“Well, whatever you’re dreaming about, I’ll be here to help. Remember that, when the future tries to scare you.”
“Hm.” Lex turned to Clark and took his face in hand. “You’re never allowed to leave me. You realize that, right?”
“Says the man who killed himself, literally, to save the world,” Clark replied grumpily. He kissed Lex’s forehead. “I’m never going to leave you. Ever.”
“Dying isn’t leaving. It’s dying. Please don’t ever leave.”
“I won’t. You’re stuck with me now.” Clark slipped his arms around Lex’s chest and pulled him close. “Weirdness and all.”
“I think I contribute to the weirdness, rather than dilute it, honestly.” Lex yawned and kissed Clark’s lips once, twice, then pressed their cheeks together.
“Your gift has more than paid its weight for us. Hm. I love just laying here with you.”
“Silly, romantic Clark,” Lex muttered in return.
Everything would change around them, and as much as Lex demanded of Clark to have faith, he knew that he had to acquire some himself. He had to begin building it up and stacking it around himself for the times when it would be difficult to breathe, times when Clark would put himself in danger to save people, times when one of their extended family might falter. Now he had much better reserves than before, but it was hard not to hold onto his happiness greedily, since it had taken so long to get it.
In the other room, their baby slept, dreaming her little dreams, while her fathers held one another tightly with love and devotion. Their legs twinned together, and Lex let himself melt into Clark’s comforting bulk with a deep sigh. Soon Clark was cupping the back of Lex’s head, stroking the skin gently, and pressing a large hand against his back. Whatever the dreams told him, Lex would believe in Clark and in their family, and maybe, sometimes, in himself and what he’d proven capable of.
Series: Sequel to So Much Dreaming
Pairing: Clex!
Rating: NC-17!
Summary: After being abducted by aliens and discovering that Jonathan Kent is alive, Lex must come to grips with his shifting relationship with Clark and an unexpected pregnancy.
Spoilers: Through S5, after Cyborg.
Warnings: mpreg, character death
Chapter One ♥ Chapter Two ♥ Chapter Three ♥ Chapter Four ♥ Chapter 5.1 ♥ Chapter 5.2 ♥ Chapter Six ♥ Chapter Seven ♥ Chapter Eight ♥ Chapter Nine ♥ Chapter Ten ♥ Chapter Eleven ♥ Chapter Twelve ♥ Chapter Thirteen ♥ Chapter Fourteen ♥ Chapter Fifteen ♥ Chapter Sixteen ♥ Chapter Seventeen ♥ Chapter Eighteen ♥ Chapter Nineteen ♥ Chapter Twenty ♥ Chapter Twenty-One ♥ Chapter Twenty-two
Epilogue
Once Clark had gone to the Fortress himself to check if Zod was there, he found the ice palace empty. He brought Chloe with him afterward, and she connected with the computer, treating it as though it had been corrupted by a virus. Using Clark’s crystal with the House of El symbol on it, she rebooted the computer with what she told him was a ‘clean install.’
The voice of Jor-El was very different; very calm and with a flatter accent. It was also much more apt to taking commands, and had less of a personality. It was, frankly, just a computer program to interact with in the Fortress. With the program’s help, Clark soon figured out how to access the multiple rooms in the Fortress and the huge amount of information available to him. Everything that Zod had blocked off while he was in control of the Fortress was now a resource for Clark. He wasn’t sure how to use it yet, but he knew that he could talk about it with Lex and get some grounding.
One thing that he had learned to do right away was how to make another bracelet for Lia, so he could give Lex’s back to him. Lex seemed unconcerned, but Clark would never forget the day that Lex had died. Ever.
Since that horrible, horrible day when they had taken out the Brainiac ship and Zod’s AI, they’d neither seen nor hear from them. In fact it was a long time before they would be threatened again by an alien, and it was an unrelated drop in to their planet.
This relative peace made life seem so smooth and easy that even when Clark was cramming for classes and Lex was trying to juggle running an international company and a family, nothing seemed insurmountable. They had split up and come back together. Lex had accomplished the seemingly inconceivable tasks of giving birth and then resurrecting from the dead, respectively. They’d thwarted the ‘dark force’ from Krypton, and amazingly, not fought for too long afterward about Lex’s erratic actions while he’d been under the influence of all that power.
As far as Clark was concerned, his husband (who he determined Lex was with or without a legal ceremony) was a big damn hero.
And Lex was convinced of the same, since Clark had destroyed the threat to their impossible, beautiful family with his bare hands.
Although they didn’t know it, and would never be told so, even Brainiac (or rather, other incarnations of him) appreciated the work that the two men had done that day, because now he could go on to greater schemes of his own, which he determined were much less stupid, convoluted, and limited in scope. And he hoped that one day Zod did escape from the Phantom Zone... so he could kill him.
***
“Bop! Bop! Bop! Bop!” Lia chanted as she hung safely in the lavender sling on Lex’s chest.
“Bop!” Lena replied, leaning over to her niece with a big grin.
Lia laughed, ever the happy baby.
The penthouse on top of the second LexCorp tower was certainly spacious, and Lex wouldn’t have wanted to live there by himself. He suspected it would be big enough for Clark and himself, as well as Lia and the child he’d dreamed of but not yet told Clark about. It was good to have some mystery in life, and Clark knew that Lex wasn’t opposed to the idea. That was enough.
A feeling of deja vu hit him as he walked into the bedroom, and he tightened his lips as he looked around. He could see where the bed went in his minds eye, the dark oak table where the flowers had been in the vase.
He didn’t particularly want the Kryptonian powers back. And sometimes he wanted to throw the precognition out the window as well.
“That’s not happy,” Lena pointed out. “You don’t like the place.”
“Just remembering something.” He paused and looked at her. “That’s going to happen.”
“You’re so weird.” Lena grinned.
“You’re weird.” Lex turned his head and smiled softly. “Clark’s here.”
“I didn’t hear him. Did he buzz up?”
Lex shook his head and put his hand on Lia as he hurried to the far side of the apartment. Clark was waving at them from the balcony. Lex unfastened the latch to let him in.
“I have to say, that’s probably the most unique entrance I’ve ever seen.” Lena put her hand on her hip. “How’s the farm? And Ghost?”
“Both doing well. Ghost likes the quiet, and Mom likes having a little boy around, even a quiet one.” Clark came up to Lex and gave both him and Lia a kiss. “This place is enormous. Is that for... entertaining, or our eventual thirty children?”
“It’s so that our extended family can spend holidays with us, if they so desire,” Lex answered seriously. “Though I wouldn’t be opposed to staying at the manor. It’s not as intimate now that there are more students there, but... it is where our family had its first Christmas.”
“We can talk about that when the time comes. I’m sure Mom and Dad just want to be where we are.” Clark hugged Lex’s shoulders with one arm. “They loved doing things at the manor, and they’ll love doing things here. Are... hm. Are Romi and Domovoi coming with us?”
“No. Domovoi’s teaching, and I think he likes that better than buttling anyway, and the students need him there. Romi agreed that she’d prefer to cook for the school as well. We never gave her enough to do. With the apartment, well, it’s smaller than the castle or the manor. I think we can just have day help and do for ourselves the rest of the time.”
Lena crossed her arms. “And also, you have a nosy big sister with two sharp young girls who would be willing to come over and teach you how to cook.”
“I’m not a bad cook,” Clark said. He gave Lex another squeeze. “As long as you like it here, I don’t care about any of that stuff. I can fly to China and get us take out, if you want.”
Lex chuckled. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary, but I appreciate it.”
“Maddie wanted to know if she and Ruji could have a sleepover here when you get the furniture moved in,” Lena said. She moved closer to Lia and let the little girl squeeze her finger.
“We’d love to have them. A down-side of getting our own place is that I won’t get to see all of our little foundlings as often.”
“And the upside is more privacy,” Clark added. His arm slipped around Lex’s waist and he waggled his eyebrows.
“Wait until the bed is in here, at least,” Lex told him.
Clark grinned. “Who needs a bed?”
“I’m not sure I need to know about this.” Leaning over to kiss Lex’s cheek, Lena smiled warmly and wrapped Clark into a hug as well. “I’m glad you two are doing so well your first year in. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done as it is.” Lex leaned against Clark, as was his habit when he was chilly. “Will you be at the board meeting tomorrow?”
Lena saluted. “Bright and early. Don’t have them make me a member, though. I really am not that thrilled with the idea of running that big company.”
“I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. But legally-”
“I know I get Lionel’s shares and all that, but a small business owner is not qualified to run a multinational company, no matter what you think of my business acumen.” Lena ran her fingers over the marble frame of the fireplace. “I’m happy to ‘assist,’ though. If it takes pressure off you and helps you have more time to hang out with this lovely baby!”
“And me,” Clark said, letting Lia grab his finger and dancing her hand back and forth.
“Okay. I do have to go now. For what it’s worth, I do like the place.” Lena kissed her fingers then waved them at Clark and Lex as she backed out of the room.
“Did you think she didn’t like the place?” Clark asked.
“I was... hesitant. But I don’t suppose it matters where we are.” Lex stretched his back. “Lia, you are getting big.”
Lia stared up at the ceiling obliviously, and Clark took her out of her sling to hold her for a bit.
“She’d going to be walking soon,” Clark muttered as he held her high in the air.
“Or flying.”
Clark looked to Lex with a bright, beautiful grin.
***
Lex steps off the balcony and finds himself wandering through the wilderness. It is strange to be alone without Clark or his daughter, and he crosses his arms over himself as he explores. He knows he is dreaming, and that this one may mean something, so he tries to discipline his mind to remember what he sees.
The silence is what strikes him first. A forest should be quiet, but not without the sounds of all the creatures that live there. After a time he comes upon a clearing, where a glass coffin sits, and a golden haired woman rests inside. Lex approaches.
He shivers as he looks upon Chloe. Her hair in large shining curls around her face, lips blood red, face pale as snow, and deathly still. She wears a simple blue shift and nothing else, but her hands hold a black rose whose thorns dig into her flesh.
“Oh, Chloe,” he whispers. His voice feels like an interloper in this forest of death. “I’m not your prince, I’m afraid.”
Behind him, the deep-throated chuckle of a woman begins. He looks behind, but soon it surrounds him. He pulls out a long blade to defend himself and absconds from the clearing, knowing that in the waking world, Chloe lives still.
The laughing quiets as he reaches a precipice but never truly leaves. The canyon, Lex realizes through the logic of dreams, is so deep that those who fall in may end up in a hell dimension. He is not sure what this means, but it is not the first time he has known the history of a place during a dream, as though the dreamscape had communicated it to him.
A flash of color catches his eye and to his amusement he sees Clark, dressed as a jester and dancing about, cartwheeling, juggling. With a chuckle he steps toward the familiar sight, but Clark doesn’t heed him and continues his fooling, drawing ever nearer to the edge.
“Stop!” Lex cries.
He pulls on Clark’s multicolored, puffy sleeves, but it is no use. With a smile plastered over his lips, Clark steps over the edge. Lex leans over the cliff, reaching for him, and screaming.
Clark will soon be in hell.
Clark was shaking Lex rather hard and pleading him to wake. Lex heard his own groan before he was fully conscious, then looked up at Clark with a frown.
“So I guess that wasn’t a particularly fun vision.”
“No.” Lex struggled into a sitting position and pulled his knees to his chest.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Clark wrapped his arm around Lex and rested his chin on his shoulder.
“Not... not right now.” He shuddered, but Clark’s warmth helped. The image of Clark smiling as he walked straight into his doom was burned into Lex’s memory. No fear of forgetting that one.
“I love you.”
Lex dipped his head and smile. “I know.” He took a deep breath. “Thank you. For being here.”
“I don’t like it when your dreams scare you,” Clark murmured into Lex’s neck.
“I’m not terribly fond of them either, but they are awake now, and I don’t think I can put them back to rest.”
“Well, whatever you’re dreaming about, I’ll be here to help. Remember that, when the future tries to scare you.”
“Hm.” Lex turned to Clark and took his face in hand. “You’re never allowed to leave me. You realize that, right?”
“Says the man who killed himself, literally, to save the world,” Clark replied grumpily. He kissed Lex’s forehead. “I’m never going to leave you. Ever.”
“Dying isn’t leaving. It’s dying. Please don’t ever leave.”
“I won’t. You’re stuck with me now.” Clark slipped his arms around Lex’s chest and pulled him close. “Weirdness and all.”
“I think I contribute to the weirdness, rather than dilute it, honestly.” Lex yawned and kissed Clark’s lips once, twice, then pressed their cheeks together.
“Your gift has more than paid its weight for us. Hm. I love just laying here with you.”
“Silly, romantic Clark,” Lex muttered in return.
Everything would change around them, and as much as Lex demanded of Clark to have faith, he knew that he had to acquire some himself. He had to begin building it up and stacking it around himself for the times when it would be difficult to breathe, times when Clark would put himself in danger to save people, times when one of their extended family might falter. Now he had much better reserves than before, but it was hard not to hold onto his happiness greedily, since it had taken so long to get it.
In the other room, their baby slept, dreaming her little dreams, while her fathers held one another tightly with love and devotion. Their legs twinned together, and Lex let himself melt into Clark’s comforting bulk with a deep sigh. Soon Clark was cupping the back of Lex’s head, stroking the skin gently, and pressing a large hand against his back. Whatever the dreams told him, Lex would believe in Clark and in their family, and maybe, sometimes, in himself and what he’d proven capable of.