DISCLAIMER: None of the characters in this story are mine, nor are the universes in which they live. They are property of their respectful owners. I am making no money from this and only wanted to have some fun with my favorite TV shows.

WARNING: Bloodletting.

SUMMARY: What if all the fantasy TV shows you watch took place in the same plane of existence? Multiple universe crossovers; for more information on the universes and characters, see Author's Note at the completion of the story. A diverse group bands together to end a new project of Lionel Luthor's.

NOTE: This takes place somewhere towards the beginning of Smallville season 2, after Heat but before Pete knows Clark's secret.

FEEDBACK: Go right ahead.

Unbetaed, so all mistakes are mine. I'm sure I could re-read it every day and still fix it and add stuff, but I figured that would defeat the purpose since I could never post it. NC-17 just in case.

Derek Barnes drove down the highway, marveling over how flat the landscape was through which he was driving. He hadn't been prepared to believe it, but now he had no choice. And for him to not believe something, it had to be weird. He smirked as he passed the sign declaring that he was "Now Entering Smallville, Meteor Capital of the World." He still couldn't believe that Adam (may he rest in peace) hadn't wanted to relocate here. It was right up his alley.

He followed the road into town and took in the shops he passed. It looked pretty much as he would have expected a town called "Smallville" to look; it was quaint. He slowed down as he spied the marquee for the Talon jutting from the side of a building. He miraculously found a parking space not too far away, parked, and ambled towards the Talon.

He took his time, taking advantage of it to partake in people-watching, catching the sights with the digital camcorder he always carried. One never knew when something exciting and worthy of being recorded would happen.

For all the unbelievable stuff that had happened in this town, he mused, no one looks like a freak from the outside. Funny how that is.

He entered the Talon and scanned the large room for the reason he was here in Kansas. He spotted her at the counter, talking with a brunette standing behind the counter in front of a cappuccino machine. A tall, muscular boy that probably worked on one of the plethora of farms in the surrounding area was with her. He walked towards the group of teens, glad that Chloe was indeed wearing the homemade green Smallville Meteors shirt she said she'd be. Otherwise, spotting her in the crowded coffee shop would have been much harder.

She caught sight of him and broke into a grin. Wow, Derek thought, she's even prettier than I thought she'd be. Crummy Web-cam photos didn't do anyone justice. "Derek, I presume?" she said, barely breaking her smile.

"That'd be me. What tipped you off?" Derek said, returning the smile.

"Oh, nothing much. Just the way you carry yourself as if you think someone's going to mutate right before your eyes just because you're in Smallville. And your shirt." Chloe's eyes sparkled.

Derek glanced down at his blue "Freakylinks.com" shirt. "Yeah, I guess that could be considered a tip off," he said as he raised his head again. "Hello, Chloe."

"That's me." She shook his hand and simultaneously gestured to the tall, dark-haired boy next to her. "This is Clark. And that's Lana," she finished, pointing to the cappuccino brunette.

The boy looked a little apprehensive, but tried to hide it with a teeth-flashing smile. "Hi," he said, while shaking Derek's hand. Lana waved and exclaimed with a smile, "Welcome to Smallville, and the Talon. Best coffee in town."

"I'll have to remember that," Derek said, looking at the teens again. Damn, he thought, everyone here is so damn pretty. All the beautiful people must come here to spawn.

"Guys, this is the guy I was telling you about, Derek. He's the one who runs the website Freakylinks.com, which is his own version of the `Wall of Weird.' We found each other online when we were both studying the Nicodemus flower." At the mention of the flower, Lana blushed and Clark scowled. Derek wondered what had happened between the two while under the influence of the flower.

"After talking with Chloe for a while, I knew I had to come check out Smallville and the `Wall of Weird' for myself. Besides, I could use a vacation." Derek smiled at the brief Look shared between Clark and Lana.

"Oh, it's not that strange. I mean, Chloe told us some of the stuff you've worked with, like the pterodactyls, and that desert squid guy. We don't have anything like that here." Clark finished his declaration, a bizarre attempt at being nonchalant, by blushing.

"No, Clark, we only have people who can change their bone structure and control swarms of insects. But no, that's not weird." Lana finished by rolling her eyes in Chloe's direction.

Derek raised his eyebrows questioningly at Chloe. "Ignore them," she said. "We have more important things to do, now that you're here." She flashed another huge smile in his direction and touched his arm lightly, and now Derek felt himself blushing. Must be hot in here, he thought.

Chloe turned to Clark and Lana (neither of whom had moved since the attractive, older stranger with tattoos on his wrists had come up to Chloe) and told them that she and Derek would be at the Torch office for the rest of the day. "And maybe longer," she said before walking away, leading Derek by the hand, a twinkle in her eyes.

Clark and Lana watched the two investigators walk away, both of their eyes more on Derek than their friend. "So. That's Derek," Clark said after a moment, eyes a little wider than usual.

"Apparently," said Lana. "He's... good-looking." Clark turned to her, and almost agreed with her before he caught his tongue. "Did you see his tattoos? That had to hurt. I can't believe he actually drove all the way to Smallville just to see the `Wall of Weird.'"

"Clark, not to jump the gun or anything, but I don't think the `Wall of Weird' is all that he wants to spend time looking at while he's here." At her words and seemingly-knowing smile, Clark blushed again; he wasn't used to older strangers hitting on or even spending time with his friends. Except for Lex, of course, but he didn't think that counted. Besides, Lex kept most of his attention on Clark anyway.

"Lana, I'm going to go to Lex's and see if he knows anything about Derek... did you catch his last name?"

"I don't remember it being given."

"Okay, thanks," Clark said, as he left the counter and headed outside. Once there, he glanced around briefly and, seeing no one, took off for Lex's at super-speed.

Once inside the mansion, Clark guided himself towards Lex's entertainment room. He heard the crack of billiard balls and a loud groan. A British voice laughed and exclaimed, "Don't be such a poof, Lex! You know how to handle your shaft and balls better than that!" Flushing once again, Clark entered the room, curious as to who Lex was spending time with, especially since he obviously wasn't local.

Two strangers and Lex turned toward him. The game stopped for a moment. A platinum blonde held a cue over the table, but dropped it to his side, a smirk on his face. "I take that back, Lex. You're not the poof in the room. Who's this one?" His accent and choice of words let Clark know that this is the man who spoke before. The other stranger, tall, well-built, and glaring at Clark but maybe just examining him, spoke next. "Yes, Lex, who might this be? You didn't tell me that they bred them like this in Smallville."

Clark swallowed, and, flushing even more so, turned to Lex for help. Lex characteristically smiled his `I know more than you and more than I'm letting on' smile. "Hello, Clark. What brings you to the mansion today?"

"I, uh, wanted to talk with you about someone, but, uh, you're busy, so I'll just, uh, go." He turned to leave, but Lex caught him by the shoulder.

"No, stay. They won't bite. Well," he said, glancing at the blonde, who raised his eyebrows in an expression of innocence, "he might, especially if you ask. Clark, this is Spike, and this is Bruce Wayne," he clarified, gesturing toward the dark-haired man.

"The Bruce Wayne?" Clark questioned, eyes widening. "And... Spike?"

Lex smiled again. "Yes, Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprises of Gotham City and Spike of, well, lots of places." Lex frowned at that, but covered himself quickly. "Bruce and I have known each other for a long time, and I met Spike in Metropolis a few years ago."

"Yeah, when he was a little more reckless and a little less into poofy farm boys." Clark blushed (again) at Spike's declaration. Lex glared daggers at Spike, who seemed oblivious, his eyes still sizing up Clark.

"How old are you, Clark? You look at least 25 but you don't carry yourself as such," Bruce broke in suddenly.

"He's not yet legal, and that's all that matters," Lex cut in, giving Bruce a warning look. Bruce continued to scrutinize Clark after looking at Lex with an expression of mild surprise. Clark wondered what had just happened. He almost thought that Bruce was checking him out, but that couldn't be right. Billionaire playboys usually seen with a beautiful starlet on each arm just didn't do that.

Spike turned, finally, back to the pool table and lined up his shot. Clark followed Lex's line of sight, which seemed to be at Spike's back, or possibly on the way the cue slid in Spike's hand. Suddenly, Clark wondered just what it was that he had walked in on, and how exactly these three men all knew each other.

Spike took his shot, sinking two balls, and smirked as he straightened himself. "Now that, mate, is how you handle your balls," he said, as he looked pointedly at Lex.

"I'll try to keep that in mind," Lex returned, with a faraway look in his eyes that quickly disappeared as he returned his focus to Clark. "So, Clark, what did you want to know about whom?" Lex seemed to realize he had been grinding the cue with his left hand, and promptly stopped himself.

"Uh, Chloe met this guy today, they've been talking online and stuff, and I dunno, he seems kind of, well, suspicious, and I was wondering if you knew him for any reason. Derek something, runs a website called Freakylinks.com?" he turned hopefully to Lex, who still seemed more occupied watching Spike, and then Bruce, take their shots.

"No, can't say I've ever heard of the site, but that can easily be remedied. I'll check him out for you tonight, okay?" He moved back to the table as Bruce scratched. Bruce glared at the cue ball as Lex rescued it from underneath the table, but seemed to perk up when Lex bent over to take his shot. If Bruce Wayne could be said to be perky about anything.

"Uh, Lex?" Clark inquired.

"Yes, Clark?"

"Um, nothing. I'll talk to you later." Clark exhaled heavily, turned on his heels, and all but ran from the room.

"So, anything going on between you two?" Spike asked of Lex, gesturing to the now empty doorway with his pool cue.

"Me and Clark? No. And never. Nothing of a sexual nature anyway. His father distrusts me enough as it is, deflowering his only son would only prove to be even more detrimental to our relationship." Lex thrust the cue between his fingers, neatly sinking a ball on the far end of the table; his smooth actions did not betray the turmoil in his mind. "We do have a lovely arrangement where he saves my life every few weeks and then refuses to explain to me how he does it."

"Pity. You'd make such a cute couple." Spike smirked, then realized what Lex had said. "`Deflower?' A poof like that hasn't taken a tumble before? You were right when you said things weren't quite right in Smallville. Everyone here is so ripe, too."

"Interesting choice of words, Spike." Bruce's gravelly voice wasn't conducive to humor.

"Oh, like you weren't checking him out. I thought your eyes were going to fall out of your head, you were ogling him so hard."

"Trust me, gentlemen, Clark is no one that you want to be involved with. There's more to him than meets the eye, and I can't imagine that it's good. There's something that he's been hiding from me, something big, and I want to figure it out. So," Lex said, smiling once more, "he's mine." He finished up the game by sinking the last ball, and placed his cue back on the rack on the wall. "Anyone up for a swim?"

Both Spike and Bruce took the bait and agreed, "I'm up for something."

"So, this is the famous Wall of Weird?" Derek scanned the newspaper clippings slowly, pausing here and there to read whole articles. He periodically ran a hand nervously through his hair.

"Well, infamous is more like it. Not everyone appreciates the work put into making sure that all the strangeness of Smallville gets fully documented. At least, as documented as possible." Chloe frowned briefly, then continued watching Derek admire her wall. He was very cute, the way his eyes widened at some of the stranger articles Chloe had written, the way he smiled at some of the more harmless, and the way in which his fingers threaded his brown curls.

"So, are Clark and Lana together, or what? There seemed to be some tension."

"No, they aren't together. He's been in love with her forever, but nothing seems to happen except one of them getting hurt. Tragic, really." Chloe said nothing of the feelings she had, or used to have, for Clark, and there wasn't anything else she could say about the Clark-Lana experience that wouldn't take hours and make her wish she was writing it down to sell to a drippy soap-opera.

"And you're not... involved with anyone, right?" Derek asked as he stood to face her.

"No," she answered, looking briefly downwards. "I thought I..." Her words were cut off by Derek's lips pressed to hers, one hand squeezing her hip. His tongue lightly parted her lips and she opened them a little wider. After a few seconds of tasting he pulled back.

"Just checking so that I could do that without worrying that some strapping young farm hand or football player was going to come beat me up. I'll stop though," he said, feeling the uncertainty radiating off of her.

She looked up at him and smiled. "You better not." She then pulled his head down and kissed him, her own tongue quickly flicking out to run along his lips. He responded by parting them and taking her tongue in his mouth. He slowly pushed her backwards until she was against her desk, his hands at the small of her back. She was so warm and yet tasted like wintergreen. He continued to lithely intertwine his tongue with hers as she ran the fingers of one hand through his hair, the other hand slipping along his back to pull him in tighter.

He slipped out of her mouth and laced small kisses along her jawline. Chloe involuntarily bucked her hips once at the sensation, her breath a little ragged. She could feel him smile as he moved down her throat, stopping to lick briefly at the sensitive spot where the carotid artery lies underneath the skin. She pulled him tighter still, not able to get enough of his body pressed against hers, and a pleasant warm feeling unfurled in her abdomen. Derek's hands slid down underneath the back of her blouse and crept back up. She could feel that he was partially erect, obviously very much enjoying the limited contact they'd had.

"Hey, Chloe, I finished typing up that article on- Chloe?!" Pete looked up from the papers he was carrying in time to see Chloe raise her leg and put her foot behind one of Derek's calves, pressing their bodies further together. At the sound of Pete's exclamation both reporters of weirdness froze and glanced over to the office door. Pete still stood there, slightly slack-jawed.

"Hello, you must be Pete. Chloe's told me you help her with the paper." Derek pried himself away from Chloe and extended his hand to Pete. Pete shook it, slightly dazed. Chloe sensually kissing attractive, older strangers was not usually on the Torch's agenda.

"Uh, yeah. Pete. And you must be Derek. She's mentioned you a lot lately. At least, I hope you're Derek." Pete eyeballed him up and down, pausing ever so slightly at his crotch.

"Derek Barnes, proprietor of Freakylinks.com, at your service. I came to visit Chloe and make sure that all these stories she's been telling me are true."

"So, you like what you see so far?" Pete wasn't sure if he was trying to be funny or not.

"Actually," Derek replied, smiling slyly at Chloe, "I like what I've seen very much thus far. I only hope I become more experienced with the attractions of Smallville." Chloe flushed further at his glances and words.

"Well uh, I just came to drop this off. See you Monday?" Pete handed Chloe the papers he was carrying and backed towards the door.

"Sure, Pete. Thanks. I'll see you Monday." She flashed one of her typical grins at him, but her eyes were atypically begging him to leave.

He took the hint and left, throwing over his shoulder, "Nice to meet you Derek." Citizens of Smallville were nothing if not polite to strangers, even if they were found making out with your best friend.

"He seems nice," Derek said absently, his gaze flicking back to the Wall of Weird.

"Yeah, Pete's the best. He's a huge help with the paper since Clark is AWOL more often than not. Clark's always running off somewhere or late with deadlines because he seems to always get stuck saving people from meteor freaks. You'd think he feels guilty, as if the meteor shower was his fault or something."

"So, where were we...?" Derek asked, his gaze back on Chloe and a little hungrier than it was when eyeing the Wall.

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him back to the desk. "Well, I think your hands were here, and my leg was wrapped around here..." She smiled as he leaned in to resume kissing her. Chloe wasn't used to attractive strangers making out with her, either.

"See, Scully? A town put on the map because of a tragedy involving bits of rock falling from space. And you said there isn't an X-File here." Fox Mulder wiggled his eyebrows at his partner, Dana Scully, who cocked her head as a means of feigning skepticism. She figured that bringing up the meteor event in Tunguska would be pointless. Still watching her for an answer, Mulder was very good at driving without actually watching the road, and Scully often wondered why he didn't work as a stunt-man. Thought the FBI generally didn't have such a position.

"It's not that I doubt your typically flawless judgment, Mulder, I just don't think that any story we're going to find here will be quite what you're expecting." She watched him cover a smile by turning his head back to the front and then to the side window.

"Hey, Scully, check out that farmhouse. It's so bright I feel like I'm in a painting, or need to watch it through polarized lenses. Except those cows are moving." They drove past a sign that declared the overly-cheery yellow farmhouse belonged to Kent Farms.

"Mulder, remind me again why we're driving through Kansas admiring the lack of natural scenery though surfeit of picturesque farmhouses?" She turned her skeptical look on Mulder once more, who remained unaware of it or ignored it (as he usually was inclined to do).

"Because, Scully, for the last thirteen years Smallville, Kansas has been riddled with one tragedy, accident, or weird occurrence after another. And yet nothing official has ever been documented about anything. I only became aware of the potential of Smallville as a nexus of abnormal activity when I stumbled across the high school newspaper. The student editor takes all the strange events seriously. I'll admit some of it seems a little suspect, but so much to question in such a small area seems worthy of our inspection."

"And you told Skinner what, exactly?"

"That I was going to a family reunion thrown by relatives I haven't seen a while and therefore would have no reason to talk about at work. And I suggested that you accompany me to take a vacation and make sure I go back to work. And don't get sucked up by a tornado or something."

"Well, then I should be grateful you dragged me to the middle of nowhere in the middle of the country so you could indulge yourself in what is probably nothing more than a string of bad luck."

Neither agent saw the Porsche until it was almost upon them, so intent were they in their discussion. As it was Mulder was forced to swerve to the right as the sports car sped past them at far more than the legal speed limit, whatever that may have been.

"Wasn't that Lex Luthor?" Scully's eyebrows were quirked high on her forehead.

"I do believe it was. Lionel exiled him to this area. I told you you'd find something of interest here in the sticks."

"It's not that he's a matter of interest. It's more that he's a matter of concern. The proverbial apple never falls far from the tree, and Lionel has always been a force to be reckoned with."

"Then it's a good thing that we're here to keep an eye on his son, where we can quell any problem that comes this way."

Scully didn't take Mulder's jokes lightly. She knew that weirdness and Luthors did not go hand in hand lightly. They drove into town without any more words between them, save for Mulder apparently quietly mooing every time they passed a herd of cows.

Clark was bored. Lex had never bothered to call him the night before with information about the mysterious Derek, so he hadn't been able to invite himself over to the mansion today. Chloe was probably out (or in?) with Derek, Lana was working at the Talon, and Pete was visiting family in another town.

He'd already done his homework for Monday, completed his chores, helped his mom clean the house, and, just for kicks, lit and re-lit all the candles he had in the loft while sitting on the couch. He wanted to venture over to the mansion, but he didn't want to bother Lex while his friends were there. He mused over that thought for a bit. Lex Luthor had friends that weren't named Clark Kent. Lex had never talked about them before, but Lex wasn't the most open nor the most honest man in the world. Clark snorted at his own hypocrisy. His secrets and secrecy were a little bigger and more serious than not mentioning old friends from out of town, but no matter the gravity of the situation, basically he still lied repeatedly to his supposedly best friend who lied in return just as easily.

No matter what he could be doing with Lex at the mansion, it had to be more fun than sitting here and playing with his abilities. No one should know that he can bench-press the family's spare tractor.

He thought of the huge movie library that Lex owned and yet never seemed to watch unless Clark was there, the pool table that he'd never seen used before by anyone other than Lex, and the Olympic size pool he didn't think he'd ever even seen Lex use, let alone invite guests into.

He then mulled over the fully-grounded electric fencing strip that Lex had in one of his rooms next to his gym. Lex had offered to teach Clark how to fence, but Clark paled at the thought of losing control of his strength during a lunge and impaling Lex through the chest. Also, the blades seemed fragile enough, and he could see himself snapping them like uncooked bits of spaghetti. Similarly, he couldn't even control how far or hard he threw people, how could he possibly focus on a target area that small with a weapon surface that was practically nonexistent? And forget sabre, the slashing weapon. He could too easily see himself slicing Lex in two in the heat of battle. Lex competed in epee, but informed Clark that he was capable of teaching the two other weapons. Clark generally felt that there was very little that Lex couldn't teach him.

Clark wanted to gain more self-control over his powers (sooner or later people in Smallville would become less dense and more suspicious), but he wanted to try something a little less potentially deadly and violent. Finding something that wasn't too obvious was difficult, and something like meditation wasn't physical enough.

After arguing with himself through internal monologue, well, maybe it was a dialogue at that point, he decided to just go and see what Lex was up to. Lex had told him he was always welcome and hadn't made a concession for this weekend. Maybe he wouldn't mind if Clark popped in. Clark just couldn't shake the feeling that there was more going on than Lex having friends over. But hey, Clark was of necessity one of the most paranoid people he knew. He clambered down the stairs of the loft, waved to his dad who was entering the farmhouse, and took off for the mansion at super-speed.

He went straight to Lex's office, since Lex seemed to spend by far more time there than in any other room. He heard what sounded like The Sex Pistols blaring through the door, which was very odd since he didn't know Lex listened to The Sex Pistols. Then again, he wasn't sure why he recognized that it was The Sex Pistols in the first place.

He entered the office and was surprised to see the curtains drawn. Then his breath caught in his chest when he figured out why.

Lex's head lolled back over the edge of his desk chair, eyes toward the ceiling, while the blonde man- Spike -appeared to be sucking on Lex's wrist. Upon closer inspection it was evident that Spike was in fact drinking the blood that poured from a wound in Lex's wrist. He licked it off as it pooled at the surface. Clark could see that the man's face appeared to be distorted in some way.

Clark would have rushed over to Lex and tossed the blonde across the room to rescue him from the torture Spike was forcing him to endure, except as evident through Lex's glass desk, Lex was enjoying the bloodletting very much. As Spike drank from Lex's right wrist, Lex's left hand was wrapped tightly around his very erect cock and was jacking it slowly.

Clark watched Lex's hand stroking, stroking, stroking...

Spike groaned softly, which seemed to affect Lex in some way since his hand started moving faster along his shaft, precum now glistening from the slit. His breathing got heavier and the motion increased further until he ejaculated over his hand and he visibly shuddered. Spike gave the wrist one more lick and reached for the bandage lying on the desk. That was when he realized that they had an audience.

"Hello, Poof," exclaimed Spike, his face now normal. Lex snapped his head forward, and upon seeing who had invaded their privacy, gave his standard shark-like grin he used when caught doing something the viewer may find unpleasant (though usually it was reserved for Lionel). Spike resumed bandaging the wound in Lex's wrist while Lex cleaned himself up.

"Hello, Clark. It's good to see you."

"...Lex?" Clark's voice hitched and he finally moved from his frozen stance. His eyes dropped to his feet, suddenly finding the floor of the office the most fascinating surface he had ever seen. His X-ray vision occasionally flickered to work, so he could see through it as well.

"Clark, are you okay? Staring at the floor like it's transparent isn't going to make it so."

Clark's head snapped up and Lex watched his skin flush. Dammit, Lex thought, he looks guilty, as if he actually could see through the floor. "Tell me, Clark, what do you think you just saw?"

Clark appeared to redden to an even deeper shade of crimson. "You were... enjoying yourself while Spike drank your blood."

"Yes, Clark, I was. Does that bother you?" Clark didn't answer; instead, his eyes flicked over to Spike, who stood with his hands crossed over his chest and a very smug expression on his face.

Johnny Rotten crooned on.

Lex sighed. It really was too bad that Clark grew up in Smallville, where the only unconventional activity witnessed was related in one way or another to that damned meteor shower. No one seemed to know any thing of true passion, the macabre, the atypical, unless it was something related to that God-forsaken meteor shower. To enjoy oneself in anything out of the American dream was unheard of. Except for, perhaps, that stupid scarecrow thing. But that was mostly a stupid, cruel, hick-town prank, nothing spectacular.

"Clark, you just witnessed bloodletting. Everyone responds to it differently. Some people feel pain and hate it, but those are usually the people who wouldn't do it anyway. Others experience a powerful high, as if they've done heavy drugs. Some people, myself included, feel intense sexual pleasure. It's really quite the experience, Clark."

"Um, I bet it is, Lex." Clark started to nervously rub the back of his head, his eyes now on the floor in front of Lex's desk, rather than between his own feet. Even if he thought that anything could pierce his skin, he wasn't sure he'd want to see how he reacted to someone drinking his blood. He didn't even know what his blood would do to anyone, anyway. Then again, there was something in him that stirred at the thought. "Lex... was his- Spike's- face... what was wrong with it?"

"I'll field that one, mate," Spike said, butting in to the painfully awkward conversation between his friend and the farmboy Poof. "Vampire. That's our game-face."

"You're a vampire?" Clark's head snapped back up and he looked at Spike with renewed interest. "As in, allergic to sunlight and crosses, and killed with stakes through the heart?"

"A stake through the heart will kill anything, but yeah, that about sums it up. And the whole needing blood to survive thing. But that's the best part." Spike sneered evilly at that last bit. "But me and Lex have this symbiotic relationship, see, where he lets me feed off of him and he gets off. Bloody poetic, it is."

"It's quite useful, Clark. Spike is unable to feed on humans, otherwise, due to a government project, and I never was able to pass up a chance at temporary bliss, so it works out quite nicely."

"How long has this been going on?" Clark was still slightly flushed, but his eyes sparkled.

"I came across Lex at a club in Metropolis a few years ago when I was on a bender after my girl, Druscilla, dumped me for a chaos demon. Lex was still in his rebellious, fuck-it-all lifestyle. We went into a back room, realized we had a thing going, I drank from him, he came, and all was merry. Then I got this bloody chip in my head, and my periodic visits to Lex were about general survival as well as camaraderie. Plenty fun, though."

"Spike helped to bring me out of my perpetual haze, Clark. He needed clean blood, or cleaner than mine was by that time, and I wanted to help out a friend. A type of fuck-friend, if you must, but someone I could count on and trust, even if it was because he needed me more than I thought I needed him. By that time I had also been starting to realize how detrimental the lack of personal control can be, even if you're letting yourself go to hell out of a personal war with your father. Money is spent in far better ways than paying off lawyers and the press."

"This is just... wow." Clark's eyebrows were raised, and he looked almost giddy. He was actually grinning by this time. He had always wondered if vampire stories were based on any sort of reality. A creature that was nearly indestructible and also very strong was something he could readily identify with. An intelligent creature bound to Earth that wasn't human. He had always hoped. And now he had found one. Well, stumbled across one. The possibilities that had just opened up were endless.

"I can trust you will keep his identity secret, right, Clark?" Lex had his hands in his pockets, his defensive position, and his eyes were now sheathed in his stoic expression. Lex could utilize any of his masks at any moment and Clark could recognize most of them. This one was the one that Lex used when he was secretly pleading. Not that Lex wore it much.

"Of course, Lex! I would never let this secret slip out!" If Clark Kent excelled at anything, it was keeping secrets. Successfully lying, however, was a skill beyond his immediate grasp.

Spike saw something pass through the boy, read it in his eyes, but dismissed it. As Spike eyed Clark up and down once more, his thought he saw something else pass through the boy. A shiver, perhaps? "Poof, uh, Clark," he said with a brief shake of his head, "is there something else you'd like to say? Ask? Do?" His smirk returned as Clark flushed once more. Maybe the kid had broken blood vessels in his face or something.

"Um. Well. MaybeifLexwouldn'tmindI'dliketodothebloodlettingthingwithhimbutonlycuttinghimnotme." His chin returned to his chest, but he looked up at Lex through his eyelashes.

In turn, Lex's eyebrows shot up to where his hairline would have been if he had one. "Are you serious, Clark? I didn't think such urges existed in Smallville."

"Yes. No. I don't know. Maybe I should go." Clark wanted to feel what it was like to have that much power and yet be so controlled as to not completely drain the person. Not that he needed blood to live, and not that he hadn't exercised control again and again, but it was different. At least, he figured it would be. Having control over oneself so that another person wouldn't be harmed has to be different than having control over oneself so that a hammer didn't punch straight through a wall. He'd get to practice some level of control in a setting that wouldn't be a terrible risk to the other person. And man, the power...

"Well, if you do decide, let me know in eight weeks. I can't donate again till then." Lex finally took his hands out of his pockets and appeared to relax. Clark couldn't remember ever seeing Lex use air quotes before.

Spike had come around the desk to stand with Lex. As Lex relaxed, Spike tensed. As Clark waved and scampered off, Spike stared after him.

"Lex, where is the Poof from, again?"

"He's a Smallville native, but he was adopted, so no one knows where he's from originally. Why?"

"Nothing, mate. Just wondering." But it was certainly something, Spike thought. The boy hadn't smelled human at all. Not quite demon, either.

Agents Mulder and Scully entered the Talon. Mulder had insisted that they shoot the breeze with the locals to see what they could learn about the town. What better place to do that than the local watering hole, be it a location of coffee or beer? And with the seemingly entire high school here downing humongous cups of coffee-flavored beverages, it may not be the local watering hole but rather the entire fuel source for the town.

Mulder sauntered over to the counter with Scully in tow, heading for a group of teens and a guy that looked to be in his early twenties. A brunette that apparently worshipped the color pink was both looking distraught and babbling away nonstop from behind the counter.

"... I still can't believe it! With all the weird stuff that happens in Smallville, I never would have put common kidnapping on that list!"

Mulder raised his eyebrows at Scully and she sighed to convey to him that he had won. They would stay in Smallville, if for nothing else than to help with an apparent kidnapping case.

"It's the fact that it's the third boy in as many weeks that makes it suspicious. I mean, come on, in Smallville missing persons aren't exactly at the top of the sheriff's list of important things to take care of." The blonde, the one who had spoken, rested her chin in her hand. "And here I thought Smallville was just a crux of weird activity. Normal tragedies never crossed my mind. Though you have to admit that students that eat people, cause people to age rapidly, and can control their hormones to a deadly extent are a little more entertaining to study."

Mulder shuddered inwardly at the induced flashback at the mention of "aging rapidly" and proceeded to sit himself next to the young people of Smallville. Scully sat at his side and turned around to take in the room. The interior decoration was a bit gaudy for her taste, but it seemed to be a pleasant place, even with all the hormones permeating the air. There must not have been a single other spot in town for the youth to congregate.

"I just borrowed Jason's chemistry notes last week, too. I hope he's okay." The brunette managed to make the loss of a classmate sound like her own personal tragedy. Mulder was impressed. He turned to study the teens more closely. The brunette chewed on her lower lip, which was quite a feat of engineering, what with all the lip gloss she was wearing. The blonde on his side of the counter had the fingers of one hand loosely intertwined with those of the older boy next to him. The boy's other hand rested loosely on a camcorder that sat on the counter. He didn't seem to quite know what the girls were talking about, so maybe he was a newcomer.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. You were saying a classmate has been kidnapped, but that isn't really that strange for this area?"

The blonde looked at him warily and the boy frowned. The brunette jumped right in. "Yeah, you know, it's strange, three boys have been kidnapped in the past few weeks. They were all student athletes but were also fairly reserved, which is a pretty odd combination. I'm Lana, by the way. Welcome to the Talon, best coffee in town."

Chloe thought Lana might as well make a recording of her last statement and have it playing in the background near the counter so she wouldn't have to constantly repeat it.

"Fox Mulder. This is my partner Dana Scully. I'm sorry to hear that your town is under another plague." Mulder looked at Lana more closely. "Wait, Lana... not Lana Lang, the TIME Magazine cover girl after the meteor shower thirteen years ago?"

"That's me. It was so sweet of the media to profit off of my pain." Mulder couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. Meanwhile, Scully was studying the other two in the trio. The blonde looked annoyed at what the brunette- Lana- was saying, while the boy looked intrigued.

"Your `partner'? Is that a way of saying you two are an item, or something else? I'm Chloe, by the way, and this is Derek." The boy smiled faintly in their direction.

"We're with the FBI."

"That was quick. But wait, you said you hadn't heard about the kidnappings. Were you just passing through and got lucky, or are you here about something else?"

The bubbly blonde's questions were on the mark. Mulder started for a second. "Chloe? Chloe Sullivan of The Torch?"

Chloe's eyebrows arched in surprise. "Mr. Mulder, you seem to know an awful lot about our town." She cocked her head and attempted a smile. "Just what are you doing here?"

"Like you said, just driving through and got lucky."

"We're taking a brief vacation, and decided to go someplace small and uninteresting. Apparently our luck continues to work against us." Scully tried to keep her lies as close to the truth as possible. It was a valuable skill. If she knew Clark, she'd want to teach him a thing or two.

"And wait... I know you, too." Mulder studied Derek for a few more seconds. You're Adam Barnes, proprietor of Freakylinks.com. I used to frequent your website." Derek's face fell. "Something I said?" Mulder asked.

"I'm Derek, as Chloe said before. Adam was my twin brother. He died a little while ago. And wait, Fox Mulder... I think I read about you in The Lone Gunmen."

Mulder grinned. "That would be me. They're great guys, put a lot of work into their publications."

"Just like Chloe does." Chloe blushed at Derek's declaration. Mulder decided that even after the limited knowledge he had of these two, they were made for each other.

"So," Scully interjected before the conversation got any more surreal, "what else can you tell us about these missing boys?"

"Not much." Lana shrugged and picked up where she left off. She must revel in her position as Local Gossip Coffee Girl. "All three disappeared on their way home from school. They all had relatively long walks from their bus stops till home. They were seen getting off the bus then not again. They were all fairly big guys with dark hair. There wasn't anything special about any of them, which is why it's so weird. Average families, average grades, average friends."

"I'm new in town too, by the way. It's quite the introduction to small town life, isn't it?" Derek smiled almost apologetically at the agents. He ran his hand (the one not being held hostage by Chloe) through his hair.

"I've been trying to find more information so I can write an intelligent article about the kidnappings for The Torch, but whoever perpetrated the crimes has excellent cleanup men. Assuming it's the same person, but why wouldn't it be?" Mulder was impressed with Chloe, more so every minute. Scully could read Mulder like a book and smiled to herself.

The agents talked with the teens for a few more minutes, and learned how Lana coped with the death of her parents, living with her aunt, cheerleading, and running the Talon, that Chloe aspired to be an investigative reporter for the Daily Planet, that Derek was taking a break from the site for a while, and that two members of the team, Clark and Pete, were for one reason or another otherwise occupied for the day. The infamous Lex Luthor even came up once or twice. Apparently, he was part-owner of the Talon and had overall been a good friend to Chloe, Lana, and Clark. Pete was still very apprehensive when it came to Lex, and Derek had yet to meet him. He was looking forward to it, too, since it would be nice to spend some time with someone his own age for a bit.

"I haven't seen so many strangers in Smallville since I first arrived. Any occasion I should know about?" Lex graced the group as only he could, wearing a knowing smirk as if he knew what they were talking about even though he hadn't been there. Bruce stood at his side, hands in his jacket pockets. The two impressively-dressed billionaires looked incredibly out of place in the small-town coffee shop. Perhaps if it had been a Starbucks in Metropolis the image would have appeared less ludicrous.

Introductions were made all around except between Lex, Chloe, and Lana. Scully was both shocked and uneasy, which she hoped didn't show. Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne were two of the most powerful young men in the entire world. And here they were cavorting with each other in a small-town coffee shop as if that fact meant nothing and it was something they did every day.

"I think I've read about you in the news, Mr. Mulder and Ms. Scully. You're with the FBI, correct?" Fox answered Bruce in the affirmative. "So, what brings you to Smallville?"

"We had intended to take some time off, but instead we seem to have found ourselves in the middle of a serial kidnapping case." Scully watched Lex carefully, even though she knew it was futile. No one could conceal his emotions better than Lex Luthor. He seemed genuinely surprised, though.

"I had no idea. Smallville is just swarming with criminals and tragedy. No wonder my father sent me here."

Bruce gripped Lex's shoulder. "It's okay, Lex. We can help find those boys. Their disappearances have nothing to do with you."

Their audience looked a little confused as such an outpouring from Bruce Wayne. Lex briefly placed his hand over Bruce's. "I know, Bruce. At least, they better not. It's just frustrating knowing that Lionel dumped me where he thought I would fail yet doesn't care that I've thrived. Unless there's more going on with these boys than any of us know." Lex narrowed his eyes. "Lana, I just came to pick up the reports from last month."

"Oh, sure, Lex, let me get them for you." She flitted into the office. Chloe turned up her bubbles and gushed over Bruce.

"Mr. Wayne, I just wanted to say again how much of an honor it is to meet you. I've been following some of Wayne Enterprise's recent projects. Fascinating stuff."

Bruce smiled inwardly. He wasn't used to cute girls that were interested in his work. Usually they just wanted his money. He looked to Lex. Lex gave a minuscule shrug. Lex wasn't sure why everyone seemed so shocked to meet a billionaire. After all, he had been in Smallville first and had been there for more than a year. He supposed the allure of the tragic young bald rebellious billionaire exiled to run a fertilizer plant had worn off. He glanced at Derek, who seemed perturbed at the way Chloe was carrying on. Mulder just looked amused.

Lana came back, smiling in that sweet-as-honey trademark way of hers, waving a handful of papers in the air. She slipped them across the counter to Lex, who took them with more care than Lana had exhibited. He liked the girl, but didn't understand why she seemed so clueless all the time. The reports were not to be flashed around like a good report card.

"Does anyone know where Clark is? It's not like him to not stop by for his afternoon caffeine rush." For all her problems and stress, Lana always seemed eager to add more into her life, often in the form of farm boys that have no fashion sense.

"I saw him earlier. Perhaps he'll come soon." This time Lex didn't even bother to hide his grin. "Bruce and I should be going. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon and evening." This time no one in attendance was able to miss Lex's patented casual patronizing. Mulder continued to smirk while Scully continued to be suspicious. Lana just looked confused. Derek was beginning to realize that it was her most frequently-worn expression.

Lex and Bruce, Bruce still at Lex's elbow but no longer gripping his shoulder, exited the Talon with as much flourish as they could muster. It was their duty as young billionaires to ensure that.

Night fell upon Kansas like a ton of bricks. Clark was lying on the couch in his loft as he'd been doing since he'd gotten back from Lex's (except for a rushed dinner in the farmhouse). He'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he'd even forgotten to go to the Talon to see Lana. He just couldn't get the image out of his mind: Lex, half-naked, stroking himself, as Spike drank from his wrist. The way Lex quivered as he climaxed, cum coating his hand. Spike's pleased expression as he finished his meal and reached for the bandage.

The whirlwind of thoughts had left him half-hard all day, but he wasn't sure why. He didn't know if he liked the taste of blood or not. He'd never been able to taste his own. But he knew that power was intoxicating, and having someone place enough trust in you to cut him, drink from him, and not harm him when you had more than the chance, was an ultimate form of power. Someone giving themselves to you in a method more intimate than sex. At least, that was Clark's take on it. And, well, Lex jerking off was certainly a sight to behold.

Clark shook his head to briefly clear it. What in the hell was he thinking? Farm boys from good, wholesome families did not fantasize about bloodletting and their male best friends. They fantasized about football, and the Girl Next Door. But the truth was, he didn't want the Girl Next Door. She was too high maintenance. He didn't know what he wanted. Except that he thought he wanted someone's blood, or even to somehow give someone his. The latter option just wasn't exactly an option.

So embroiled was Clark in his thoughts, he didn't notice the "swoosh" of a leather duster on the stairs, nor did he see the platinum curls climbing the steps. He didn't stir until the boots clomped onto the floor of the loft. Clark started and finally looked over to Spike, who stood at the top of the stairs, arm crossed, smile wicked. "Hello, Clark."

Clark swallowed audibly. "Evening, Spike." Clark stood, polite manners even in a surreal situation. "What can I do for you?" Clark shoved his hands into his pockets and maintained his calm demeanor even though his heart was racing.

"I think the question, Poof, is what can I do for you?" Spike aimed a knowing smile at Clark, who, as he was wont to do, blushed furiously. It was a wonder the boy didn't just shoot all that extra heat out of his eyes, Spike thought, smiling wider. "You seemed intrigued earlier today, with the bloodletting and the orgasm and whatever else your brain conjured up at images of Lex and I together."

Clark raised his eyebrows in a poor attempt to express innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, please, Clark. You were practically drooling at the thought of getting some of Lex's blood!" Spike performed his whole-body laugh that he did when he was really amused by what someone said. "Or," he smile became wicked once more, "was there something else you want from Lex?"

"No. If you're hinting at what I think you are. Lex and I are just friends. Nothing more."

"Oh, please. If there wasn't anything more to you, you would have fled like a speeding bullet from the office and wouldn't have turned back. Something about it spoke to you. Bugger if I don't figure out why."

Clark took a deep breath, and figured that since Spike seemed to know what he was thinking anyway, he might as well share his thoughts. "It's not the sex thing. It's... it's the power." Clark hung his head. "I have power, but I can't use it. That would give me a chance, if not to use what I have, then to do something else. Maybe it would take some of the pressure off of me. Do you know what it's like to be able to get people to do whatever you want them to but not actually be able to do so?" By now Clark was whispering, head still down, looking at Spike through his eyelashes.

Spike looked taken aback. He thought to himself, by God, what is this boy going through? "Actually, mate, I know exactly what that's like. You know I'm a vampire." He waited until Clark nodded. "Well, relatively recently in my quote-on-quote life a secret government group called The Initiative put some sort of chip in my head. They were experimenting with ways to control demons, and the chip ensured that I could perform no act of violence on a human. Unless, apparently, if the human gives his consent. Pigs' blood and the like are okay for a while, but every now and then I need human blood or I feel like I'll go mad. That's where Lex comes in. As I said before, I get to feed, he gets to cum, and all is bloody well. So, I have more than hundred years of supernatural power at my fingertips that I can no longer use unless I'm fighting the `bad guys.' So I assure you that yes, in fact, I can understand to some extent what you're going through. Of course, until I can understand what exactly you mean, I can't be of much more use to you."

Clark managed to look deflated while also trying to smile. Spike was close enough to be able to smell him again, and he still couldn't place what Clark was. He was impatient and decided to stop pussy-footing around. "Clark." Clark raised his head. "You're not entirely human, are you." A statement, not a question.

Clark sighed, if for nothing else than to hide his surprise. Being a vampire must come with some sort of sixth sense. His eyes slipped from Spike to his telescope, still trained on Lana's house, and back again. He knew he should keep his mouth shut and tell Spike to leave. But he was so connected to Spike, for whatever reasons, that his willpower was weakening by the second. He took a deep breath and looked Spike in the eye. "No."

Spike just nodded. "Then, and I don't care if you mind me asking or not, what are you? You're not human, you don't smell demon..."

Clark returned to whispering and staring through the floor. Maybe even through the ground beneath the barn by now. "Alien."

Spike's eyes widened. "Hmm. Makes sense, actually. Lex mentioned that you have secrets. Huge secrets. Weighing you down like you carry an anvil in your backpack. I'm going to assume that this is that secret." Clark nodded, his hands shoved deeper into his pockets. "Clark, we all have secrets, or try to. I think I'm in love with the Slayer. I want to fuck Keanu Reeves. I'm a sucker for Passions." That last bit at least earned a teeny smile from Clark. "Clark, look at me. I'm not human. The smart humans accept that. The others don't live long enough to wonder about it. If people don't accept you for not being human, then they aren't worth your time. It's not something you can really help, unlike those people who prattle nonstop on their cell phones, or think that today's pop music is actually anything that resembles music. Those are the people the world should look out for." Spike thought of the identity crisis the boy must be going through. In this day and age, with MTV and the like infesting the youth of the nation, being a teenager was hard. Especially if one's family didn't have money, as the Kent's obviously didn't. That's where the rich best friend is supposed to come into place, he mused.

"So, uh, you're not freaked?" Clark looked up again, this time hopeful.

"Clark. I did mention my girl ran away with a chaos demon, right? Back home in Sunnydale I'm constantly accosted by witches, vengeance demons, lycanthropes, vampires, ancient gods, you name it, I've probably seen it or fought it. And now I can add extraterrestrial to that list."

Clark exhaled like he'd stopped breathing a few hours ago. "You... I don't know if you can understand how relieved this makes me feel. A few days ago I thought I was the only non-human in the world who wore T-shirts and watched soap operas. It's... you've opened up a whole new world for me, Spike." He ran the fingers of one hand nervously through his hair. "I... I'm still different though. I can see through things. And set things on fire with my eyes. And I'm really strong, and really fast, and I can't be hurt by anything. No one knows this but you and my parents." Opening up to Spike unleashed something that Clark had never felt before. He was connected to Spike in a way he'd never been connected to anyone before. Something in him told him that Spike felt the same way. There was something going on between them that he couldn't explain. He shuffled his feet. "Um. What now?"

"Well, I can continue being Dr. Phil for you, or we can do something a little more therapeutic and a lot more fun."

Clark managed a smirk. "Such as?"

Spike closed the distance between himself and Clark. He took Clark's wrist in is hand. He licked it once, watching Clark for any signs of fear, rejection, or uncertainty. Seeing little more than anticipation, Spike brought his teeth against the blue veins. He searched for a pulsing artery. It took him a minute because Clark's pulse wasn't a normal human `lub-dub.' It was more of a `lub-lub-dub.' Finding one at last, he switched into his game face. Still watching Clark, he sank his fangs into Clark's wrist.

Several perceptions flashed through Clark. First and foremost was pain. He'd rarely felt real pain before. Secondly, he took in the vaguely warm and wet sensations of Spike's tongue and lips. Though Spike obviously wasn't alive and thus didn't have body heat, he was still somewhat warmer than the ambient air. Seemingly almost as an afterthought, Clark registered that something was actually piercing his skin, and it wasn't meteor-related. Wonder caused his jaw to slack.

Spike watched Clark slip into some sort of daze. Though the skin had been a little tougher than he's encountered before, he was able to break it easily. Clark's blood was very warm, almost hot, as it poured out of the selected artery. It tasted like nothing Spike had ever tasted before; it wasn't coppery, nor fear-tinged like that of a human, and didn't have the domestic flavor that pigs' blood did. It almost had a spice to it, as if it was flavored with cinnamon or something similar. It may have been the best thing Spike had ever taken a drink of. He was licking it off almost faster than it was able to pool; if he didn't watch himself he'd do something foolish like rip open Clark's arm and choke himself while trying to swallow it all as it gushed out. He felt Clark's hand on the back of his head, pushing him into his wrist, almost like... Spike faltered for a second. Clark was guiding Spike almost like he was giving him head.

Clark's eyes had long since closed. He could barely stand; the rush of whatever chemical in his body functioned similarly to human adrenalin was overpowering his basic ability to function. He had heard of runner's highs, but had never been able to experience one. He figured that this is what one must have felt like, and he realized that his body reacted to bloodletting like he had used drugs, not like he was having sex, like Lex reacted. His hand had closed around the back of Spike's head, but he barely registered it. He opened his eyes halfway, enough to clearly see Spike's tongue darting out as his too-red blood pooled on the surface of his skin.

After what seemed like both an eternity and a nanosecond, Spike pulled back. Alien or not, he didn't want to drain Clark too much. Having a six foot farm boy passing out and collapsing onto him would somewhat ruin the experience the two of them were having. He brought his face back to normal and dragged Clark over to the couch. Pushing him down, he sat next to him, running his tongue through his own mouth until he was sure none of Clark's blood remained. He sighed contentedly. Clark, eyes still glazed, stared across the room. Though, with his X-ray vision and probable lack of whatever control he had, he could be staring into a distant field for all Spike knew.

Eventually, Clark stirred. Spike turned to look at him. "I'm going to assume that this is what it feels like to be high. At least, as close as I'll ever get." Clark grinned.

Spike smiled back. He hadn't seen someone so genuinely pleased, by actions of his, in a long time. He faced forward again and laced his fingers together behind his head. "Beautiful night, right Clark?"

Clark poked Spike in the side. "You can say that. There's just one thing, well, that I can articulate right now, that I don't understand. Why were you able to pierce my skin when nothing else can?"

"Like I said, Clark, I'm not entirely of this world either. I guess demons and aliens can affect each other in ways humans and their inventions can't. I figure you don't mind though."

Clark laughed. "Nope. Can't say that I do. I've never felt this good. You helped to take my mind off everything I've been struggling with. And a natural high is a good thing."

"Now Clark, I know you wanted to explore the power you have over other people... my blood wouldn't taste particularly good, and somehow I doubt anyone in Smallmindedville would appreciate you experimenting with them. Unless Bruce is open to the idea, you may have to wait until Lex can donate again. Fancy that, you and me sharing Lex Luthor's blood. One more thing we'd be sharing, I suppose." Spike winked at Clark.

"Heh, yeah. Thanks again, Spike."

"No problem, Poof. But I should be going. Lex is probably wondering where I am, jealous that I'm not there making fun of his billiards skills."

"Uh, hey, speaking of, uh, skills with long cylindrical objects... Um, is there anything between you and Lex and Bruce? You guys seem awfully... comfortable... with each other."

Spike smirked again. "As far as I know and am allowed to disclose, no. We just like to jest with each other, like frat brothers. If there's any such history between Lex and Bruce, you'll have to take it up with them. They do seem a bit queer, don't they." Again, a statement, not a question. "Good night, Clark. Stop by the mansion sometime soon. I can promise you that you won't walk in on anything else between me and Lex. Unless he asks very nicely."

With that, Spike breezed out of the loft. Clark, still somewhat flustered from his high, avoided thinking too much about any part of the last bit of conversation. He was still too wrapped up in everything he had discussed before Spike decided to drain a bunch of his blood and half his brain through his wrist. He looked at the marks Spike had made. The wound had stopped bleeding almost immediately, and was already starting to heal. He grinned as he finally realized why Lex always wore long-sleeved shirts. At least he wouldn't have to explain any incriminating marks to his parents. Wow. A vampire. Bloodletting. Demons. Endorphins. It had been a wonderful past hour, and an interesting couple of days for a confused alien.

The next day, Clark was busy mending the fence along the driveway when a suspicious dark sedan pulled into the drive. Even without X-Ray vision, Clark knew that some sort of government people were inside. Honestly, he thought, if the government wanted to maintain any semblance of subtlety, it shouldn't make its agents drive the same car everywhere. He straightened and shaded his eyes with one hand.

The car slowed and stopped in front of him. Two people, quite clearly agents of some sort if their expensive-looking suits were any indication, climbed out of the car, and approached Clark. The man, good dark hair, and the woman, oddly cut reddish hair, closed in on him. He quickly checked them for any weapons or anything else suspicious. Both were carrying, but neither seemed inclined at all to use their firearms. Switching back to normal vision, Clark noticed the man watching him closely and frowning a little, as if dissatisfied with something. The woman just asked, "Clark Kent?"

"Yes?" Clark replied, unable to hide his surprise that they knew his name.

"We're agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder with the F.B.I. and we'd just like to ask you a few questions."

"Questions? About what? Am I in some sort of trouble? I didn't do anything. And isn't it illegal to interrogate me without my parents' being present? I'm only sixteen." Apparently when Clark was uncomfortable, he babbled.

Scully's jaw dropped and Mulder raised his eyebrows. If this kid is only sixteen, Mulder thought, then I've been in the wrong line of work. Searching for the truth behind alien abductions and conspiracies has nothing on whatever can make a teenager look like he's almost thirty. I'd make a fortune.

Scully returned to her senses and explained to Clark that he was not in any sort of trouble and the agents had only been pointed towards him because of his affiliation with Chloe Sullivan and The Torch. They also discussed with him anything he knew about the missing boys from school, which wasn't much since he didn't associate much with their crowds and didn't ride on the same school bus with any of them.

Being the polite Kansas farm boy that he was, Clark had brought the agents inside (still wondering which was Fox and which was Dana) for something to drink. Of course his parents wandered in, Jonathan wondering what the hell was going on in his kitchen, and Martha wondering what her poor boy was being accused of this time. The agents again explained that Clark was not in any trouble and they were doing a routine check on anyone who knew the boys that were missing and that Clark was first on their list because Chloe and Lana had recommended him.

"So, Clark, why don't you participate in any school sports? You look like you could really tear up the football field." Mulder interlocked his fingers behind his head and leaned back from the table while he asked his question.

"I don't really have time because I have to work on the farm, and football is in the fall, when there's a lot of harvesting to do." Clark shifted his eyes to Scully, and blushed when he decided that her stare made it look like she was trying to look like she wasn't undressing him with her eyes. She shook her head slightly as if to clear it, apparently conscious of him watching her.

She inquired, "So, Clark. Have you lived in Smallville all of your life?"

Warning bells rang in Clark's head and he shifted in his seat. "As far as I know, yes." He watched the agents exchange a Look. "I was adopted when I was three. No one knows where I was before then. But yeah, all of my conscious life has been here in Smallville." He of course neglected to mention that those early years were spent very far indeed from Smallville.

"Interesting." Mulder rejoined the conversation. "So you don't know where you're from? That must be hard." You have no idea, Clark mused. "Do you ever think about finding your biological parents or tracing your roots, anything like that?" Clark swallowed and tried not to think about the ship that rested in the storm cellar, or what he thought about what his biological parents were like.

"I think about them, and it, but it's not like I have a lot of time between school and the farm and friends to really do anything. Lex always offers to help me out, though, whenever the topic comes up."

"Lex Luthor? We heard you two were pretty good friends. Though he seemed comfortable with everyone at the Talon yesterday." Scully mulled over their meeting with the young billionaire and his richer friend. They made quite the couple. Pair. Whatever.

"Yeah, Lex is great. No one ever sees past his name or his money, so they miss the actual person inside. And yeah, he's been trying to work on his image with the townspeople, and he figures that befriending the youth of Smallville is his safest bet for now. Though with the plant buyout the adults are looking at him propitiously now. It's been tough for him, though, since the people he'd like to make friends with are very different from those he has to make friends with. It must be tough being a 20 year old who is forced to associate with guys two or three times his age."

Mulder blinked. Sympathy for egomaniacal billionaires was for some reason much harder to understand than the evidence for the Fountain of Youth running around the Florida Everglades or the New Jersey Flukeman. Dismissing his preconceived notions of Lex and farm boys and pretty if virginal coffee girls, Mulder stood, drawing with him Scully, who was still admiring the eye candy sitting across the table from her. Just because she couldn't act didn't mean she couldn't look. Mulder said, "Well, Clark, thank you for your time, but we should really be going. We have more people to question, answers to find, scenery to search for. We can show ourselves out."

Mulder and Scully left the shockingly yellow farmhouse, waved to Jonathan, who was now fixing the neglected fence along the drive, and slipped into their Agent Mobile. Carefully backing out of the drive, making sure not to get anywhere near the fence, Mulder pulled back onto the road. "Okay, Scully. Since when do you ogle underage farm boys? Is there something you've been meaning to tell me?"

"Mulder, honestly. If that boy is only sixteen then I'm the queen of Scotland and am wondering why I'm not comfortably sitting at Holyroodhouse this very moment. He was adopted, maybe he was small for his age and they underestimated it. Maybe he really is closer to twenty."

"You didn't really answer my first question." He smiled wickedly at her.

"Mulder, any interest I have in Clark Kent is strictly professional." She paused. "That didn't come out very well, did it."

Deciding to stop teasing her, for now, Mulder changed the subject. "Did you notice how often he blushed? His body must be a veritable furnace to keep itself that warm all the time. Did you also happen to notice how often he shifted, as if he were uncomfortable, and how often he neglected to actually look at us when he answered questions? Especially when we were inquiring about him directly?"

"During the process of `ogling' Clark, I did in fact notice that he seemed very uncomfortable when the conversation became personal."

"He's lying, Scully, and very poorly for someone who probably does it a lot. Mr. All-American farm boy high school student reporter has a secret. And from his evasions and degree of spookedness, I'd say it's a pretty big one."

"Did you just use the word `spookedness?'"

"Yes, to describe that he was spooked by our questions."

"Because if you're ability to fabricate words is in any way related to your ability to fabricate solid cases for odd occurrences with no discernible cause, then we may be in trouble. Did you ever really wonder why your nickname is `Spooky,' Mulder?"

"Well, I didn't really think that it was because I like horror movies."

Lex pulled out of the plant driveway after some emergency work at the plant and sped onto the highway. He shifted the Porsche from second into third, thinking Oh yeah, baby, you like it when I push you like this. Up to fourth: Come on, oh yeah, I have you now, you're in my control. He smiled to himself and slid his hand down the gear shift, and thought of the Family Guy character Quagmire and his short but effective catchphrase: Oh, yeah. You're mine. In my power. You can't do anything unless I give you my permission. He slid the car into fifth and took his foot off the clutch. Few things pleased Lex more than driving a manual sports car; he felt invulnerable, in control, dominant. He enjoyed listening to the engine purr and roar at his command. He figured that anyone who drove an automatic transmission car was a pussy. Or stupid, for wanting to give up the feeling of power caused by controlling a powerful machine.

He turned onto the road the mansion was on, only downshifting into fourth to do so, then back up to fifth to fly through the corn fields. If Smallville wasn't the Meteor Capital of the World, it could definitely fall back into something to do with corn, if not the Creamed Corn Capital again. He was contemplating what it would be like living in, or running, a town known for its vegetables when a blue flash in the field to his right distracted him. He jerked his head to the right and simultaneously slammed on the brakes, not caring that the Porsche fishtailed into the shoulder and stalled out. What he saw was far more demanding in its cries for his attention and he vaulted out of the car to get a closer look.

In the corn field sat a blue sphere with hexagonal and pentagonal panels, kind of like a giant high-tech soccer ball. It was maybe fifteen feet in diameter. It didn't look hostile, or dangerous, or anything other than a very expensive toy that had magically appeared in a sun-drenched Kansas corn field. Suddenly a panel towards the bottom opened, and out fell a man-shaped creature in an orange jumpsuit. It threw off its helmet, and Lex was able to see that it was a man-shaped man about six feet tall with brown hair and very tan skin. The man turned onto his back and exhaled heavily.

Lex cautiously approached the man. Blood ran from the stranger's eyes and nose. He turned his head towards Lex. "Mr. Luthor. Hi. We need to talk."

Lex kept his face blank, not letting his surprise, excitement, and apprehension show through. "Can I help you, Mr...."

"Frank B. Parker of the NSA. Actually, I'm here to help you." He pushed himself off the ground and stood up, holding out his hand to Lex. Warily, Lex shook it. "I came here because you're in danger. You and a bunch of other important people here in Smallville. That is where we are, right?" Lex nodded. "Do you have a phone, Mr. Luthor? Because I need to make a call." Wordlessly Lex handed over his cell phone. Frank dialed a ridiculously long number, waited, then said, "Bradley Talmadge, please." After another long pause, he said, "Conundrum."

After the first few minutes of Frank's discussion on the phone, Lex was so angry at the words that he all but dragged Frank to the abandoned Porsche, guided him inside, slammed the door so hard the car rattled, walked around it and dropped down into his own seat. He gunned the engine, tires squealing as they caught the pavement. When Frank was done using the phone, Lex made the necessary calls. By the time he was done they were pulling into the mansion drive. He pulled the car up to the door, stopped it and shut off the engine, and stalked into castle. Frank, momentarily distracted from his mission by the sheer size and ostentatious design of the `home' he was entering, eventually followed Lex inside.

Spike and Bruce were again engaged in a game of pool. The vampire was winning, but only because the billionaire was letting him, and both parties knew it. "Come on, Bruce. I'm the one who wanted to bet, at least let me lose graciously rather than win because you're playing me."

The darker man smiled, or, at least, gave the Bruce Wayne equivalent of a smile. "But you're betting with Lex's money. It wouldn't look good if I, one of his chief business rivals, stole large sums of his money while he wasn't even here. Especially since the whole world thinks that Lex and I are rivals, not friends. If people knew I received money from Lex while on a friendly visit, it may raise questions we don't want to answer."

"Oh, bugger this. Let's bet on a real man's game." Spike shrugged off his duster and rolled up his sleeves. "Like a good old-fashioned game of fisticuffs."

"Well," Bruce smirked, "I have been slacking off my training since I've been visiting Lex. And `fisticuffs?' You definitely weren't born in this century." He rolled up his own sleeves. "Standard rules, vampire? Nothing below the belt, no biting, no kicking?"

"And no use of crosses, holy water, wooden stakes, or other such deadly brick-a-brack."

"So not entirely standard rules, right?"

"We vamps always have to make sure. We aren't an entirely honest bunch, after all. One for one and all for none, you know."

They moved away from the pool table and started to circle each other. Spike threw a couple of punches, and Bruce ducked from them. He then came back with his own offense, striking Spike in the jaw. "Lucky punch!" the Brit exclaimed as he reeled backwards. He grinned and came back at the billionaire. Both of them missed the door opening, but stopped in their tracks when they caught the fiery anger radiating from the seriously pissed off creature that stormed into the room. Spike inquired in a voice that was both meek and concerned, "Lex?"

"The tower. Now."

"The who now?"

"Lex has secret rooms in the tower at the other end of the building. They're the only rooms in the house that probably aren't bugged by Lionel. Apparently he wants us there." Bruce couldn't help but feel elation over the fact that he knew Lex better than Spike did. Having really expensive high-tech toys that could `see' through things and an incurable case of insomnia came in handy some times.

At that moment Clark Kent burst through the door. "Lex! What's going on?"

"Clark Kent, the first to arrive on the scene of some seriously bad shit. I should have known." Lex sneered at him and exited the room, gesturing for the others to follow him. Not quite sure what was going on and helpless to understand it, the three men with very different relationships to Lex Luthor followed their bald friend to the mysterious tower of the castle. They saw Frank but didn't acknowledge him, figuring that Lex would explain everything when he was ready to. Frank followed Lex's entourage through the castle, marveling over the way testosterone permeated the air, though it was a bit sickening.

Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, Spike, Clark Kent, Chloe Sullivan, Derek Barnes, Fox Mulder, and Dana Scully stared at Frank Parker (changed and cleaned up) in silence. Chloe hadn't blinked in about two minutes, Clark fidgeted, Derek tried to add some sort of calculation in his head to explain what exactly was going on, Mulder looked smug, Scully surprised, Spike passive, Bruce figured that the news was only a few years earlier than he was expected, and Lex scowled at the floor while also managing to look excited. Chloe was the first to speak. "Um, Mr. Parker. Can you please run that by us again?" She flipped her hair as if to emphasize how in need of further explanation she was.

"I work for the NSA on a secret government project called Project Backstep. Using Roswell alien technology, the US government has the ability to send one man, i.e. me, back in time seven days. Something bad happens in the world, and I get sent back to set it straight. I'm the only person who knows both timelines. I've saved the nation from terrorists, the world from viruses, and various other things. The most important things to take away from this is that yes, we can travel back in time, though for a brief period and only one person who is able to handle the physical and mental stress can do it, and we are not alone in the universe. But I have more on that later."

Clark froze and his body's version of terror flashed through his eyes.

Frank looked at each face in the semi-circle facing him. "That brings me to why all of you are actually here and the reason for the Backstep. Five days from now, you will have all become privy to a secret project being worked on by Lionel Luthor. You all may or may not know about the boys missing from Smallville. There will have been another one by tomorrow night. All tall boys with dark hair, in fairly good shape, all fairly good looking. All born and raised in Smallville. Aside from that last point, that description may remind of you Mr. Kent. Lionel has been kidnapping boys physically similar to Clark because he wants to know why Clark is the way he is. He is testing the boys, using various methods and amounts of meteor rocks, to try to discover if anything could cause the special powers that Lionel believes Clark to have as a result of the meteor shower. Very strong, very fast, invulnerable, and always there to save people in danger, particularly his son. When you learn this, you all decide to band together to find the boys and rescue them. Somehow Lionel learned of these plans and rigged his lab with explosives. All of you were caught inside and died in the explosion. Except for Clark, who was not found. Lionel may have found a way to isolate Clark and keep him in a separate lab to study him independently."

Frank watched all the color drain out of Clark's face, only to be replaced by a shade vaguely reminiscent of a sandwich he had left in his gym locker for a couple of weeks. He looked at Lex through the corner of his eye, and couldn't tell if he was trying to plan how to kill his father or trying to work up the nerve to ask to study the sphere Frank used to travel through time. Mulder looked almost absurdly happy, probably because he had just been given the proof he needed that aliens did exist in the universe and that the Roswell crash did in fact happen. Everyone else just sat there, probably wondering just what it was they were doing there. Frank decided to stop making them think so hard

"You're probably all wondering what you're doing here, and specifically why a backstep, which is both costly and dangerous, was approved. I want everyone to take a look around at everyone else. Go ahead, I don't think anyone will bite. Except maybe for Spike." He watched everyone measure up everyone else. "Frankly, each of you is too important to die right now. If all of you met your untimely demise separately, nothing could have been done. But you all perished together, and therefore we could save you. Some of you have immense secrets that need to be shared so that you can more effectively team up against LuthorCorp. Working with each other blind without knowing everyone's strength and knowledge is probably what resulted in your deaths in the last timeline."

Frank turned to face billionaire playboy number one. "Lex. You're one of the up and coming leaders of the world. Same for you, Bruce. Think about what would happen if you both died. Lionel Luthor, instead of being one fish in a good-size sea of business would suddenly become a very large fish. Though Lionel poses no immediate threat to capitalism nor the nation, when he no longer would have to worry about competition from two of his top rivals, little could stop him from dominating the corporate sector. Believe it or not, Lex, you keep your father in line. Bruce, in addition to your influence as a business man, you and I know what other little secret you're keeping."

"Spike and Lex do as well." After Bruce's statement, Chloe looked from him to Lex, then to Spike. The reporter in her knew that something big was happening here, more than kidnapping and time travel. Bruce shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Everyone here may also know me as the Dark Night, protector of Gotham City."

"You're Batman?! No way!" Derek pulled his hand away from Chloe to wring both of them together. "That's so cool!" Everyone else looked to feel the same way. It wasn't every day a real life hero was in their midst. Well, except for Lex and Chloe.

Frank continued his explanation. "Gotham City desperately needs your help, Mr. Wayne. As I'm sure you know better than me, Gotham is a nexus of evil-doers. Without you, the city would fall apart. Gotham is too important to the nation for that. Anarchy there means spreading anarchy everywhere.

"Let's move on, shall we? Agents Mulder and Scully of the Bureau. Though there are some branches of the government that are in direct opposition to your work, there also exist others that value the information you find for them on the unexplained, paranormal, and supernatural. Project Backstep itself follows your work, in case you stumble across other possible sources we can use for fuel for the Sphere. Your work on extraterrestrial intelligence may prove invaluable to us one day."

"See Scully?" Mulder broke in. "The truth is out there. Mr. Parker just proved it."

"Well, Mulder, if I had bet you money, I'd be handing it over right now. However, all I'm interested in at the moment is finding out what other secrets are hiding in this room." Scully was feeling mixed emotions; yes, she was happy that Mulder was finally validated in his life, but it also meant that she had been wrong in the previous years. She hated that. She was also intrigued by what was happening in the room around her.

"Similarly, Derek Barnes and his search for paranormal phenomena may also prove useful to us in the future. And even if his research is of no use to us directly, his work is something that needs to be studied but that the government only has limited resources for and also has for the most part turned a blind eye to. Agent Mulder, you may want to consider using Derek in the future as either a source or an addition to the X-files." He turned to Chloe, who had once again taken Derek's hand. "Miss Sullivan, the exact same can be said about you. Your paper, as small as it may be, has not gone unnoticed by certain levels of the government. Even though you're currently centered in Smallville, you have the potential to branch out the way Derek has and prove to be a vital source of information for these particular government branches. It isn't every day the government stumbles across bright, resourceful people who are studying exactly what needs studying."

Chloe all but glowed at Frank's words. Sure, she wanted to be an investigative reporter for the Daily Planet, but working for the government had its perks. She was overwhelmed by the information she had learned thus far today. Time travel. Batman. Alien technology. Lex actually showing some sort of emotion. She knew she wouldn't be able to print any of it, but a girl can dream.

During Frank's speech, Spike had been growing more and more anxious. In the past, he never shied from letting anyone know he was a vampire. But things were different now, and not only because he was, as Xander explained, "neutered." He was in a room full of business titans, government people, a creature from no one knows where whose blood he desperately wanted to drink again, and the pretty if odd investigators. Thinking about it, he couldn't decide which Scooby gang was stranger: his current one, or the one back in Sunnydale that consisted of a Slayer, two witches, an ex-vengeance demon, a ball of energy masquerading as a teenaged girl (or maybe she was a real girl- who could tell at this point?), a stuffy British Watcher with secrets of his own, and a boy who just seemed to have a taste for nearly dying every couple of weeks. As Frank's eyes settled on him, Spike crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. "Go ahead, mate. Tell them all about me. My evil, my power, my inability to rub out a certain blonde."

"Thank you for the introduction, Spike. Or should I call you William? Or do you prefer your whole title `William the Bloody'?"

"Just plain `Spike' will do now. William has been dead for over a hundred years, and in my current state I'm not exactly able to wreak the havoc I used to, hence `bloody' not being quite the proper adjective to describe my dealings."

"Okay, then. Spike here is a vampire. A creature of the night. A member of the undead. He survives on blood, is allergic to sunlight, crosses, and garlic, and rightfully avoids things like wooden stakes, fire, and until a couple of years ago, remotely long-term relationships with vampire slayers. Except the two he killed. In his day he was one of the most feared vampires in Europe. He earned the name `Spike' because he tortured his victims with railroad spikes. Few vampires were more feared or dangerous than him, and those were the ones he traveled with. But don't worry. Another secret government project, The Initiative, put a computer chip in his head that makes him unable to harm humans. He's been working on the side of good, like the rest of us" -Frank glanced pointedly at Lex- "do. He's been an asset to the team of people and other creatures that fight the evil in the world. Even if his motives are a bit dubious, he's a powerful weapon."

"Thanks, mate. Now no one thinks I'm some sort of crazy person."

"You're not a person, Spike, and you never were. Which brings me to the last person here. Which is also a misnomer, isn't it, Mr. Kent? Though you seem to be of good character, you've never entirely been a person, have you?"

Clark glared worriedly at the floor. He didn't dare look up, though he could feel the weight of fourteen eyes on him, and combined with the silence, the pressure was something he didn't think that even he could fight through.

"Clark? What is he talking about?" He looked up at the question. Chloe looked concerned, but he could also see the anticipation glittering in her eyes. He dared to look at Lex, where concern was not quite what was there, but neither was anticipation. Lex looked... satisfied. The rich boy who always got what he wanted was about to get his ultimate unobtainable present: the truth behind Clark Kent, savior of Smallville, giver of life and second chances, the worst liar Lex had ever seen, and the possessor of more skeletons in his closet than Jason Voorhees.

"Um." Clark shifted again, unsure of exactly where to begin. He figured that the easiest way to say what he had to say was to just say it and damn the consequences. He resolutely looked up into Lex's eyes and made sure blue was locked on blue. "I'm an alien. I'm not from Earth. I don't know where I'm from. I came down in the meteor shower and am therefore the cause of everything that's wrong in Smallville, and Lex's baldness. I move really fast, I'm really strong, I can see through things, except for lead, and I can set things on fire with my eyes. The meteor rocks make me sick." He watched Lex's eyes widen, though they didn't widen much. He assumed that Lex had already known most of his secrets and was just waiting for the "how." Clark then looked at Chloe. Her eyes were huge, and looked like they were glistening with tears.

"You... kept this a secret from me? And Pete? And Lana? Why? I know it's huge, but we love you, Clark."

"It's too dangerous for other people to know! It would put them in danger! I knew that Lionel had an unhealthy interest in me, and now I have proof! If other people knew he'd go after them, too! I couldn't take that kind of risk. Not with my friends." Clark resumed staring at the floor. "I just... couldn't tell anyone. Not that I didn't trust people, not exactly, just that it would be really bad if other people knew." Clark returned his gaze to Lex, whose grin was shark-like and somewhat cruel. Since it was Lex, Clark couldn't tell what emotion was actually running behind the expression.

"Thank you, Clark, for sharing with us your secret, even though it was under duress. You do know that I would protect you, right? And will? My father is not going to get his claws in you. And yes, you being an alien does in fact explain a lot."

"You... you're not mad?" Clark looked back to Chloe, who didn't exactly look mad either, just upset.

"I had suspected a long time that things were not normal in the House of Kent. I did have that reporter studying you because I knew I hit you on that bridge. I did, correct?" Clark nodded. "I didn't think that the meteor rocks did that to you, though at the time I didn't really understand the things that meteor rocks could do to people. The possibilities seem endless. Also, the meteor freaks in this town always seem to be evil, either before their exposure or because of it. You don't seem evil, and certainly deserve Samaritan of the Year. The shallowest of people seem to be meteor freaks. And if there's anything I've learned about you over the last year is that you, Clark Kent, are many things but I would never count shallow as one of them. Yes, I'm upset, as Chloe must be, that you didn't come to us sooner and more personally, though I understand your reasons. Maybe not in my case, but certainly in Chloe's. You always get on my back about lying and morality, Clark, and I despise your obvious hypocrisy. But now, maybe all of us can get on with our lives and stop playing games with each other. And besides," Lex waited until Clark looked at him again, "You know I was a natural red head. It would have washed me out and made me look frail and even more sickly than I do anyway. Being bald is an asset, not a curse." Lex smiled, sort of. Clark returned a small smile of his own.

Frank cleared his throat and studied the odd collection of people in the room once more. Lex, though probably still pissed with the entire situation with his father, still managed to look smug and satisfied with the news about Clark. Bruce managed to scowl and look intrigued. Mulder looked like he wanted to find a tape recorder and start interrogating Clark, while Scully looked shocked. Spike looked pleased, as if none of this was news to him. The young Investigators of Weird appeared excited, as if they could see the headlines for their Pulitzer-winning articles flashing across their corneas. Clark looked unhappy yet relieved, and kept sneaking glances and Spike and Bruce.

"Now that there are no more relevant secrets in the room, we can all get down to business."

"What kind of business?" Chloe inquired, perking up a bit.

"The reason you're all here in the first place. We have to find those missing boys and put an end to Lionel's experiments. I assume all of you can swear secrecy to what you learned in this room today. All of you have something to lose if too much gets out. But if Lionel does manage to study those boys deeply enough and find more evidence of Clark's otherworldliness, Clark, and by default, all of you, will be in danger. Little is more important to a business tycoon than his business."

"In my father's case, nothing is more important to him than his business, his money, and his image, which are all interrelated." Lex sighed unhappily.

"Where is the lab to which those boys were taken?" Bruce was tired of this emotional show-and-tell game. Clark had issues, Lex had issues, the reporters had vows of secrecy to swear to, and the agents had work to do and phone calls to make. Bruce, and Batman, had crime to fight.

"Not far from Smallville. Lionel had to keep them close to..." Spike's new Scooby gang tried to listen as Frank outlined the plan for getting the missing students back. It was a bit difficult, though, with all the new knowledge weighing down their minds.

Meanwhile...

In a sun-drenched Kansas cornfield, a swirly blue portal opened above the ground and four people fell out of it onto the earth. The young, bookish brown-haired guy was the first to push himself off the ground, followed by the black man in the tweed jacket. "So, Q-ball, how long are we here?" the black man asked of the other young man.

"Uh... not long. Only a couple of minutes." The brown-haired guy helped up a small-looking woman with short brown hair.

"Mr. Mallory, a few minutes in insufficient time to determine if this is our world or not. Any theories on a quick deduction?" The fourth person in the odd party, a large man with a beard and shaggy hair, dusted himself off as he rose to his feet.

"Call me crazy," the woman said, "But that hulking piece of metal certainly doesn't look as if it belongs to our world." She gestured behind them to the large, blue, metal, spherical object that looked decidedly out of place in the field in which they stood.

"Gee, Wade, score one for you on the two brainiacs here!" The black man smiled warmly at her.

"Thanks, Remy. Sometimes all it takes is a little observation." She smiled back at him. "Though, Quinn? Why are we in a cornfield? Especially in some place so flat it looks like Kansas?"

"I don't know, Wade. I was wondering that, too. I also wonder what on earth that machine is used for. It looks like some advanced life-support chamber or time machine or something, which makes no sense, especially since it's sitting in this field. Any ideas, Professor?"

The large man grunted in annoyance. "If I were able to determine a machine's use after looking at it from afar, especially one as specialized and enigmatic as that, I would be working Special Ops for the government, not teaching physics at a university."

"It doesn't matter anyway. It's time to leave. At least that thing is here so we don't have to worry about whether or not we're leaving our world." Quinn pointed a device that looked suspiciously like a remote-control at the sky and pressed one of its buttons. The blue portal opened up again, and one by one the four weary travelers jumped into it, racing off to parts unknown.

"Alright then, let's break in, get the boys back, and get me back on my way to gettin' drunk."

"Is that all you can think about, Spike?" Clark looked at Spike disapprovingly.

"No. I've also been preoccupied lately with getting my fangs back into your wrist. Or maybe your throat. Whichever works for you." Somehow there was light in the dead eyes, and it made Clark shiver.

Clark blushed but also smiled mischievously. "We'll see. Let's just pay attention to the task at hand." He mentally reviewed the plan before outlining it once more with Spike. "Okay. I know two of the missing boys are in the room three doors to the right of the stairs, and the other two are in the room across from them. They aren't restrained, but the cells look locked tight."

It was the next evening, and everyone was set to raid the lab where Lionel was keeping the Clark-look-alikes captive. It may have been easier and safer to contact government officials, but Frank insisted that the Smallville gang do it itself because the attention may draw the interest of less propitious government groups, such as those to which Lionel wanted to sell his information about Clark. Lionel would also never expect Clark and Spike to raid the lab now, since he hadn't heard their plans in Lex's secret tower rooms. Also, there were no public projects in the works, so he probably wouldn't have a full security team.

Spike picked up where Clark left off. "Lex and Bruce will be upstairs, hopefully successfully distracting any security, or Lionel, should he have for some reason made an appearance tonight. Nothing should work better to tie up any business projects and their funder than the two greatest threats to the business present on the premises. So, while they do whatever it is two rich, handsome billionaires do to cause a ruckus in enemy territory, you fry the lights with your heat vision, since Lionel is bound to know we're there anyway, then you speed down there, bust open the door, make sure the coast is clear, then you signal me, and Frank and I are your backups. The three of us drag the boys out, and Team C takes over with Team D covering them."

"That's it. Just remember that the second I open those doors I'll be weakened by the meteor rocks that Lionel used to line the rooms. I'm... I'm not really sure why he did that, unless the others proved to be affected by them the same way I am, which wouldn't really make sense..." Clark trailed off, confusion evident on his usually chiseled features. He was also contemplating what exactly Lex and Bruce could do to cause a ruckus, and was coming up with some interesting, if not family-friendly, images.

"Don't worry, Frank and I can handle ourselves. I did some research on him last night in Lex's library. He was in the Gulf War; he's tough as nails. A bit crazy, though. Spent some time locked up in a looney bin. But who am I to judge?" Spike took one last drag on his cigarette and ground it under his boot. Seeing Clark's Look, he returned an equally pointed look and said, "I'm already dead, so these things aren't gonna kill me."

Clark grinned. "Me, either. Um, to both not being killed by cigarettes and not going to kill you."

"Well, that's a relief. After all the demons and humans I've fought, it'd be a shame to learn I can't actually take down a hostile pretty boy alien. Interesting way to go, though..." Spike got a faraway look in his eyes but was drawn out by Frank barking orders.

"Alright, boys, I think we're ready to go in. Lex and Bruce made a very stylish entrance one minute ago for Phase One and should be fully embroiled in some sort of pseudo-business discussion with someone. Lionel was not anywhere I could see, but he may still be around. We have to make Phase Two of the raid take no longer than three minutes. After three minutes, Phase Three will commence, and will take two minutes. Phase Four will take as long as it needs so that the rest of us can clear out of here. Clark. Go ahead and fry the circuits."

Clark turned to the electrical panel the jutted from the side of the sterile building. Honestly, he thought, a building this clean and angular might as well have a neon sign over the door that screamed "Secret Lab Here!" He concentrated on the panel, heat welling behind his eyes, until he was able to focus steady beams on the circuits that controlled the lights and hopefully any electric locks on the doors inside. He smiled triumphantly as the door next to the panel unlocked. "Magic."

"Magic, my ass. You can see what wires go where." Frank gave Clark a shove towards the door, and Clark proceeded to super-speed inside and out of their sight. "Spike, we wait one minute and then go in after him."

"Right. I'll go first since I'm essentially bullet proof, just like Poof there." Tensely, Frank followed the minute hand on his watch, while Spike watched Frank. Frank gestured to Spike, and the two of them entered the hallway.

The darkness didn't inhibit Spike in any way, so Frank followed the emergency lighting reflecting off of Spike's platinum locks. Frank had his weapon drawn, but didn't expect that they'd need it. Spike quickly went through the halls and down the stairs, and through a door that Clark evidently had to force his way through. The two doors to the rooms where the captive boys were held had also been forced open. Clark had collapsed in the doorway to the left. While Spike grabbed the boys in the room on the right, Frank dragged Clark back into the hallway and a few yards down back towards the stairs.

While Clark recuperated for a few seconds, Frank returned to the room on the left and dragged out a boy. He handed him to Clark and returned for the second. By some stroke of fortune all four boys were present, though they appeared to be drugged with some sort of sedative or tranquilizer.

Without warning a bullet flew towards the air towards Clark, but it deflected off of him easily. Frank turned and fired his own weapon into the gloom through the hallway between the prison cells. He heard a cry and turned back to the task at hand. Spike had a boy slung over each shoulder and was already making his way to the stairs. Clark grabbed the two boys Frank gave him and hoisted them onto his own shoulders, and ran to catch up with Spike. Frank followed them, moving backwards, so that he could cover them in case of more guards with itchy trigger fingers. Not that the vampire and the alien were in any danger, but getting the hostages shot while trying to rescue them would put a bit of a damper on the whole endeavor.

As Clark and Spike topped the stairs, Team C, Chloe and Derek, raced passed them, digital camera and camcorder in their hands, respectively. Their job in all of this was to document the rooms where the boys were held hostage and take whatever footage they could of the lab, which was to the left of the stairs. No one, not even Clark, had gotten a good look at the lab (though he did force open the door and glance around briefly), and it would be helpful to get records of what instruments and tools were actually present.

Frank signaled for the investigators to stop for a minute, then waved them through when Mulder and Scully, Team D, swiftly followed. Their job was to cover Chloe and Derek with firepower and light from the FBI Edition Flashlights Of 1000 Suns. As previously decided, Chloe dashed into the holding cells and Derek into the lab. The agents stayed in the stairwell, guns poised for use while the flashlights broadcast their beams across the floor. After thirty seconds, the investigators switched places. As they disappeared into their new locations, two shots rang out from beyond the lab. Mulder fired in that direction, but heard nothing indicating a hit.

Outside, Clark, Frank, and Spike laid out the young brunette jocks to give them some air. Lex had ensured them that he was able to take care of the grounds security cameras by making the given tape loop so that it looked like no one was within the perimeter fence. Clark then super-speeded the boys two at a time across the grounds of the LuthorCorp building to the waiting escape vehicles. On his return, he heard the shots from below. Without thinking, he ran inside, not caring if meteor rocks were lying about, and quickly dispatched the guard that fired the shots. He then ushered Derek and Chloe the hell out of there, then the agents. As the four average humans fled the building, Lionel suddenly appeared below. Luckily Clark was on his way out, and moved before Lionel's retinas could perceive that he was there.

Lionel stormed through his hallways, outraged at what was transpiring. The alarms in his office had gone off seconds after Lex and Bruce had entered the lobby upstairs. He had toyed with them for a few minutes, thoroughly pissed at their antics, until they departed as quickly as they had arrived. It wasn't until then that he was made aware of the electric panel shorting out, the locks on the holding cell doors being disabled, and the presence of intruders in the building. He quickly ordered more security below and called up video footage of those halls. He growled when he saw nothing but static, and cursed whoever designed the security cameras to be on the same circuits as the lights even though his safety precaution of each level of the building having its own electrical panels had been adhered to.

He found nothing in the rooms below but one unconscious guard, one injured guard who hadn't seen anything, and some expelled bullet casings. He snarled at the situation. He then looked up and snarled again as Batman took shape out of the shadows. "What the hell are you doing here? Your city is Gotham. Anywhere between Metropolis and Smallville is mine!"

"Lionel Luthor. So pleasant to see you again. Though we must stop meeting under such unpleasant circumstances. One of these days you're going to have to stop breaking the law, or I'll eventually catch you red-handed. It won't matter what city we're in. Your ass will be mine."

Lionel, true to Luthor form, did not change his expression at Batman's admonition, though his eyes did narrow slightly. "Batman, if you were going to catch me doing anything illegal, I would have to be doing something illegal, and be extremely careless."

Batman gave one of his small, patronizing smiles. "Kidnapping small-town high school boys and doing illegal experiments on them with meteor rocks doesn't count as illegal activity? Commissioner Gordon must be feeding me the wrong law updates."

Lionel's shock and increasing outrage were not betrayed, though his facial muscles had not taken this kind of strain in quite a while. "I suggest you get off my property and check your sources before you come back here and accuse me of felonies I did not commit."

Batman almost laughed. If it were possible for him to laugh, he would have. "Mr. Luthor, look around you. You have two holding cells with four recently used beds, a secret lab with millions of dollars worth of expensive, and somewhat illegal, equipment. I suggest that this be the last time you participate in any felony. The next time, I will not be so lenient." Batman glided towards Lionel and loomed over him. "There had better not be a next time. If you knew what was best for you, you'd stay out of Smallville entirely. Anything of interest here is far more dangerous than you assume." On those words, Batman turned on his heel, melted back into the shadows, and in a flash of smoke vanished from the hall.

Lionel allowed himself, just this once, to let his resolve melt and he collapsed against the wall. He didn't know how Batman knew of his project to study the Kent boy and research his origins using others. He also didn't know who else might know. He had a leak in his security and he needed to find it. He scowled into the darkness, just in time to catch a visual on the explosion that came from the lab. He ducked his head against the heat and raining debris as the holding cells also went up in flames. Damn that Batman. Somehow he slipped explosives into the rooms as well, destroying the lab. He wondered why Batman would destroy his evidence when he must know that Lionel would have backed up his research and have easy access to numerous labs that could easily reinitiate his project. He growled again, then stood and stalked upstairs. Nothing else could be done here. He called his assistant and demanded that the helicopter be prepped for a return to Metropolis immediately. He would find out what happened, and he would make the guilty party pay.

The caravan containing the Smallville Scooby gang left the grounds of the LuthorCorp building quietly but quickly. Except for the Batmobile, which sped off in a flurry of exhaust (Bruce had had Alfred send the vehicle over from Gotham, because in order to make any event of the evening seem more like Batman's work and less like a ragtag team of near-strangers, it had to be there). Batman returned to the Luthor mansion by a roundabout and hidden route. The caravan dropped the boys off at their houses. Figuring that they would be fine in the few hours till their parents woke up, the Scoobies left the boys outside on decks or porches. Too many questions would be raised if they were caught dropping them off. They all reconvened at the mansion, where earlier Clark and Chloe had left messages for their parents to let them know they wouldn't be home that night. There would be questions to answer later, but for now there was work to do.

Silently they all entered the mansion and went straight to the tower, which Lex had had outfitted with the necessary equipment. Derek immediately dubbed the footage he shot of the lab and cells to multiple tapes and disks, while Chloe saved all of her photos on to Lex's computer and emailed them to her personal account, Bruce's, Derek's, Frank's, and Mulder's. Lex's and Clark's accounts were probably monitored by Lionel, Spike didn't have one, and Scully could get them from Mulder.

Only after making sure everything was properly copied did everyone try to make sense of what they saw. Lex and Bruce tensed at the machines they recognized, while Frank looked apprehensive. Chloe, Derek, and Clark didn't really recognize anything that they saw. Mulder and Scully didn't recognize much either, but with what they did know, they were frightened. Well, Mulder was more angry than frightened. Abusing human subjects was unconscionable, not that Lionel Luthor was ever one to stick to any sort of moral code.

Thoroughly exhausted, each member of the party wandered off to his or her bedroom among the dozen or so guest bedrooms that Lex had made up at the mansion. Lex himself wearily stumbled into his own bed, the silk sheets sliding against his cool skin. Faint moonlight streamed through the windows, casting odd changes of light and dark throughout the room. Though exhausted, he couldn't keep his mind from wandering into territory where it was forced to keep up its guard. Lionel was a monster. There was no question of that now (not that Lex had had any other opinion of his father in years). Though not a project in the near future, Lex knew he had to kill his father. He was just so sick of his shit. And besides, just as Lex was a thorn in Lionel's side, Lionel posed problems for Lex's own world domination.

The door opened slowly and a tall, dark shadow entered the room, small points of light indicating where the dark eyes were. "Lex?"

"Yes, Bruce?"

"Don't do anything foolish. Lionel is neutralized for now." Lex gave a small smile into the gloom. Bruce knew him so well. He sighed.

"That's the problem, Bruce. It's always `for now.' One of these days it has to be `forever.'"

"Clark is safe, the boys have been returned to their homes. Sleep now."

Lex snorted. Apparently near despair and full exhaustion had not shorted out his sense of sarcasm. "Oh, you're one to talk. I don't think I've ever seen you actually deeply asleep without the aid of heavy prescription drugs."

"My demons fight me while I sleep the same way yours fight you while you're awake."

"Thanks, Mr. Sandman. Though tonight I feel I'll only be brought nightmares."

"Would you like company?"

Lex sighed again, less contentedly than before. This really wasn't what he needed right now. "Previous theatrics aside, this isn't the time nor place, Bruce."

"I understand. Good night, Lex." Without another word Bruce slipped silently from the room.

Lex stretched out along the mattress. He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted, other than vengeance. And he certainly wasn't going to get it tonight. He had to take comfort in knowing that the gang had thwarted Lionel quite spectacularly, and maybe he wouldn't come after Clark for a while. Lex knew he would embark on that journey again sometime in the near future, but at least Clark was safe for now.

Though sleep in the mansion that night was deep, it was also filled with nightmares of spooky labs and death, and ghastly images of Lionel Luthor.

The next morning, the unlikely herd of heros collected in Lex's massive kitchen for breakfast. Clark and Chloe had resigned themselves to missing a day of school, but neither of them minded that much (Chloe wasn't sure she could handle more of Pete's stares), and Lex decided that he could miss another day at the plant. Gabe Sullivan was competent, after all.

Everyone congregated around the island in the middle of the room to consume the hearty breakfast that Lex's cook had prepared for them all. When Lex had made the order, she had quirked her eyebrows but didn't ask any questions. She had long ago learned that what Lex did in his spare time that resulted in many strangers in the house was nothing she neither should nor want to know.

"Well, last night was bloody fun, wasn't it? I say, let's make this an annual thing." Everyone else looked at Spike and scowled. "What? I haven't had this much fun since I got to help and watch Buffy kill Angelus. Too bad it didn't take."

Not knowing what the hell Spike was talking about, the others returned to their pancakes, waffles, and French toast, while Spike went back to his pigs' blood .

Chloe broke the contented silence. "I've been meaning to ask, Lex, or Bruce, what it is you guys did to distract security and Lionel last night."

Bruce, usually the poster child for self-control, choked on his toast. Lex smiled, comfortable enough with these companions to leave his masks down. "We started to just try to talk business with the guard, but he must have tripped a silent alarm, because my father arrived shortly. He refused to listen to anything we tried to say about business and he was jerking us around with something, and we started to lose his attention, so we did what we always have done to completely fluster him."

"Which was...?"

"We made out."

Clark did a very comical spit take across the table with his juice. He looked up, startled. He was almost as surprised by the twang of some feeling in his chest. What the hell was that? Jealousy? Anger? A coronary? He shook his head and turned to watch Chloe laughing at him. Everyone else looked just about as shocked as Clark did, except for Spike, of course, who never seemed perturbed by anything, but that may have been because he always seemed to know everything before anyone else did.

Lex smiled again. "Surely you all had suspected something...?" He looked at Bruce, who was guarding a very small smile. Though they hadn't been anything resembling an item in a long time, it was fun every now and then to return to their old exploration of each other. "During my days of rebellion and frying my brain with whatever chemical I found handy, I made some foolish decisions and some good decisions. Becoming partners with Bruce falls under both categories."

Bruce stepped in. "We were both experiencing difficult times, and Lex and I found comfort with each other. I don't know how much of it was anything more than a `right place at the right time' physical mania, where two confused and disturbed rich kids needed help from someone. Both of us needed to feel; believe it or not, we were both lonely, cold youths. Lionel of course knew even though we kept our relationship as secret as we could. It's highly amusing every now and then to have Lionel `catch' us revisiting those days because he despises that his son is bisexual and potentially has sexual interest in a powerful business rival."

Lex smiled like a hyena. "It's one of the few ways to render my father speechless and disconcerted. We aren't together and will not be again, but few things are more entertaining than leading my father on." Spike smiled in a way that bared his canine teeth, and Lex cocked an eyebrow in his direction. "We knew it would buy Clark, Frank, and Spike enough time last night to get through Phase 2 of the plan."

Chloe's eyes sparkled. "That's so awesome, Lex, and Bruce. I had no idea there was anything of that sort between you two. I've done digging on both of you, of course," she flushed and looked down at her plate. "But there was nothing than business stuff and some speculation that Bruce was the one that provided you with the capital to start your own corporation."

"My father covered any evidence of Bruce and me because it would not bode well for him to have an openly bisexual son fucking and being fucked by his, and I mean my, future business rival. Lionel would no longer be taken seriously for raising such a little fag for a son. His words, not mine. He wouldn't have minded destroying Bruce's career, but Bruce's money is old, so it wouldn't have mattered."

"Citizens of Gotham are a bit more open minded than those of Metropolis, anyway. Making my partners, male or female, public would probably only work in my favor. It has thus far in recent years." Bruce's eyes were wide with amusement.

Scully's, Mulder's, and Derek's were wide with something else. It wasn't every day you learned even more deep secrets of young business moguls. Clark, for some reason unknown to the others, looked frustrated. Frank, though he hadn't known exactly what the relationship between the billionaires was, wasn't terribly surprised. He had seen too much and had to much happen to him.

Frank stood. "Well, everyone, I'm glad I was able to be here to aid you all in saving those boys and Clark's future, but I really need to get back to Nevada." Lex, proper host with everyone except his father and anyone having to do with his father, stood as well to show Frank out. "Lex, thank you for hosting us and providing the necessary equipment and distractions."

"No problem, Frank. Though next time you decide to drop into Smallville, please don't do it anywhere near my cars. Thank you for saving us. I may not be worthy of it, but the others are."

Frank took the extended hand. "Lex, there's more good to you than meets the eye and that you give yourself credit for." To everyone else, he said, "Good luck everyone. My team should be here in a minute to pick me up."

"Your team?" Mulder looked concerned.

"The clean up crew that retrieves the sphere came for it soon after I appeared, and they'll take me back with them." On cue, a knock sounded on the thick front door of the mansion.

"Do I even have security any more?" Lex shook his head as he showed Frank out. He'd have more privacy living in a tent in the backyard. He returned to the kitchen to find his other houseguests cleaning up after themselves. "I do have staff to take care of cleaning, everyone."

"Doesn't mean we all have to be pigs, Lex," Clark explained.

After straightening up, Mulder and Scully left so that they could work on their report for Assistant Director Skinner. Walking to their sedan, Mulder asked Scully, "So, Scully, what exactly should we keep in the report? Time travel? Vampires? Aliens? Kidnapping? Homosexual favors between young business tycoons?"

Scully glared at him. "Fox Mulder! The only thing we can report to Skinner is the kidnapping. And you know it. Some parts of that report would get us fired, others locked up, and others would ruin the reputations of the parties in question."

"I know that, Scully. But you're so cute when you're angry with me."

Her frown deepened, but the mirth in her eyes betrayed her. "Just get in the car, Mulder. I'm driving." The agents sped out of the driveway, both anticipating the editing their report would take to make it resemble anything that made sense. But Mulder didn't care. His life's work wasn't in vain. It was all the reassurance he needed.

Chloe and Derek were the next to leave. Lex thanked them for participating even with their lack of training and invulnerability. "Lex! Investigating the weird and getting information on your father? Where else would I want to be?!"

"I'm glad you, uh, had fun, Chloe. I'm sure my father will get himself into more trouble soon enough. I'll have to remember to invite you along."

The young investigators clambered into Derek's car and sped off, probably to Derek's hotel room, Lex mused. He turned back to his three best and very masculine friends, who were eyeing each other somewhat suspiciously. "Did I... interrupt something?" Lex stood and watched them with his hands in his pockets.

"Uh, no!" Clark started.

"Clark has something he'd like to ask you, Lex. And I'm going to go kick Bruce's ass in pool." Spike practically dragged Bruce away from the Smallville residents.

"Yes, Clark?"

"Um. That uh. Um. That whole bloodletting thing. That you did with Spike. I want to do it with you."

Lex didn't bother to try to hide his surprise. "Why, Clark?"

"You and Spike have that. You and Bruce have your past. I just... it feels like to be friends with you, actual friends, a person has to be a part of you that no one else is. They both make or made you feel good. And if that's what it takes to prove to you that I really want to maintain our friendship, then I want to do it. I want to be close to you, like they are. The way you seem to need your friends to be. And also... I want to feel what Spike feels. That power, that control. You know, to help practice keeping my... alienness... in check. And there aren't many people in Smallville that I could ask. And the whole blood thing, well..." Clark trailed off, one hand in his hair and his eyes focused somewhere to Lex's side.

"Clark, if it's control you're afraid of, Bruce will happily, well, he'll help you with that. The man has more self control than I could ever have. Not just anyone could be Batman. He spent years honing his body and his mind. He can teach you anything you need to know." Clark looked at him like he had three heads. "Okay, maybe Bruce can't help you with things like super-speed and heat vision, but he's a master of control and will.

"Also, Clark, you do give me more than you know. So what if it isn't orgasms? Bruce was there for me when I needed an intellectual guide. He provided the mental stability I needed at a tumultuous time in my life. That was more important than anything physical between us. Spike, as you know, provided the physical stability I needed. I had to stop fucking with my head so that I could provide for him and ultimately myself. And you, Clark, provide my moral stability." Lex rested his hand on Clark's shoulder. "I know that you'll keep me from doing anything unethical or just plain stupid when it comes to my business, and my life. For whatever reason, or maybe because of Chloe, you always know what's going on here in Smallville. You've saved my life, and Lana's, more times than we could count, and I doubt the threats are going to slack off any time soon. Especially not with my father on the edge the way he must be after last night." Lex reached up and kissed Clark on the forehead. "Go home, Clark. Keep in mind that you mean more to me than you may think, and I'm willing to bet my fortune that I mean more to you than you're willing to admit."

He headed toward the stairs. "Now, I need to go make sure Bruce and Spike don't kill each other. That would certainly put a damper on what we've all accomplished here."

Clark stood there for another minute. He wondered what the hell had just happened. Shaking his head, he turned and super-speeded home. He wasn't going to get anywhere wondering about now.

"Last night really happened, right? I'm not just dreaming that we met an alien, a vampire, and Batman."

"Nope, it actually happened, and we have it all documented digitally." Derek kissed Chloe's jaw and rubbed his hand over her stomach, tickling her in a way he had already discovered that she liked. They were lying on the bed in Derek's hotel room, just enjoying each other's presence and lack of the threat of near-death.

Chloe knew they were moving fast as a couple, but they had already been through so much together. She sighed as he kissed along her collarbone. She knew they weren't going to take their relationship much further right now, but the potential and promise in Derek's caresses were enough to satisfy her presently.

She knew that any relationship that could begin on the Internet and not dissolve after the level of disclosure and danger of the previous few days would last a very long time.

Eight weeks later...

"Oh god, Clark, that feels so good..." Lex squirmed in his chair, and in spite of what he was trying to do with his tongue, Clark smiled. He could feel the power he had over the pale, writhing being next to him, Lex wriggling, and he knew only two other, well, creatures, had felt both at the same time. Clark licked at the cut his teeth had made into Lex's wrist, savoring the blood that trickled out.

"Clark! I had no idea. Spike is so cold, but you're so warm. It's an entirely different experience..." Lex had long ago unbuttoned his fly and now he was slipping his erect cock out of his boxers.

Clark tasted the blood as it spread over his tongue. He hadn't been quite sure what to expect. Spike had given him tips, but to a vampire, blood must taste like ambrosia, so Clark had taken his advice with a grain of salt. And Spike had told him multiple times that Clark's own blood was different from anyone else's Spike had consumed, so trying his own would have been pointless. No matter what his expectations, Clark enjoyed what he tasted. It was hot, and thick, and not as metallic-flavored as he had expected. Not that he wanted to start drinking it by the glassful, because eww, but every two months? He could handle that. He just had to keep Spike away from his territory.

As Clark licked harder at the small pools of blood on the fine-boned wrist, Lex stroked himself. He realized after a few minutes that Clark licked up towards Lex's hand after every ten of Lex's strokes. That thought and the resulting anticipation, combined with the extremely wet heat at such a sensitive part of his body, had Lex climaxing hard within another minute. He jerked out of the chair as he came, cum spilling over his hand. Hardly missing a beat, Clark leaned down, licked through some of the white fluid, and swallowed it.

He looked up into Lex's slightly glazed eyes, which were looking at him with surprise, at least, as much as could be mustered in the present situation. He took the moment to register that Clark could swallow Lex's blood without issue, but grimaced at Lex's semen. Clark just shrugged and reached for the bandage on Lex's desk so that he could cover the wound. "It seemed like the thing to do."

"Really." Even in the afterglow Lex could be skeptical. "I thought that, for you, this was more of a drug thing, and a power thing, not a sex thing."

"The blood part is a drug for me, and a test of control and power, which are kinda part of the drug thing. I like the way it feels to taste it, and you, and have you writhing beneath me. The sex thing is totally you. I realized why I felt so threatened when Spike and Bruce were here. Other than the whole almost-dying-kidnapping-secret-revealing thing, I realized that I wanted all of you. I want you. This is practically foreplay, anyway." Clark looked away, suddenly unsure of himself.

Lex just tilted his head back against his chair. Whatever was happening here with this Kansas-grown alien was extremely weird and probably a bit unhealthy. Exactly the way Lex operated. With all the lies and unknowns thankfully out in the open, there was no known danger in entering a deeper relationship with Clark Kent. Hell, there wasn't much else they could do that would be weirder than what was already going on. There would just be normal relationship shit to deal with. He would still need Bruce and Spike in whatever ways they were willing to help him, but maybe he could let himself have all of his supports in one body. Though Lex hadn't been sure of his feelings for Clark, looking at him now, after what had just transpired, made him surer about the potential than anything he'd felt in the last few months.

Lex drew Clark back to him with a hand underneath his jaw. He looked into the uncertain deep blue eyes. "We can give it a try, Clark, but you have to realize that me and Bruce, and me and Spike, have certain relationships and needs for each other that we will need to satisfy occasionally. And you're only sixteen. Yes, I know you're mature and ready and everything that you need to be, you're just underage. I don't want to go to jail." Lex smiled. "But I think we can make it work, and make it good." He leaned up and pulled Clark down and kissed him, tongues touching lighting, probing gently. Lex drew back for a second.

"Besides. Just think about how much this is going to piss off my father."

the end, such as it is

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Deciding what universes and shows I wanted to use was the easy part. Figuring out what seasons to use and how exactly to incorporate everyone without it seeming too tacked on was the hard part, and I hope I succeeded to some extent. With Smallville, I wanted to use an older Clark and at least a Clark that had heat vision, but I didn't want to use any continuing show cannon, such as the caves and more Clark/Lana angst. Lex being involved with Helen would also have posed a problem. I didn't want to speculate about what Clark did and didn't do while drugged out on red Kryptonite in Metropolis between seasons two and three. I generally hate how depressing season three has been, so I certainly didn't want to get involved in all that drama and angst.

Spike (James Marsters) is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and since the show only recently went off the air and, like Smallville, is very dependent on continuing show cannon, I had a hard time figuring out when to place Spike. I eventually decided that I wanted Spike to have experience with helping Buffy and her Scooby gang, but didn't want to get heavily involved in the whole Spike and Buffy sleeping together thing, and definitely didn't want Spike to have a soul, so I figure in this universe, Spike comes from somewhere towards the end of Buffy season five or the beginning of season six.

Derek Barnes (Ethan Embry) comes from the very short-lived show Freakylinks that aired on FOX in 2000-2001. I think FOX aired eight episodes, and finished the rest of the series over the summer without telling anyone. Derek, with three friends, investigated and filmed weird occurrences. He then would post them on his website, Freakylinks.com for others to see. He had an identical twin brother, Adam, whose death he was trying to solve. I think. It's been a long time since I've seen the show. I thought that Derek and Chloe would be perfect for each other.

Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are from the X-Files. Assume that any season after about the fifth didn't happen, since I wanted the old Mulder and Scully banter and ease with each other, not the later seriousness, conspiracy issues, and eventual lack of Mulder.

Frank Parker (Jonathan LaPaglia) comes from Seven Days, a show on UPN a few years ago (and that is rerun on Spike TV) in which one man, a "chrononaut," has the ability to be sent back in time seven days in a big blue sphere. He then fixes whatever went wrong in the world and no one is the wiser. There wasn't much show cannon, so I didn't have to worry about anything with that.

Lastly, the Jhonen Vasquez-like "Meanwhile..." (completely irrelevant to the plot) uses characters from Sliders. Graduate student Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell), physics genius, found a way to travel between parallel Earths. Rembrandt Brown (Cleavant Derricks), Wade Wells (Sabrina Lloyd), and Professor Maximillian Arturo (John Rhys-Davies) got dragged along. However, they have no way of getting back to their own (i.e. our) Earth. On each world they get involved with some people and solve some problems. I don't like the newer episodes as much as the older ones, so I picked a time when the original four people were still there (eventually everyone got replaced but Rembrandt).

I hope you enjoyed the story. It started off as an attempt at humor, but somehow it morphed into more dramatic and serious elements. Thanks for reading it.

46