Aftermath

A Sequel to "A Man's Got to Know his Limitations"
Many many thanks to Teaphile for the wonderful beta. She let me pester her a lot!

Lex Luthor had been on tenterhooks for days. Clark was all right, but he'd been found out. How long before Lois betrayed him to the world?

Would it be a worse betrayal to have her killed?

Was he powerful enough to protect his friend if the government decided it had an interest?

When the hell would they get back?

The chickens set up a fuss; Lex was out to the yard in a heartbeat.

"Clark!"

"Hey, Lex."

"Lois."

"Luthor." Of course she was smug.

Clark got out of the little car and stretched. Two pairs of eyes followed every move.

A week later, and she was still there. Lex wouldn't give up his breakfasts with Clark.

"Morning, Lex." Clark was blessedly alone, taking out muffins, pouring coffee for him.

"Clark," Lex smiled. "Did Lois go home yet?"

"Not yet."

"How long is she going to stay?" Luthors don't whine.

"Perry said to use up all my vacation time." Lois came in with messy hair and a bathrobe. "What's it to ya, anyhow?"

Lex swallowed. He didn't want another argument with her, here in Clark's home.

Clark laughed. "Jeepers. You two bicker all the time. You sure you never got married?"

Clark awakened slowly. He wasn't alone. Strange.

A bare leg was hooked over his own right leg. Soft, silky breasts lay against his right side. Dark hair trailed silky over his right shoulder, and a soft, slender arm stretched across his abdomen. Lois.

Strong, smooth buttocks pressed against his left hip. A strong back curved against his left side, and a smooth head nestled against his left shoulder. Lex.

Clark had long told himself that one red-K-induced handjob from a near-stranger meant he wasn't a (twenty-year-old, thirty-year-old, thirty-five-year-old) virgin, but last night had proved him wrong.

"Wow."

Lois stretched and woke. She felt sticky, warm and a little sore. What the hell? Whose big arm was that?

Oh, shit.

She lifted her head and saw her partner's concerned green eyes, and behind him the shiny dome of the richest man in the country.

Oh, shit.

It was a year since Lois had been in a serious relationship. Her prescription for the Pill had run out months ago. Maybe it would still be okay -- when was her last period? Oh, shit. Almost two weeks ago.

Lois dropped her head to the expensive linen. "Oh, shit," she said.

Words penetrated Lex's sleeping mind. He instantly assessed his situation, taking seconds to plan before allowing anyone to know he was awake. Sore, sticky, spent, satisfied -- he hadn't awakened like this in years. Safe -- he'd never awakened like this. Lex's eyes flew open. Memory returned in a rush. Lois -- his last fiancee -- and, oh....

Oh, Clark.

Lois was fuming and swearing about guys and how they were all three of them hella old enough to remember the goddam condoms.

Clark was apologizing, breathlessly, "I don't know what came over me."

Lex snickered and got up. "Oh, Clark."

Lex rolled out of bed in one smooth movement. Even as Clark kept trying to mollify Lois with gentle hands, he couldn't help noticing how elegant and self-assured Lex was when he moved. Even naked. Especially naked. Lex glided to the heavy oak dresser and started rummaging. Clark's attention returned to Lois.

"Goddam it, Clark. I am too damn old to forget protection. What the hell was I thinking? What the hell were you thinking? What the hell was Lex...."

Lex elegantly knelt on the floor next to Lois's side of the bed. He was carrying a little blue box.

Lex's face, even with hers. Smiling, all genius and larceny, no goddam secret sorrow today. The sonofabitch looked happy.

Well why wouldn't he be? The mother of all three-ways last night, and what the hell had she been thinking? She knew she hadn't been drunk or stoned.

"Lois," Lex smiled. "It'll be fine."

"That's what you think, Luthor. Hell, if I'm knocked up you'll be broke from the child support, even if it is a goddam alien baby. No offense, Clark...."

"None taken," came the quiet rumble.

Lex smiled up at Clark, then gave Lois a box. She opened it.

'Dumbfounded is a good look on her,' Lex thought. People should surprise Lois more often. He kept smiling into Clark's green-blue eyes over Lois's tousled dark hair. This was the right thing to do; he knew it. How long had it been since he'd been sure of anything?

"I realize you haven't seen that ring in thirteen years, and perhaps you don't recognize it. I kept it because I always regretted having let you get away."

Lois continued speechless. That was novel, indeed.

Lex repeated the words he'd used thirteen years before. "Would you like to marry me, Miss Lane?"

Somewhere deep inside him, the part of his mind that had been in love with Lana Lang for so long was having a nervous breakdown. The part that only came out to play when red kryptonite was around was laughing its tiny imaginary ass off.

Lois Lane was lying nude in his arms, and Lex Luthor was proposing to her. All this after a mind-blowing and completely unprecedented night of uninhibited all-combination sex. 'Confused' was far too mild a term.

Lois turned her head and looked at him. They were both looking at him. Clark just smiled helplessly and shrugged.

Three in the shower -- another revelation. Clark ran home to tend the stock, and had breakfast ready by the time the others caught up. Three days later, Lex married Lois at the Lowell County Courthouse. Clark was Best Man, as always.

Sometimes Clark couldn't believe how fast things happened. Sometimes he couldn't believe how long things took. Nights with Lex and Lois, wherever they were. Days on the farm, Kansas sun on his back.

Sometimes he wondered. "What is this?"

"You're my best friend."

"You're my partner."

"Without you I'd be dead."

"Without you I'd be alone."

Not alone.

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