Similis

When Kal looked up from his introspections the sun had already set. Probably several hours ago by the air temperature.



Casting a disdainful glance at the modest jeans and t-shirt combination that Clark had chosen to wear to his last work-shift, Kal winkled his perfect nose. A change of wardrobe is definitely in order.



The clothes were clean enough, and the ambient temperature didn't bother Kal in the slightest, but the lack of style was a real annoyance. Of course for someone with Kal's unique gifts his clothes situation could be fairly easily remedied, except for one potential fly in the ointment.



Wouldn't be smart to just go and heist the stuff, this is Gotham after all. It had not escaped Kal's notice that this particular city came supplied with one definite disadvantage.



Batman... Really don't want him on my tail, at least not straight away. Thinking of irritations, what about Edge…?



Kal sat and enjoyed the skyline for a moment more, and then pulling the bottle from his pocket he took yet another look at it.



And what exactly is in this stuff? The Kryptonian youth stared at the small glass vessel, wondering when the promised microscopic vision would develop?



Not soon enough to test this baby out… He wondered if Clark's fear of being different was the inhibiting factor in the development of their … his full abilities? If so, that was yet another mark against the oblivious fool…



Across the way, a light came on in an apartment block.



Scanning idly through the walls of the building, Kal saw a young guy rush in to the small room, unloading bags and clothing in his haste.



Reaching for a beer from the fridge the man hurried outside onto his balcony. Placing the bottle on a handy table, he uncapped it and took a long swig. Pulling off his tie, he loosened his shirt with one hand, the beer held firmly in the other.



Finally, with a sigh of relief, the man dumped his jacket on the other chair and sat down, propping his feet up on the rail. Closing his eyes, he sat silently, head back, clutching his bottle and now apparently at peace with the world.



Yeah, now that's what I need!



Kal gave an evil smirk, and leaping into the air he darted across the intervening gap, until he was hanging level with the balcony, his approach angled so that the wall of the building screened him from view.



Staring through the bricks with his x-ray vision, Kal waited until the man on the balcony was roughly halfway through the bottle, and then he leant forward and blew a quick gust of air that slammed the balcony door shut. Startled the man automatically turned to look.



While the man's attention was suitably diverted, moving faster than human eyes could see Kal slipped a few drops from the bottle Edge had given him into the remainder of the beer.



One human lab rat coming up. If it IS poison, I'll soon know… Kal smirked to himself, skimming deftly back across the intervening gap and resuming his vigil from the far rooftop.



Across the way, the human recovered from the sudden surprise and chugged down the final quarter of his beer.



More interested than he would normally be in a human, Kal settled back and waited.







After approximately another half an hour, Kal had watched his test subject finish a second bottle of beer and get well on his way through a third, eat a microwave TV dinner with enthusiasm, along with two packets of spicy nacho crisps, and finally settle down to watch some stupid soap on one of the cable channels.



Kal cast a sceptical look at the little bottle in his hand.



Hhmm… Taken in combination with beer it rots your brain so you sit around getting pissed, eating junk, and watching crap on the idiot-box? But given that the moron over there still has a heartbeat, it doesn't seem to actually be poisonous…







"Dad?" Lex sounded surprised. "I wasn't expecting you to phone, and why do you want me back at the Castle?"



"Where are you, son?" Lionel enquired.



"At the Kent's." Came the uneasy reply. "Why?"



"You are needed here, Lex." He told his son curtly. "And while you're on your way call your little medical friend and have him meet you at the castle. We have a small medical emergency for him to attend to."



"Are you ill, Dad? Why are you asking for Toby, you usually can’t stand him?"



"I'm fine, Lex, however we have a mutual friend who is not, and who would undoubtedly appreciate Toby's peculiar bedside manner rather more than I do." Lionel really didn't want to have to explain himself over the telephone, not even with the security technology that he and Lex habitually employed. "You went to see Haze didn't you?" He asked his heir. "Except that he isn't there."



"How did you know that?" Lex was immediately defensive, and more than a little worried.



"Our little angel has been right here on the grounds, all afternoon by the look of it. I just had to rescue him from the dogs." Lionel informed him, hoping that Lex would think past the obvious and see what he was trying to convey. He didn't want to say anything further, in case there actually was anyone listening in. "Son, just tell Martha and Jonathan that they may accompany you, and get yourself back to the Castle."



"Shit!"



"Lex, what have I taught you about controlling yourself in public? Do not disgrace us in front of the Kent's."



"I'm on my way." Lex promised.



"Do drive carefully." Lionel purred and hung up, returning his attention to the beautiful young man lying on the bed.





* * * * *



"He's in shock, practically catatonic." Toby straightened up and stared at his patient. "And from what I can tell he is hanging on by a very thin thread…"



"That's all?" Lex frowned. "I thought you'd be able to do better than that."



"I'm a doctor, not a mythologian. Hey, I always wanted to say that…"



"Yeah, just like something out of Star Trek…" Lex was less than impressed. "Now prove that you’re worth your fee and pull off a TV-type miracle."



Across the room Lionel smirked. Perhaps the boy had inherited something of his father’s brains after all?



"Hey, you're the one with an angel lying in his guest room." Toby protested. "I just came here and did what you asked." He continued to stare at Haze. "How did your friend Clark end up with wings anyway? I mean, I always thought he was the pure and innocent type, but I didn't figure on anything like this…"



"That isn't Clark." Lionel stated, "Although the two boys do share an uncanny resemblance, wouldn't you agree?"



"Dad." Lex gave him a warning glare. Pulling a photo from his jacket pocket, he showed it to Toby.



"Oh boy… This is a good one." Toby approved. "Best photomanip I've seen in a long while: nice smooth lines, sharp focus. How was it done?"



"On a perfectly normal self-developing camera." Lex pointed out the watermark on the back of the snap. "Toby, the picture's genuine. I took it myself, in the TV room downstairs, using Mrs Kent's camera."



"Jesus!" Toby breathed, looking from the picture to the boy lying in the bed, and back again.



Jonathan shifted uneasily, as he cradled the boy's hand in his own. "This is Haze. He's Clark's …twin." He said at last.



"Twin?" Toby muttered, looking across to Jonathan. "Clark has an identical twin?"



"You don't think they are alike enough to be twins?" Lionel was openly sarcastic. If this person was really the best that Lex could do, then Lionel was going to ensure that his son would not be making any further medical decisions on Lionel's behalf…







"Them being identical twins raises a few more … extreme possibilities." Toby said cautiously, "Not that having wings isn't a bit extreme in itself." He looked at Lex curiously, "Why doesn't Clark have those too? And why doesn't Haze have them in the photo?"



"Do try to come to the point!" Lionel found that he was no longer in the mood for prevarications, even if the other occupants of the room were apparently content to sit there like sheep.



"The two lads could share a psychic bond." Toby speculated. "There is a lot of research to show that twins can …"



"Communicate by telepathy?" Lex interrupted.



"Sure! Have you seen them do anything like that?" Toby was openly excited now.



"Yes." Lex nodded, "Ever since Haze and Clark were … reunited ... they've been inseparable. It's like they're trying to share the same skin!" He suddenly became aware of the various glances he was receiving from around the room, "Well, that's what it looks like!" He muttered defensively.







"Then you have to get Clark here." Toby stated with authority. "I bet that would get Haze back to normal."



"Clark's missing." Martha interrupted. "We don't know where he is."



"Missing? For how long, Mrs Kent? Did that happen today? If so, it could be what affected his brother?"



"I don’t think that was it Tobe, Clark ran away from home four days ago." Lex told him.



"And Haze was fine this morning.” Martha added. “Worried, but fine."



"Shit."



"Toby!" Lex gave a sideways look to remind Toby that there was a lady present, plus her over-protective husband, and not to mention his own perfectionist father…



"Okay. Then if fetching the other one is not an option, you'll have to do the next best thing." His tame medic decided.



"Do what?" The latest interruption from Lionel was not appreciated, by anyone, it seemed.



"Shut up, I'm talking here. You're going to be paying plenty for my opinion so start listening to it." Toby gave Lionel an impressively hard stare, causing Luthor senior to back away and sit down in the far corner.



"I want you to go home and fetch something that Clark has been wearing. Mrs Kent," The doctor continued. "I take it the boys are the same clothes size?"



Martha frowned. "Uhm, yes, why?"



"You haven't washed all of Clark's things since he left, have you?"



"No, I hadn't started the reds or coloured washes yet…" She told him. "Clark's very favourite shirt should be on the top of the next pile in fact."



"Then assuming that there is nothing hazardous to health on the fabric, I want you to go back home and fetch the shirt here, just the way it is. If there is anything else of manageable size that still holds a trace of Clark, I need you to fetch it here as well. Can I rely on you to do that, Mrs Kent?"



"Of course, but why?"



"Because the nose is a lot more sensitive than most people give it credit for, and because it's connected directly to the brain. If Haze can be temporarily convinced that Clark is not completely gone, then he may start to respond."



"But why can't we just take Haze to our home and put him in his own bed?" Jonathan put in. "He and Clark share a bedroom. There must be plenty of evidence of Clark in there? Without all the extra running around?"



The medic fixed Jonathan with a cold stare. "What bit about hanging by a thread did you not get? Without knowing what set this off, I don't want this boy moved. Whatever is still holding him in this body could snap, and then there will be nothing left for us to do but to dig a very large hole in the ground and stick what is left of him in it!" He added in a tightly controlled voice, while carefully tucking another blanket around Haze.



Looking rather subdued, Jonathan retreated visibly.



Toby turned his attention to Lex. "My guess is that Haze underwent a massive trauma today, and that what we're seeing now is the effects of shock, coupled with hypothermia, even though Mr Luthor senior has done all the right things." Checking his thermometer again, the doctor frowned.



"It’s guess work but it doesn’t seem likely that Haze would normally have a lower internal temperature than a standard human, from what I remember about most avian species they run at a higher metabolic rate than us, in which case Haze may already be way below his safe zone.



We need to warm this boy up more, but very gently and with absolutely no sudden changes. I'm also not happy about the poor response to physical stimuli. Even his reflexes are almost zero. Granted, that could be normal for him, but I wouldn't want to bet Haze's life on it, and that's what I would be doing."



He turned back to the Kent's. "I wouldn't usually ask, but I have to be very careful how I handle this: shock can be a dangerous thing. Do your two boys enjoy a reasonable amount of physical contact?"







"What?!" Jonathan barked, his temper visibly rising.



"I'm not asking for a run down of their sex lives, assuming they even have them!" Toby snapped. "I meant are they both openly physically affectionate? With you? With other people? With each other?"



"Yes!" Martha was less concerned than her husband about what they might be revealing. "Haze is a very tactile person, much more so than Clark in fact, and he hugs people quite spontaneously," She smiled, "Clark finds that really awkward, but Haze actively likes physical contact."



"That could help. At least we can be fairly sure that we won't panic Haze if he starts to wake and finds someone touching him. What I want to avoid at all costs is driving him deeper into shock." Toby told them. "Lex. Do I take it that you and Haze are fairly close friends?"



"We've certainly been getting that way." Lex admitted, mindful that Jonathan Kent was still nearby, and that Martha was listening equally closely. "Why?"



"Because the safest way to warm someone up is to share body heat, and I suspect that without his twin around this kid is going to slip into sensory withdrawal damn quickly. I can't think of any other way to get him through this." He explained.



"Haze needs as many familiar things around him as possible. He needs a warm body and one that he is at least marginally familiar with, and won't instantly panic on finding, which means that I'm automatically discounted, as are Mr and Mrs Kent because I need them to go and fetch Clark's things. I'm assuming that Mr Luthor Senior is not on Haze's list of intimates,"



With both Kent's listening intently, Lionel had no choice but immediately discount himself from the approved list, either that or rediscover the sensation of being shot at.



"Which only leaves you, Lex." Toby concluded. "Therefore you are going to have to get into this bed with Haze, hold him, and stay there with him until he wakes up…"







"I'm what?!" Lex gaped. "I can't do that, Toby, apart from the social conventions, I have a business to run…"



"And any of that is more important than this boy's life?"



"No, you're right." Lex sighed audibly. "Of course it isn't."



"Then get yourself into some decent pj's and get under the sheets. We can start short-listing additional candidates if necessary, once we're sure that Haze's condition is stable."



"Lex?" Jonathan padded over. "Lex, it's alright, we understand. I promise that I won't bring the shotgun back with me…"



"Now I know the world's gone mad." Lex smiled. "Okay, well you know where to find me."



"We'll be back with some of Clark's clothes as soon as we can." Martha promised. She cast a tearful glance at the raven-haired boy, and bending over him, pressed a light kiss to his forehead. "Haze, we won't be long, sweetie."







"Okay, a few simple ground rules and I can take my leave of you too." Toby suggested, handing Lex a pair of more modest pyjamas than his usual fare.



"Ground rules?" Lex blinked.



"We don't know if our buddy here can hear us at the moment, right?"



"Right."



"So no talking about anything negative," Toby mouthed the word 'Clark', "anywhere Haze might overhear you."



"Okay."



"I mean it, Lex. I've read of cases where a couple of ill-chosen words were enough to do some real damage."



"I get it!" Lex snapped, looking up to find his father looming in his line of sight, again. "Dad, do you have to stand there like some sort of fixture?"



"I'm certain that I have no idea of what you are referring to, Lex." Lionel replied smoothly.



"Then I'll make it clearer for you. Get out of this room." Lex was definitely not going to change clothes with his father in the room. He would have preferred Lionel not to be in the same building, but was enough of a realist to know that he was unlikely to get far with that suggestion.



"Very well, I can see that you are not in a mood to be reasonable." Lionel said mockingly.



"No? Whatever gave you that idea?"



"Lex. However much you may dislike me, I am still your father."



"And believe me, I would change that if I could."



"I also rescued this young man from certain death today." Lionel reminded him.



"Yes." Lex tried to be marginally less hostile. "That's why I'm not throwing things at you. Yet." He told him.



Raising a supercilious eyebrow, Lionel made a slick exit.







"Bastard." Lex said softly, without any real venom.



"He really did save your friend here." Toby pointed out.



"Yes, and since I know my father so damn well, I can't help but wonder if he didn't have some connection to Haze ending up in there in the first place?"



"You checked the surveillance tapes?" Toby asked. Favouring him with a condescending glance, Lex suppressed the urge to sniff derisively. Was Toby implying that he would overlook such an obvious possibility?



"First thing I did." He assured the medic. "Just for once I can't find anything to connect the two events: Haze flew down out of a clear blue sky and landed in the woods, the house camera's picked up just enough for me to discover that part. Dad was nowhere around at the time, in fact I know for sure that he was still in Metropolis when it happened since I was stuck in the same meeting with him."



His medical friend frowned. "The kid can fly?"



Lex stared at him incredulously. "What did you think the wings were for? Decoration?"



"Fuck." Toby was definitely having a hard time coming to grips with that one.



"No thanks, Tobe, it would ruin our relationship." Lex managed to say with a straight face, while slipping into his pj's. "Sorry, but you're just not my type."



"I bet he is though." Toby cast an appreciative eye over the dark haired youth.



"Maybe." Lex wasn't going to give Toby that sort of satisfaction either.



"And I gave you carte blanche to jump into bed with him right under his parents noses…" Toby chuckled, automatically rechecking his patient's vital signs.



"Aren't I the lucky little billionaire?"



"Get in the bed." There was no hint of humour in the remark.



Frowning at the harsh tones, Lex nevertheless prepared to obey the peremptory order. "Toby?"



"His temperature just dropped another degree."







Lex was in the bed before his shirt hit the floor. Together the two of them manoeuvred Haze in close to him, so that Haze's wings were draped over them both, and the sheets were pulled as far up the youth's back as was possible.



"It's strange to see the wings, Haze normally makes them vanish off somewhere." Lex marvelled. "The feathers are so soft, and warm."



"What's the rest of him like?" Toby's voice was carefully casual. He didn't seem to think vanishing wings were even worth asking about.



That was a relief to Lex, as he would not have been able to supply an answer in any case. "Truthfully?" He wondered.



"Sure, Lex."



"Think Sushi."



"Oh." A frown appeared on Toby's face. "Nothing openly negative, remember?" He reminded Lex.



"Trying." Lex stroked the dark hair, running his fingers slightly enviously through the silky strands. "Not sure that Haze knows about Sushi though. Toby, how long should it take for his internal temperature to get back to safe limits?"



"I'm guessing about an hour, why?"



"Just want to know whether I ought to have a drink now, or wait a while."



"I'd wait till the Kent's get back, so you don't have to leave him alone at all. It would probably be best to get his mother to take a shift with him when you need to attend to nature. I wouldn't suggest you ask his father though…"



"Right." Lex nodded, and suppressed a shudder at the thought of broaching that sort of topic with Jonathan, truce or no truce…



"Thinking of drink, if this lasts, we'll have to be careful that Haze doesn't get dehydrated." Toby was beginning to stare again. "And is there anything he can't eat? Any allergies?"



"Judging from what I've seen him and Clark put away in an evening," Lex gave him a wry grin. "Haze will eat or drink just about anything even vaguely suitable for human consumption."



"Even spinach?" Toby wrinkled his nose at the thought.



"Probably. One of the very few points where I know they openly differ is peas. Clark won't touch them, for some reason he actively hates them, but I've seen Haze guzzle them down."



"That's unnatural." Toby decided.



"Yeah, I thought so too," Lex agreed. "I mean who eats peas?"



"No, peas are okay, spinach is just gross…" Toby announced.



"I like spinach." Lex sent him a blistering glance. "As I recall, Clark does too."



"I already knew you were weird Lex, I never realised you were completely…"



"Eccentric?" Lex suggested quickly.



Toby raised an eyebrow. "Something along those lines."





* * * *





Martha bustled Jonathan out of the room, apparently unconvinced that her husband would be able to contribute anything useful to the task now in hand. She started to shut the door, but Lex subtly motioned for her to wait. Lionel was still skulking out in the hall and Lex very much wanted to know what his father might have to say to Mr Kent.



"Why don't we go and have a game of pool?" Lionel was suggesting.



"What?" Jonathan's voice reflected his utter amazement.



Lex knew just how the elder Kent felt, but hid it as best he could.



Lionel regarded his son with a bland look through the half-open door. "Well, it's obvious that our nearest and dearest are not going to let either of us into that room until they are good and ready," He said smoothly. "Therefore I propose that you and I do something more interesting than watching the outside of this very ordinary door for the next hour or so. I also happen to know where there is a bottle of ten year old malt, and a couple of glasses."



"Hmm." Jonathan hesitated. "Okay." He began trailing Lionel along the passage in a way that reminded Lex eerily of the excursions he and Clark had made through the echoing building.



"Just the one glass though…" Jonathan's voice faded off into the distance.







"Well, that's got rid of them for a while." Martha approved, as if she had planned exactly that. "Sorry about your whisky, Lex. Maybe we can,"



"I already hid the good stuff when I knew my father was planning to visit." Lex muttered. "Besides, even if he has found it, it's well worth a bottle or two if it stops Dad lurking out there like Dracula plotting a blood run."



Martha actually giggled. "I'm not sure I shall ever be able to look at your father in the same way again." She admitted. "I used to rather like Christopher Lee in that role."



"Christopher Lee only played a bloodsucker sometimes, Dad makes it a full time career." He grinned at her. "Okay, now what are you planning to do?"



"Toby said that Haze needs to be able to sense Clark, so I was thinking if we wrap Clark's shirt around the pillow like a pillowcase, that should help. We can angle Haze so that it's just under his head."



"Okay." Lex smiled. "This is a first, I've never had any flannel on my bed before." Absently he stroked one palm along Haze's shoulder.



"Never?" Martha gave him a strange look.



"Never. Dad would have had a hissy fit if any of the housekeepers had used anything but silk, or at the very least pure hand spun cotton, on our beds. He's very funny about maintaining appearances."



"I can guess." Martha finished fastening the buttons and set the pillow down beside Haze.



Lex stretched out, making sure that he maintained as much contact as possible with Haze, and guiding the other boy's arms around the pillow. Here goes…







An instant after the plush fabric touched his cheek, Haze's tight muscles relaxed just a fraction.



"Oh," Martha held her breath. Lex waited, moulding himself around Haze and feeling the firm body shiver against him. With a faint sigh, Haze's arms tightened firmly around the pillow, locking it to his chest.



"It worked!" Lex looked at Martha, and the next second she was hugging his hand tightly. "It worked!" They both chorused. Martha chuckled and then pulled out Clark's pyjama bottoms. "Let's get Haze into these." She suggested. "Find out if your friend Toby is really as smart as he thinks he is…"



For a second Lex contemplated the embarrassment factor involved in helping to dress an insensate friend, and of doing so with said friend's surrogate mother actively involved. At least neither Jonathan nor Lionel was around to pass comment.



Lex shrugged and edged over on the bed, glad for Toby insisting on getting him into some respectable bed wear. "You keep an eye on his wings and I'll sort out the bottom end." He offered. Martha smiled. Together they carefully eased Haze into the well-worn cotton pyjama bottoms.



"So not everything Clark wears is flannel?" Lex smirked, settling back down beside Haze and making sure that his companion's legs and feet were properly covered.



"Only because these are summer pj's." Martha grinned back. "In the winter Clark is once again the undisputed flannel king of Smallville." She made a slight grimace at that. "I do keep trying to wean him off it, but confidentially, Clark seems to have a thing about red flannel…"



As the covers settled around him, the rigidity in Haze's body dissipated, and he began to finally relax into Lex's arms.







"How do his legs feel, Lex?"



The evening was wearing on and Lex was starting to drowse, despite the company. Having a warm body next to his was extremely soothing. He hoped that Haze would find it the same once he recovered enough to notice it. "With his head resting on my chest, my toes only reach down to the bottom of his calves." He reminded Martha, "but those feel pleasantly warm now."



"I'll check his feet." Martha offered, and arriving at the end of the bed, slid her hands into the sheets and fumbled around for a few seconds. "Toasty." She said with evident relief. "Haze has warmed up nicely."



There was a quiet knock on the door.



"Come." Lex ordered automatically.



"Lex." Jonathan poked his head around the door. "Hi honey, how's our other boy?"



"A little better, I think?" Martha glanced at Lex.



"I reckon we should head off home now." Jonathan suggested. "I'd let you stay but we were supposed to be going to the wholesalers in the morning, plus I shouldn't drive after drinking."



"Jon, how much did you have?"



"Only the one glass, just like I said I would." Jonathan assured her, unconcerned by the deeply suspicious look his wife was giving him. "Lionel went a bit further though." He bit down on a wicked smile and tried to look contrite. "Sorry, Lex, but your Dad is passed out on the sofa in the pool room. He's going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow morning."



"Good." Lex smirked openly. "Don't worry about it, Jonathan, someone will be down there fairly soon to clear up. They'll find Dad, and see that he gets into his bed safely. At least if he does have a bad hangover he won't be up early and lurking around bothering me."



Martha giggled. "Lex, you shouldn't talk like that about your father." She admonished softly.



"If he was like Jonathan then I wouldn't want to." Lex admitted, and then felt faintly awkward. It must be because he was tired.



"Thanks." Jonathan took it as the compliment that it was. "But we'd better be off,"



"Before you swell his ego any further!" Martha smiled at Lex. "Thinking of leaving, do you need me for anything else tonight?" She glanced meaningfully toward the door to the en-suite.



"No thanks, Martha. I'm fine now." Lex reassured her. "All sorted."







After he heard the outside door shut behind his guests and the truck drive safely away, Lex abandoned his pyjama top so that he wouldn't overheat in the night, and manoeuvred himself down into the warmth of the bedding, settling Haze more comfortably in his arms.



Regular puffs of exhaled air flowed across his nipple, teasing the flesh into a hard peak, while soft strands of Haze's hair splayed out across Lex's bare skin, creating a small area of heat. Lex moulded himself onto the body facing his and sighed. It was nice being with someone, even if this particular body didn't really know he was there.



What is that wonderful smell? He inhaled again, testing the air. Scent? It's a bit like the way Clark usually smells… And that was what it was: the scent of his friend coming from the clothes Martha and Jonathan had fetched over.



Suddenly missing Clark terribly, Lex rubbed his face against the solid comfort of the other boy and inhaled deeply. A firm pulse started in his groin.



What a time to get aroused… Still it's not like anyone else need ever know…



Lex inhaled again, taking the scent of Clark deep into his lungs, but this wasn't just Clark: mixed in with the slightly musky aroma of the farm boy were strong overtones of blue sky and warm sun, a heady mix that, while so very like Clark, belonged not to him, but exclusively to the youth now lying in the bed with Lex.



Burying his fingers in the dark mass of Haze's tousled hair, Lex recalled what it was like to do this with Haze when the angel was able to respond to him. The pulse intensified into a solid ache.



Groaning, Lex reluctantly abandoned the bed. Haze was warm enough now, and Lex would never get any usable sleep if he let himself be seduced by those sorts of thoughts… He definitely didn't trust himself in a bed with Haze, even with clothes on. With the way that the angel made his body react a suit of armour might not have been sufficient protection, for either of them.







"What the?" Kal could feel the unease surging through him. He stared around, but the immediate area was empty of all life save his. The shining smoothness of the glass roof offered no purchase for anything earth-bound, which was why Kal had chosen it. Nothing human was going to be sneaking up on him up here. Nonetheless something was interrupting his thoughts.



"Clark!" He spat the word out. "It has to be that little wimp! Trying for a sneaky takeover bid are you? Time for a bit more juice then?" Fumbling for the little bottle, Kal watched in dismay as control of his hands diverted to Clark and the bottle dropped to the roof.



As luck would have it, instead of shattering, the small cylinder bounced once, then landed on its side, only to begin rolling steadily down along the glass panel toward the thirty-storey drop beyond.



"No!" Fury lent Kal strength and he dived energetically for the absconding item, determined to throw himself off the roof after it if necessary. As the bottle teetered on the brink, Kal regained just enough control to place one arm beyond the bottle and save it. Clark might have their hands, but his control was far from universal. Kal had a sudden inspiration. Rolling forward on his belly he stared over the lip of the roof and down at the distant ground, wriggling forward in determination.



As expected, a good long glance at the yawning gap beyond the roof was enough to set Clark retreating into the background.



Shaking with adrenaline and fury, Kal was able to regain active possession of their mutual form.

Stupid, Kent! You made your move too soon, now you're going to pay for that!







Mind completely made up, Kal forced off the thin metal lid and took a long swig of the contents. As he drank, it occurred to him that if there was to be anything dangerous to him in the bottle it probably would make little difference to him now regardless of much or little he imbibed. He'd already swallowed one large measure, so what was a few more?



Could make a big difference to the Clarkster though! Okay, then here goes nothing … Down the hatch!



Chugging down every last drop of the liquid, Kal waited. Somewhere in his stomach was a sensation of roiling unease, a sudden tightness in his gullet that gradually intensified into a definite ache.



No … it couldn't be, could it? That other guy looked fine. Maybe the booze diluted it? Or neutralised it?



Increasingly uncomfortable, Kal hunched over hugging his stomach. Forgetting the bottle he let it go, only half-watching it as it rolled down off the skylight and disappeared off the edge of the roof.



Somewhere inside, the Clark parts of him were panicking; horrified about the damage that the falling bottle would do if it hurtled down onto anyone passing below.



Kal had a more pressing concern. Could this be some sorta poison that only affects Kryptonians?



"Shit, I never thought of that!" He groaned aloud. Unused as he was to physical pain, Kal was finding it harder to deal with than expected.



Abruptly the sensation changed. Amazed at his own gullibility, Kal belched loudly, and then laughed.



Now I know why Earth-mom always told Clark not to gulp his drink!



The sound of glass smashing in the distance drifted up to him, and Kal managed a quick smirk, he could swear that somewhere in the back of his head, he could also hear Clark screaming in frustration.



"Well, what do you know, old Edge was on the level! Hmm, maybe it's time I popped back over for a talk with the little scuzzball? See what else he can do for me?"







Just after 1am Lionel eased slowly into the quiet room. Something had woken him, some unspoken and urgent summons that had relentlessly dug its way into his head and wrenched him brutally from his alcohol-induced slumbers.



Almost before his eyes had focussed Lionel had found himself unaccountably sober, not to mention uncharacteristically unsettled, and before he had even thought it over he was on his feet and heading along the cold stone passage toward the room where Lex was sitting vigil on Haze.



Twice Lionel had stopped in the hall, intending to turn back and return to his bed before he could be discovered, but each time the same curious compulsion had overridden any inclination to the contrary and nudged him on.



Inside the room a small night-light kept the dark at bay. In the bedside chair, Lex, now totally exhausted by the events of the day, slept the sleep of the dead, but it was the other occupant of the room that drew Lionel's attention.



Sprawled out on the large bed, Haze shifted restlessly. Shuddering, he gasped, fists clenching uselessly on empty air.



He's moving! Lionel closed the door behind him and stepped further into the room. Could he be waking? Walking over to the bed he pressed a tentative hand on the shoulder of the trembling youth: the skin under his was heated without a hint of moisture, the pulse racing.



Damn! He's feverish, and getting dangerously overheated… Dragging the blanket off, Lionel dropped it to one side, and hastily stripped the cheap sleepwear off the youth, leaving only the thin silk sheet in place over Haze.



"Lex!" He turned to his sleeping son. This wasn't good enough, Lex was supposed to be watching the angel, not examining the inside of his own eyelids!



"Mmmh," Lex stirred. "Dad?"



"Water," Lionel told him curtly. "And hurry."







Too sleep-befuddled to argue, Lex simply sat up and wordlessly handed over a couple of bottles from the table beside him.



Unsnapping the caps, Lionel poured the first bottle directly over Haze's back. Using the second and third bottles, he liberally doused the fine silk sheet covering the boy, watching as the soaking fabric sucked hungrily onto the ethereal body beneath, moulding like a second skin to the sculpted curves, and concealing nothing to the seeking eye.



"What the hell are you doing?" Lex was not only fully awake now, but also visibly angry.



"Ensuring that Haze does not go into convulsions." Lionel snapped, distributing the moisture evenly over Haze's naked back with the palm of his hand, and not happy to be either questioned by his heir or torn from his unsubtle appraisal of the unearthly visitor. He covered any suggestion of unease with a pithy glare at Lex. "As I expected you to have been doing."



"Oh." The response was hesitant. "I … didn't know."



"You're tired, Lex. Tired people make mistakes." Lionel told him, softening the rebuke. Lex's compliance would suit this situation far better than his anger. "Go off and get some proper sleep, son. I'll come and fetch you in a while. You can take the next watch."



"How is he now?" Lex dragged himself out of the chair with obvious effort.



Tracing his fingers along the curve of Haze's spine and distributing the water droplets more evenly over the smooth flesh, Lionel noted with approval that some of the heat was already fading from the unblemished skin. It also occurred to him that the near transparency of the light silk when wet was a definite bonus.



"Becoming cooler." He decided. "Now get yourself to bed, son."



Obediently Lex trudged out of the room, and after a few seconds the soft click of a door shutting sounded from along the hall.



Alone then… Lionel smiled to himself.







Morgan Edge stared at the flickering screen. The time display on the DVD player ticked off another minute. Briefly he debated whether it was worth going to bed at all tonight, in case the alien freak made a return visit?



Edge had no wish to be caught with his defences, or anything else, down. Ignoring the moving images, he sat brooding, idly running his fingers back and forth over the smooth leather of the chair. For a moment he thought he heard a noise. Muting the speakers, he listened intently.



What the hell was that?



The sound came again. It seemed to be coming from outside.



Is it him? Edge pulled himself together. Well, who else would be knocking on the door of a balcony twenty-three floors up?



He heaved himself out of the chair and rapidly answered the summons, very much aware that the testy youth could simply tear the door out of the wall if he felt he had been kept waiting too long.



"Kal…" He said pleasantly, inviting the looming figure inside. "So nice to see you again."



"I'll bet." The eyes flickered over him in an appraising glance, red glints appearing and disappearing with each movement. "Earlier you said you had something for me?"



"Ah, that." Edge walked over to his safe and tapped in the code without bothering to attempt to conceal the combination, knowing that if the freak really wanted anything, this safe would not be enough to keep him from it. He pulled out a small container and shut the safe again. "I hoped you might accept this as a token of my good faith?" He lifted a gleaming crystal set into a decidedly masculine chain from inside the box.



"A token?" The eerie eyes glowed like embers in the partially lit room.



"Of good faith." Edge repeated. "The chain is platinum, and I'm sure you are more than familiar with the very unique gem? I had this combination constructed especially for you. It seems more practical for maintaining your, ahem, current arrangement than carrying a loose lump of the rock around in your pocket."



Kal tilted his head quizzically. "Cool." He said at last. "Don't get any ideas though."



"Ideas?" Edge matched the intensity of the look, but only just.



"Don't get offended, it's an interesting … gift, and I'm sure it'll work very nicely," Kal said neutrally. "But in case you think there is anything symbolic about me deciding to wear a chain around my neck, even a custom platinum job, I want it understood in advance that I'm not in the market for even considering doing any sort of intimate favours. I don’t DO humans."







For a while, Lionel sat in the chair recently vacated by his son and heir. At first he simply watched and mused over his own thoughts, but as time passed it became increasingly obvious that all was still not well with the angel. Listening with growing concern, Lionel noted that the pace of the youth's breathing was changing, becoming fast and shallow. Panting, Haze writhed, the twitch of his fingers more pronounced over the dark sheets.



Sounds like he's fighting for air? Sitting beside the angel, Lionel urgently looked for a cause but the angel's airways seemed unobstructed. Softly prying the pearly white teeth apart, he slid one finger over the parted lips and even probed it lightly into the tempting mouth.



Nothing, no reason for such distress…



As Lionel removed his finger from the moist cavern, the pale lips opened in a wider gasp, snatching a desperate breath.



Why is the boy not breathing freely?







Lifting one heavy wing aside, Lionel ran his fingers over the muscular back, wondering if somehow there might be rib damage? He wouldn't have been surprised if that weird little medic had missed something. Speculatively he lifted the wing again, feeling the press as it settled back down onto his hand.



Heavy? The wings! Possibly that was why Haze habitually shifted them away? Lionel finally understood the problem: it was simple engineering. Spread out over his back like this, the wings were weighing down on Haze's chest and compressing his lungs.



Shifting Haze into the recovery position, Lionel carefully adjusted the broad sails until they were flexed out behind the youth's back with the two outer surfaces pressing up against each other. At the slight improvement in the angel's breathing, he relaxed somewhat. Checking the youth's temperature, he considered exchanging the drying silk sheet for a slightly thicker cover but decided that further cooling might be required.



Settling back into the chair, Lionel let his mind wander, only to be pulled from his introspection by a disquieting gurgle. Jumping to his feet, he knelt anxiously beside the prone figure, watching the perfect lips part and turn grey as Haze gasped for dear life.



"Haze, you have to heal yourself!" Lionel whispered. "Clark needs you, young man…" He recalled his earlier misgivings about the dirty water in which they had found the boy. Pressing his ear to Haze's chest he heard liquid sounds where there should have been none.



Have to do something quickly! But what?



On instinct, Lionel urgently drew the unearthly boy into his arms, carrying him over to the nearby sofa, recalling the preventative measures necessary for Lex as a young and highly asthmatic child, he elevated the foot end of the sofa with a couple of books, and after placing a towel under Haze's face, began to rhythmically pat and massage along the broad back.







Finally, when Lionel's hands and arms were aching and he had almost given up hope of succeeding, Haze's chest hitched and a spurt of brownish liquid gushed out of the angel's open mouth.



At last! That should clear his lungs … Now, from what I recall, he should be kept upright for a short while to assist him in breathing while his lungs purge any remaining traces.



Restoring the room, Lionel settled down, drawing Haze onto his lap so that he could prop the angel into a near-upright position in his arms.



"Easy, Haze, I'm here." He told him, wondering why he should find it so easy to comfort this youth when any hint of weakness in his own offspring inevitably served to rapidly infuriate him?



As Haze's head settled onto the crook of Lionel's shoulder, the angel drew the first easy breath he had taken in too long. Gradually his breathing evened out and slowed to a more normal pace.



Lionel also breathed a sigh: one of sheer relief. "That's a good boy. Now don't worry me like that again…" He murmured, and stroking the dark hair he cradled the beguiling youth against him, so concerned with not damaging the extended wings that at first he scarcely noticed where his other hand was resting.



The angle at which Haze lay within Lionel's embrace meant that the boy's face was slightly tilted up towards his, the puffs of breath intermittently warming and cooling the skin of Lionel's neck as the heat of one exhalation evaporated only to be replaced by the next.







It was only when Lionel's fingertips inevitably met hot damp fabric that he became aware that his free hand was resting on the boy's thigh: legs that were now slightly parted and currently covered only by the finest film-thin deep-dyed silk that money could buy, and certainly nowhere near concealing enough to hide the quite considerable endowment at the junction of those impeccably developed limbs.



Everything about him is so exquisitely in proportion… Lionel marvelled. And currently so endearingly vulnerable…



At that sudden realisation a thrill tingled through Lionel; more intense than anything he could ever recall experiencing before. At that instant he became utterly and completely aware of every inch of his own body, and that of the youth propped against him in this intimate embrace. Heat seared through his groin, and he glanced down to find the perfect lips open just a touch and placed so temptingly close to his.



"Now, what would people think?" He asked softly, "If anyone was too see this?"







"There was nothing personal in the offer," Somehow Edge managed not to look away, or sound offended. "Implied or otherwise."



"Then you and I have a business arrangement." Kal agreed. "Strictly business though."



"Naturally, Kal, I hadn't ever envisioned it as anything else." Edge sat back down in his chair and reached for his abandoned drink. "Do I take it the little bottle served its intended purpose?"



"It came in handy." Kal lifted the necklace and ran it through his fingers, admiring the weight of it and the play of the links. "Tasteful." He decided, and fastened it around his neck with fingers that were surprisingly dextrous given their size.



"Are you happy with it?" Edge couldn't help but ask. "If the fit isn't right I can have it altered."



"No, it's fine." Kal decided. "More than fine…"



"Excellent, then I hope that this will be the first of many pleasant exchanges between us? Now, if you are interested, we might begin by considering relocating you to more appropriate accommodations?"



Kal grinned, and accepted the glass Edge was holding out to him. "Cheers, partner…"





* * * * *





After he was finally sure that his father had finally left for his own rooms and would not be returning at any time soon, Lex climbed into the bed with Haze. On Lionel's express instructions, Haze was laying propped partly upright, both wings shifted out to one side.



"However we'd also better follow Doctor's orders," Lex smirked, easing the covers around both of them. "I shall have to remember to slip Toby a large bonus for that one." He slid one arm under Haze's neck and the other around his shoulder.



"You're too tempting, you know that?" He whispered, tilting the youth's head and pressing his lips to the smooth forehead. There was no response.



"You're here in my bed, we're alone, and I suppose that I won't take any real advantage of the situation because I suddenly have a conscience…" He complained softly. He tilted Haze's head a little further and planted a kiss on the boy's nose, "But you are still entirely too available." His lips drifted down, ghosting over the perfect cupid's bow of Haze's upper lip, and he nipped lightly at the sensuous curve of the lower lip.



"It really isn't fair." Lex continued mildly, "I've had to keep Clark at arms length for the past couple of years, and now you come along looking exactly like him, except that you're nowhere near as oblivious usually. Only today you're also being dangled right under my nose, even worse, actually in my bed, and I'm supposed to resist the urge to do anything to you."







Lex slid his tongue across the exquisite flesh.

"People really ought to realise that Luthor's aren't good at being good…" He remarked before deftly inserting the tip of his tongue into the warmth, testing to see if there was any way in between the closed teeth.



"It's just not the way we work." He explained to the unresponsive form.



"We plan," Carefully drawing Haze closer to him, Lex let the boy's neck fall gently back until gravity naturally relaxed Haze's jaw muscles just enough to give Lex entry.



"We research," Probing the unresisting mouth with fascination, Lex licked and sucked until he was sure that he had left nothing unexplored. It was a beautiful mouth, and he would certainly give it the extra attention it deserved in the future, but for now he had other equally interesting goals to pursue.



"We extrapolate," Haze's chest was as hairless as his own, and to Lex's delight the delicate nipples proved just as responsive.



"And then we conquer …" He eased the sheet away from Haze's buttocks and thighs, and licked along the tumescent organ from root to tip.



Half-hard already … Oh, yes!



"See," Lex approved, admiring the magnificent length as it began to thicken and engorge. "There are definite benefits to mutual co-operation." He licked again, watching the tip jerk up toward him. "And it seems to me that you would be more than willing to co-operate…" He deliberately breathed every word over the hardening organ, noting the flush of colour and the delicious fragrance of arousal.



Delicately tasting the moist slit, Lex drew the flaring head into his mouth as it jumped up on contact with his tongue.



Purposely Lex held himself back, not wanting to waste the moment by coming in his pants like a schoolboy. The deepening breaths told him that at least some part of Haze was returning to awareness, while the quickening pulse and the tightening of the warm skin suggested that climax might not be too far away either.







With one last strong suck, Lex expertly brought the now semi-conscious youth to completion. Gently he restored Haze's covers to order, before settling back down into the pillows, and locking his arms around the broad chest.



"Haze?" Lex stroked the flushed cheeks, and sneaked a soft kiss onto the passion-swollen lips.



Dark eyelashes fluttered, and Haze blinked at him. Stretching his wings, he shivered them away, and looked at Lex expectantly.



"It's okay. We can sleep now, if you want? I just wanted to be sure that you were alright?" Lex told him. "I don't mind waiting for next time."



Apparently Haze would mind. Flexing impressive biceps, he reached out for Lex, gentle fingers stroking along the edge of Lex's ear before questing out over the hairless skin of his head.



Lex found himself being softly disengaged from the embrace and rotated until his back was pressed against Haze's chest. One of Haze's arms was under him, holding him close, the youth's other hand rubbed down along Lex's stomach to his hips, where the pyjama bottoms seemed to be in the way. A single touch from the unearthly youth and Lex found himself as naked as his bed mate.







Although not quite the way Lex was used to disrobing, it was undeniably efficient. As he considered the more obvious advantages of having an angel in his bed, a large hand snaked around his erection and tested it lightly.



"Harder." Lex whispered. The solid arm around his chest tightened, but the grasp on his swollen organ remained careful. Steadily the broad fingers rubbed up and down his length. As the skin brushed his, a curious tingle rippled through him from root to tip.



Oh Lord! Like a tongue, but better…!



"Please, Haze. Do that again." Lex urged. But Haze was obviously working to a subtly different game plan.



Pulling himself upright, and leaning in over Lex's shoulder, the dark-haired youth began to lightly nibble at the side of Lex's neck.



"Oh yes, that's good too!" Lex approved. Hot moist kisses mixed with just a hint of teeth as Haze paid attention to Lex's neck and chin: the hand around Lex's shaft keeping perfect pace with the rate of the lip movement.



Slowly, Haze rolled Lex onto his back and pressed him down onto the mattress, methodically working his way along his body, until he had teased Lex's nipples into tight nubs, and reverently traced every bunch of muscle in his quivering abs with fingers, lips and tongue.



The leisurely pace and the uncanny tingling were driving Lex to the edge. He would have screamed, had he not already been rendered utterly breathless.







Finally, Haze slid one muscular hand under Lex's hips and lifted him effortlessly toward his lips. Finding his voice, Lex moaned in pleasure but Haze only licked broad sweeps along the insides of Lex's thighs and around the crease of his groin, and continued the sweet torment. Holding him firmly by each hip, he bent over Lex, to breathe warm moist air over his hypersensitive shaft.



Lex cried out and jerked helplessly in Haze's grasp. "Please!" He begged, "Please Haze, now!" Luthor's didn’t beg, but Lex didn’t care.



Moving in still closer, Haze blew a sudden draft of cool air on his aching cock and then licked it.



Lex felt the spasm start at the base of his balls and surge upwards.



"Oh god!" He groaned as Haze swallowed him whole and the climax finally burst out of Lex in a pulsating wave of pure pleasure.



Totally spent, Lex felt himself being pulled close against Haze's wonderfully muscular frame, and too sated to even think of protesting at being used as a human-sized teddy, he drifted off to sleep.