Notes: Thanks to Lola, jfc and YNW for the beta help. Written for keewick and dianehc who wanted hurt-comfort clex.

Feedback: Yes please that would be very nice. I'd like to hear what you think.

Disclaimer: DC Comics, Warner Brothers, Tollin/Robbins and Millar/Gough Ink own Smallville and its characters. I am just playing.

A dense fog obscured Lex's view as he looked out from where he stood on the balcony. The weather report had promised rain all day. Lex sighed deeply and scrubbed his face. Clark had flown off the previous night on some urgent mission for the League and he hadn't returned. Usually when it was going to take longer than a day, Clark would contact Lex to let him know what the situation was and when he could be expected to return home.

That call had never come. Lex had only slept for a few hours before vivid nightmares of where Clark could be had woken him. Now he sat on the balcony waiting. He sipped his coffee and set it down with a grimace. It had gone cold an hour ago, and the bitter taste only fueled to his unease.

Lex loved that Clark wanted to save the world. He loved Clark's heroic streak. He loved that Clark was all about helping people. There had been so many times when Clark had saved Lex, he was grateful to still have the world's biggest Boy Scout, as Lois Lane of the Daily Planet had dubbed Superman, practically at his beck and call, but since the day they'd moved in together and decided to share a living space, Lex had learned that things were not always as they seemed.

He shifted in his deck chair, crossing and uncrossing his legs. The cell phone sitting on the table in front of him started to vibrate. Lex watched as it made a journey across the table and reached out just in time to catch it as it fell over the edge.

"Lex Luthor speaking," he said in his usual business tone. It was Lois, calling to find out why her partner, Clark Kent, had not come into work. Lex made the excuse that Clark had suddenly come down with some debilitating ailment and he couldn't come to the phone at this time. He held the phone away from his ear as Lois shrilled at him. The only words that registered were when Lois said "Superman" and "Channel Six News." Lex jumped out of his chair and dropped the phone on the table, leaving Lois to her own devices. He rushed into the apartment, and snatched the TV remote from the coffee table.

Sure enough there he was: Superman on the news. The text below the footage said it was from very early that morning. Before Lex could sit down, he turned at the noise on the balcony.

"Lex," a feeble voice cried out. Lex dropped the remote as a loud crash echoed through the apartment. He rushed to see what the clatter was all about. There was a dent in the floor of the balcony, in which a very bedraggled Superman lay on his side. Lex immediately assessed the situation. He noted that there were screams coming from his cell phone. He also noted that Superman's uniform was glowing green.

Lex had tried while living in Smallville to gather all the Kryptonite that had fallen from the sky, but some rocks had managed to remain at large. This meant that every once in awhile, one of Superman's nemeses would somehow obtain the rocks and use them in very creative ways.

Lex flicked his cell phone off, ignoring the shouts from Lois, who it seemed had not stopped yelling at him and gave no sign of quieting anytime soon. He crouched down at Clark's side. Clark was no longer awake. His face was covered in bruises and his costume was tattered in so many places there was probably no way to salvage the thing. Even so, it was impossible to tear off, and maneuvering Clark out of it in this condition would be no easier; the shower seemed like the best option.

After doing his best to determine there were no broken bones or any other worse injuries, Lex attempted to wake Clark. When that didn't work, Lex attempted to drag his body into the apartment. He paused in his task to think through a strategy. The best thing to do would be to remove as much of the source of what was hurting Clark. Lex unsnapped the cape and tossed it as far from Clark was he possibly could. He managed to get it all the way to the other side of the balcony. The removal of the suit wasn't as easy. Lex had to roll Clark over several times before he could yank the thing off. When at last he was stripped to his underwear, Clark still bore a green tint on his skin.

Once that was done, he bunched the tainted fabric up into a ball. They always had lead-lined boxes on hand for just this sort of occasion. He rushed into the penthouse and stuffed the suit into a box, slamming the lid shut.

When he went back out to the balcony, Clark had opened his eyes. Lex rushed to his side and fell to his knees, touching Clark's cheek. Clark shivered and looked around groggily. As soon as he saw Lex he smiled feebly. Clark's eyes fell shut and he was motionless again except for the steady rise and fall of his chest. Lex was just going to have to get Clark inside on his own.

Lex managed to get Clark's immobilised form through the balcony doorway before he had to take a break. Clark was fucking heavy. Lex loved every inch of Clark's body -- he adored every last rippling muscle and his huge arms and legs, but he was just too heavy for Lex to move. When Clark was a dead weight, it was even worse.

Lex attempted yet again to wake Clark. He touched the damaged tissue on Clark's cheek, cringing for Clark, and breathed a sigh of relief when Clark's green eyes fluttered open again and a less-feeble smile played across Clark's bruised face. Despite the removal of the suit, Clark hadn't started to heal as he usually did. Lex needed to get Clark to the bathtub to clean off the remaining particles or Clark would never heal.

"Hey," Lex said, once again gently touching Clark's cheek. "I need to get you to the bathroom, but you're too heavy." Lex swallowed hard when Clark flinched. He rarely saw Clark in pain, and Lex could see that there was a green glow to Clark's skin. There was still a substantial amount of the dust where Clark had fallen, though the dust on the balcony was too far from Clark to glow any longer. Lex was grateful for that.

Clark managed to nod. Lex could see it cost him dearly. Clark fell back when he attempted to actually stand. His arms bulged with the strain of it, before Clark finally gave up and collapsed once again.

It took Lex almost a half hour to get Clark to the bathroom. In that time, Lex had begged, cajoled, urged and even prayed, but Clark did not wake up again. He was just glad nobody was awake to hear him.

Through sheer force, he finally managed to get Clark into the bathroom. Lex quickly stripped the briefs from Clark's limp body, making Lex feel almost like a pervert. He hauled Clark into the bathtub that he'd already filled with the hottest water Lex could stand to have touch his own skin. He positioned Clark so that his head would not slip underwater and so he could quickly attend to all of the Kryptonite dust that was still in the apartment. He could have it destroyed later, but for now he put as much of it into the lead-lined box as he could.

He'd left the television on through all of this, and the words "dead" and "Superman" caught his attention just as Lex was about to vacuum up. That stopped him in his tracks. He had the evidence to the contrary in his bathtub but hearing those words didn't hit home any less.

For three days Lex fretted, paced, made phone calls, and paced some more as Clark lay in their bed in a coma-like state. Lex constantly touched Clark to see that he was still warm. Each time he did, he breathed a sigh of relief. Clark hadn't so much as fluttered a single eyelash since the morning he had fallen onto their balcony like some brutalized angel cast down from heaven. Lex had bathed and dressed Clark in pajamas, and somehow found the strength to move his unconscious form to the bedroom and into the bed. Lex had watched helplessly as the bruises had slowly healed. The vicious black eye had faded to a yellow-green, and Lex could only hope than any injuries he couldn't see were healing as well.

It had been years since Lex had seen Clark this badly injured. The last time had been a lifetime ago, when they were just best friends exchanging sly looks for shy glances. Lex smiled as he patted Clark's damp forehead with a fresh dry cloth. He remembered those days with nothing but fondness, even if his memories were somewhat skewed. He tended to always block out the part where Clark had only ever had eyes for Lana Lang, but that had changed.

A faint groan brought Lex back to where he was. He watched as Clark's eyes fluttered open, his dark lashes caressing his cheeks. Lex never thought he'd be so happy to see green again. He smiled down at Clark, dabbing Clark's forehead once again.

"Hey," Clark whispered with a raspy voice. He turned his head to the left and coughed. Lex felt his heart almost stop with overwhelming relief. "How long have I been out of it?" Clark asked. This time his vocal cords fared much better.

"A few days," Lex answered, unable to keep the concern from his voice.

Clark attempted to sit up but he was weaker than a kitten. Lex pushed at his chest, barely putting any force behind it.

"Lay back," he urged. "You're still not completely healed after what happened to you."

Clark nodded and did as he was told, his face already flushed from trying to move. Lex brushed a lock of dark hair from his cheek and smiled. He reached out for a glass of water and held it up as Clark tilted his head just enough to take a sip from the straw. After he was done, Clark shot Lex a grateful look and lay his head back down, closing his eyes. Lex watched the dark lashes flutter. He set the glass down and stood up.

"I need to get some work done. Just call if you need me," Lex said. Without opening his eyes, Clark nodded acknowledgement that he'd heard and drifted off once again.

Lex left the door ajar and made his way to his home office. He sat down behind the desk and started up the laptop.

He'd already talked to Clark's parents and reassured them that Clark would be just fine. They'd almost come to town. Somehow Lex had managed to convince them that it wasn't necessary. Lex was glad they had stayed away. It was hard enough having to deal with Lois and Clark's boss, Perry White. He really didn't need Martha and Jonathan Kent in the mix.

Lex had just connected with an overseas contact for a long overdue conference call when he heard the cries. He told the man on the other end that he'd need to get back to him and hung up on shouts of outrage. Lex stood and quickly moved out into the hallway. The cries had grown more urgent. They were coming from the bedroom.

When he pushed the door open, he found that Clark had somehow managed to prop himself up against the headboard. He looked exhausted, sweat beading on his forehead and his arms lying limp by his side.

"I thought you'd left," he said in the saddest voice Lex had ever heard. Lex moved immediately to his side and sat down on the bed. He picked up the cloth and wiped the Clark's brow.

"What is it? Are you in a lot of pain?" Lex asked. That had come out sounding way too motherly for Lex's taste, but the sad look in Clark's eyes just plucked at Lex's heartstrings.

"No," Clark's said, sticking out his bottom lip. "I just missed you."

Lex wanted to laugh, it was so absurd, but at least it meant that Clark was almost normal again, as normal as an alien who had just had his ass handed to him could be anyway.

"Do you want me to stay by your side?" Lex asked already knowing the answer to the question.

He wasn't surprised when Clark nodded and a twinkle of triumph sparkled in his eyes. Lex sighed and settled in beside Clark, stretching his legs out to get more comfortable.

"Lex," Clark said after a long stretch of silence.

"Yes, Clark."

"I need to pee," Clark muttered.

Lex rolled his eyes with exaggerated exasperation.

"The things I do for the one I love," he said as he stood up and began helping Clark out of bed.

The truth was, Lex would have done anything for Clark and they both knew it.

"You might have to hold it," Clark joked as they stumbled across the hall to the bathroom, Clark leaning heavily on Lex.

"I have my limits..." Lex started to say as Clark slipped and his full weight buckled Lex's knees. Lex managed to stay upright, bracing his arm on the wall.

"So, you'll put it in your mouth, but..." Clark said with a twinkle in his eyes that Lex had missed more than he would ever be able to express.

"Don't finish that sentence, Kent," Lex chastised. He couldn't help. After the last few days with doom hanging over his head as he waited for Clark to wake up, he could use a good laugh.

"This is totally love," Clark said as they stumbled their way into the bathroom.

"You bet your cute, super ass it is," Lex added. "Don't ever scare the crap out of me like that ever again," he added for good measure.

He paused long enough to kiss Clark gently on the lips. Clark's needy response was having a very pleasant effect on Lex. Lex knew that everything was going to be more than fine. After all, when it came to the original Boy Scout and a Luthor, nothing less was acceptable.

End