Title: "Kiss Away the Skeletons"
Author: Kat Lee
Rating: G/K
Summary: It's time to forget the skeletons.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, names, codenames, places, items, fandoms, titles, and etc. are always © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Any and all original characters and everything else is © & TM the author and may not be reproduced in any way without the author's express, written permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

He landed in the middle of nowhere and looked around him with fondness. A smile slowly curved his lips upward for the first time in days. Saving the Earth this time had began to seem impossible. He'd started wondering why he continued to risk everything for a world of people who, for the most part, were so thankless that they were destroying the planet even as he strove to save it. Yet, as always, Clark had only to pay a visit home to find all the answers and reasons he needed. He sighed joyfully and zipped through his Kansas cornfield.

He would have kept running all day except for the very familiar sound of a limousine ceasing its travel outside his field. He listened as the villain exited his car and slowly made his way through the giant corn stalks. "Clark? Clark, I know you're here!"

Sighing and frowning, Clark raced to face the last man whom he wanted to see now. "Lex."

"It doesn't have to be this way, baby."

"You tried to destroy the world again."

"I tried to save it."

"You can't save it by making everybody your slaves!"

Sighing, Lex frowned. "That was not my original plan."

"Prove it."

"How?"

"Turn yourself in."

"I can't do that."

"You won't do it."

"If you take me in, I'll never see you privately again."

"But you won't be able to hurt anybody."

"I don't want to hurt anybody!"

"I can't believe you."

"Clark, love, if I really wanted to rule the world, would I have come here, without green kryptonite, knowing that you could take me and even all the guards in the world couldn't stop you?"

Clark was silent.

"No. I'd either be fighting you with the thousands of tons of kryptonite I'm having destroyed every day, or I'd have traveled to the other side of the world."

"What do I have to do to convince you that I don't want to rule the world?" Lex slowly approached his pouting boyfriend.

Clark's eyes traveled his lover; he always had been the most handsome view he'd ever seen. "There's nothing you can do except turn yourself in to the authorities."

"There's got to be another way," Lex murmured softly, struggling to keep from smiling. Clark was no longer running. He touched him; he didn't flinch. Wrapping his arms around him, Lex held Clark tenderly. "How about this? We both retire."

"Not that again. You know I can't stop saving lives."

Lex sighed again. It wasn't that Clark couldn't stop, but he knew that he would never stop being a hero. Even without his abilities, he was still determined to do what he felt was the right thing, and for Clark, that meant putting his life on the line for any innocent who happened to be in danger traveling around him. Lex, too, believed in doing right, which was protecting his love. The only way Clark would ever stop fighting is if he had nothing to fight, if the world actually had peace, which could only happen under the right dictatorship.

Lex knew he could enforce world peace but knew, too, it would cost him Clark's love. "Then I'll retire."

"It's not that simple."

Lex's body slid closer against Clark's. "It can be," he advised, "if we let it."

"Lex, you've done so much wrong - "

"We all have a few skeletons in our closets, Clark, even you." He held him firmly when Clark moved to pull away. "But today doesn't have to be about our past, sweetheart. It can be about our future, our future together if you want." His eyes slowly traveled up his body until they locked with his blue orbs.

"It doesn't matter what I want."

"Yes, it does." Lex's hands cupped Clark's face; his fingers traveled featherishly soft over his flesh. "Nothing matters more to me. Clark, just answer me this. Do you love me?"

"Yes."

"Then give me this chance. Give me a chance to show you I can be who you want me to be. Give me a chance to love you right this time."

"Lex, I - "

"Hush." Lex silenced him with a kiss whose searing passion was hotter than the very sun. Lex smiled as he stole Clark's breath; he'd keep kissing him until he said "yes".

The End