Title: „Charlotte's Web in Smallville“

Author: Bev

Beta: Twinsarein, thanks hun. You're the best.

Wave: 34 „Autumn“, prompts: End of summer/Pecan pie/gathering firewood and spiders.

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Chloe is sick, Clark is desperate and a little spider gets a good meal.

„You can't let me go there alone!“

Clark stared with wide eyes at Chloe who was currently hugging the toilet bowl as if it was her best friend. Which was probably true, because she spent the last ten minutes heaving her guts out, right into said toilet. And without it there … things would have been really messy. Now, she looked up at Clark, her eyes glassy, her face pale.

„Clark … you *have* to go. I promised your mom that I ...“ Another, almost painful sounding heave went through her, and for a moment Clark wondered what exactly it could be that she still managed to spit into the toilet … surely everything she'd been eating for the last four days was already flushed down the pipes. There couldn't be anything left inside of her, could there?

After a second of deep breathing, Chloe continued. „I promised your mom to bring her pecan pie to the Harvest Fair's Charity Auction while she's in DC. But I can't go … not like this.“

And in that point, Clark totally agreed with her. „You can take Lana with you,“ Chloe said quietly, sounding even more miserable than before. For a brief second Clark wondered if it was possible to vomit your brain. Then he shook his head. „No, I don't think I want that,“ he said. It might be funnier to put his hand into a wood chipper than to have Lana at his side at the Fair. Oh wait … he did that before. And yes, it had been more fun.

He looked down at Chloe, at her small figure, huddled up against the toilet, and sighed. „Okay, I'll do it.“

If it would have been possible for her, Chloe would have beamed one of her famous smiles at him. But in her current condition she simply managed a hoarse, „Thanks, Clark. I owe you.“ Then she bowed her head again, trying to bring up something that Clark would rather prefer to not look at too closely.

He took a step back, and bumped softly against the door frame. „I... ah … I'll go get the pie and then I'll head off to the Fair, okay? You try to get better, and … leave your guts where they belong, okay?“

Chloe smiled a tired smile, and nodded. „Yeah, I'll try. Jimmy wanted to come over in about an hour … play nurse or something like that.“

Yeah, that was Jimmy. Sweet, stupid Jimmy. Playing nurse for his beloved Chloe, and most likely he'd catch the same bug that – he had to grin a little at his internal play on words – bugged Chloe right now, and in two days tops, he'd be the one driving the porcelain bus. With Chloe hovering over him.

In a way, it was sweet. And it reminded Clark of what he missed in his life. Not the throwing up, God no. He was really glad that he simply couldn't throw up. Must be a Kryptonian thing. But the being-cared for feeling his mother had given him when he'd been small, and had been sad because of something some kid had said to him. Or just because he'd alwys been different. Had always been told that he was special. He'd hated to be special. Because special had meant that the other kids had been afraid of him. Because he'd been faster, and stronger.

His mother had comforted him then. Had cuddled him, had baked cookies for him, and had cared for him like only a mother could.

Sometimes he missed that now that he was an adult.

A very weird noise from Chloe interrupted his thoughts, and he turned around, almost ran into the doorframe he'd rested against, and threw a quick, „I'd better be off, now,“ over his shoulder, before he had to listen to Chloe throw up once more.

~*~

The Fair was big. Well, big for Smallville, Lex thought with a wry little smile while he weaved his way through the tables, and stands, and greeted to the left and the right. He'd stay for an hour and then he'd go home again. This way the people would at least see him, and know that he tried to be a part of their community. And maybe – if Martha was here – he could even exchange a few words with Clark.

It was the Autumn Fair, held always – so he'd been told – during the last weekend before the clocks were moved back an hour. People would gather, dance, talk, eat and generally simply have a good time. And then there was this Charity thing, of course. The town wanted to raise money for the new kindergarten or pre-school or for whatever the current project of the year happened to be. There would be an auction of home-made goodies, and Lex, like a good little citizen, would join in and buy something. (In America at least, clocks fall back the third or fourth weekend in October – Autumn is only a month old.

He saw the stage at the end of the Fair, and just as he was about to turn away, a familiar figure jumped up on the stage.

Clark.

He held out something to one of the auctioneers who took it with a smile, and put it with the other items already presented on the table.

Hm. Maybe he should head over there, take a look at what Clark had brought. Maybe, he'd know what exactly he'd buy.

~*~

Two hours later, Clark burst through Chloe's door with an excited „50.000 $, Chlo … Mom's Pie got us 50. ….“ The rest is lost in a whirlwind of fierce and angry Jimmy, pushing him out into the corridor, hissing, „She's asleep, you big idiot!“

Wow.

He never thought Jimmy had it in him. He gazed down at the small man who currently had his fists pressed against his chest. Of course, if Clark had wanted it, he just needed to take a deep breath and Jimmy would not only be at the other end of the room, but on the other end of the continent. Right now he was too excited to even consider it.

„Jimmy, Mom's pie was auctioned off for 50.000 $!“ he said with a beaming smile.

The door behind them ripped open at that, and Chloe stood in the doorway. Clark frowned. Okay, she still looked like total shit. Dark circles under her eyes in a face that was still much too pale to be healthy, but her eyes shone brightly.

„Really?“ she croaked, and Clark winced a little at her hoarse voice. All that vomiting really had put a strain on her vocal chords. But the happiness in her eyes was unmistakable, and so Clark decided to ignore Jimmy's muttering, and beamed back at Chloe.

„Yes. Really!“

„Who bought … no wait. I know who bought it. There's only one man in Smallville who can afford to buy a pie for 50 grand.“

„Lex Luthor!“ Clark and Chloe said in unison, and Chloe laughed. Which turned into a coughing fit, and sent her straight back to the toilet. Clark listened to the noises, and decided that now was a very good moment to return Chloe to the loving care of Jimmy Olson.

„Give Chloe my love,“ he said to the smaller man who stood still in front of him. Jimmy simply nodded, turned around, and closed the door – a little more forcefully than was strictly neccesary – in Clark's face.

~*~

The farm was always a little too quiet when his mom was in DC, Clark thought while he fed the animals and cleaned up the barn. He missed her puttering around in the kitchen, her way of caring for him, of making sure that he ate enough, slept enough, dressed properly. All the things he could easily do himself nowadays, but there still was a small part inside of him that missed all of that.

He worked slowly, at human speed. It gave him time to think. Time to think about Lex and his motives for buying the pie for the amazing sum of 50 grand. Not that his mom's pies weren't worth it … but still.

„Deep in thought?“

The voice coming from his door startled him momentarily, and he dropped the broom which clattered to the floor.

„Geez, Lex … you scared the life out of me,“ he said, bowing down to retrieve the broom. He continued the sweeping motion over the floor, and – without really looking at Lex – asked, „What are you doing here, anyway?“

Slowly, Lex walked closer, until Clark pulled the broom almost over his feet. „I have a problem, Clark,“ he said with a serious expression on his face. Clark looked up. He knew that tone of voice. Lex wanted to play. He suppressed a smile and remained serious.

„What problem?“ he asked innocently.

„Yeah, you see I have this pie … in my car. It's an amazing pie. A 50.000-Dollar-Pie. And I want to share it with someone very special. I wanted to take him to a picnic with a nice big fire … we would gather some firewood together, and afterwards we would enjoy the pie. But … “

Lex quieted down, simply gazing at Clark with a kicked puppy look on his face. And who knew the mighty Lex Luthor had that look in him?

„But?“ Clark couldn't hide the smile any longer.

„But … he's busy right now.“

„Is he?“

Another solemn nod. „Yes. Apparently, very busy.“ Lex leaned closer, and murmured in a hushed voice. „He's busy sweeping the barn. And right now, I don't see him finishing anytime soon.“

He hadn't quite finished the sentence when the barn was squeeky clean around him, a thick blanket resting in its middle, and some candles lit. He grinned.

„I guess I was wrong. He's ready. So now it seems I don't have a prob...“ The rest of his sentence was cut off by Clark's mouth slowly possessing his. With a sigh, Lex closed his eyes, giving himself over to his lover. Clark could feel the surrender, and it turned him on so fast that he had to think about his dad catching them with his gun to cool down a bit.

The kiss gentled a bit, urgency became softness, and Lex moaned into the kiss. It seemed an eternity until Clark finally released Lex's mouth, and murmured huskily, „So … your problem ...“

„Shut up, Clark.“

Laughing, they sank down onto the blanket, clothes were kissed away, and as Clark slowly impaled himself onn Lex's cock, the world outside vanished.

~*~

They ate the pie. Many hours later when they lay sated and deeply satisfied in each other's arms, slowly coming down from their orgasms.

„Charlotte is watching us,“ Clark said suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere. Lex tried to scratch some braincells together – which seemed to be spread across the whole room – to form a coherent answer, and finally came up with, „Huh?“

With a smile, Clark pointed to one corner of the barn, and when Lex managed to follow it, he saw a big, black spider sitting in its web. Then he raised one brow.

„Charlotte?“ he asked, his voice a little incredulously.

Clark blushed. „Yes, Charlotte. As in Charlotte's Web.“

Lex pushed himslef up on one elbow so he could get a better look at his lover. „You seriously named a spider of all things?“

„Hey!“ Clark sounded a little miffed. „Don't call her a thing. That's not nice. She's here for forever, and I thought when all the animals have a name, it would be unfair to simply call her 'Hey you'. So I named her Charlotte.“

Lex could feel a smile form on his face. Clark frowned. „Are you making fun of me?“

Lex leaned closer, and kissed his lover gently. „No. I think it's cute that you have such an amazing heart that even the feelings of a little spider mean so much to you.“

Another kiss. Followed by a bit of pecan pie that Lex fed to his lover. „And for that I love you,“ he murmured against pie-sweet lips as he kissed Clark again.

Up in the far corner of the barn, Charlotte was busy wrapping a fly in her silken strings. She would have a nice dinner later.

The end