slayers_desire | in the darkness the baby comes

The little dragonets land all over the room, out of the way, but watching and humming. They're always curious when little ones are being welcomed into the world, whether it's humans or their own.

Clark Luthor arrives a few moments later, and he's surprised to find far more fire-lizards than his own. "For the record, this was not my idea."

"It is a sweet gesture..." The humming helps her concentrate on the oak tree in her mind.

"My father and the doctor are downstairs. And I really need to feed..." April closes her eyes. She tries not to think about how weak she might be perceived right now. "And I need someone here to pull Clark away from me... if I drink too fully."

The two Clarks look at each other. "You trust me to do that?" Luthor asks.

Clark shakes his head. "Not exactly. But she does."

And April's trust is hard to achieve -- it is something that even Luthor wouldn't want to break right now. She growls deeply, feeling another rush of hunger come over her. The thirst becoming even more unbearable.

"I don't think I can hold back on my instinct any further..."

Clark nods and takes his blue kryptonite bracelet out of the bedside table drawer. "Then help or get out," he tells Luthor, and puts the bracelet on.

April chuckles lightly, a little amused by Clark's protective nature. In normal circumstances -- she would be cautious about sharing such an intimate nature such as feeding... but not right now.

Not when the hunger seems to want to claim her.

She bites at the throat, the most suitable place to claim the blood. And her primal instinct kicks in, embracing Clark tightly to her -- almost like he was only prey. And she drinks... deeply. And she doesn't want to stop.

Clark holds onto her at first, though bit by bit, his grip weakens as she drinks more and more. To him it seems like it takes forever, but he finally realizes that she's gone way further than before... and now he can't do anything about it.

Luthor watches in fascination. He's never seen her like this, never seen her feed. Part of him wonders what would happen if he didn't stop her, whether she would completely drain the body of every drop of blood. But his interest isn't quite enough to make him hesitate.

The moment he sees Clark weakly trying to push her away, he grabs her by the shoulders and yanks her back. "That's enough."

A beast completely right now — April hisses and growls at Luthor when he yanks her back. A true glimpse to her ferocity is seen in a new light all the same. The strength from the blood — especially Kryptonian blood — makes her enhanced strength and agility even more powerful. But Luthor is not weakened by the blue Kryptonite, so her attempts to fight him off to return to feeding are useless.

Both she and Clark are literally a mess, blood dripping from her mouth... blood from the bite mark on Clark's throat. The baby gets closer into position to be born -- fueled by the blood to come into this world.

"He's coming..." It is the first time that April has called the child by his gender. Her voices very alert right now.

The hatching song is now being hummed loud enough that it can be heard all the way downstairs. Luthor keeps an iron grip on April, to keep her away from her husband.

Clark's still awake, but dizzy and light-headed from the blood loss. He fumbles at his wrist, trying to unstrap the bracelet, but his fingers don't seem to have the strength.

Spike had found the liquid sunlight and was waiting for someone to call him upstairs — when he heard the hatching song. He gestures to the doctor to stay downstairs to investigate.

Opening the door and entering the bedroom — Spike is very confused at what he sees. Two Clarks. The fire-lizards around the room. "What the..."

He moves over to the injured Clark, helping him remove the bracelet. He frowns over at the other one -- who has a hold on his daughter. "Okay... the update will have to wait..."

He doesn't feel it is safe for the doctor to see April like this ... or to see two Clarks. So he takes out his PINpoint to open a portal -- allowing Shasta to enter the room.

"Love... you got to deliver that baby for us... too many screwy things for a normal doctor."

Shasta takes everything in stride, coming to sit by April. After a quick check, she nods her head. "The baby is crowning..." She glances at Luthor, with a tilt of her head. "Can you keep a hold of her?"

Without the contact of the blue kryptonite, Clark's bleeding slows and stops, but without sunlight he won't heal very quickly. Still, he's not in immediate danger, and he'd rather they focus on delivering the baby than treating him. He can wait. He rolls his head to the side, watching through a daze.

Luthor nods. He doesn't have a clue who these two people are, but apparently they're involved. "So long as she's done needing blood." He's not exactly eager to donate for the cause.

Spike holds Clark in his arms. He holds out the liquid sunlight, so that Clark can grab it -- when he is ready.

"The problem is the thirst doesn't go away..." Shasta informs Luthor. "She doesn't need it... just wants it."

"April you need to be ready to push..." Shasta moved into position to get the baby born into this world.

At least all the blood doesn't bother Luthor one bit. He's caused worse. He keeps hold of April, keeping her out of bite range of the others.

Clark can't quite manage the bottle of sunlight on his own, but with Spike's help, he takes in a mouthful. Once is enough, and he closes his eyes for a moment as the warmth and energy spreads through him, and his wounds close completely.

Spike of course has to be very careful with the liquid sunlight. It wouldn't help getting burned right now. He is reassured once Clark's wound starts closing.

Shasta guides April through the process -- until a premature baby boy is delivered into her arms. There will be more blood loss through the process and April feels hungry all over again.

Which is exactly why Shasta is moving the baby away from his mother. Spike moves to help her, soon bringing the child to his father. "Looks like you got another son..."

The baby is smaller than the other two when they were born. He is pale. And his cry is weak.

Shasta keeps a careful eye on April. "She will need more blood..." She doesn't want Clark to go through the process again. And readies herself to offer up some blood.

Part of Clark is relieved to be holding his newborn son in his arms, but he's also very concerned at how weak the cry is, and how small the baby is. He holds the boy close, staying away from April until her hunger is sated. "Come on, little guy... you'll be okay."

The hatching song stops once the baby is born, and the fire-lizards quietly chatter among themselves. One bold brown dragonet even swoops down to land on Clark's shoulder for a moment, so it can look at the newborn more closely.

"The doctors downstairs..." Spike doesn't think that April is in any condition to breast-feed right now. And it is important that the baby gets some substance too.

April is not as thirst-starved as before, so this time when she feeds she only takes what is needed from Shasta -- before breaking herself free. Feeling drained. And even though it is not her Clark that is there for support -- she is just glad to have someone to lean on.

[ooc: I am not sure how strong of a psychic connection the baby should have... but I am tempted to have the dragonet sense something]

Clark doesn't want to leave April right now, but she's in good hands, and the baby might need help. "Stay here," he tells the fire-lizards, though they still try to follow him downstairs before Zara scolds them.

The doctor isn't happy when he sees Clark, covered in blood and holding the newborn. "You should've told me she was so close," he says, examining the baby. "He'll need to be admitted to the NICU."

News that Clark really didn't want to hear. Especially if it's going to separate their new son from April. "How long?"

The doctor shakes his head. "It's too early to tell, but I'm concerned about his blood pressure. Premature infants are often anemic, and if I had to guess, I'd say your son is one of them."

((Hmm, good question... he is going to inherit the telepathy after all))

April is overcome with a rush of emotions... everything that comes with just going through a birth, and a blood frenzy too. She can't help the tears that fall freely right now. There is something different... the bond between her and the baby is stronger than the first two. And she can feel his stress.

It hurts to be separated from him. And she moves to cling to Shasta in her desperation.

The baby is also upset, being separated from his mother. His voice is too weak to express himself -- but there is a slight jolt through the psychic bonds that those sensitive to such things will feel.

[Will go with this... muh hahahahah]

The fire-lizards scatter, whistling in alarm. A few of them pop between and don't come back.

Luthor, of course, can't sense any of that. He lets go of April and lets her hold onto Shasta instead. "Should I assume I'm no longer needed here?" he asks calmly.

"I don't see any reason why you should stay." After all, April needs emotional support right now, and Shasta can sense that Luthor is definitely not the person to provide that.

"Thank you for your assistance." Shasta does tell him, since April can't right now.

He nods, and stands, calling Zara back to him. "When she has recovered, she knows how to contact me." He makes sure the other fire-lizards leave too, although many of them are reluctant.

Downstairs, Clark has to hand the baby over to the doctor, and he returns upstairs briefly. "The baby has to go to the hospital... April?"

"I need to stay with him..." April answers Clark. She can barely move as it is... but Shasta picks up her adopted daughter.

"We can come along..." She tells Clark. Both her and Spike want to make sure both mother and baby are okay.

He nods. "Get down to the truck. We'll go together."

Before they go, Clark has to go to the children's room. "Connor, we're going to the hospital. Everything's safe now, but I need you to stay with Jon and Laura until one of us gets back."

Connor agrees, though he wishes he knew more about what's going on. "Yeah, sure."

Shasta wraps April up in the blankets to keep her warm, because she is shivering because of the loss of fluid right now. But once Shasta gets downstairs, and she is within 'range' of her son -- April does calm down slightly. The baby also seems to sense his mother -- his cries a little less loud now.

Fortunately it isn't a long trip to get to the Smallville Medical Center. It doesn't have the state-of-the-art facilities like Metropolis General does, but it's more than enough to care for their newborn. And it doesn't take much longer for the baby to be settled in the NICU, hooked up to an IV and feeding tube.

"Are you all right?" the doctor asks April, once they're sure the baby is stable.

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