Title:  ReBorn

Author:  Angelee

Gift for:  Helgaeenas

Pairing:  Xanatos/Kal El

Rating:  Adult

Summary:  We all deserve a second chance

Disclaimer:  Not mine. 

Beta:  By my Sister Anna. All remaining errors are mine-with apologies.

 

ReBorn

 

Nothing in Xanatos life had ever gone right.  Not from the time the Jedi had found him and taken him from all he knew.

 

He’d been forced to leave a world he loved, a father he adored all because he had the gene that proclaimed him a Jedi. 

 

He’d never been happy.  He tried to be sure.  Qui Gon had been a good Master, but Xanatos heart had never been into becoming a Jedi.

 

Xanatos touched the scar on his right cheek, sighing heavily.  Now he was in limbo and he had nothing.  No beautiful planet to go back to.  No father.  His father having been killed by Qui Gon after he’d turned to the dark side.

 

Xanatos understood why Qui Gon had killed him.  Though he couldn’t help wondering if his father would have turned to the dark side if the Jedi had left Xanatos alone.

 

Now he had nothing and he was feeling very alone and lonely.  He didn’t want to open his eyes knowing he was in hell of the Jedi’s making.  If he opened his eyes he knew Yoda would be there to smack him with his glimmer stick.  Or Qui Gon to finish the job he had set out to do-killing Xanatos. 

 

He sighed again.  But he couldn’t keep his eyes closed forever, now could he?  Slowly he opened them, blinking as they adjust to the brightness of the room. 

 

“Well, it’s about time you awoke, sleepyhead,” A cheerful voice told him.

 

Xanatos tried desperately to clear the haze from his eyes.  It took a few minutes before he could see the figure standing to his right clearly.

 

The most beautiful pair of green eyes stared down at him, framed by pale flawless skin.  “Are you awake now?”

 

Xanatos nodded slightly.  “Y…yes.  Where am I?”  he asked, swallowing heavily.  He could really use a drink of water.

 

“You’re safe.  For now that is all you need to know,” The man told him, helping him into a sitting position. “Would you like some water?”

 

“Yes, please.”

 

A glass of the sweetest water Xanatos had ever tasted was held to his mouth.  He drank thirstily. Suddenly the glass was taken away, he gave a discontented sound.

 

“Shh, do not be displeased.  You can have more later.  I do not wish for you to become ill, so soon after awakening.”

 

Xanatos met the man’s eyes.  “Who are you?  And where the Sith am I?”

 

Hands gently stroked his forehead, helping him lay back down.  “I am called Kal El.”

 

“Where am I?”

 

“You are on Krypton.”

 

Xanatos rested his head back on the pillow gratefully. “I never heard of it?”

 

Kal El smiled at him.  “I am not surprised.  It is not in your universe or even in your plane of existence.”

 

“I thought I was dead,” Xanatos said sleepily, eyes beginning to close once again.

 

“In your universe you are.”

 

Xanatos eyes snapped open.  “What?”

 

“In your universe you do not exist.  You are in fact, dead.”

 

Xanatos felt his blood chill.  “What are you saying?”

 

“You succeeded in ending your life, Xanatos,” Kal El told him, quietly. “Rather than to be brought to justice by your teacher and Master, you ended your life.”

 

“Why am I talking to you then?  If I were dead I would not able to talk to anyone.”

 

“You are.”

 

Xanatos frowned.  “Quit talking in riddles.  Tell me where I am and how I got here.”

 

Kal El smiled at him.  “So impatient.  So arrogant.”

 

 

“Fuck you,” Xanatos told him, with no real conviction.  He was just too tired and confused to put any real emphasis into it.

 

Instead of getting angry Kal El smiled at him.  “Xan, may I call you Xan?”

 

“No,” Xanatos answered, pulling the bed covers up.

 

Kal El smiled at him, green eyes twinkling mischievously. “As I was saying, Xan.  Before the very last spark of you existent ended, I snatched you away.  Through time and space I gathered you to me.  For you, your world and what you once knew no longer exists.  This is your home and I am your husband.”

 

Xanatos sat bolt upright in the bed.  “WHAT?”

 

“I am your husband.”  Kal El frowned.  “Do I displease you in some way?”

 

Xanatos looked at the very handsome man staring at him with no small amount of hurt in his green eyes.  “Well, no…”

 

“Are you bonded to another?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then, what is wrong?”  Kal El asked, sitting next to Xanatos on the bed.

 

“I would like to get to know the person I am bonding to BEFORE I bond not after.  How else am I suppose to know I want to bond to them?”

 

Kal El frowned.  “Them?  I must have been remiss in my research of your world.  You bond to more than one?”

 

“It has been known to happen, but in this case that’s not what I meant.  I would have like to have gotten to know you before the bond took place.  Not after.  I don’t even know you.  I sure as Sith, don’t love you.”

 

Kal El smiled again.  “Not to worry, you will.”

 

Xanatos frowned at his arrogance.  “You sound very sure of yourself.”

 

The smile deepened.  “I am.  May I hold you, Beloved?”

 

“No.” Kal El carefully gathered Xanatos to him.  “You really must do something about your hearing problem.”

 

“I hear very well when it suits me.  I wish to hold you. I’ve wanted to hold you in my arms since my eyes first rested upon you,” Kal El told him, burying his face in Xanatos hair.  “It has been well worth the wait, Beloved.”

 

Xanatos didn’t bother to fight Kal El.  He hadn’t been held in so long, it felt nice.  “You’re crazy.  You do know that, right?”

 

Kal El chuckled softly.  “I have been told many a time.”

 

“Why am I here?”  Xanatos asked, softly.

 

“I wished you here.”

 

Xanatos sighed.  More riddles?  “Just tell me the truth,” He said, carefully wrapping his arms around Kal El’s very muscular body.

 

“I am telling you the truth, Beloved.”

 

“Again, I ask you-what am I doing here?”

 

“So persistent.  As you wish.  I rule this world.  But ruling can be time-consuming if not incredibly dull at times.  My favorite scientist found a way to ease my boredom by supplying me with a machine that could see through the universes and into the different planes of existence.  Very smart my scientist.  That is why he is my favorite.”  Xanatos gave an impatient sound.  “Patience, Beloved.  Patience.  I am getting to that.”

 

“I was glancing through the universes when I happenstanced across yours.  Very exciting your universe.  Full of the bad, the Sith.  The good, the Jedi and the misunderstood, you.”  Kal El pulled Xanatos closer.  “Why did you just not tell the Jedi you did not wish to be one of them?”

 

“It’s a great honor to be a Jedi.”

 

“There is not much honor if your heart does not rejoice in the honor given.”

 

Xanatos rested his head against Kal El’s broad chest.  “I suppose.”

 

“You suppose, Beloved?  If you had told them what was in your heart the path you lead would have gone differently. And I would not have had to reach through time and space to catch you before you crossed death’s door.”

 

“Why did you?”

 

Warm, strong hands cupped his face tilting it up.  “I saw your pain as no one else ever could.  You are so beautiful, your blue eyes held such sadness.  I had to do something. I could not let you die,” Kal El replied, kissing him gently.

 

Xanatos opened his mouth to Kal El’s gentle invasion. When the tender kiss ended he pulled away slowly.  Kal El following, nibbling delicately on Xanatos bottom lip.  “How did you become my husband?”

 

“My universe has many freedoms not given to other worlds. We can manipulate time and space at will.  Saving you came at a cost, but not one I wasn’t willing to pay.  I would pay it again in a heartbeat.  You are my responsibility for all time.  My husband. You wear my sign on your flesh, put there the instant you crossed over into this dimension.  As you wear the sign of grief at your father’s loss.”  Kal El gentle touched the half circle on Xanatos’ right cheek.

 

“Where?  Where is this sign?”  

 

Kal El opened Xanatos shirt to reveal the symbol of his house.  “Here.  It is here.”

 

Xanatos felt his eyes widen in shock.  It was good he hadn’t been awake when the mark had been placed on his chest. The pain would have been excruciating. 

 

“You couldn’t have chosen something smaller? This takes up my whole chest,” Xanatos told Kal El, furiously.

 

“Shh, do not be angry.  It is the symbol of my house.  No other would have done,” Kal El told him, gently rubbing the raised ridges of the already healed marking. Xanatos gasped at the pleasure the gentle caress.  Kal El smiled.  “Your body already recognizes my touch as it should.  You will be happy in my world, Xan.  I promise you.”

 

Xanatos glared at him.  “Didn’t I tell you not to call me Xan?”

 

Kal El chuckled.  “Yes, you did, Xan.”

 

“Well, then?”

 

Kal El cupped Xanatos face and gently kissed him.  “I will take it into consideration, Beloved.”

 

Xanatos licked his lips when Kal El pulled away, very much liking the taste of this very unusual being.  “Hmm,” he murmured, appreciatively.

 

“Good?”

 

Xanatos frowned, not happy at being caught enjoying the favor of his husband.  Husband?  He was starting to believe it, even perhaps liking the idea a little.

 

“What if I don’t want to be married to you?”  he asked, instead of answering Kal El’s question.

 

Kal El gathered him gently into his arms.  “After a time you will find you will adore being my Beloved.”

 

Xanatos pulled up slightly to look into cheerful green eyes.  “You’re very arrogant.”

 

“Yes, I know,” Kal El replied, pulling Xanatos close.  “I was born that way.”

 

They stayed that way for a time.  Kal El gently rocking Xanatos in a comforting manner.  He felt safe, cherished even.  Something he had not felt in a long, long time, if ever. Slowly he felt his eyes closing, lured by the warmth of his husband, he slept.

 

***

 

He allowed himself to become aware of his surrounding, slowly.  There was a comforting warmth all along his left side, which had to be Kal El.  Also there were hands exploring his body.

 

“What do you think you are doing?”

 

Warm lips nuzzled his neck.  “I am claiming my conjugal rights.” 

 

Xanatos pushed the hands away. “I think not.”

 

“I think-yes.” Kal El straddled Xanatos prone body.  “We are married and I find you very, very winsome.”

 

“Thank you.  That’s very nice of you to say, but I don’t know you and I do not sleep with anyone I do not know.”

 

“We are married.  You wear my sign on your body.  Your body as well as your soul belong to me.”

 

“I may wear your sign, but it was put there with without my consent.”

 

Kal El lowered his big bulk on top of Xanatos.  His fingers digging deep into his hair.  “It saved your life.”

 

“I would rather be dead than live in a world where I have no control over my own life.  I will not go through that again.”

 

Kal El’s green eyes looked at Xanatos curiously.  “You have control.”

 

“How?”  Xanatos hissed.  “You are about to rape me.  You placed your brand on my chest without asking me if I wanted it. You bonded us, also without my consent. How do I have control?”

 

Kal El rose from the bed.  “I would not have raped you.  Placing the brand as you call it, saved your life as did our bonding.  I wanted you to live.”

 

Xanatos sighed.  “I understand that.  Truly I do.  But I would like some control over my life and my destiny. I’ve had so little of that up to now.  First the Jedi take me from my home world.  A home world I truly loved and from a father I adored.  And now you bring me to a place where I am as much a stranger as when I was taken to Coruscant as a child.  I want to choose my own destiny.  Please try and understand that Kal El.”

 

Kal El had gone to one of the great windows that lined the bedroom.  Looking at the vast whiteness that was his world.  “And where is my place in this destiny of yours?”  he asked, quietly.

 

Xanatos sighed again.  “I have no idea.”

 

“Am I so abhorrent to you?”  Kal El asked, unable to hide the hurt.

 

“No.  No.  You are the most beautiful being I have ever seen in my life.”

 

“Yet you do not want my symbol.  Do not wish to be bonded to me.”

 

Xanatos rose from the bed to join Kal El at the window.  “I never said that.  What I’m trying to say is, that I want time to get to know you before I give you my body.”

 

Kal El turned his head to look at him.  “Why?”

 

“Because it would mean a great deal to me. If I could give you my body in love.  As I have never given it to another.”

 

Kal El’s eyes widened in surprise.  “You have never given yourself in love?”

 

“No.”

 

“But why?  You are beautiful.  All black hair and blue eyes.”

 

“I have never met anyone who I wanted to give that part of myself to till now.”

 

Kal El struggled to keep from reaching out to his bond mate. “Me?”

 

Xanatos nodded.  “I would like to give myself to you, but as my choice.  Not as an obligation or because you think it is your due.”

 

“When?  How soon?”

 

Xanatos smiled at Kal El. “Soon.  I would imagine.  I already like you a great deal and that is always a good start.”

 

“Am I allowed to touch you?”

 

“That could be permitted. As long as you do not take it further.”

 

Kal El turned fully toward Xanatos carefully gathering him into his arms.  “You are the most intriguing person it has been my honor to be married to.”

 

Xanatos pulled away slight.  “How may persons have you been married to?”  he asked, frowning.

 

Kal El smiled at him. “One.”

 

Xanatos rolled his eyes before giving himself to the comfort offered. And it was a great deal of comfort considering Kal El was huge.  Xanatos had never in his life seen anyone as big as Kal El.

 

“I like this.  I have never felt truly safe since I was forced off my world.”

 

Kal El buried his fingers in Xanatos hair, gently tugging his head back to look into his light blue eyes.  “Nothing will happen to you here.  You are safe.”  He replied, eyeing Xanatos mouth hungrily.  “For the rest I will wait for as long as you require.  But a kiss I would beg for now, Beloved.  May I take a kiss from you sweet lips?”

 

Xanatos tilted his head up.  “Oh, yes,” he whispered softly.  “I would like that very much.”

 

When Kal El pulled away.  “Must we wait?”  he asked, against Xanatos mouth.

 

“Yes, but just for a short while.  Until I am sure of my place in this world you have brought me to.”

 

Kal El sighed, pulling away from Xanatos regretfully.  “As you wish.”  He reached over and pushed a button.  Quickly too quickly for Xanatos to ask who he was summoning, the door opened to the bedroom.  “Come in.  Come in,” he motioned the figure standing just inside the door.  “Xanatos, my husband.  I’d like to introduce you to Alexander Luthor, my most favorite scientist in the whole universe.”