Subject: Chapter 32
Short summary: Angry at still being pursued when he thought it was finally over, Clark confronts Lex...
See all chapters here...
Chapter 32
The doors to the library broke when Clark burst through them, only to find no one there. He bellowed, "Lex!"
Two men ran in, holding only guns, which they pointed at Clark. "Hold it right there! Don't move!"
He examined them, and with no lead or kryptonite in evidence, Clark wasn't concerned.
"Where's Lex?" Clark looked around and didn't see their lord and master joining in the fun. He growled at the men, "There's some business he and I must discuss right now." They were intimidated despite the fact that they faced an unarmed man. It was apparently unsettling for them to realize the guns obviously didn't scare Clark.
The younger man swallowed hard, he was petrified, but the older man replied coolly, his racing heart the only clue he was as scared as his younger coworker. "Mr. Luthor isn't at home...." To his credit, despite his terror he played it very cool. "May I ask what your business is with him?"
Clark sneered at the man. "He is the only person that can fix a problem that I have." Clark concentrated and looked around the building but it was empty, except for the men in front of him and the housekeeper asleep in her room. "It's urgent I talk with him and I need to talk with him now."
The older man narrowed his eyes and lowered his gun as a look of recognition passed over his face. "Are you Clark Kent?"
Clark returned the glare, suspicious. His voice dropped in tone. "Yes."
The men both relaxed visibly and put away their guns. "Mr. Luthor has been expecting you."
Clark was suddenly on edge. "What?" He looked at the men, now suddenly not at all nervous. "What do you mean?"
"Mr. Luthor instructed that if you came for a visit, we should give you his contact information..."
"He did?"
"Yes." The man stepped forward and held out a card. "He didn't want to miss talking with you, should you come by."
Clark took the card. It was Lex's personal business card. It had his personal email address and cell phone number on it. He was skeptical. "Lex actually wants to talk to me?"
"Yes. He left standing orders months ago. Mr. Luthor wanted you to have that in case you asked to see him. He's out of town but you can call him on his cell phone."
"Where is he now?"
The younger man, uncertainly added, "Isn't he in Metropolis?"
The older man corrected him, "No, he's out of state on business, it's Mrs. Luthor that's in Metropolis..."
Clark blanched and his stomach dropped.
"Mrs. Luthor? He's married?"
Clark's shock was quickly replaced by fury... What gave him the nerve to act like it didn't matter that Clark's life was forever changed? How could Lex have a happily ever after when Clark's life had been ruined because of him?
His chest heaved and his ears buzzed, he was so furious, but he managed to ask, the menace clear despite how quietly he spoke. "When did they marry?"
The older man easily slid his gun out of its holster and back into his grip, as the younger man backed away and fumbled to get his gun back out of its holster. Clark snatched the gun from the older man's hand. No longer cool, the man stammered in his fear as he watched Clark crush the blued steel in his fist. "It's... it's... oh... only been about a month..." Clark glared at the other man as they stepped further back. He growled at them.
"Tell me where he is."
Afraid of Clark and no longer being accommodating, the men said nothing.
Clark could barely contain the heat that built up in his eyes as he grabbed the older man by his coat lapels and pinned him against the wall. "Tell. Me. Where. He. Is."
"The Fuh... Fair... Fairmont Ol.. O.. Olympic Hotel... In Seattle..."
Clark took off through the leaded glass window, so angry with Lex at actually getting married about the time that Clark was stuck up on that cold roof top in the snow. His tormenter had been living while he had been only surviving, he was so angry that he didn't care who saw him do what. He flew the fastest he'd ever flown in his life, the ground below him passing by in a blur.
He arced up high into the air and came close to the edge of the atmosphere. The cold, black sky above him perfectly matched his dark mood.
He didn't know where this hotel was that Lex was in, he'd never been to Seattle before, but if he could hear Lex's heart, he wouldn't need to know. Clark came down into the sky above the city and pulled to a stop. He listened for a moment, trying to discern from the cacophony the faint sounds of Lex's heart...
He heard the steady beat and turned toward it. He looked at the hotel and wasn't at all surprised. He probably should have just looked for the most opulent place in town...
The Fairmont was almost disgusting in how exclusive it looked. It looked old and the marble and antique filled rooms only reinforced that idea. He found Lex in the largest and most disgustingly extravagant room in the place. His shirt was open and his feet were bare like he had been getting ready for bed. He must have just been talking on the phone because he held a cell phone and he put it down with finality. He wasn't happy with whomever he'd been talking to. Clark grimly flew around to the picture window that looked out onto the city from the lavishly appointed living room and smashed through it.
He landed next to the grand piano and bellowed so loudly that the surviving windows shook in their frames. "LEX!" He glared at the huge suite. It could have housed ten families, it was so big. He thought the first floor of the barn back home would have probably comfortably fit inside its walls. It was filled with antiques and pricy art. The marble fireplace was intricately carved and the piano looked just as old and well cared for as all the other furnishings.
Just like Lex to enjoy the luxuries his billions could give him while Clark suffered and struggled because of what he did. The expensive antiques and artwork made him fume. Because of Lex he'd spent the last month living in a drafty room in Wyoming that smelled of horses and hay while, uncaring, Lex got married and moved on with his life.
When Lex entered from the bedroom, Clark was impressed that Lex seemed so outwardly calm, but he could hear his heart pounding. His voice was as smooth as the silk sheets on the bed. "Clark, I've been expecting you."
Clark's voice sounded almost conversational as he walked toward Lex, the broken glass from the window crunching beneath his tennis shoes. "Why is that, Lex? Why are waiting for me instead of spending time with your bride? Why are you denying yourself the pleasure of her company? Why aren't you with your new wife living happily ever after?" Clark's mockingly casual tone turned bitter and menacing. "Not everyone gets that, I know I haven't."
Lex was about to reply when the door opened and two men entered with guns drawn. One of the looked at Clark with an appraising eye before addressing Lex directly, "Is everything okay, Mr. Luthor?"
Clark glared at the men and checked them for kryptonite or lead... He didn't see any. Lex walked toward them a few steps and talked to them calmly. "Everything is fine..." Clark's former friend and captor cleared his throat and said almost too casually, "However, be prepared for contingencies five and thirteen...."
The men looked at Clark with narrowed eyes and nodded grimly. They backed out, keeping an eye on Clark as they closed the door quietly behind them. Clark looked through the door to see them stand guard outside in the hallway. One of the men talked quietly into a microphone in his lapel. Clark listened, "All clear but prepare contingencies five and thirteen... All clear, contingencies five and thirteen. Copy?"
There was a reply in the man's ear piece, "Five and thirteen, copy." Clark turned his attention back to Lex, who had moved to the bar.
"Contingencies five and thirteen?"
Lex tried to sound casual but his heart rate had sped up. "They're security protocols I don't need but they got the men out of the room so we could talk without interruption." Clark checked his skin and saw the other man was blushing, even if only minutely.
Lex was lying.
The billionaire casually walked to the bar and poured himself a drink, which he immediately drained. Lex poured himself a second and then hesitated and looked over his shoulder at Clark. "You want something to drink?"
"Your heart rate sped up and you have a positive galvanic skin response, Lex. You're usually a better liar than that..." Clark clenched his jaw and glared at the man. "What are you trying to hide?"
"Not a thing." Lex drained his second drink and turned toward Clark. "What are you doing here, Clark?"
"Oh, I thought you had it all figured out... You were waiting for me to contact you, remember?"
"I thought maybe you might want to talk about what happened but that's clearly not your plan..."
"Why the hell would I want to talk to you about what happened? That would imply that maybe you wanted to help me..."
"I do want to help you, Clark..."
"Do you? Do you really?"
"Yes, I do.
"Okay. Stop them..."
"Stop who?"
Clark laughed, incredulous. "Who? Who?! Who do you think? Them... The people that want to capture me. Him."
"What are you talking about, Clark? No one is trying to capture you. Not anymore..."
"They almost had me fooled, but it was another one of their tricks... They only wanted me to think they were done because they came for me again tonight."
Lex looked at Clark, confused. "I don't know what you thought you saw, but they're not coming for you anymore, Clark. They assured me it was over."
Clark was yelling, "NO! There were men in helicopters coming for me... I saw them!" Clark growled in his growing fury. "You started it; you can end it. I want my life back. I want it to stop!"
"I know you do, but I think there's been some misunderstanding... I know you saw the empty lab building, because you burned it down. Everything is gone and the army isn't looking for you. The people have all been either fired or reassigned. The program is over, Clark. No one is coming for you."
"I know what I saw!" Angry tears stung Clark's eyes. "It's not over! I can't get away from it... I was home but it's like it doesn't matter. Reminders are everywhere... I'm not free."
Lex walked closer to Clark as he spoke, his tone quiet and sympathetic. Condescending... It made Clark angry. "I'm sorry about that, Clark. Really I am, and I understand..."
The fury that had been blunted a bit by his despair boiled over and Clark sped over to Lex and pinned him to the wall. He held him there with one hand on the side of Lex's neck, his long fingers touching the base of Lex's skull, his thumb caressing his Adam's apple.
"Do you understand? I don't think so. You might think your stint in Belle Reve was horrific enough for you to think so, but you're wrong..."
Lex gasped, his heart racing. He turned his body toward the wall so that he could push back against Clark's steel grip with both hands, but it was futile. He realized it quickly and quieted. He whispered softly, "I'm sorry--"
Clark's fury at Lex's hypocrisy completely overrode thought so he wouldn't let Lex finish that sentence. "Sorry? You're sorry? You wouldn't have watched if you were really sorry... You would have tried harder to stop it. But maybe if you knew what it was really like, you'd be sincerely sorry..."
Clark leaned in and was about to whisper in Lex's ear, but Lex started to speak... He stopped him by gently squeezing and Lex's gasp of pain was all he heard. He felt a cold satisfaction that he could get Lex to stop and oddly pleased that for once Lex was the one who was scared.
He growled in Lex's ear. "You haven't been addressed, Test Subject. You will only speak when spoken to, do you understand?"
Lex's eyes went wide, his understanding immediate. He looked away, acting the submissive, and his voice dropped to a desperate whisper. "Yes..."
He had to admit that one thing Lex was good at was rolling with the punches. Somehow that made Clark angrier and his voice exuded a cold fury that would have made any lesser man fear for his life. Lex's heart rate actually slowed as his body relaxed and Clark's fury grew.
"You must always address me as 'sir' or you will be punished, test subject." Clark leaned in closer and whispered harshly into Lex's ear, "Do you understand, test subject?"
Lex shuddered and closed his eyes. "Yes sir."
"Let me explain the rules to you, Test Subject." Clark looked closely at the sweat beaded skin of Lex's bald head and his fingers caressed the smooth, pale skin at the base of Lex's skull. "You will only speak when spoken to, you will do whatever you're asked to do and you will not try to escape." Clark looked back at Lex's eyes, which were again open, but looking down. "Do you understand?"
Clark felt the power in his body and knew, no matter what, Lex clearly understood that his life hung in the balance. The other man trembled and Clark wasn't sorry he was scared.
Lex's voice shook as he softly replied, "Yes sir."
"That's better, test subject, but I don't think you truly understand what it was like for me or there is no way you would have watched them destroy me bit by bit." Clark's tone became more menacing. "I will explain to you what it was like, so you can truly understand." He looked at the clothes Lex was wearing. The expensively tailored slacks and fitted linen shirt made him superior to Clark, who wore old tennis shoes, faded sweats and a worn t-shirt, so Clark had to remove the reminders of Lex's wealth. "But first I must tell you that only humans are good enough to wear clothes and you have seemed to have forgotten that you aren't human."
Clark quickly had Lex's clothes lying in shreds on the floor around him, leaving Lex in only his silk boxers. Lex's chest was heaving and his heart rate had sped up and his skin was flushed. Clark smiled at the fear Lex felt.
"You don't get to use your name either, so I will just call you Test Subject because that's all you're good for. It doesn't matter that you have people that love you... It doesn't matter that you had a happy life because you stole that happy life from a human boy or girl... Your parents would have found a human child to make happy if you hadn't come along... You didn't deserve that happy life... You're a thing, not a person worthy of being loved."
A tear rolled down his cheek as Lex spoke, his voice rough with emotion. "Clark, I didn't..."
Clark yelled in his ear, his bellow rattling the rest of the windows in their frames. "Don't speak!" Lex flinched. "Have you been spoken to, Test Subject?"
The Test Subject shook his head and replied softly, "No sir."
"Do you want me to punish you? I could probably think of something that hurts as much as kryptonite does me..." Clark's chest was heaving and his ears were buzzing with the fury and pain he felt. "That would be fitting, but do you know what kryptonite feels like, Test Subject?"
The Test Subject shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes. "No sir."
"It's like fire burning you from the inside. A fire that burns so hot that your blood feels like it's boiling but that's not the most painful part. No. The most painful part is the fact that it feels like a million knives are stabbing you while your stomach twists up in a knot so tight you want to throw up but you can't... I'm not sure, but I've heard electric shock is very painful. Would that be a good punishment for you, Test Subject? It might be the closest you'd get to feeling what I feel."
The Test Subject didn't answer, he just trembled and looked at Clark with heavily lidded eyes. His breath came in gasps and Clark was so close they shared their breath... Clark realized with a shock that his hand had moved down Lex's neck to his trim, yet muscular, bare back. It felt so good, so smooth, and the scent that enveloped his senses was overwhelming. Musky and spicy, with a hint of sweetness...
So...
...Lex.
His chest heaved as he moved in directly behind Lex and touched him with both hands. The skin was so smooth and pale under his hands. The difference in shade made his hands look bigger on Lex's back. He kept touching Lex's skin, like it was an addiction he didn't know he'd had and finally feeling Lex provided him with a fix. He moved closer and he couldn't get enough of the smell and the feel of him. He wanted to taste him but he was afraid what would happen if he dared to kiss him, or even lick him...
He didn't want to do anything that would endanger the moment. He realized, in a moment of shock, that he was turned on like he hadn't ever been before. Rock hard, he wanted to know what it would feel inside Lex, with him squirming helpless beneath him, in pain.... Almost as an after thought, he wondered what Lex would look like with his arms bound behind his back as he looked at the shreds of clothing to see if any were long enough to use...
Clark gasped as he flashed back.
For a moment he was back in the lab and Lex was nude in front of him, scared to death, chest heaving, strapped to a cold metal table.... He cried out in pain as Clark stood over his bare backside, ready to take was rightfully his.
Clark came back to the hotel room and Lex was panting. His heart was racing and his chest was heaving out of fear of him. Clark was horrified and sickened when he realized what he'd almost done, how scared he'd made Lex...
Suddenly nauseous, Clark sped from the room to the bathroom and fell to his knees in front of the toilet as he cried. He was a monster... He had been looking forward to seeing Lex squirm and cry out in pain! How could he do that to anyone? No one, not even Lex, deserved that.
He wasn't a monster, he couldn't be one. Not like HIM...
But Clark had been about to... Rape.
His strong fingers splintered the heavy oak of the toilet seat. He knelt on the cold marble tile floor and dry heaved as he cried in his realization.
The Man had turned him into a monster... maybe he had been right, maybe Clark hadn't deserved his happy life... Not if he could want to do that to someone.
He barely heard the soft sigh of silk at the doorway as Lex entered the bathroom... He didn't want to look at him, he shook his head as the other man knelt down next to him.
"I'm so sorry, Lex... I'm so sorry..."
"It's okay, Clark." Lex sounded so understanding, but he didn't understand. Clark glanced over at Lex, who knelt there in his stylish silk robe, completely confused, "If you're not feeling well, it's understandable...."
Tears began to trail down Clark's cheeks and they made soft plinking sounds into the bowl of the toilet, and his voice sounded a bit hollow as it reverberated in the cold marble room.
"No, you don't understand..." Not willing to admit the truth of what he had been about to do to Lex, he stammered, "It's just... I... I shouldn't have come. It was just a big mistake..." Clark stood as he wiped the tears away with the back of a hand. "You can't help me... No one can." He walked out into the living room, Lex followed him.
"Clark, what are you talking about? What happened?"
Clark just shook his head, "This was just a mistake. It was a mistake to come. I was stupid to think you could help..." Clark walked toward the broken window, but the other man stepped in front of him.
"Wait, Clark. Where are you going?"
Clark paused, unsure... "I don't know...."
"You should go home."
He didn't think he deserved the home he'd grown up in anymore, not if the Man had turned him into a monster. It would be safer for his parents if he weren't there... They might get hurt. He shook his head. "I can't go home..."
"You belong at home with your family, Clark. No matter what's wrong, your parents would want to try and help...."
Clark sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. He was sadly resigned to his decision and shook his head. "I can't. Not now, not if they're coming for me again..."
"I don't know what you thought you saw, but no one is looking for you. Not anymore."
Clark was suddenly furious again and he yelled. "If He gets hold of me again I won't survive it this time... They might as well shoot a kryptonite bullet into my head."
He tried to brush past Lex, but Lex grabbed his arm and wouldn't let go. Clark tried to tug his arm from Lex's grip but the other man held on. Clark growled. "Let go of me, Lex. I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't hurt me."
Clark despaired. "Lex, let go..."
"No, I won't. We have to talk about what it exactly was that made you leave home..."
Clark got angry. "Haven't you been listening? He said He'd never let me go..."
"Who said that? Director Strickland? He's not trying to find you. He can't because he's buried six feet deep in a cemetery on Long Island. He can't hurt you anymore, Clark. He's dead."
Clark was confused. "No. He can't be dead..." Clark was more insistent. "It's a trick. Lex, don't you see? He left that paper where they knew I could find it. He wanted to lull me into a false sense of security to get me to go back home. And tonight those soldiers were heading right for the farm. They were coming to take me back."
Lex shook his head, clearly exasperated. "Back where? You destroyed what was left of the lab. Strickland is dead and everyone else is gone." Lex stepped closer to Clark, his grip still firm on his arm. "You look exhausted and you're being irrational... Clark, can you hear yourself? Stay. Let me help you..."
"You can't help me. No one can." He pulled on his arm but Lex still held on. "Let me go, Lex."
"I insist that you stay, Clark." Angry that Lex would try to make him stay, Clark had been about to push Lex away, regardless of whether bones got broken, but Lex didn't give him a chance. Clark felt the nauseating and painful effects of Kryptonite, and before he could do anything a sharp, agonizing pain hit his shoulder.
Looking down, he saw that Lex had jabbed something into the thick muscle at the top of his arm. It looked like a spring loaded epi pen that he'd seen some people with severe allergies carry, only this pen glowed green. Furious and feeling completely betrayed, Clark shrugged and threw Lex off him and into the wall. Dazed, his former friend slumped to the floor.
"I won't let you take me back, Lex!" Clark pulled the pen from his arm and he threw it hard against the wall. He'd expected it to sink deep into the antique plaster, but instead it had smacked into the wall and simply fell to the thick carpet. Vaguely disappointed, Clark tried to get his bearings as he swayed on his feet. Nauseous and in pain from the kryptonite, disoriented from the drugs, the room looked disjointed. The effects were different than back in New York. Clark could see that they had learned from their mistake and the drugs were far stronger than the last time...
Clark knew he didn't have much time as he tried to figure out which way the broken window was. It took him a minute to orient himself and he walked toward it, the cold air flowing in through the broken window helped to clear his head a bit.
He knew if he could make it outside, he should have enough flight left that he could find a place to hide again. The hotel was near downtown and a lot of tall buildings... He could probably find someplace to hide. He took several more steps toward the broken window, his feet crunching the broken glass into the thick carpet. He ignored the sound of Lex getting up behind him.
"Clark?"
He looked back at the man. "I won't let you take me back..." He turned back toward the window and the world seemed to stretch and suddenly he was looking at the broken window as if from the other end of a tunnel. The room seemed to stretch on for dozens of yards, not a couple of dozen feet...
Clark was having problems keeping the broken window in focus, and he suddenly wasn't sure if his flight ability was still working, but he felt like he could still make it as he took several steps closer... He felt some hope and took another step but he seemed to step into a hole, because he was suddenly face down on the floor.
Pain spiked all over his body, especially on his face and chest... Clark didn't understand it until he focused on the carpet his cheek was resting against. The carpet sparkled with shards of glass from the broken window. He tried to push up, but the glass cut deeper into his hands and legs, the worn jersey of his sweats poor protection against sharp pieces of glass. He cried out and tried to push through the pain, but his head spun and he lost his balance and he fell back onto his side. The glass cut into him and he groaned but Lex was next to him, kneeling down.
"Clark, be careful... there's broken glass..." Clark tried to push Lex away but all he did was push himself over onto his back and smear blood on Lex's expensive robe. The glass caused dozens of new small cuts on his back, he cried in pain as Lex grimaced. "Dammit, Clark... Stay still." He looked over his shoulder toward the door and yelled. "Security!"
Lex stood as the door burst open and the guards ran into the room. "He's going to need medical attention. You need to amend contingency thirteen to get him out of here with that in mind. With his injuries it's going to be more difficult...."
Angry that Lex was planning on taking him back, and that "contingency thirteen" apparently had been designed to kidnap him, Clark didn't want to wait to see what Lex had in mind. He hoped he had some flight left, so he concentrated and slowly lifted off the carpet despite the pain it caused. The guards cried out in surprise behind him and Lex lunged at him. He grabbed hold of Clark's hand with both of his and when he did that, Clark's body swung away from Lex as he pulled against his grip. Lex's hands were strong but the blood from the cuts on Clark's hands and arms made his skin slick. He felt if he could keep pulling, Lex's grip would slip and he could pull free.
Lex saw the same thing as he held on as hard as he could. His traction wasn't great since he wore only slippers. Lex called out to the men standing dumbstruck in the entry way, "Grab him!"
The men rushed forward but Lex's grip gave out before they reached them and Clark shot forward. His speed picked up as he straightened his body out and, for a moment, he thought he was going to fly free into the cold night air but Clark's head exploded in pain.
Clark must have blacked out for a moment because the next thing he knew he was lying flat on his back underneath the mantle of the marble fire place. Clark was in agony. All the sensations in his body, the kryptonite flowing in his veins, the dozens upon dozens of small cuts that crisscrossed his body, the feel of the cold marble beneath him, had all been somehow magnified.
None of the cuts he'd gotten from the glass had been very deep but now it felt like he'd been flayed open. Clark could even feel the kryptonite as it slid through his bloodstream. The meteor rock laced drug was cutting paths through his body that burned like fire and the marble hearth beneath him felt so cold it burned. Even his clothes hurt where they pressed into his skin...Both his head and neck both throbbed painfully, it hurt to breathe much less move.
He didn't know what happened, why he was in so much pain, as he looked at the fireplace he noticed a huge crack in the antique stone... He didn't remember seeing that before. He tried to get up but one of the guards leaned over Clark and held his head still.
Clark didn't understand what was going on and he tried to push the man off, his grip felt like he was squeezing his head in a vice, but his body wasn't cooperating. His arms and legs felt heavy and his movements were clumsy and it hurt his neck to move, but Lex leaned over him and held him down. The billionaire said something to Clark but he didn't understand it. He could hear but the words didn't make sense.
Clark sighed heavily when he realized could no longer fight the effects of the tranquilizer; the strong drugs were finally taking over his body as the dark started to push in. His eyelids had gotten heavy and he took long, slow blinks as he watched Lex talk to him. Clark still couldn't understand what he was saying. He wanted to ask Lex why he'd done it, but all that came out was an incoherent mumble as the black finally won.
Continued here...
See all chapters here...
Chapter 32
The doors to the library broke when Clark burst through them, only to find no one there. He bellowed, "Lex!"
Two men ran in, holding only guns, which they pointed at Clark. "Hold it right there! Don't move!"
He examined them, and with no lead or kryptonite in evidence, Clark wasn't concerned.
"Where's Lex?" Clark looked around and didn't see their lord and master joining in the fun. He growled at the men, "There's some business he and I must discuss right now." They were intimidated despite the fact that they faced an unarmed man. It was apparently unsettling for them to realize the guns obviously didn't scare Clark.
The younger man swallowed hard, he was petrified, but the older man replied coolly, his racing heart the only clue he was as scared as his younger coworker. "Mr. Luthor isn't at home...." To his credit, despite his terror he played it very cool. "May I ask what your business is with him?"
Clark sneered at the man. "He is the only person that can fix a problem that I have." Clark concentrated and looked around the building but it was empty, except for the men in front of him and the housekeeper asleep in her room. "It's urgent I talk with him and I need to talk with him now."
The older man narrowed his eyes and lowered his gun as a look of recognition passed over his face. "Are you Clark Kent?"
Clark returned the glare, suspicious. His voice dropped in tone. "Yes."
The men both relaxed visibly and put away their guns. "Mr. Luthor has been expecting you."
Clark was suddenly on edge. "What?" He looked at the men, now suddenly not at all nervous. "What do you mean?"
"Mr. Luthor instructed that if you came for a visit, we should give you his contact information..."
"He did?"
"Yes." The man stepped forward and held out a card. "He didn't want to miss talking with you, should you come by."
Clark took the card. It was Lex's personal business card. It had his personal email address and cell phone number on it. He was skeptical. "Lex actually wants to talk to me?"
"Yes. He left standing orders months ago. Mr. Luthor wanted you to have that in case you asked to see him. He's out of town but you can call him on his cell phone."
"Where is he now?"
The younger man, uncertainly added, "Isn't he in Metropolis?"
The older man corrected him, "No, he's out of state on business, it's Mrs. Luthor that's in Metropolis..."
Clark blanched and his stomach dropped.
"Mrs. Luthor? He's married?"
Clark's shock was quickly replaced by fury... What gave him the nerve to act like it didn't matter that Clark's life was forever changed? How could Lex have a happily ever after when Clark's life had been ruined because of him?
His chest heaved and his ears buzzed, he was so furious, but he managed to ask, the menace clear despite how quietly he spoke. "When did they marry?"
The older man easily slid his gun out of its holster and back into his grip, as the younger man backed away and fumbled to get his gun back out of its holster. Clark snatched the gun from the older man's hand. No longer cool, the man stammered in his fear as he watched Clark crush the blued steel in his fist. "It's... it's... oh... only been about a month..." Clark glared at the other man as they stepped further back. He growled at them.
"Tell me where he is."
Afraid of Clark and no longer being accommodating, the men said nothing.
Clark could barely contain the heat that built up in his eyes as he grabbed the older man by his coat lapels and pinned him against the wall. "Tell. Me. Where. He. Is."
"The Fuh... Fair... Fairmont Ol.. O.. Olympic Hotel... In Seattle..."
Clark took off through the leaded glass window, so angry with Lex at actually getting married about the time that Clark was stuck up on that cold roof top in the snow. His tormenter had been living while he had been only surviving, he was so angry that he didn't care who saw him do what. He flew the fastest he'd ever flown in his life, the ground below him passing by in a blur.
He arced up high into the air and came close to the edge of the atmosphere. The cold, black sky above him perfectly matched his dark mood.
He didn't know where this hotel was that Lex was in, he'd never been to Seattle before, but if he could hear Lex's heart, he wouldn't need to know. Clark came down into the sky above the city and pulled to a stop. He listened for a moment, trying to discern from the cacophony the faint sounds of Lex's heart...
He heard the steady beat and turned toward it. He looked at the hotel and wasn't at all surprised. He probably should have just looked for the most opulent place in town...
The Fairmont was almost disgusting in how exclusive it looked. It looked old and the marble and antique filled rooms only reinforced that idea. He found Lex in the largest and most disgustingly extravagant room in the place. His shirt was open and his feet were bare like he had been getting ready for bed. He must have just been talking on the phone because he held a cell phone and he put it down with finality. He wasn't happy with whomever he'd been talking to. Clark grimly flew around to the picture window that looked out onto the city from the lavishly appointed living room and smashed through it.
He landed next to the grand piano and bellowed so loudly that the surviving windows shook in their frames. "LEX!" He glared at the huge suite. It could have housed ten families, it was so big. He thought the first floor of the barn back home would have probably comfortably fit inside its walls. It was filled with antiques and pricy art. The marble fireplace was intricately carved and the piano looked just as old and well cared for as all the other furnishings.
Just like Lex to enjoy the luxuries his billions could give him while Clark suffered and struggled because of what he did. The expensive antiques and artwork made him fume. Because of Lex he'd spent the last month living in a drafty room in Wyoming that smelled of horses and hay while, uncaring, Lex got married and moved on with his life.
When Lex entered from the bedroom, Clark was impressed that Lex seemed so outwardly calm, but he could hear his heart pounding. His voice was as smooth as the silk sheets on the bed. "Clark, I've been expecting you."
Clark's voice sounded almost conversational as he walked toward Lex, the broken glass from the window crunching beneath his tennis shoes. "Why is that, Lex? Why are waiting for me instead of spending time with your bride? Why are you denying yourself the pleasure of her company? Why aren't you with your new wife living happily ever after?" Clark's mockingly casual tone turned bitter and menacing. "Not everyone gets that, I know I haven't."
Lex was about to reply when the door opened and two men entered with guns drawn. One of the looked at Clark with an appraising eye before addressing Lex directly, "Is everything okay, Mr. Luthor?"
Clark glared at the men and checked them for kryptonite or lead... He didn't see any. Lex walked toward them a few steps and talked to them calmly. "Everything is fine..." Clark's former friend and captor cleared his throat and said almost too casually, "However, be prepared for contingencies five and thirteen...."
The men looked at Clark with narrowed eyes and nodded grimly. They backed out, keeping an eye on Clark as they closed the door quietly behind them. Clark looked through the door to see them stand guard outside in the hallway. One of the men talked quietly into a microphone in his lapel. Clark listened, "All clear but prepare contingencies five and thirteen... All clear, contingencies five and thirteen. Copy?"
There was a reply in the man's ear piece, "Five and thirteen, copy." Clark turned his attention back to Lex, who had moved to the bar.
"Contingencies five and thirteen?"
Lex tried to sound casual but his heart rate had sped up. "They're security protocols I don't need but they got the men out of the room so we could talk without interruption." Clark checked his skin and saw the other man was blushing, even if only minutely.
Lex was lying.
The billionaire casually walked to the bar and poured himself a drink, which he immediately drained. Lex poured himself a second and then hesitated and looked over his shoulder at Clark. "You want something to drink?"
"Your heart rate sped up and you have a positive galvanic skin response, Lex. You're usually a better liar than that..." Clark clenched his jaw and glared at the man. "What are you trying to hide?"
"Not a thing." Lex drained his second drink and turned toward Clark. "What are you doing here, Clark?"
"Oh, I thought you had it all figured out... You were waiting for me to contact you, remember?"
"I thought maybe you might want to talk about what happened but that's clearly not your plan..."
"Why the hell would I want to talk to you about what happened? That would imply that maybe you wanted to help me..."
"I do want to help you, Clark..."
"Do you? Do you really?"
"Yes, I do.
"Okay. Stop them..."
"Stop who?"
Clark laughed, incredulous. "Who? Who?! Who do you think? Them... The people that want to capture me. Him."
"What are you talking about, Clark? No one is trying to capture you. Not anymore..."
"They almost had me fooled, but it was another one of their tricks... They only wanted me to think they were done because they came for me again tonight."
Lex looked at Clark, confused. "I don't know what you thought you saw, but they're not coming for you anymore, Clark. They assured me it was over."
Clark was yelling, "NO! There were men in helicopters coming for me... I saw them!" Clark growled in his growing fury. "You started it; you can end it. I want my life back. I want it to stop!"
"I know you do, but I think there's been some misunderstanding... I know you saw the empty lab building, because you burned it down. Everything is gone and the army isn't looking for you. The people have all been either fired or reassigned. The program is over, Clark. No one is coming for you."
"I know what I saw!" Angry tears stung Clark's eyes. "It's not over! I can't get away from it... I was home but it's like it doesn't matter. Reminders are everywhere... I'm not free."
Lex walked closer to Clark as he spoke, his tone quiet and sympathetic. Condescending... It made Clark angry. "I'm sorry about that, Clark. Really I am, and I understand..."
The fury that had been blunted a bit by his despair boiled over and Clark sped over to Lex and pinned him to the wall. He held him there with one hand on the side of Lex's neck, his long fingers touching the base of Lex's skull, his thumb caressing his Adam's apple.
"Do you understand? I don't think so. You might think your stint in Belle Reve was horrific enough for you to think so, but you're wrong..."
Lex gasped, his heart racing. He turned his body toward the wall so that he could push back against Clark's steel grip with both hands, but it was futile. He realized it quickly and quieted. He whispered softly, "I'm sorry--"
Clark's fury at Lex's hypocrisy completely overrode thought so he wouldn't let Lex finish that sentence. "Sorry? You're sorry? You wouldn't have watched if you were really sorry... You would have tried harder to stop it. But maybe if you knew what it was really like, you'd be sincerely sorry..."
Clark leaned in and was about to whisper in Lex's ear, but Lex started to speak... He stopped him by gently squeezing and Lex's gasp of pain was all he heard. He felt a cold satisfaction that he could get Lex to stop and oddly pleased that for once Lex was the one who was scared.
He growled in Lex's ear. "You haven't been addressed, Test Subject. You will only speak when spoken to, do you understand?"
Lex's eyes went wide, his understanding immediate. He looked away, acting the submissive, and his voice dropped to a desperate whisper. "Yes..."
He had to admit that one thing Lex was good at was rolling with the punches. Somehow that made Clark angrier and his voice exuded a cold fury that would have made any lesser man fear for his life. Lex's heart rate actually slowed as his body relaxed and Clark's fury grew.
"You must always address me as 'sir' or you will be punished, test subject." Clark leaned in closer and whispered harshly into Lex's ear, "Do you understand, test subject?"
Lex shuddered and closed his eyes. "Yes sir."
"Let me explain the rules to you, Test Subject." Clark looked closely at the sweat beaded skin of Lex's bald head and his fingers caressed the smooth, pale skin at the base of Lex's skull. "You will only speak when spoken to, you will do whatever you're asked to do and you will not try to escape." Clark looked back at Lex's eyes, which were again open, but looking down. "Do you understand?"
Clark felt the power in his body and knew, no matter what, Lex clearly understood that his life hung in the balance. The other man trembled and Clark wasn't sorry he was scared.
Lex's voice shook as he softly replied, "Yes sir."
"That's better, test subject, but I don't think you truly understand what it was like for me or there is no way you would have watched them destroy me bit by bit." Clark's tone became more menacing. "I will explain to you what it was like, so you can truly understand." He looked at the clothes Lex was wearing. The expensively tailored slacks and fitted linen shirt made him superior to Clark, who wore old tennis shoes, faded sweats and a worn t-shirt, so Clark had to remove the reminders of Lex's wealth. "But first I must tell you that only humans are good enough to wear clothes and you have seemed to have forgotten that you aren't human."
Clark quickly had Lex's clothes lying in shreds on the floor around him, leaving Lex in only his silk boxers. Lex's chest was heaving and his heart rate had sped up and his skin was flushed. Clark smiled at the fear Lex felt.
"You don't get to use your name either, so I will just call you Test Subject because that's all you're good for. It doesn't matter that you have people that love you... It doesn't matter that you had a happy life because you stole that happy life from a human boy or girl... Your parents would have found a human child to make happy if you hadn't come along... You didn't deserve that happy life... You're a thing, not a person worthy of being loved."
A tear rolled down his cheek as Lex spoke, his voice rough with emotion. "Clark, I didn't..."
Clark yelled in his ear, his bellow rattling the rest of the windows in their frames. "Don't speak!" Lex flinched. "Have you been spoken to, Test Subject?"
The Test Subject shook his head and replied softly, "No sir."
"Do you want me to punish you? I could probably think of something that hurts as much as kryptonite does me..." Clark's chest was heaving and his ears were buzzing with the fury and pain he felt. "That would be fitting, but do you know what kryptonite feels like, Test Subject?"
The Test Subject shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes. "No sir."
"It's like fire burning you from the inside. A fire that burns so hot that your blood feels like it's boiling but that's not the most painful part. No. The most painful part is the fact that it feels like a million knives are stabbing you while your stomach twists up in a knot so tight you want to throw up but you can't... I'm not sure, but I've heard electric shock is very painful. Would that be a good punishment for you, Test Subject? It might be the closest you'd get to feeling what I feel."
The Test Subject didn't answer, he just trembled and looked at Clark with heavily lidded eyes. His breath came in gasps and Clark was so close they shared their breath... Clark realized with a shock that his hand had moved down Lex's neck to his trim, yet muscular, bare back. It felt so good, so smooth, and the scent that enveloped his senses was overwhelming. Musky and spicy, with a hint of sweetness...
So...
...Lex.
His chest heaved as he moved in directly behind Lex and touched him with both hands. The skin was so smooth and pale under his hands. The difference in shade made his hands look bigger on Lex's back. He kept touching Lex's skin, like it was an addiction he didn't know he'd had and finally feeling Lex provided him with a fix. He moved closer and he couldn't get enough of the smell and the feel of him. He wanted to taste him but he was afraid what would happen if he dared to kiss him, or even lick him...
He didn't want to do anything that would endanger the moment. He realized, in a moment of shock, that he was turned on like he hadn't ever been before. Rock hard, he wanted to know what it would feel inside Lex, with him squirming helpless beneath him, in pain.... Almost as an after thought, he wondered what Lex would look like with his arms bound behind his back as he looked at the shreds of clothing to see if any were long enough to use...
Clark gasped as he flashed back.
For a moment he was back in the lab and Lex was nude in front of him, scared to death, chest heaving, strapped to a cold metal table.... He cried out in pain as Clark stood over his bare backside, ready to take was rightfully his.
Clark came back to the hotel room and Lex was panting. His heart was racing and his chest was heaving out of fear of him. Clark was horrified and sickened when he realized what he'd almost done, how scared he'd made Lex...
Suddenly nauseous, Clark sped from the room to the bathroom and fell to his knees in front of the toilet as he cried. He was a monster... He had been looking forward to seeing Lex squirm and cry out in pain! How could he do that to anyone? No one, not even Lex, deserved that.
He wasn't a monster, he couldn't be one. Not like HIM...
But Clark had been about to... Rape.
His strong fingers splintered the heavy oak of the toilet seat. He knelt on the cold marble tile floor and dry heaved as he cried in his realization.
The Man had turned him into a monster... maybe he had been right, maybe Clark hadn't deserved his happy life... Not if he could want to do that to someone.
He barely heard the soft sigh of silk at the doorway as Lex entered the bathroom... He didn't want to look at him, he shook his head as the other man knelt down next to him.
"I'm so sorry, Lex... I'm so sorry..."
"It's okay, Clark." Lex sounded so understanding, but he didn't understand. Clark glanced over at Lex, who knelt there in his stylish silk robe, completely confused, "If you're not feeling well, it's understandable...."
Tears began to trail down Clark's cheeks and they made soft plinking sounds into the bowl of the toilet, and his voice sounded a bit hollow as it reverberated in the cold marble room.
"No, you don't understand..." Not willing to admit the truth of what he had been about to do to Lex, he stammered, "It's just... I... I shouldn't have come. It was just a big mistake..." Clark stood as he wiped the tears away with the back of a hand. "You can't help me... No one can." He walked out into the living room, Lex followed him.
"Clark, what are you talking about? What happened?"
Clark just shook his head, "This was just a mistake. It was a mistake to come. I was stupid to think you could help..." Clark walked toward the broken window, but the other man stepped in front of him.
"Wait, Clark. Where are you going?"
Clark paused, unsure... "I don't know...."
"You should go home."
He didn't think he deserved the home he'd grown up in anymore, not if the Man had turned him into a monster. It would be safer for his parents if he weren't there... They might get hurt. He shook his head. "I can't go home..."
"You belong at home with your family, Clark. No matter what's wrong, your parents would want to try and help...."
Clark sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. He was sadly resigned to his decision and shook his head. "I can't. Not now, not if they're coming for me again..."
"I don't know what you thought you saw, but no one is looking for you. Not anymore."
Clark was suddenly furious again and he yelled. "If He gets hold of me again I won't survive it this time... They might as well shoot a kryptonite bullet into my head."
He tried to brush past Lex, but Lex grabbed his arm and wouldn't let go. Clark tried to tug his arm from Lex's grip but the other man held on. Clark growled. "Let go of me, Lex. I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't hurt me."
Clark despaired. "Lex, let go..."
"No, I won't. We have to talk about what it exactly was that made you leave home..."
Clark got angry. "Haven't you been listening? He said He'd never let me go..."
"Who said that? Director Strickland? He's not trying to find you. He can't because he's buried six feet deep in a cemetery on Long Island. He can't hurt you anymore, Clark. He's dead."
Clark was confused. "No. He can't be dead..." Clark was more insistent. "It's a trick. Lex, don't you see? He left that paper where they knew I could find it. He wanted to lull me into a false sense of security to get me to go back home. And tonight those soldiers were heading right for the farm. They were coming to take me back."
Lex shook his head, clearly exasperated. "Back where? You destroyed what was left of the lab. Strickland is dead and everyone else is gone." Lex stepped closer to Clark, his grip still firm on his arm. "You look exhausted and you're being irrational... Clark, can you hear yourself? Stay. Let me help you..."
"You can't help me. No one can." He pulled on his arm but Lex still held on. "Let me go, Lex."
"I insist that you stay, Clark." Angry that Lex would try to make him stay, Clark had been about to push Lex away, regardless of whether bones got broken, but Lex didn't give him a chance. Clark felt the nauseating and painful effects of Kryptonite, and before he could do anything a sharp, agonizing pain hit his shoulder.
Looking down, he saw that Lex had jabbed something into the thick muscle at the top of his arm. It looked like a spring loaded epi pen that he'd seen some people with severe allergies carry, only this pen glowed green. Furious and feeling completely betrayed, Clark shrugged and threw Lex off him and into the wall. Dazed, his former friend slumped to the floor.
"I won't let you take me back, Lex!" Clark pulled the pen from his arm and he threw it hard against the wall. He'd expected it to sink deep into the antique plaster, but instead it had smacked into the wall and simply fell to the thick carpet. Vaguely disappointed, Clark tried to get his bearings as he swayed on his feet. Nauseous and in pain from the kryptonite, disoriented from the drugs, the room looked disjointed. The effects were different than back in New York. Clark could see that they had learned from their mistake and the drugs were far stronger than the last time...
Clark knew he didn't have much time as he tried to figure out which way the broken window was. It took him a minute to orient himself and he walked toward it, the cold air flowing in through the broken window helped to clear his head a bit.
He knew if he could make it outside, he should have enough flight left that he could find a place to hide again. The hotel was near downtown and a lot of tall buildings... He could probably find someplace to hide. He took several more steps toward the broken window, his feet crunching the broken glass into the thick carpet. He ignored the sound of Lex getting up behind him.
"Clark?"
He looked back at the man. "I won't let you take me back..." He turned back toward the window and the world seemed to stretch and suddenly he was looking at the broken window as if from the other end of a tunnel. The room seemed to stretch on for dozens of yards, not a couple of dozen feet...
Clark was having problems keeping the broken window in focus, and he suddenly wasn't sure if his flight ability was still working, but he felt like he could still make it as he took several steps closer... He felt some hope and took another step but he seemed to step into a hole, because he was suddenly face down on the floor.
Pain spiked all over his body, especially on his face and chest... Clark didn't understand it until he focused on the carpet his cheek was resting against. The carpet sparkled with shards of glass from the broken window. He tried to push up, but the glass cut deeper into his hands and legs, the worn jersey of his sweats poor protection against sharp pieces of glass. He cried out and tried to push through the pain, but his head spun and he lost his balance and he fell back onto his side. The glass cut into him and he groaned but Lex was next to him, kneeling down.
"Clark, be careful... there's broken glass..." Clark tried to push Lex away but all he did was push himself over onto his back and smear blood on Lex's expensive robe. The glass caused dozens of new small cuts on his back, he cried in pain as Lex grimaced. "Dammit, Clark... Stay still." He looked over his shoulder toward the door and yelled. "Security!"
Lex stood as the door burst open and the guards ran into the room. "He's going to need medical attention. You need to amend contingency thirteen to get him out of here with that in mind. With his injuries it's going to be more difficult...."
Angry that Lex was planning on taking him back, and that "contingency thirteen" apparently had been designed to kidnap him, Clark didn't want to wait to see what Lex had in mind. He hoped he had some flight left, so he concentrated and slowly lifted off the carpet despite the pain it caused. The guards cried out in surprise behind him and Lex lunged at him. He grabbed hold of Clark's hand with both of his and when he did that, Clark's body swung away from Lex as he pulled against his grip. Lex's hands were strong but the blood from the cuts on Clark's hands and arms made his skin slick. He felt if he could keep pulling, Lex's grip would slip and he could pull free.
Lex saw the same thing as he held on as hard as he could. His traction wasn't great since he wore only slippers. Lex called out to the men standing dumbstruck in the entry way, "Grab him!"
The men rushed forward but Lex's grip gave out before they reached them and Clark shot forward. His speed picked up as he straightened his body out and, for a moment, he thought he was going to fly free into the cold night air but Clark's head exploded in pain.
Clark must have blacked out for a moment because the next thing he knew he was lying flat on his back underneath the mantle of the marble fire place. Clark was in agony. All the sensations in his body, the kryptonite flowing in his veins, the dozens upon dozens of small cuts that crisscrossed his body, the feel of the cold marble beneath him, had all been somehow magnified.
None of the cuts he'd gotten from the glass had been very deep but now it felt like he'd been flayed open. Clark could even feel the kryptonite as it slid through his bloodstream. The meteor rock laced drug was cutting paths through his body that burned like fire and the marble hearth beneath him felt so cold it burned. Even his clothes hurt where they pressed into his skin...Both his head and neck both throbbed painfully, it hurt to breathe much less move.
He didn't know what happened, why he was in so much pain, as he looked at the fireplace he noticed a huge crack in the antique stone... He didn't remember seeing that before. He tried to get up but one of the guards leaned over Clark and held his head still.
Clark didn't understand what was going on and he tried to push the man off, his grip felt like he was squeezing his head in a vice, but his body wasn't cooperating. His arms and legs felt heavy and his movements were clumsy and it hurt his neck to move, but Lex leaned over him and held him down. The billionaire said something to Clark but he didn't understand it. He could hear but the words didn't make sense.
Clark sighed heavily when he realized could no longer fight the effects of the tranquilizer; the strong drugs were finally taking over his body as the dark started to push in. His eyelids had gotten heavy and he took long, slow blinks as he watched Lex talk to him. Clark still couldn't understand what he was saying. He wanted to ask Lex why he'd done it, but all that came out was an incoherent mumble as the black finally won.
Continued here...