Clark had been hurt before, but never like this. This was unlike any other pains he had endured. His strength was somehow gone and he found that just the squeaking of the door afflicted him with fear of what was to come. It had been a two weeks since he had first been taken to a private lab owned by Luthorcorp. Every day the scientists would come into the small, cold room he was kept in and perform multiple tests on him. He was starting to forget his name because he was given a number to replace it, and that's what the scientists called. 742-18, every time even a syllable of that number was mentioned it made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Today was different though. The men who opened the door this time were not scientists, but muscle men with fragments of kryptonite strapped to their waist. Clark could feel his blood begin to curdle. The pain was too much. He writhed on the floor trying to scream, but he found he could not make a sound. They picked him up and dragged him down a bright hallway to an examination room. Clark was put onto a metal table and strapped down. When the men left him, he thought about breaking the restraints and making a run for it, but then he was reminded of the last time he tried to escape. He had gone into hyper speed and ran out the door. Immediately he was stopped by meteor rocks that lined the hallway outside. He feel to the floor in pain and started crawling, but before he could go anywhere the scientist had come and put him back on the room and put a meteor rock by the door to prevent any other escape. The scientists had always been careful when dealing with him. They would always have a meteor rock with them to make sure he couldn't rise up against them.
Suddenly Clark felt a chill go up his spine as he heard footsteps coming towards the door. When it opened he could see one of the scientists had a hypodermic needle, and a very large one at that. He knew they were planning on sticking it in him. Another smaller man, who Clark had never seen before strode in the room before the scientist with the needle. The man came very close to Clark and made some gestures for a pad and writing implement.
"This is experiment 742-18. Uh-huh very good work gentlemen, but I'm a little concerned about the exhaustion of the specimen. By the looks of him, he'll be dead in about three days, and I don't want him dead." The man put the pad down after scribbling on for a few moments and walked back toward the door. On his way out, he gave the okay to proceed with the tests and the scientist with the needle came up next to the table. As he held the needle above Clark's chest, Clark noticed for the first time the team of scientists and muscle men coming in the room and toward the table.
The team gathered around Clark. Two of the men began stripping the top half of Clark's body. The scientist with the needle nodded his head that he was ready to begin and lowered the needle to Clark's abdomen. Clark closed his eyes and a tear feel down his face.
Two weeks earlier, Clark had just told Chloe his secret. She had been hanging around the farm a lot more and asking a lot of questions. Clark amused Chloe by answering as much as he could and still do his chores. That particular day a man claiming to be an employee of Luthorcorp paid a visit to the Kent farm. He was wearing a very fancy suit and carried and light brown leathern briefcase with the Luthorcorp logo on the side. He said his name was Mr. White and that he had come to give Clark and invitation to a benefit dinner from Lex personally.
"What department did you say you worked for again, Mr. White?" Jonathan had never liked the Luthors and this was a tactic they hadn't used before for anything. For this reason, he was extra skeptical about the visitor and the invitation.
"I am sort of what you might call a social chair for Luthorcorp. It is a relatively new position," the man replied and held out a business card to Clark. Jonathan took the card before Clark could and scanned it. Finding nothing wrong with the card he handed it to Clark. Clark was somewhat skeptical too. He was friends with Lex and was wondering why Lex hadn't come to invite him or had just sent the invitation in the mail. Mr. Smith opened his briefcase and pulled out an envelope with Clark's name on it. He handed it to Clark, nodded, got back in his car, and drove away.
Clark went inside the house and opened the envelope. There was a card inside that read: Dear Clark, you are cordially invited to a benefit dinner for Luthorcorp at 601 Old Luthorcorp Drive on Friday the 2nd at 7:00 pm. Dress is formal and bring I.D. or else you will not be able to get in. Clark looked at the Calendar. It was Thursday the first, and that meant the benefit was tomorrow. Clark wondered what he would wear for the occasion. He didn't really own a tux or any really nice suits. "I guess Lex will have to settle for my graduation suit," Clark said with a sigh. Chloe shot Clark a look that read temporary distaste.
The next evening as Clark was preparing to go to the benefit, his father came up to the loft to let him know that he was still not sure that going was such a good idea. "Son, I know you have your mind set on going, so I just want you to be careful. Keep your eyes open and don't stay too late."
"I promise I'll be careful and I'll be home by ten," Clark said as he strode down the stairs and out the barn door. He thought his dad was being a little overprotective, but knew he had only his best interest at heart. Clark drove away from the farm not knowing that he may never come back.
As he drove along the back road of Old Luthor Drive Clark noticed that there were no other cars on the road with him. When he pulled up to the gate of building 601, there were no lights on and no other cars or people in sight beside a lone security guard. Clark got out of the truck and walked up to the guard post at the gate. The guard stayed back away from Clark and asked him for a name. Clark gave the man his name and asked about the benefit dinner. The guard walked casually up to Clark and asked for I.D. Clark showed the man his I.D. "I was wondering if I was in the right place for the Luthorcorp benefit dinner?" Clark asked hoping that he had just driven to the wrong place. The guard disappeared for a moment beneath the counter and then reappeared with a box. He told Clark that he was in the right place and handed him the box. After handing him the box, the guard gave Clark the instructions to go up to door number 14 and walk in and he was not to open the box until the receptionist told him it was okay.
After a few minutes of looking, Clark found door 14 and walked inside. There were no lights on and Clark could not tell were to go to find the receptionist. He had taken about three steps when a voice asked him if he was here for the benefit.
"Yes," Clark told the voice and at that a light turned on revealing a large man in a lab coat sitting at a desk.
"I expect you have the box you were given?" The man asked without looking up at Clark. "Then I need you to step through these doors, take a left and find room A-23, before you enter the room I will ask you to open the box." The man pointed to a set a glass doors to his right. Clark walked to the doors and hesitated. He thought this was all too weird and debated walking away. He decided he would disappear down the hall and hyper speed back to his car and drive back home. He could always call Lex later with an excuse.
The man behind the desk motioned to Clark again and this time Clark went through the doors. When he was sure that he couldn't be seen by the receptionist anymore, he burst into hyper speed running right past the man at the desk and the guard. When he reached his car he stopped and looked at the box he still held in his hand. He was curious about its contents and opened it. He lifted the lid and staggered backward. It had all been a trick; the box had an inner lining of lead and contained kryptonite. Clark felt to his knees in pain and tried to throw the box away, but it didn't go very far. He was able to open his car door, but when he did he found multiple meteor rocks inside. Clark fell back and lay on the ground trying to think of a way to get away. He started to crawl, but it was too late. The guard had seen him and run over. He grabbed Clark's arm and a meteor rock from inside the car and dragged Clark back to the gate.
At the gate was the man from inside the building and the man who had visited the farm the day before. They helped take Clark back inside the building. The last thing Clark saw before he past out was the number of the room he was taken into. It was room number A-23. The men laid Clark in a far corner of the room and walked out, leaving a few scattered meteor rocks by the door. Clark awoke a few minutes later very scared and feeling lost.
Back at the farm, Martha and Jonathan were getting worried about Clark. It was 12:30 and Clark said he would be back by 10:00. They sat in the kitchen staring at the clock silently hoping that Clark would walk in the door any minute now and say that he lost track of time. They waited and waited, but Clark did not show. The seconds felt like hours and the hours felt like eternities. They had no idea that their worst fear had come true.
Jonathan didn't remember falling asleep, but when he opened his eyes the sunlight was streaming in through the kitchen window. He checked the clock. 8:30! He ran upstairs and opened Clark's bedroom door expecting to find him sprawled out on his bed possibly still wearing his suit. His son was not in the room and it looked as if he hadn't even come home. Martha had been awakened by Jonathan charging up the stairs and followed after hoping to stop Jonathan from waking Clark up. She saw Jonathan standing in Clark's doorway frozen. "What's wrong?" She asked already knowing the answer.
"Clark's not here, Martha. He didn't come home."
Chloe had just finished eating breakfast when the phone rang. She put her dishes in the sink and then picked up the receiver. "No Mr. Kent, the last time I saw Clark was yesterday afternoon before he got ready for that dinner thing. What? He never…" Chloe almost dropped the phone instead of hanging it up. She couldn't move her mind was consumed with worried thoughts about what could have happened to Clark. She decided the best thing to do would be to go over to the farm and help the Kent s find their son. Could this be one the Kent's worst fears realized? Chloe drove over to the Kent farm as quickly as she could. When she got there she saw that both Martha and Jonathan were nervous wrecks. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Mr. Kent, I think maybe we should go to the place where dinner was last night and look around. Maybe there is some evidence as to what happened?" Chloe was trying to be a little reassuring, but she knew lit wouldn't help much. Jonathan agreed and they both climbed into Chloe's car, leaving Martha to man the house, incase Clark were to return. Chloe hoped they would find something that would lead them to Clark.
They drove up the dirt road to the gate of 601 Luthorcorp Drive. The building looked abandoned and there was no sign that anyone had been there the night before. Chloe parked the car over by some trees to keep it out of sight. As they were walking toward the gate, Jonathan noticed something shiny on the ground ahead. He ran over and picked it up. "It's my pocket knife that I gave to Clark for his birthday this past year," Jonathan said with alarm. "He never went anywhere without it." Jonathan looked up at the gate of the building. He knew Clark was somewhere inside there and he had to get his son out.
"Mr. Kent, are you all right?" Chloe asked as she came up next Jonathan. She could see that he was thinking of a plan or had an objective in mind. "Do you think Clark's in there?" Chloe took another look at the building. This time she noticed a man in a lab coat walking toward a door on the side of the building. She nudged Jonathan and pointed. They saw the man open the door and walk in. It didn't appear that he used a key, so that meant that the door maybe unlocked. Chloe looked at the gate bars and saw that they were wide enough for her to squeeze through. She knew what she was going to do. She would go through the gate and try the door. If it opened she would investigate further and hopefully locate Clark in the process.
Jonathan didn't even notice Chloe squeezing through the bars of the old gate. In fact it wasn't until Chloe had nearly reached the door that he realized she wasn't beside him. When Chloe reached the door, she turned and looked at Jonathan. After giving him a sign that meant everything was okay, she pulled the door handle and the door swung open. Chloe walked into the brightly lit building. She noticed there was kryptonite lining the room and the hallway on the other side of a pair of glass doors. Clark must be in here if they put this stuff everywhere, she thought as she opened one of the glass doors and slipped into the hallway.
Clark had had nightmares before, but this time the nightmare was real. He didn't know what time it was, but guessed that it was morning. The night before the men had dragged him into a room using kryptonite and left him there for at least an hour. Then they returned with some sort of machine. They had brought kryptonite with them and Clark was writhing in pain as they stripped him down to his boxers. Then one of the men turned on the machine. Clark suddenly realized that the machine was used for giving people tattoos. The man brought the needle tip to Clark's stomach and began writing. Clark was in so much pain now that he let out a scream as the man wrote the numbers 742-18 on his stomach. Then it was over and the men left. Clark did not see them again for a long time. Clark curled up in a corner and tried to sleep, but he was too scared and just laid there with his eyes wide open staring at the wall.
Chloe was almost to the room where Clark was being held when she heard footsteps coming from the other direction. She ducked into a corner and watched as two men in lab coats, including the one she had seen before outside, walked into a room numbered A-23. She sensed now was her time to leave and crept back out into the hallway. As she came to the glass doors again she heard a faint moan that sounded like Clark coming from behind. She turned to look for him, but there was no one in sight.
Jonathan had been waiting patiently by the gate for Chloe to return. He saw her retreat from the building and run back to the gate. Chloe was out of breath and frightened. "He's in there Mr. Kent, I heard him. I think they're hurting him. Inside there was kryptonite lining the hallways, probably to keep him from escaping. It was all a trick, Mr. Kent, they tricked him and now he's trapped and hurt." Chloe began to cry. Jonathan felt helpless. His son was an experiment and he couldn't do anything right now to stop them.
They got back in the car and drove to the farm. Jonathan informed Chloe that she was not to tell Martha what they had discovered. Jonathan didn't want Martha knowing just yet about Clark's whereabouts. He walked into the house with a determined look on his face. He grabbed the shotgun off the wall and waked back out of the house. "Chloe give me your keys," Jonathan demanded. "And stay here with Martha. This is something I have to do alone." Jonathan had acted scary before, but this was beyond what either Martha or Chloe had seen.
"Mr. Kent I think I should come with you. I can slip through the bars and open the gate for you." Chloe felt that letting Jonathan go by himself was not a good idea. Jonathan insisted he go alone again and grabbed the keys from Chloe's hand. "Mr. Kent, I'm going whether you like it or not. I'm a part of this and I'm going to help." Jonathan gave in and Chloe climbed into the passenger's seat. She held the gun for Mr. Kent as he drove. She knew what he was preparing to do and it scared her. However, his child was being tortured and he couldn't just sit around and do nothing.
Two weeks seemed like an eternity to Clark. He used think about his parents, but he could barely see their faces now. He faintly remembered some commotion the day after he had been locked up and a voice that sounded like his father's screaming a name that he recognized but could no longer place as his own. He had wondered what had happened as a result of the commotion, but knew that the scientists had won. The scientists had taken away Clarks clothes and given him a shirt and pants that resembled scrubs that doctors wore. Clark could no longer tell if it was day or night, but that really didn't matter. He barely slept and hadn't walked in so long he may have forgotten how. He would just spend his days curled up on the floor staring at the wall.
He heard footsteps coming down the hallway and shuttered when the door creaked open. Two muscle men, with kryptonite strapped to their bodies, came in and grabbed Clark by the arms. Clark writhed with pain and tried to vocalize his distress, but nothing came out. The men dragged Clark out of the room and into an examination room with a large metal table in the center. They strapped Clark down and left. Clark knew he could break the restraints, but he also knew that he could not escape the building. The door opened and a small man, who Clark had never seen before, walked in. He walked up to the table, motioned for a pad and writing implement, and began scribbling notes on Clark's condition. "This is experiment 742-18. Uh-huh, good work gentlemen, but I'm a little concerned about the exhaustion of the specimen. By the looks of him, he'll be dead in three days, and I don't want him dead." With that the man walked back out of the room and the scientists gathered around Clark.
Dying in three days didn't sound all that bad to Clark. In fact, what made him scared was what could happen to him within those three days and what if he didn't die? This was one of those times. One of the scientists was holding a large hypodermic needle over his abdomen. He knew what they were going to inject him with, but this was the biggest dose they had ever used. The scientist with the needle nodded and the others began stripping him down to his waist. The needle was hovering just above the skin and Clark closed his eyes and a tear fell down his face.
The door burst open, "Finish the injection quickly and then return the specimen to his room. Mr. Luthor is here and wants to inspect our activities," the small man said as he hurried into the room. Clark winced as the needle entered his flesh and its content where ejected into his blood stream. After a few seconds Clark felt the effects of the drug and didn't even realize that he was being moved back into his holding room. His head was reeling and he thought perhaps he was dying. No, dying would be quicker.
Lex and his bodyguard walked down the halls of the old Luthorcorp building. "I didn't know that my father still had employees at this station," Lex said to one of the scientists. "What exactly do you do for Luthorcorp, Dr. White?"
Mr. White hesitated. "Oh we are trying to develop a new drug for mentally unstable people who have the tendency to become violent. I know your probably thinking that there is already a drug for that, but we are trying to improve that. Make it take effect quicker in the bloodstream, while keeping the patient completely coherent."
Lex didn't exactly buy the man's reasons, but he needed evidence to prove they were trespassing on Luthorcorp land and indulging in illegal activity. As they were nearing room A-23, Lex noticed that Dr. White was becoming extremely nervous. They were about two steps from the door when a loud clang came from inside the room. "What was that?" Lex asked of the man. He knew that the sound obviously was something the man didn't want happening. "I think I should take a look inside this room Dr. White."
"Oh there's no need, it's just another failed experiment. You see we have to heat each new serum to a certain temperature and sometimes they explode. I guess it is back to the drawing board." The man urged Lex to move on, but Lex was not ready to leave just yet.
"No, that didn't sound like an explosion. I'm going in and if you're smart, then you won't try to stop me." Lex motioned for his bodyguard to open the door. The door creaked loudly and inside Lex found meteor rocks lining the wall and door frame. In the corner he was surprised to see a half naked human huddled in the corner. He surveyed the room looking for the source of the sound. A lamp from the ceiling had fallen and crashed to the floor a few feet from the person in the corner. Lex walked over to the person to see if they were all right. As he neared, he noticed that the person was very familiar, too familiar. "Clark?" Lex said as he knelt beside his friend on the floor. Lex extended a hand and put it on Clark's shoulder. Clark shuddered and tried to pull away. Lex felt that Clark's skin was cold and clammy. He feared that his friend was on the brink of death. "Joe, call 911 and tell them to send an ambulance and a team of cops," Lex barked at his bodyguard. Lex tried to console his terrified friend, but every attempt was met with increasing fear from his friend.
A few minutes later a medical team was in the room asking all kinds of questions and sedating Clark for transportation. As they wheeled Clark out, Lex saw that the building was surrounded by patrol cars. A few deputies were taking the scientists away in handcuffs. Lex chose to ride in the ambulance along with Clark. He started making calls to specialists to make sure they could be ready to fly out at a moments notice. He was prepared to everything in his power to make sure Clark was taken care of properly. Lex watched as the ambulance crew hooked Clark up to various monitors and checked his vitals.
Back at the farm, Jonathan was preparing to make one last attempt to rescue Clark when the phone rang. Martha answered and before Jonathan could ask who it was Martha began to cry. "That was the sheriff and they've got Clark. They got him out and he's on his way to the hospital." Martha was so relieved to know that Clark was in the hands of people who cared about his wellbeing. Jonathan put down his shotgun and ran to Martha. He hugged her and started to cry as well. Just then Chloe burst in the door. She had received word that the Kent's truck had been found abandoned in a heavily wooded area just west of the county line. When she saw Clark's parents she knew that Clark had been rescued.
"Where is he? Is he okay? When did they find him? How'd they get him out?" Chloe spoke so fast that she didn't even understand herself. Jonathan explained about the phone call they just got. Chloe offered to take the Kent's to the hospital to see if Clark was okay. When they arrived Lex was waiting for them inside the waiting area. When he saw them he rushed over and filled them in on what had happened. Martha was horrified and couldn't believe that someone could do something like that to a teenaged boy. A doctor soon appeared in the waiting area and asked for the Kent's. He asked to follow him into a private area so they could talk.
"Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I have some good news and some bad news about your son. The good news is that he is alive and there don't seem to be any life threatening conditions. However, Clark is displaying a common side effect of what we call prolonged torture or agony. We find behaviors like this most commonly with rape and kidnapping victims. Clark seems to be in another world and is not responding as he should to certain stimuli." Clark's parents just looked at the doctor with tear stained eyes. The doctor continued, "We are trying our best to keep Clark calm while we observe his vitals and responses. He is heavily sedated right now, but if you'd like to see him you may."
Jonathan led the way into Clark's room with Martha close behind. Clark lay motionless on the bed and the only way his parents knew he was alive was the beep of the monitor and the slow rising and falling of his chest. Martha sat next to Clark and took his hand. "It's okay sweetheart, Mommy's here. You don't need to be frightened anymore. I'm here now; no one can hurt you." Martha started crying again and Jonathan put his around her and laid a hand on Clark's chest. Clark opened his eyes slightly and saw two familiar people next to him. He couldn't place them and he became frustrated and scared. His heart monitor rose a couple of beats and his parents looked up at him. Jonathan saw the narrow slits in Clark's eyes and smiled at him. Clark began to breathe faster and heavily. Jonathan knew something was wrong. It was as if Clark didn't recognize them and was scared. "I know your scared son, but try to remember that we're your parents and we love you, we aren't going to hurt you." Jonathan's attempt at calming his son didn't work. It was now Martha's turn and she knew exactly what to do. She started humming a song that she had sung for Clark when he was little. The song always helped him relax and fall asleep.
Clark knew this melody he was hearing. He felt relaxed and started to breathe more calmly and his heart rate slowed to a more normal pace. Clark remembered his mother singing that song to him when he was little and he wished he could remember what she looked like. He opened his eyes and saw her looking at him. "M…Mom?" Clark whispered. The woman nodded and smiled. This was his mother, he remembered her now, and because she was here he knew he was safe.
Martha saw that her son was relaxed again. "That's it; you're okay baby, Mommy's here." Jonathan and Martha stayed with Clark until visiting hours were over and they had to leave. Chloe was dozing in the waiting area when Clark's parents came out. When she heard their voices she immediately sat up and went over to them. They filled her in on Clark's condition and offered to take her home. "No way, I'm going to stay here with you guys, if that's okay." Martha nodded that she could and went to get some coffee. The night was quiet in the hospital waiting room. Besides the Kent's and Chloe there was only the nurse on duty at the front desk.
Over the next few days the hospital staff became affiliated with seeing Chloe and Clark's parents around. They even started offering them left over hospital food. The Kent's graciously took the food sometimes, but Chloe never ate any hospital food. For some reason she was very much against none patients eating the stuff. Clark was now able to get out of bed and go for walks, but he wouldn't do it unless his mother was there. He still didn't fully recognize his Dad or anyone else for that matter. Martha knew that Clark just needed time. After a full week in the hospital, the doctors felt confident enough to let Clark go home.
When Clark saw the house he immediately recognized it. He couldn't believe that he was home. He had once thought he'd never see the place again, ever. Yet, here he was standing in his own driveway and looking at it. Jonathan felt angry about Clark not knowing him completely. It wasn't that he was mad at Clark, he was just mad. His anger showed and Clark was curious about it. "Dad," Clark said, "Are you mad at me?" Jonathan was surprised at his son's inquiry.
"No, Clark I'm not mad at you, I'm just mad at myself for letting you go to that phony benefit dinner."
"You couldn't have known, it was probably all my fault. I must have convinced you somehow that it would be okay," Clark said. He wanted to know his father better, but he just couldn't remember him. He knew that the man standing before him was his dad, but it was just a little gut feeling and nothing more.
As the days past Clark was able to retrieve his pre-tortured state of mind. Every once in a while he would have nightmares about being back in the cold room and tested on, but this time he could wake up and it would be over. Now that the old Clark was back, he set his mind on how the scientists knew his secret. His parents had thought about this too and had Lex as their number one suspect. However, Lex kept proving himself to be innocent time and time again. Jonathan now turned his attention on Chloe. He turned his inner reporter on her, asking her if she had written about Clark or said anything to anyone. Chloe kept promising that she hadn't done anything like that.
Chloe thought Clark was the only way to go to salvage her relationship with the Kent's. "Clark, I know this will be hard for you to do, but I need you to come with me to ask those scientist guys why they did what they did to you." Clark wasn't too happy with Chloe's plan. He wasn't even looking forward to facing the scientists during the trial, which was planned for next month. However, he agreed to go with Chloe.
The task was harder than Clark thought. When he saw the first scientist he began to get flashes back to his captivity. Chloe asked each one questions as if she was the cop in charge of interrogations. After she was through with each one, it was Clark's turn to ask questions. He sat down nervously and looked straight at the person who inflicted so much pain upon him with all the courage he could muster. "How did you know about the meteor rocks?" He asked the first scientist. The man gave Clark a sort of death stare and replied that he had a correspondent who knew all about him. Clark then asked who this correspondent was. All he could get was that the correspondent was dead and it didn't matter.
Clark tried to think of all the people who had died knowing his secret. There was Fallon, but he hadn't known Clark's weakness. He couldn't come up with anyone else. Clark then remembered a man who had discovered his secret four years ago. He had wanted to expose Clark to the world and had gotten into a fight with Jonathan. Just before he could kill Jonathan, Lex shot him and killed him. He had known Clark's secret. Clark returned by himself to the jail and was ready to put this scare to bed. When the first scientist was brought out, Clark didn't hesitate. "It was Nixon wasn't it?" Clark was practically yelling at the man. The man looked surprised and was speechless for a few moments.
"Like I said kid, it doesn't matter. So go back to your farm and live your pathetic life." Clark was furious and almost went Kal on the on the guy, but maintained his composure.
"You know what I can do to you and not telling is not worth losing your life over." Clark gave the man such a stare that he broke the man and got the answer he had been looking for. It was Nixon. Clark left the jail and returned home to await the trial. When he got home, Lana was waiting for him in the loft. She said she had come to see him when he was in the hospital, but he did not recognize her. Clark apologized and said that it was good to see her.
"I brought a friend with me," Lana said. Clark turned and saw Lex standing at the top of the steps just behind. "Lex wanted to make sure that you were okay, and so did I." Clark was pleased to see them both.
"Lex, I don't think I've formally thanked you for finding me when you did. If you hadn't I could be dead right now, so thank you for saving my life." Clark smiled at Lex and extended a hand for Lex to shake.
"Who do think I am Clark, a casual acquaintance?" Lex took Clark's hand and pulled him into a hug. "I'm just glad you're okay. I finally got to repay you for that day on the bridge."
Jonathan and Martha walked beside Clark as he entered the courtroom to hear the jury's decision after three days of deliberating. The men were found guilty on both kidnapping charges and various other counts as well. They were sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. The experiment data recovered at the old Luthorcorp plant had been destroyed by Sheriff Adams and she assured the Kent's that no one else saw it or made copies of it. However, she said that she would keep a close eye on the contacts of these men and Lex for awhile just to be absolutely sure. Clark's nightmare was over and he prayed he would never have to go through anything like that again.