Summary - Lex finds a girl that runs away from home. Lex/other friendship and maybe romance.

Rating - R to be safe, most it will be in the later chapters, though there is strong language used thought.

Disclaimer - I do not own any of the smallville characters or shorelines, or anything else to do with WB or DC comics!! If I owned any of this then don't you think I would have lex locked up in my bedroom by now!! So please don't get mad at me!

Review - YES PLEASE!!! This is my first fan fic, so if its bad, don't hate me! just tell me how to make it better!

Archive - sure, but tell me ok!

Notes - The name Eaisland' is pronounced A's-land' with the A sounding as it does in the word May.

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To Be Free. - Chapter 1, The long and lonely road.

The rain pounded down, cold and biting. Eaisland's clothes had been soaked through in a matter of minuets when it had first started to pour with torrential rain, but she took no notice, she was already too broken and exhausted to care what happened to her now. This was her forth day of walking, and she had yet to stop. She knew that if she stopped she would have to sleep, and if she slept she might be found by her parents, and this was something Eaisland could not risk.

Her feet were numb now from the wet and cold, and only the repetitive motion of the long hours kept her legs moving, even so, she was walking ever slower and began to stumble more and more often. Her blond hair, plastered in mud from when she had fallen, hung in thick rat tails that ran with the rain water. Eaisland had given up trying to push it out of her down cast gaze, her eyes were closed more often than not now anyway. Keep walking, not much further, must keep walking, must keep moving, can't let them find me.' She kept the desperate mantra playing over and over in her head in an effort to keep herself going.

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Lex sighed, he had to try and keep his speed down in this weather, but the memory of the excruciatingly boring meeting that he had had to attend in metropolis kept bubbling back into his thoughts. God,' he thought, how can so many infuriatingly stupid people be in one place at the same time, if I didn't' know better I'd think dad set it up on purpose just to spite me.' Pushing the negative thoughts away, Lex instead chose to focus on the scotch that would be waiting for him when he got back to the mansion. A smile curled at the edges of his lips as he contemplated just how many glasses he would have.

As the rain grew heavier lex reduced his speed further, he really didn't want to hit anything and an accident would be more than a little tiresome. He was nearing Smallville now and this cheered him up somewhat, all he had to do now was get home before some meteor freak could jump out of the woodwork at him. There's god damn well enough of them running around to make it a distinct possibility.' Lex thought cynically.

As he rounded a bend in the road lex noticed something moving by the side of the road and tried to make out what it was.

Eaisland felt her feet stop moving, and she had not the strength to complain about it to her traitorous body. Try as she might, she couldn't stop her knees from buckling underneath her and she fell into a shivering heap on the slick muddy road. I'm going to die,' thought Eaisland as she lay sprawled where she hit the ground, But I don't care, at least they can't hurt me any more.' Then the world went dark and silent.

Lex realised that it was a person, a very wet and very tiered person. As he got nearer they collapsed onto the road and he slammed on the brakes to his porch. After a slight skid he stopped the car and looked at the person who lay unmoving as the rain pounded down upon them.

Damn you Clark, I've become a good Samaritan who picks up strays now. As Lex eyed the storm he clenched his jaw and resolutely opened his car door and ran over to the fallen form.

Hey! Are you ok, can you hear me! Come on, you have to get up and out of this rain, He shouted at the person as he neared them, and then bent down to check them over, Fuck, you soaking, how long have you been walking in this storm for? His question seemed to rouse the person somewhat and he felt the struggle to turn themselves over. As Lex helped them he realised it was a teenage girl, though it was hard to tell because of the shear amount of mud that covered her all over. The girl tried to mumble something but looked pathetically weak, so Lex made a decision and gathered her up and walked back to the passenger side of his waiting car.

Fuck, this will ruin the interior.' the thought drifted into Lex's mind but he promptly rested her against the car as her opened the door and then placed her carefully inside. He buckled her seat belt, shut the door and then walked quickly back to the drivers side and got in. His own coat was dripping wet now, as was his shirt where it had come into contacted with the girl as he had lifted her.

Driving along once more, Lex tuned the heater up full blast and directed it onto the soaking girl and noticed the small lake that was pooling under her seat as the water slowly drained from her clothing.

I'm going to take you to the hospital, don't worry we will be there soon. Lex spoke to the girl an a reassuring voice.

Mmhh, what? Eaisland felt heat on her face and tried to focus her blurred vision on her surroundings. Car?? When did I get in a car?' She tried desperately to organise her brain, but she was to tiered.

I found you on the roadside, your not looking so hot and I am taking you to the hospital to get checked out ok. Lex repeated his statement.

As what he said finally worked its way into Eaisland's mind she suddenly felt fear shoot though her and the adrenaline shot started to wake her up at an alarming speed. Panic filled her mind.

NO, NO, YOU CAN TAKE ME TO THE HOSPITAL!! THEY'LL FIND ME, THEY CAN'T FIND ME OR THEY'LL GET ME BACK AND START HURTING ME AGAIN!! DON'T LET THEM HURT ME, NOT AGAIN, NOT ANYMORE, PLEASE!!! Eaisland's sudden scream took Lex by surprise and the car swerved on the road before her regained control. He saw the girl fighting with the seat belt and immediately slammed on the brakes for the second time and stopped the car and proceeded to try and calm down the girl.

Stop, STOP, CALM DOWN, I am not going to hurt you, and I wont let anybody else hurt you either, you have to trust me, STOP Struggling and listen! Grabbing her arms he held her till she stopped freaking out.
Now listen, my name is Lex, I found you collapsed at the side of the road and I picked you up and put you in my car, I wont hurt you, I just want to help you. What's your name? And why would someone at the hospital hurt you? His soft firm voice seemed to relax her and he loosened his grip on her arms and placing a hand on her muddy cheek he turned her face to look directly in her eyes.

I, I-I, m-m-my name is E-Eais-sland, I ran away from home, he was hitting me, and was t-t-trying to, to... Eaisland's voice choked with revulsion as she recalled her stepfathers hands on her body. She shook the thought away and then continued If you take me to the h-hossbital they will have to report-t me to them, he will come and get me and s-start hi-hitting me again, why does he hate me? She looked pleadingly at Lex and the trembling question of despair hung in the air between them.

Oh God, she was being abused!' A jolt of outrage shot through Lex and he pulled Eaisland into a hug. Nobody is going to hurt you ever again, and if they try I am going to kill them, Lex tried to keep the rage out of his voice so he didn't scare her, It's ok, we don't have to go to the hospital, I'll take you to my house, you can rest there, your step farther wont find you and I have a friend how can check you out He released Eaisland from the hug and looked down into her eyes and she nodded numbly, the pain in her eyes threatening to spill the pent up tears that had gone unshed.

T-Thank y-you, Eaisland somehow found herself feeling safe and protected by his presence and the look that sparked in his eyes telling her that nobody would dare touch her if he had anything to do with it. She felt the overwhelming need to sleep now the fit of panic was over and she felt the world go black once more.

Turning away from her for a moment to pick up his cell phone, Lex called ahead to make some arrangements, It's Lex, I need to to get to the mansion as quickly as possible, I have someone who needs to be checked over, yes, good, I'll see you in an hour. Lex finished that call and then made a second one High it's Lex, could you have some tea, coffee and a light meal for two waiting for me when I get there, I should be about 15 minutes. Good, bye. He looked over to Eaisland, she was asleep, or had blacked out, either way' he thought, the rest will do her good, she looks like she hasn't slept in days'.

As they arrived at the mansion he slowed the porch and brought it to a stop as close to the front door as possible. He switched off the engine and quickly got out and went to retrieve Eaisland. Picking her up, he carried her into the house and took her strait to the study. A fire was blazing merrily in the fire place and he placed her carefully on the couch nearest to the fire. Lex then started to remove her sopping wet clothing. Peeling off what had been a full length cream woollen coat now caked in mud, he dumped it on the floor. Then he worked on her blue sweater and it joined the coat on the floor, he left the burnt orange vest top he found underneath in place and worked on her boots.

Lex looked up as he was interrupted from removing the second long black boot and saw his butler with the tea and coffee. Set it down over here could you he said motioning to the small coffee table to his left. As the butler set the tray down Lex finally removed Eaisland's remaining boot and pulled off her socks.

Anything else sir? inquired the butler.

Yes, get me a pair of pyjamas, a couple of towels and some blankets, quickly. Lex ordered what he wanted and was about to dismiss the man when he suddenly had another thought Get a hot water bottle as well would you. The man nodded and then hurried off. Lex would have liked to put the girl in a bath of warm water, not only to warm her ice cold body up more quickly, but to wash off the remaining mud that clung stubbornly to her hair, face and hands. But after what she has been through I doubt that she would take well to finding herself half naked in a strangers bath when she woke up' Lex theorised.

The butler soon came back with the towels and dry clothes Lex had asked for, and Lex wasted now time in grabbing one of the towels and rubbing her hair to get out the worst of the water and dirt. He was working as quickly as he thought he could, he didn't want to hurt her. He looked at her wet jeans Well, I better get this over with sooner rather than later' and he bent forward and reached to undo the buttons, he soon had them joining the rest of her clothes in the pile on the floor. Lex carefully took another towel and gently rubbed down her legs to dry them. That done her quickly unfolded the pyjama bottoms, they would be far to big on her, but they were dry. Her underwear was still damp and Lex pondered removing it. She needs to be warm and dry, still, oh to hell with it, I'll just have to reassure her later' He set his jaw and without looking lifted her slight hips with one hand and removed the offending panties with the other and then quickly pulled up the pyjamas. Now that he had done that he did the same with her top and bra and replaced it with the shirt. Finally her wrapped her in the blankets and put the hot water bottle next to her stomach.

Just as Lex finished getting Eaisland settled the butler brought in the meal he had ordered and sat it next to the coffee and then picked up the wet clothes and towels and took them away.

Eaisland, can you hear me? Eaisland? Lex spoke as gently as he could as he tried to wake the sleeping girl. She needed to eat, and for this she needed to be awake. He gave her a little shake and called her name again Eaisland, come on, you need to drink something hot.

Eaisland felt warm. It felt nice her fogged mind concluded. she wanted to stay asleep but there was a voice that would wouldn't go away. ehhh, mmmh, er? What? ARGH! Eaisland jumped and her eyes shot open and fixed on Lex's reassuring smile, and she then remembered what had just happened and started to relax a little.

Do you remember me? Lex asked her and held his breath until she nodded her pensive face slowly. Good, I hope your feeling better. I have some tea here for you, it will do you good to get some warm liquid inside of you. And he smiled and passed her a cup, he remembered to keep his movements slow and open, he didn't want to spook her. She was frightened enough.

Thank you, that would be very nice. I am feeling much warmer now. she took the cup that Lex held out to her and started to sip the hot drink. I would have died had you not stopped and helped me, for this I will never be able to thank you adequately. As she spoke there eyes met and they shared a moment of understanding.

I'm just glad that your ok, I didn't know if you where going to make it. A thought suddenly crossed his mind, she spoke with an english accent, He hadn't noticed this before, puzzled he spoke, Are you English?


TBC.....

Authors note, I know that I haven't added that much more, but I have been pulled in a lot of directions lately, so please bare with me! thanks. I will post up more as soon as I can.