Updated A/N: I edited this chapter again because I was unhappy with a few things. Enjoy!
A/N: This chapter will probably have a few typos but I wanted to post it tonight as I feel it's been a while since my last chapter. Please favourite the story and leave a review.
Metropolis police often referred to the south of the city as The Slums. It was by far the most dangerous part of the city, even with Superman recently cutting crime rates in half. A Daily Planet newspaper also recently stated 'evil is birthed in The Slums and spreads throughout the city in the shadows…'. This particular newspaper was on the floor of a late night diner in which Amber currently sat waiting for soup she'd ordered. With winter getting closer the diner was only slightly warmer than outside. Amber kept her jacket on and sunk back into the worn out seat. She'd deliberately chosen a table in the corner where she could see the entire room; it made her feel safer sitting that way. As she waited, Amber continually blocked out flashbacks of the events at the apartment by pinching her wrist until the pain became too distracting. But what Amber couldn't block out was how lost she felt. She had no family anymore. There was nothing at all tying her to Metropolis. Nothing except Lois and Clark... Amber snorted at the thought; she only became a part of Lois and Clark's life because of Superman. I was more a burden than a friend to both of them anyway! Clark almost got beaten to death because of me! Lois only took me in because it was Superman who asked her! Amber thought angrily. She wasn't sure if she should go back to Clark's apartment, she really wasn't sure of anything.
The soup was placed on the table along with a dirty spoon and Amber thanked the waiter quietly. She wiped down the spoon with her napkin before trying the soup. It was surprisingly hot and quite smooth. Amber ate the soup slowly still occasionally pinching her wrist. Before she knew it the clock above the door hit midnight and the diner was closing. Amber left a tip and walked out onto the street. She exhaled and looked around. Really she only had two options; stay on the streets for the night or go back to Clark's apartment. Amber turned and walked quickly down the street trying to stay out of sight. She wasn't going anywhere near a subway nor alleyway that night.
Eventually Amber found herself curled up in a bus stop booth at the brink of slumber. She'd decided against going back to Clark's apartment, she wasn't ready for the questions and the 'news' about her parents. Sudden yelling jolted her awake. Amber scooted to the side of the booth and peered about it; further up the street two men yelling at one another. With the help of the streetlights Amber could see they were well-dressed and standing toe to toe. Amber knew they were bad news. No one was out on the street this late in The Slums unless they were homeless, prostitutes or drug lords. Without warning the argument turned into a fistfight. Amber watched perplexed as both men ripped at each other's coats and threw elbows and fists around. Something fell on the ground between them as they knocked each other around. The thing got trodden on a few times but remained unseen by the men. After a few minutes the fist fight broke off as one man ran away with the other chasing him; both men had a limp in their stride. Amber waited until the silence became deafening before she crept out and walked over to the thing that had fallen on the ground. Amber picked it up and examined it. It was a clear packet filled with a fine white powder. Probably cocaine, Amber thought heading back to the booth. She had heard of it before and knew what it looked like but she didn't know what exactly it did to a person. She sat down in the corner looking at it. There was about a tablespoon of cocaine in the packet. Amber opened it and smelt the powder but didn't pick up any odours. She then dipped a finger in the powder, some sticking to her skin. Amber brought her finger out of the bag and examined it closely. Out of curiosity she tasted it; it was bitter and made her tongue feel slightly numb. Amber knew cocaine was sorted or smoked but she'd never heard that tasting it got you high. She began to feel something happening; something that felt amazing.
…
Clark was hard at work at the Daily Planet when he got the news Lois was arriving back in Metropolis the following day. It had been two weeks since the building fire and Amber going missing. He'd told Lois about it over the phone and apologised profusely as she panicked and even cried. He hadn't heard from her since. Her last words being 'you better fucking find her you goddamn idiot!' still bounced around in Clark's head almost every minute of every day. What she'd said had stung and he couldn't bring himself to see her as Superman. He didn't feel like Superman should defend Clark Kent's screw up. Clark let out a sigh and rubbed his face; he had been searching for Amber all through the city but still hadn't found her. When the police reports came back with three missing tenants all presumed dead, every newspaper in the city was busy writing about 'Superman's screw up' which made a lot of people angry with Superman . The three missing were the Adderley family. This information so far hadn't reached the newspapers and Clark was thankful of that but he knew how dedicated some journalists were and knew that the information wouldn't stay secret forever. The building was also destroyed beyond recognition so there was no chance of searching for bodies. Clark hoped Amber was safe. He knew very well that she also could have been in the fire if she'd left to see her parents. He shuddered at the thought, if that were true it means he really did screw up. Monumentally.
Jimmy bounced over to Clark thankfully distracting him from his thoughts. "Hey Clark can you have a look at these shots for me? I need a second opinion before I show the chief."
"Sure Jimmy." Clark took the photographs and began looking through them; they were all of people on the streets. The photos were quite depressing and bleak. "So what am I looking at here?" Clark asked uncertainly. "They're shots of 'Metropolis's underprivileged youth'. The chief thinks it's going to be a big paper seller." As Jimmy spoke Clark came across a photo of a girl curled up sleeping on a park bench, her face wasn't visible but her black curls were. Clark stood up, startling Jimmy, "something wrong Clark?"
"This photo, where did you take it? When did you take it?" Clark asked showing Jimmy which one he was looking at. "Oh her, um… that was yesterday over in the east side of the park, near that great hotdog stand. Why is there something wrong with it?" Jimmy asked concerned taking the photographs back off Clark. Clark had started walking out. "No they're great Jimmy; I have to go, if the chief asks, tell him I've got an emergency." Clark called out as he left the area. He took the stairs and ran down as quickly as humanly possible since there were other people in the stairwell. Once out on the street he began running towards the park. Usually Clark would have changed into Superman but this rescue was different; it was something Clark Kent had to fix, not Superman. A very new feeling to him. On he ran, dodging people and cars until he reached the edge of the park. He was on the north side so kept on running until finally he stopped by the hotdog stand. Clark looked around past the families and morning runners but couldn't see Amber so he started searching for her. Being so overwhelmed made noises and even colours too loud and bright to Clark. He stopped walking and rubbed his face then took a few deep breaths. With his eyes still closed Clark listened, he listened to the whole park, slowly stripping away the sounds of footsteps, animals, wind and people's voices. Wherever Amber was, she wasn't talking. Clark used his vision to see past acres of woodland. He scanned back and forth all around him, looking further and further in the distance until… there she was. A triumphant and disbelieving laugh rippled through Clark. It was Amber, alive and well; she was roaming around on a patch of grass with a hazy smile on her face. The triumphant relief Clark felt became clouded with concern and he ran in her direction; he watched Amber stumble and giggle to herself, this wasn't like her.
As Clark ran into the clearing he called her name but didn't stop running until he was right in front of her. Amber looked up at him then wrapped her arms around his chest. "Hello Clark." Her words were soft and bubbly and Clark pulled Amber away and looked her over. Amber's cheekbones were looking hollow and there were dark circles under her bloodshot eyes. Clark opened his mouth to say something but Amber wriggled out of his grip and lay on the grass, "the grass is so soft here Clark, come and try it." She said running her hands repetitively over the grass blades; Amber hummed and closed her eyes. Clark didn't want to believe it but there was no denying Amber was high; he could smell the high amounts of dopamine practically radiating off Amber. "Amber? Do you know where you are right now?"
"I'm away from them, away from all the bad troubles." Amber said sitting up and frowning. "My arms are itchy." Amber began scratching her skin so hard she was leaving long red marks that began to welt. Clark came down onto his knees and grabbed her hands, "Amber what drug have you taken?" Amber struggled against his grip, "Let go! I don't need your help. Clark!" Amber struggled harder and got one hand free then slapped Clark across the face, knocking his glasses askew. Amber immediately stopped struggling and looked at Clark then back to her hand. Her expression was heartbroken, "I'm so sorry Clark. I'm so sorry I… I'm… I'm just like him." Amber's started sobbing and covered her face as Clark let her other hand go. He fixed his glasses then placed a hand on Amber's shoulder noticing how much she winced away from the touch. "How about we go home Amber?" He said quietly. "I don't have a home Clark. It burned." Amber's words were muffled by her hands but Clark heard them clearly.
His heart sank, she knew about her parents. "Amber…" Clark trailed off. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to comfort her. "Let me take you somewhere safe Amber." Clark finally said. Amber looked up, she had tears under her eyes and wet eyelashes. "You sounded like Superman just now" Amber mumbled standing with Clark. She looked around the park almost paranoid then up at Clark, "usually he rescues me, I wonder who rescues him." Amber said quietly. Clark nervously fixed his glasses, "Come on, let's go." And he began leading her through the park towards his apartment.
During the walk Clark could hear Amber's heartbeat changing rhythm and even her blood pressure changing if he listened carefully enough. He knew she would be feeling the comedown off whatever drug she was on. Half way back Amber started to shiver, the lack of food and sleep were most likely also taking a toll on her body. Clark ended up hailing a taxi for them and by the time they reached his front door Amber was in a cold sweat and barely coping with staying awake. Amber collapsed in the hallway, tumbling to the floor. Clark rushed to her and dragged her into his shower then turned on the cold water. "Amber wake up! What drugs have you taken?" Clark yelled while shaking her; he ignored the cold water splashing up onto him. She didn't respond. "Amber tell me what drugs you've taken!" Clark shouted shaking her harder, he didn't know what she'd taken or how much of it and couldn't risk her overdosing. The sleep exhaustion made it harder to wake Amber. Eventually he gave up, scrambled to his bathroom drawers and pulled out smelling salts. He held them to her face but she didn't rouse. Clark yelled and threw the bottle across the room. Not having any other choice he grabbed Amber's hand, noticing bruising and nail marks on her wrist, and made a precise incision on the back of her hand with his heat vision. Blood began to pool at the wound and Amber's face twitched; the only sign she wasn't dead yet. Clark licked the blood off her hand and rolled it over his tongue. He immediately could tell she had very low blood sugar and could also taste traces of cocaine in her blood, and a lot of it. "Amber what the fuck!" Clark screamed in disbelief. The incision he'd made wasn't deep enough to need any bandaging so he ignored that and listened to her heartbeat. It was faint and too slow. Clark rolled Amber onto her back, her legs still in the shower and the rest of her body out on the bathroom tiles, and started performing chest compressions. "Come on Amber" Clark grunted. He was soaked in cold water from the shower and it was dripping from his hair and all over his glasses lenses so he ripped them off and kept doing the chest compressions. He was steady and careful, making sure to not break her ribs. After ten minutes Amber's heartbeat was steady and stronger and Clark flopped back on the floor. He closed his eyes and focused on Amber's breathing and heartbeat. Both were regular and strong. The sound of the water hitting the tiles became soothing to Clark but he noticed Amber was starting to shiver. He got up, turned off the water and took Amber's coat off, finding a small packet of cocaine in one of the pockets. Clark shoved the packet into his pants pocket and pulled off Amber's shoes, socks, trousers and blouse then wrapped her in a towel. Amber's hair was dripping wet so Clark towel dried it as best he could before carrying her to her bedroom and placing her in the bed. He tucked her in and left the room leaving the door open.
An hour later it was around 4pm and his phone began ringing. It was Mr White who chewed off Clark's ear then abruptly hung up the phone. Clark had told Mr White he had to deal with a personal emergency. Mr Perry didn't like hearing the excuse but didn't fire Clark which was always a common threat he used on his employees. Clark sat on his kitchen floor for the rest of the afternoon holding the packet of cocaine. It was almost empty and was of a good quality; he could smell its purity. Clark was so incredibly relieved to find Amber but the cocaine. How Amber found this cocaine he wanted to know. There were many questions Clark needed answers to.