Darrian writhed and fought under the influence of the drug. He was asleep and couldn't wake up, and as he slept he dreamed. At first they were early memories, meeting with Frankie Black, sleeping with various people for the next hit of heroin, and they in themselves weren't nice dreams. But his memories went back, further than they usually did in their extended time... usually he would have woken up by now... he was caught up in the dream, he was himself as a little boy again, and his parents were home...

He woke up screaming his head off.

Clark bolted into the room at the sound of Darrian's scream, "Hey? You okay?" He asked walking over and sitting on the foot of the bed.

Darrian sat up, breathing hard, totally disorientated. He blinked at Clark, wondering for a few seconds if he'd actually managed to seduce him. Why else would he be in his bed? But he dismissed that as stupid. "What... where am I?" He asked, his voice hoarse from screaming.

"You're at my apartment in Metropolis, you've been out cold for an hour and a half." Clark said running a hand through his hair.

"What happened?" He asked, pulling his knees up to him like the little boy he'd never been, still slightly shaken from the nightmares.

Clark shrugged, "I'm not exactly sure. Bruce called me up and told me to come and get you. When I got there he was gone."

It suddenly came back to Darrian, the sharp ache of the needle coming back to him, and he rubbed his arm, his expression going cold. "He drugged me." he said darkly.

"Drugged you?" Clark furrowed his eyebrows, "But why?"

Darrian looked away. "The stupid idiot is going after an old friend of mine. I told him not to, but he doesn't like to be told what to do, no not Bruce." He said, somewhat bitterly. "Fuck that it was my problem, fuck that I told him to stay out of it, no, he has to go be the hero and do what the hell he wants." he shook his head. "And fuck me too, for believing him when he told me he wouldn't go."

Clark sighed softly letting his eyes drift over to the window, "That's Bruce for you… or should I say 'Batman'. He doesn't like anything or anyone to get in his way, or hurt his friends." He turned back to Darrian, "What did this 'friend' of yours do to make Bruce go to the extreme?"

Darrian shook his head. "It's stupid. And it's my fault and my problem. None of this would be happening if I hadn't turned up at Bruce's. I shoulda just left when I had the chance." He said, seething.

Clark made a small noise and stood up folding his arms over his chest, "But you didn't." He said softly as he briefly wondered what was taking Bruce so long.

"No. i didn't. Cause I thought he was my friend, and I got carried away, being so FUCKING grateful to have a roof over my head and be staying with someone I thought I could trust." He sighed.

"You know you can still trust Bruce, you've known the guy longer than any of us… in a sense." Clark frowned slightly sitting back down on the foot of the bed, "He just…" He shrugged, "Over reacts sometimes."

Darrian shrugged. "Yea, you'd think I could trust him after practically raising him for however many years it was."

"Yea, what happened with that?" Clark asked curiously, he remembered hearing a little about it at dinner the other night.

Darrian was distracted from his musings for a second. "Oh that." He sighed. "It's up to Bruce to tell you." he said. "If he wants to. But basically, bad things happened and we ran into each other, and then, more bad things happened but this time I was there to help him out of it sometimes... especially when I got him into it. And after a while, we split. And I haven't seen him since I found the mansion.

"Oh," Clark said slowly blinking, "Yea, guess I'll never know the whole story then. Bruce tends to keep things like that to himself."

Darrian was silent. Still angry with Bruce, but most of all, upset. His trust had been obliterated right then, in two blows... that Bruce had lied to him about something that was so important, and that he had drugged him to have his own way. After however many years they had been together you would think that the younger man would know how insecure Darrian was about people who claimed to be his friends, and he surely he should have known that Darrian had a thing about needle-given drugs... but in the end, it was the years of trust between them that had been destroyed that hurt Darrian inside and made him feel like the world had suddenly come apart.

He looked up at Clark. "Can I borrow the phone?"

"Sure." Clark nodded pointing to the phone on the nightstand, "It's right there… obviously." He stood rolling his eyes at himself, "I'll just leave you be." He smiled lightly as he left the room closing the door behind himself.

Darrian picked up the phone and, with shaking nerves dialed a mobile number that had been permanently burnt into his mind. "Hello, Frankie?"

Batman growled to himself as he looked about the abandoned factory, he was too late, they had just packed up and left not even an hour ago. Pressing a button on his belt he called Clark in aggravation.

"Clark?" He grunted angrily.

"Bruce?" Clark replied, sounding confused, "What's wrong?"

Batman looked about the empty lot, "You have Darrian there right?"

"No." Clark said back. "He told me he was gonna meet up with you! Hasn't he arrived yet?"

"Clark! You idiot!" Batman shouted turning on his heel, "No wonder Frankie has vanished! He has a hostage now!"

"What? Who the hell is Frankie? I wasn't told anything Bruce." Clark said reasonably. "And how does he have a hostage? "

Batman ran out of the building and jumped into the bat mobile, "Frankie's a drug dealer after Darrian. And Darrian threatened me to turn himself into Frankie if I went after him myself. That's why I knocked him out. Damn it Clark!" He growled spinning the 'car around and headed back to the 'cave.

"What? Well how the hell was I supposed to know that Bruce? And he TOLD you he was going to do it... if you'd TOLD me to keep the phone away from him..."

"Why else would I have knocked him out?" Batman growled slamming his foot on the break squealing to a stop.

"To keep him from coming with you, yea, but I didn't know he threatened that. ... and by the way, he seems pretty pissed off with you."

Batman snorted, "I know." He climbed out of the 'car and walked up to the computer typing in a few things, "I need you to help me find him Clark. This guy's not gonna be to kind to him."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Just keep your eyes open." Batman grunted turning the com. link off.

A/N: Please review!!