1

The once bashful boy now lay next to her, naked, sleeping. He'd fallen into the deep hard sleep; he was clearly exhausted. She nudged him a couple of times to see if he was still alive; he didn't stir at all. The sun was just peaking up over the tenement building across the street. In just a few hours, she would be taking Clark to Lionel, and possibly never see him again. Suddenly Clark turned over, and looked at her. She smiled down at him, but he didn't return it. For a moment she thought he might still be half asleep. He seemed to be looking through her.

"Clark?.."

His eyes focused on hers for a second. "Nothing is ever going to be the same is it?."

"What?.."

But he closed his eyes again, and fell back into a deep sleep.

The carpet needs cleaning. These are the inane thoughts going through Charlotte's mind as she stood in the hallway of their motel happiness receiving final instructions of where to take Clark. She listened impassively, scribbling down the address, and time. They were to arrive by 10am. Charlotte knew it would be easy. They allowed her to come up with her own story to lure him there, since she knew better than anyone what would work on him. She hung up the phone without saying goodbye and walked slowly back to the room. The clock blinked 7:46am in the darkness, flashing red on the face of sleeping Clark. She sat down inside the curve of his body–curved into a near fetal position–and stroked his hair. He woke almost immediately. The familiar smile was there before he opened his eyes. Once he opened his eyes, the smile faded slightly.

"Morning.."

Charlotte smiled in response. Clark merely climbed out of bed, pulling the sheet around his waist, and headed towards the bathroom. He stopped before at the threshold.

"Um..I'll be out in a sec..want to go get some coffee?"

"Sure..Clark? I need to talk to you when you get out of the shower."

He frowned slightly but nodded, planting a ready smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes.

The shower felt wonderful, and he couldn't decide what he thought about last night. He felt tired, just tired of everything. He knew that one or the other, this was the last day he'd spend in this motel room. It was time to face whatever it was he had to face. Unfortunately, that meant probably leaving Charlotte behind. But there's was an impossible situation. They were only together out of loneliness and aching need; he doubted if they'd even know each other under normal circumstances. He did like her, and thought he was beautiful, but she was very different from him. She never really felt like she was all there. He wondered if thats how Lana felt with him, or everyone. There was something she held back, and it kept him from really knowing her. Still, when he needed her, she was there, and she was strong when he didn't have the strength to be anymore, and he would always be grateful for that. He blushed when he thought of the other thing she had given him, and couldn't help but smile.

Clark came out with a towel around his waist. Without glancing at her, he picked up a pair of boxers from his bag and put them on under his towel before discarding it. She noted his modesty and knew he thought last night had been a mistake–or he definitely didn't want to repeat the experience with her. He sat next to her when he was dressed and leaned her against him, running his fingers down her arm.

"What did you need to talk to me about.?"

"Well...I..I just talked to my father..."

"I didn't know your Dad was here..when did you talk to him."

'

She forced herself to meet his eyes, and she hated the concerned tone in his voice; she didn't deserve it.

"He is..I ran away...we had a horrible, horrible argument..and he pretty much threw me out...Anyway, I talked to him this morning, while you were still sleeping. He wants to talk to me, but I'm afraid to go on my own. Do you think...maybe you could go with me?"

Clark brushed her hair out of her face. "Of course I'll go with you if you're worried. When?"

"I said I'd be there by 10 or so."

"Ok..we'll go to Starbucks and then head to your fathers, if all goes well..then we don't have to have the talk I need us to have."

"About what?"

"I..I've decided to leave here...just go home, or find..the person thats looking for me..I can't keep hiding like this."

It took all her strength not to weep right then. "Clark..thats probably dangerous.."

"It is, I know..honestly I probably shouldn't do anything before talking to Lex. He's supposed to contact me tomorrow. I guess I can wait til then."

"Good..and please don't worry about me Clark. I'm sure..everything with my father will work out fine."

He smiled brightly. "Lets hope."

Charlotte was surprised at the building bearing the address on the paper she memorized. It was a tall penthouse building on the waterfront. She glanced at Clark to see if he recognized it, but he showed no indication of having been there before. She feared maybe Lex Luthor had a residence there. Clark stood looking up at the grand entrance.

"You grew up here?"

"No..no, I..we lived in a smaller town..Granville..before. But a couple of years ago, my Dad got a job at his companies' headquarters here in Metropolis, so we moved...things went downhill pretty soon after that.."

Clark simply nodded in understanding, and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. "Ok..are you ready for this? And listen..if things get a little tense, we can go ok?"

Charlotte nodded, feeling her stomach drop. The doorman held the door open for them, and they walked toward the elevators, which would take them up to the 38th floor.

Clark took Charlotte's leaden step towards her fathers door as nervousness, and held her firmly by the arm as he led her to it. He wished now he'd been paying attention, he was sure he would have noticed that something wasn't right. But his mind was too clouded with his own problems to fully take in what was around him. He let go of Charlotte so she could knock on the door. She literally trembled with anxiety he thought. A man, almost as tall as Clark, and slightly stockier opened the door, and invited them inside. Clark guessed the man wasn't her father and wondered if it was a servant, or bodyguard. As the guard passed them, he paused in front of a large ornate box sitting on a table, one flick of the lid, and pain cut through Clark like hot wires. The enormous rock glowed green ferociously, illuminating the room in a bright sickly green. Clark's head swam, and his stomach lurched, as every vein felt like it was burning his flesh. His muscles began to fail him, and despite his struggling he fell to his knees with a loud strangled scream. The pain was more than he had ever felt before, and soon the muscles in his throat no longer worked and the screams were deafening only to him. In the swirling chaos saw Charlotte standing there, and felt anger, so much anger and pain. Her eyes looked terrified and she silently pleaded with him for forgiveness. But he only looked away, and closed his eyes, giving in to painless darkness.

Clark awoke hours later to the feeling of cool steel against his wrist and ankles. His first instinct was to push against the restraints, and try to pull himself free. But, his arms felt like leaded weights, and his entire body ached and throbbed as what felt like a thousand needles prickled his skin. The nausea was overwhelming, and he fought back the urge to wretch. The only thing to do was to stay calm and assess the situation. He pushed away all thoughts of where he was and what they planned to do to him, and tried hard to think of some way out, even if it seemed utterly impossible.

He was surrounded by darkness. He couldn't tell if the room itself was dark, because they had covered his eyes. The blindfold was so tight, he could barely open his eyes beneath them. He listened hard for any sound, hoping atleast some of his extraordinary hearing had returned, but he only caught a low distant hum, that sounded like machinery. He shivered violently. It was so cold in the room, he wasn't used to feeling cold. He realized suddenly that he felt his flesh hitting cold metal. That shouldn't be. They'd stripped him. A slow panic rose in his chest, and he swallowed hard to push it back. This wasn't the time to lose it, not yet. The idea that they left him so exposed and defenseless made him want to weep and his face flushed with humiliation.

Surprisingly a single thought pushed its way to the forefront of his mind.

"Why Charlotte?"

He shut his eyes, though there was little need, and he decided none of it mattered. He couldn't allow himself to die naked and alone in this cold little room.

Clark struggled to pull his arms free, his body thrashed against the restraints, as he tried to get away. He was suffocating and drowning, there was so much pain, but he was pinned and couldn't get away. His breathing became erratic and labored as he struggled to see what was in front of him-there was nothing but darkness. Clark let out an anguished, scream of frustration, and suddenly there was a bright light and a face looming above him.

Clark blinked hard, staring at the face in front of him. He was disoriented for a minute as the edges of the nightmare receded. Someone had pulled off his blindfold. And he stared up at them. His breathing calmed as he realized he was just back in his real nightmare.

"Yes, just relax. We aren't going to hurt you. I don't want to have to sedate you again."

A man he didn't recognize in a white coat, held a needle in his hand-it had a glowing green tip. Clark tried to turn away from it.

"Get it away from me" He managed to choke out. His voice was barely audible.

"I'm not going to stick you with it. We still haven't figured out how much of this stuff you can handle. We don't want you to die yet. There's still a lot we want to discover about you. As long as you cooperate, there's no need to use this. Understand?"

Clark nodded.

"Good. We need to do complete x-rays of you. That doesn't sound too painful does it?"

Clark narrowed his eyes at the man. He was speaking to him like he was a child, or worse some unintelligent creature. Clark knew if they saw him as just a specimen, there'd be little hope for him. People like that didn't tend to be humane to things they didn't regard as human. He felt the anger, mixed with panic rise in him again, but he tried his best not to let it show. What he wanted now, was at least a blanket of some kind.

"Can you.I'm cold."
"Yes is it rather chilly in here. Don't worry, we'll get you a blanket. There are just a few others who want to look at you. We're all quite amazed at how much you resemble a human. We haven't figured out if this is some disguise to fit in here, or your natural form. Even your genitals resemble any other man-well maybe not the average man."

He chuckled lightly to himself.

Clark turned away, but he felt his face grow hot with embarrassment. He didn't think he could hate anyone more. The man smiled when he saw his reddened cheeks. And shook his head as he wrote something down.

"Mr Luthor certainly has a remarkable find here."

"Well Clark.I'll be back. They will be in to xray you shortly."

Clark watched carefully to see how he exited. The man pushed a code, that Clark quickly memorized, and a panel in the wall slid open to let him out. Clark felt a wave of nausea as he exited before the door slid shut.

Clark shut his eyes tightly until the nausea passed. Small tremors shook his body, and made him wonder if there was kryptonite beyond the room. Of course, he realized they'd have taken that precaution. A wave of despair washed over him. It looked less and less likely there'd ever be a way out. He shook his head slightly, steeling himself against such thoughts. If he felt hopeless, then he'd never have a chance. Hope was the only ally he had right now. Then he thought of Lex. Maybe Lex would find out and stop his father. That gave him a small glimmer of support, but in the back of his mind, he thought how quickly his time was running out.

The door slid open again, and Clark braced himself for the onslaught of nausea. Two men and a woman walked into the room; all dressed similarly to the previous man. The two men walked over to him immediately, while the woman hung back, a veiled look of shock registering on her face. She quickly turned towards the door, as if to exit. Another person entering the room stopped her. This man Clark recognized immediately, and strained against his shackles in anger.
The two men immediately moved to restrain him further, but Lionel waved them away. "Don't worry. I always cause quite the reaction in Mr. Kent" He glanced quickly at Clark, with a very satisfied smirk on his face, then turned his attention to the man holding a clipboard.

Clark tried his best to relax. He just wanted to break free; to wrap his hands around Lionel Luthors throat and squeeze. But, his only defense was to keep calm, and not get too upseta task that was proving to be more and more difficult. He knew Lionel Luthor was ruthless, but his naïve mind had no capacity to understand just how far he was willing to go to get his what he wanted. He acted no different than the other doctors in the room. He knew him; knew his family; knew he was no unintelligent beast, and yet, he regarded him as little more than a caged rabbit.

"So. Doctors, what have we discovered about Mr. Kent."

"You were absolutely right Mr. Luthor, he is an amazing creature. We got the blood results back, and I've never seen anything like it. His cell regenerative rate is just..well there are no words really. And it definitely matches the blood sample you gave us. I know we need to do more testing, but I wonder if his organs have the same regenerative capabilities. Its definitely something worth exploring."

"Excellent doctor. So whats next on the agenda? Have you x-rayed him yet?"

"No, we're doing that shortly. We're bringing a portable MRI machine up here."

"Good, good. Keep me informed of the results of the x-ray, and then we'll discuss how we'll obtain some tissue samples."

"That's fine. Oh, we've noticed the meteor rocks seem to alter his basic chemistry as well. Judging by the most recent samples we've taken. I think it'd be best to let him heal some before taking samples."

"That may be a bit risky. He's quite strong when he's at full capacity."

"No worries Mr. Luthor; we know how to restrain him."

"Of course. Well I leave to the matter to your capable hands doctor."

"Mr. Luthor."

Lionel turned to find the female doctor approaching him quickly looking extremely agitated.

"Yes, Dr. Allen?"

"What exactly is this! This isn't some alien..this is a young man!"

"I assure you doctor, Mr. Kent is not a "young man" He's not from his planet, as the test results have proven."

" I don't know what to think of those results."

"Have you ever seen another human being's test results come close to what we've found?"

"Be that as it may, we can't just treat him like some lab rat."

Lionel paused and seemed to ponder this for a moment. "I really don't see your point doctor."

She knew she would get nowhere with him. She was a scientist first and this was indeed an incredible find. There was no telling what they could discover, but still, his eyes, though trying to remain defiant, looked like those of a frightened child.

"I'm afraid, I want no part of this Mr. Luthor. Consider me off your team."

"That's unfortunate Doctor. I did have reservations as to whether you had the mettle for this job. But you came highly recommended. Of course if you don't feel comfortable, it would probably be best for all of us if you weren't here to interfere."

" I just don't feel right engaging in inhumane practices."

"Ah, there's that word again. How many times must I remind you Doctor that we aren't dealing with a human."

"Mr. Luthor there are laws governing even the smallest housecat to protect it from cruelty. Why should he be any different!"

"Well doctor if you remain, perhaps you can teach us all some compassion. You know where to contact me once you decide."

He stopped on the threshold.
"Of course.if you decide to leave us, you won't have anywhere to return will you? I mean your lab is shut down now isn't it.."

"What are you talking about? This is just a temporary project."

"Oh, if I gave you that impression I'm sorry. But not to worry, I'm sure you'll find another situation."

They were both distracted by the table rattling. Clark seemed to be shaking and his breathing became erratic. Tissue samples. That phrase echoed in his mind. They intended to cut him open. There it was-His worst fear about to be realized.

"Whats happening to him; is this some sort of reaction to the meteor rocks?"

"No.." Lionel's voice affected concern, "I believe its just an emotional one. A panic attack I think they call it. Well, Good day Dr. Allen. You'll let me know if your decision won't you?"

Clark clenched his eyes at the wave of pain traveling through his body when the door opened and shut. Tears flowed out the corners of his eyes, pooling beneath him on the table. He saw the female doctor coming towards him. She walked over to him and smoothed his hair back.

"I know this must be terrifying. But I don't think they'll hurt you. We're going to x-ray you now, and then I'll get you a blanket..and perhaps some clothing."