Dr. Allen stood just outside of the room. She watched her colleagues walk out with very satisfied expressions on their faces. They ignored her completely as they passed. It surprised her how much that whole scene shook her to the core. The desperation in which he clung to his innocence..or as much of it he could protect, made her want to run out of the room and never see any of them again. For the first time his voice was strong, and his eyes were wild as he begged the other doctors to please send her out of the room. She was grateful when they didn't object. She turned before walking out the door to see him stop fighting, shutting his eyes and pulling his head back, trying to get as far away from what was transpiring as possible. He swallowed hard as a gloved hand gripped his penis firmly, and shut his eyes tighter. She noticed a single tear escape and she left the room quickly. Now she stood in the hall, listening to his quiet sobs, feeling like a monster.

"We should just run off...get far away from here."

"Where would we go Charlotte?"

"Does it matter?..."

"Clark?"

Clark turned over in his sleep, wrapping the blanket tightly around his body. He felt consciousness creeping in and he fought it. He had no desire to be awake.

"Clark...I have your breakfast. They just brought it in."

He'd been moved to a bed—a real bed in an adjacent room he had no idea existed. After his ordeal, they let him sleep for awhile, then prodded him awake, helping him off the table, and motioning him towards the open panel in the wall. He followed them in a daze, blanket draped around his still naked body. He took in nothing of the room, he just sank into the soft mattress and fell immediately back to sleep.

"Clark...wake up."

He slowly opened his eyes. Every sound felt like it resonated from the far end of a tunnel. His head swam, and he instinctively pulled at the bracelet clasped around his wrist.

"Whats wrong? Is that hurting you?"

Dr. Allen took Clark's hand in hers, gently pulling him up. Clark pulled away from her, trying to sit up on his own. The room suddenly flip-flopped, and he lurched forward spilling the contents of his stomach on the floor. He fell back against the pillow pleading with the nausea to stop. Dr. Allen called for some men to come and clean up the mess. She opened a cabinet above the sink in the small bathroom just off the room, and pulled out a towel. She wet it and gently wiped Clark's mouth.

"It..it's the bracelet...I've had it on too long."

He thrust his arm weakly towards her, not wanting to move too much for fear of retching again.

Dr. Allen stared into his eyes. They were glassy and unfocused, but the look of quiet desperation was unmistakable.

"Clark, I don't think I should remove it."

"Please...just for a minute...I need a break."

Dr. Allen punched the tiny buttons near the clasp in a specific sequence and the bracelet sprang open. She removed it and placed it on a far counter. Clark sighed heavily with relief as the nausea began to recede.

"Please don't make me regret doing this Clark."

"Don't worry doctor..I'd never get out of this room without passing out. There's so much kry..meteor rock out there."

"Why does it incapacitate you so much?"

Clark looked up at the ceiling stoically. "I don't know" but he realized that was the truth..he really didn't know.

Dr. Allen sat next to him on the bed. "Are you more comfortable here?"

Clark nodded very slightly, keeping his gaze towards the ceiling.

"Good. I told them you needed to rest."

Clark didn't answer her. He wasn't sure what she wanted. Every time she spoke to him, it seemed like she was asking for his forgiveness. He had no intention of giving it. Her methods may have been gentler. But all it amounted to, was he would be slightly more comfortable while he waited to be tortured and eventually killed.

"Clark,.there's something I need to talk to you about."

His gaze met hers again. The immediate change in them once the bracelet was gone amazed her.
"Are they planning something?"

"Yes..I'm sure you overheard they want to take tissue samples...of your organs."

Clark's eyes went wide "My organs? But..how?..how without killing me?"

"They seem to think the rate at which your cells regenerate will protect you from death, or any permanent damage."

"But what if they're wrong?"
"Clark, how much do you know about your physiology?"

"Next to nothing."

"Well did you ever think these experiments may give you new insight?"

Clark looked at her, anger building in him

"Are you trying to tell me that cutting me open is for my own good!"

"No..no, you're right..that was stupid of me."

"Doctor. I can't make you feel better about this. What they're doing to me is horrible, and you know it."

"I do know it Clark."

"Then why do you allow it?"

"I'm not allowing it Clark...my hands are tied, you know that."

"Of course." Clark smiled cynically.
She hated to see that expression on his face.

"Why should you endanger your life to save mine? You're only doing what you have to. Seems I'm at the mercy of cowards lately."

"If you're talking about that girl Clark. You can't blame her. What could she do in the face of Lionel Luthor."

Clark looked at her curiously. "You know about her?"

"Yes. I spoke with her briefly after they'd taken you. I didn't know why she was around at the time..but I understand now...She's really upset Clark, terrified."

Clark's face shut down. "I don't want to talk about her. Lex warned me my hero-complex would get me in trouble one day."

"Still..she's just a young girl. Don't be too angry with her."

"Oh no.." Clark glanced around at his accommodations. "why would I be angry?"

He ran his fingers through his dark tangled hair. "So..when are they doing this procedure?"

"The end of the week. I'm trying to convince them to remove all traces of the meteor rock from your presence until then, because I think you'll need your strength. Also, Dr. Sutton and I are working on an anesthesia especially made for you. Its tricky, but we're pretty confident it will work. So you'll be unconscious during the surgery. And afterwards, they'll take all meteor rocks away again to allow you to heal. They just want samples of your liver, kidneys, and anything else they think they can safely take. They think taking a sample of your heart is too risky. But the goal is, we think we can re-grow your organs if we can keep the tissue alive."

Clark turned away from her. Dr. Allen watched as he seemed to close in upon himself. She watched his cheeks color, as his breathing took on the all too familiar pattern. She reached over to smooth his hair back. Clark jumped suddenly.

"Stop doing that!"

She moved back, startled. Clark knew she was debating whether to call someone to restrain him. He forced himself to calm down.

"Its something my mother used to do. You're not my mother...so please..don't"

Dr. Allen stood up slowly. "Ok Clark. I'll leave the bracelet over there. If anyone else comes in, put it on ok?"

He nodded, then laid back down, turning to face the wall.