WARNING: SLASH AS IN MALE AND MALE SEXUAL SITUATIONS OR TALKING DO NOT READ IF THIS OFFENDS YOU PLEASE!

The car abruptly turned into a different direction, which Clark had been moderately prepared for. Glancing at his friend, he watched as Lex tried to calm himself down while staring intensely at the road ahead of them. The car's speed had greatly decreased, now that Lex was off the phone and driving towards LuthorCorp.

"What was that all about?" At the moment, Clark was deeply concerned for Lex, and his scary driving habits.

"My Dad commanded my presence in his office in order to discuss some important research project. I'm sorry, it shouldn't take long."

"I don't mind."

"Thanks, Clark. I'd rather drink flaming poison than get within 50 yards from him right now." Lex's expression looked slightly worried even as he smiled at him. "He was originally scheduled to bother me tomorrow morning, but he was informed by one of his lap-dogs that I was in Metropolis and decided to torture me a bit sooner than planned. Lucky us."

Clark pondered the upcoming meeting with distaste as well, "You shouldn't have to go if you don't want to. Just blow him off, or something."

Lex actually laughed hard into the steering wheel as they pulled up in front of the very large and powerful looking building. "You know I'd love to do that, and it's not like I didn't try."

His face became serious as they got out of the car, "Honestly, I did not want today to be marred anymore than it had to be. And if I didn't meet him, tomorrow he'll be up and down my ass to the point that murder would start looking mighty fine. That my friend, would have taken away some of the greatness that is today."

Lex melodramatically raised his hands high above his head while looking up into the bright blue sky. To Clark, he mirrored a beautiful and tragic Greek hero.

"You look silly."

"Ah, maybe to the untrained eye." Lex grinned then he moved to open the building's door for him. 'Who said chivalry was dead?'

Clark answered before thinking, "Hey, I'm very trainable." 'Wow, why did I say such idiotic things?'

"You don't want to know where my mind went with what you just said."

He was sure Lex had not meant for him to hear his whispered comment, but once again he couldn't keep his month shut, "Probably not."

Clark could just imagine himself wearing a studded collar and Lex holding the leash and telling him to sit and roll over. Of course, they were a little old to be playing children's games. Or, he at least hoped that was something similar to what Lex had been thinking about, unfortunately by the freaked-out look Lex gave him it most certainly wasn't.

As they walked towards the elevator, his friend nodded a greeting to the security guard who returned the gesture in a reserved way. Clark felt a pang of remorse at the realization that Lex really did live in a very hostile environment, and with very few friends to protect what little innocence he had left. Not that he had that many friends himself, but at least he had a warm and loving family. And, Lionel Luthor was neither warm nor loving.

Currently enclosed in the small space, Clark nervously stared at the ascending digital numbers. He could see Lex watching him in his peripheral vision. After having a strange conversation with Lex and the prospect of having a confrontation with their now mutual pain in the ass, Clark wasn't a very happy camper.

"I think you would be more comfortable if you waited in the foyer. I believe there are a few magazines that you might be interested in." Lex put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

In order to get himself to relax a bit during the ride upwards as the elevator's turbulence had unnerved him, Clark decided to try out some humor, "What? "Betsy the Super-Cow"? Or "Drunken Farmer's Market of Today"? I don't know... I may find those a little too interesting."

"You're a genius. How did you guess?"

Snickering, he replied, "Must have been my spider-sense tingling, Harry."

"Clark, you're a strange one." Lex moved a bit closer, into his personal space.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway." Clark grinned and was surprised to see Lex's eyes widened slightly as the elevator doors opened. "Well it's time to face your father. Try not to have too much fun."

"Oh, I'm sure there's no danger of that happening." Gazing intensely at Clark, his friend continued speaking, "I won't be longer than ten minutes."

Clark watched as Lex entered Lionel Luthor's office with a sense of dread. He sighed at having to be there then he silently sat down and began to browse through a People magazine. Knowing that he could listen in on the fun conversation, he quickly decided against it. Unfortunately, there were a few sentences here and there that were said loud enough for even a normal teenager to hear. Such as: "You betrayed me, your own father." "Spare me the lecture, Dad." "I did it to make you stronger." "You brought this on yourself." It didn't sound like they were discussing a research project.

About ten minutes later, he heard a glass shatter. Super-speeding, he was in the room to witness the two Luthor's involved in a verbal and slightly physical sparing match. He noticed that Lex's burgundy shirt had been ripped open to reveal his bare smooth pale chest. Even though the direct evidence was missing, Lionel had found out. Shit, he looked pissed to know that his son had been investigating him, not that the bastard didn't deserve it.

Taking in a deep breath, he immediately realized that the room smelled of alcohol, and by the looks of the older Luthor, Lionel was quite drunk. He almost looked ill. Glancing at the floor, he noticed the broken tumbler near the end of Lionel's grand desk.

"You are never going to amount to anything, traitor." Lionel glared past Lex to stare straight at him.

"Clark, how nice of you to join us. I heard that you where the reason my son decided to neglect his duties today. It's so sweet, how you have to rescue him from his own messes all the time. Lex makes such a pretty damsel in distress, doesn't he?"

Clark's whole body tensed with the strain of not hitting the evil longhaired man.

"Why don't you come on in?" Lionel purred at the obvious fact that he already had. Walking up to him he asked, "Lex is such a good friend to you isn't he?"

"Yes, and nothing you have to say will change my mind." Clark dared Lionel to say more.

Lex moved to stand in between them, "Clark, I think it would be best if you went downstairs and waited for me in the car."

Lionel's eyes darted from Lex to Clark, "Really? Then, I'm sure you would be simply fascinated by what you'll find in the Luthor Mansion. Lex has a room that would absolutely captivate you." He then appeared to chuckle at his own personal joke.

"Dad, leave Clark out of this. He has nothing to do with it." Lex had a strange anxious look on his face.

"No, I must insist. Third floor, east wing, the only door that's locked. I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem with that." Lionel brushed Lex aside grinning at them cruelly, "I just want to enlighten you Clark. A son that is so willing to betray his own father can't be that trustworthy as a friend. Honestly, how loyal do you think he is?"

Clark stood tall, "Too bad you're not much of a father to betray. I know what you're really like Mr. Luthor, and I plan to help Lex put you where you belong- behind bars. I'm not going to believe anything you say."

"Then, you're less intelligent than I thought you were." He appeared to dismiss Clark.

Looking at Lex he continued, "Son, I see you've made yourself a very obedient lap dog. You know I used to wonder why you've continually failed with women. It's certainly not a Luthor trait. But, then seeing how you look at that boy, perhaps, I shouldn't have been surprised."

"I've only acted the way you taught me to, maybe the fault lies with you." Lex's stance seemed to indicate to Clark that he was no longer welcome in his friend's presence. So, he started to back away from the two Luthor's', feeling absolutely dumbfounded by the direction of their conversation was now going.

"You must be quite desperate to swoon over some farm boy. And, we both know that Clark isn't really just some farm boy." Lionel looked at Clark like he wanted to dissect him

Stopping at the doorway's threshold, Clark stood still shocked at that admission. Lionel may have aged badly in the last few years but he still had the great power to make others feel small and helpless around him, and Clark felt the pull of both at the moment. 'God… Lionel knew.'

Lex replied passionately, "You're right. I'm very desperate for attention. Poor Lex Luthor-- never knew his father's love. Oh physical love, yes… Not like I wanted that. Then again, you've always wanted total control over every part of me. Guess what, Dad. I don't want your love anymore. And, I'm not playing your game any longer. I'm going to do whatever the hell I want and you won't be able to stop me."

Clark turned his back. Lex had totally ignored the question about him, which was sort of nice, but what the hell, why was Lex talking about physical love with his father for? That was so wrong on so many levels. That didn't mean what he thought it did, did it? Being freaked out to the max, Clark's head began to spin and he held his stomach feeling nauseas.

Lionel's voice rose, "Are you threatening me?"

"No, it's a promise."

"How dare you!"

Clark slowly walked back towards his seat. They knew about him. All the hiding and lies, and they had still found out. What had been the point in trying? Was Lex attracted to him? God, he didn't know which was more disturbing. When he decided that he had calmed down enough to listen in on what was being said, to some extent super-hearing had to be used, for their voices had gone quiet again.

"Clark is off limits. If you so much as touch him I'll kill you." Lex's voice was slightly raspy.

Damn, Clark must have missed something important. 'Should I go back into the room?' If Lionel did something to hurt Lex, he would never forgive himself.

"Son or not, I would rather see you dead than for you to get physically closer to that boy-"

Lex's sarcastic voice yelled out, "I don't know Dad. I always thought you got turned on by that sort of thing! Leave him alone or-"

"Yes, you're right there. He's a thing—it's not even human."

Clark began to feel queasier. He remembered that he was supposed to go back and wait in the car. Maybe it was for the best if he didn't hear anymore. He glanced at the time. Three-thirty dead on. As he walked towards the elevator, he thought about what he could possibly say to his friend later, "Hey Lex, I know you and your Dad said some pretty weird things to each other, but I've forgotten it already. So don't worry about it, I'm not." It would be a small white lie compared to all the other ones, and he didn't care right now if Lex would believe him or not.

As the electronic doors opened, he heard Lex shout out, "No!"

He froze, and a gunshot echoed off the walls immediately after. Oh my God, Lex! The hallway blurred and then the office door opened with such force that one side shattered.

'Where is the bullet?' Clark scanned the room and found it traveling towards the wall near the doorway. Reducing his speed he watched as Lionel and Lex were motionlessly embracing each other. The bullet hit the wall with a dull thump, slower than it should have. 'No this is wrong.'

Clark could see the expression of terror on Lionel's face. Time went back to normal. He watched as Lex let go of his father and with an animal roar, Lex pushed him away from himself with such great force that Lionel was sent flailing backwards. The older Luthor seemed too weak to stay upright, and fell to the floor, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, holding onto something.

"Lex?" Clark touched his friend's right arm, lightly turning Lex to face him. He then gave him an affectionate hug. He had been so scared that something bad had happened. The hammering in his own chest was so loud he was sure Lex could hear it. He absently noticed that Lex's heartbeat was wildly irregular.

Lex snuggled into Clark's neck, "You didn't leave me." His voice sounded hoarse but happy to see him.

"Of course not, I was going to wait for you in the car. Lex is something wrong?" Clark couldn't believe how pale his friend had gone, and he became even more frightened when he began to feel Lex's body start to tremble against his.

"Yes."

Pulling back a bit to get a better frontal view, Clark felt something wet and warm on the middle of Lex's back, pulling his hand away he stared at the red fluid covering it. 'Blood. Oh, God. Nooo!' Clark quickly put his hand back to apply pressure to the large exit wound, hoping to slow the blood flow.

"Call an ambulance!" Clark yelled in a high-pitched voice.

The older Luthor had dragged himself off the floor and was now supporting most of his weight on his desk, while broken glass crunched beneath his feet. Lionel picked up the phone and shakily dialed 911. Clark could see him put down a Glock handgun next to were he was leaning. 'What am I going to do?' Clark's mind reeled with the fact that he'd let Lex get hurt, bad. Why had he been so stupid to leave the room?

Lex was turning into putty in his hands, gradually loosing the ability to stay upright. He'd always made it in time in the past, why not now? A flash of catching a bullet meant for the back of Lex's head flew across his mind, and the sound of Lex's labored breathing brought him back to the present.

Clark backed up a bit and his friend's shirt opened to reveal the smallish wound on the front of Lex's chest. He quietly examined it. The dark mark looked strange, and upon further examination, he could see the entry hole's edges were quite jagged and there were strange burns and power tattooing in the skin around the bullet hole. A deep wave of fury washed over him as he realized that Lionel must have shot Lex at point blank range. 'Why?' Knowing that venting his anger out on that bastard wouldn't help Lex in any way, he pushed back his rage.

Clark used his x-ray vision to deeply scan into the hole and to his distress; he could see the massive damage within. The bullet had first ripped through Lex's left lung then hit the left ventricle. Why did he remember these facts from Biology class now? The left ventricle was the most vital section of the heart. 'Fuck!' He could visually see as Lex's lungs where quickly filling up with blood. The veins and tissues surrounding Lex's precious heart were beginning to swell. His heart was barely beating and Clark knew that it going to stop soon and then… Oh God no!

Tenderly, he lowered his friend to the ground, causing Lex to whimper. Why couldn't he have a more useful power like Cyrus' healing? Looking down, he noticed that Lex seemed to be fighting to stay conscious.

His friend was barely breathing, and his lips had started to turn blue from the lack of oxygen. Clark wanted to scream, rage, weep and curl into a ball to die. He could feel an invisible jagged knife, tearing him up inside, stabbing his own heart.

Leaning down till their faces where a few inches apart, Clark said something he didn't believe, "You're going to be ok-"

Lex cut him off with a press of his soft lips against his, "No, I'm not."

"Please don't leave me." Tears began streaming down his face.

One drop fell onto Lex's nose and it proceeded to make its way down his face, his friend frowned murmuring, "I'm sorry."

"No, it hurts, so much. Please…" Breaking, he was going to break.

Lex smiled, blindly staring towards his face, he was barely able to force out three more words, "I… love you." Lex's eyes glazed over and he stopped breathing. He stopped everything. And it was scary how peaceful he looked.

Clark heard his mom's voice in his head, 'You can't save everyone.' Lex wasn't just someone, some person on the other side of the world. He was right here in front of him, and he meant the world to him, they had a destiny.

"LEX!" He howled in grief. "No! God, NO!"

No, panicking was not good. He had to stay calm and think. Think, Clark, think. CPR, he had to do CPR. Yes, he was going to save Lex. The ambulance was coming, and it was not going to be much longer. 'How long has it been?' Checking the time he was surprised to see that since he had heard the gun shot, less than five minutes had passed. Push air into his lungs, and make his heart pump blood. He'd saved Lex before, he could do it again. He can't die.

He started to perform CPR and continued to do so until strange voices are vaguely heard in the background, and a hand touched his back.

Blow, blow, push 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, crack, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, crack, 13, 14, 15, blow, blow, push, 1, 2, 3, crack, 4...

The hand began to shake him forcibly, "Mr. Kent, you have to stop. We're here to take over." He looked up into the face of a male paramedic. Quickly he moved out of the way, scanning the room he was surprised to see it full of people. The whole area was full of turmoil. Someone pushed him out of the room, telling him to wait in the lobby.

He whispered to them, "But, Lex needs me."

He was led by a young female attendant to a chair down the hall. The same chair that he had sat in earlier, what seemed like ages ago, had patiently waited for him to return. He swore that it mocked him. Sitting down, he felt numb.

A voice yelled loudly, "Clear." A zap of electricity sounded. It repeated over and over just like the sound of the gunshot that was still echoing in his head. Words, sounds, noises that meant so much, but the real meanings where lost to him. Lifting his hands to his face he sobbed quietly. The sensation of something sticky rubbing off into his cheeks made him glance towards his hands, and he vaguely became aware of the fact that they were covered in blood.

Closing his eyes, he felt nothing. He was a hollow shell.

"It wasn't supposed to end this way, Clark." That voice sounded too familiar, and finally a real emotion surfaced. Wrath. In the empty room, he let himself act out a fantasy that he had been having for some time.

"You fucking bastard!" Clark hurled Lionel against the wall, smashing his head against it. "I heard what Lex said about how you touched him. You're one sick fuck. You're the one who should be dead now ... not him."

Luthor moaned in pain, and Clark liked the sound of it. He wanted to make Lionel scream and beg.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? That won't bring Lex back." A trickle of blood fell from Lionel's nose. "If you murdered me in cold blood, your conscience would haunt you forever."

"Maybe it'd make me feel better that his murderer got his just rewards." Clark moved his hand to lay some pressure upon Lionel's neck. All he had to do was squeeze. "But, you have more to pay for than just murder, don't you? You made Lex suffer for years when he only wanted to prove himself to you. But, I won't kill you... I'll do much, much worse."

"I didn't kill him. He shot himself." Lionel eyes were unfocused as his choked out, "You must have heard him threaten me. I have it on tape. He pulled out a gun and tried to shoot me. It was self-defence. I was barely able to turn the gun away from me. It must have gone off by accident." Struggling helplessly, Lionel fought to stay conscious. "I love my son. I'd never do anything to hurt him."

"You're lying! Lex, didn't even have a gun on him." Whenever Lionel talked too much it usually meant that he was being deceitful in some way. And there was no way that he was going to believe that load of shit. "You'd say or do anything to save your own ass!" Leaning in until his mouth was right beside Lionel's ear, Clark whispered just loud enough for Lionel to hear: "But, nothing can save you from me. You have no idea how easy it would be to give you the tiniest little shake right now, and snap your spine. How does a life like that sound to you? With everyone looking down on the poor paraplegic trapped in his wheel chair, smirking at you with the knowledge that you're eye level to their crotch. And all those women, the ones you used after they slept with Lex, just to creep him out? How will it feel knowing the only way they would touch you is out of pity?"

"You wouldn't- wouldn't do that." Thinking ever so quickly Lionel said, "If you indeed have all these amazing gifts. Why didn't you save Lex? It's your fault he's dead, not mine. You should have stayed in the room to protect him. Why didn't you come to the rescue sooner?" Lionel truly appeared upset that he hadn't, plus he was absolutely terrified of Clark.

"Hey, what's that guy doing to Mr. Luthor?"

Clark let go of him and watched as he fell half a foot to the floor. Lionel grabbed onto his neck where Clark had been, to some extent, strangling him. Luthor looked up at him with trepidation in his eyes. "Nothing is going to bring Lex back."

No. Nothing. And, it was all his fault. Lex had been fine the last few days. 'But today I wanted to have fun, and I made Lex take me to Metropolis.' Why hadn't he been in the room to stop Lex from getting shot? The wall of hate within him burst like a dam as the flood of grief hit him full force again. As a group of medics and secretaries began to gather nearby, Clark lost all energy for revenge. He didn't want to kill anyone. He just wanted Lex back. 'Was that too much to ask for?'

The building started to close in around him. Being in the presence of that thing masquerading as a human being made him want to vomit. Why was his vision failing him? He felt so dizzy. The walls were getting closer. They were coming for him. There was too many people staring and pointing at him. Lionel would have called the police as well. Would they arrest him? He had to be punished for his inability to act when it had counted the most. Finally, the feeling of claustrophobia became too much for him to bear, and he fled.

The journey back to Smallville was its usual familiar blur. Dried wind-- swept tears covered his face as he approached his Fortress of Solitude. When he stopped in front of the barn, he dully became aware that it was a beautiful late afternoon. The sun shone in a brilliant light blue sky, while a few fluffy white clouds floated along around it. The day was warm just like the last few days had been, with hardly any wind and no chance of rain. 'The last few days?' Clark's mouth opened to form a perfect o. Realisation had finally hit him, pushing through his grief filled mind, reminding him of the dream that been his life for the past five days.

This was not forever. It would be Friday again tomorrow. 'Please let it be Friday again tomorrow.' It had to be Friday again- for Lex's sake. Full of anxious energy at the thought that he might be wrong, Clark spent the rest of the evening wandering far way from anything that might dredge up any lingering unpleasant memories, or any real memories at all for that matter.

While sitting in a sea of hay and meditating, he tried to clear his head. Unfortunately, the unfamiliar exercise seemed to make the hours last longer, even though he mostly felt emotionally numb. Finally feeling a bit of temporary peace, Clark stared up into the clear night sky, searching the stars for some kind of answer to all of his problems. He wouldn't be going to sleep tonight. The last time Clark checked it was slightly past one am, now a bit later while doing a perfect imitation of an insomniac wolf howling at the moon, sans howling, Clark was surprised when the sky and stars suddenly blinked out of existence.