Summary: Being forced to revisit his life before Smallville is nothing new to Lex, but this time an unwitting victim is brought along for the ride.

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, these guys still ain't mine!

I also do not own/have not written any of the lyrics or quotes which may appear as credited within this story; intended usage is merely to complement narrative and thematic elements of my original work.

A/N: This takes place shortly after Season 1's finale (which would probably alter something somewhere in the episodes that aired, but it's all good).


II: Go Time


Looking out into the night sky, Clark watched the heat lightning that was illumining the clouds in silent, spasmodic bursts. While he knew the phenomenon was not actually related to temperature, Clark couldn't help but be reminded of how unusually warm the summer had been already—especially considering it had only just begun.

"Hey, Clark," Lana's voice rang out from below the loft.

"Oh hey, Lana, come on up."

"Think I got here in the nick of time," she said as she climbed the stairs. "Looks like it's going to storm."

"No, I think it's moving the other way, actually," Clark said, peering outside again. "Anyway it's only heat lightning, since there isn't any noise."

"Oh, really? Isn't it too early in the summer for that?"

"No, it can basically happen whenever. Maybe not in June as often, but it does."

Lana came and stood by his side as a heavy flash of peach light rippled across part of the sky. An empty threat of sorts, the otherwise formidable power was strikingly beautiful. "Well, stranger things have happened in Smallville, that's for sure," she said.

"I'll say," Clark assented lamely. Eyeing Lana protectively, he decided to venture a comment about Whitney's recent departure. "So, how are you holding up—I mean without Whitney and all."

Lana raised her eyebrows resignedly. "It's definitely strange, you know? But I really hope he finds what he wants... he deserves to be happy, whatever form that may end up taking."

Clark turned from her with a remote glance. "Yeah," was all he could think to reply.

"It's weird having Chloe gone now, too," Lana continued. "I hope that internship in Metropolis works out for her, though."

The mention of Chloe filled Clark with an unexpected sense of melancholy as he thought of how abruptly things had ended between the two of them—if anything had even had the chance to begin, that is.

"Well, you're just full of well wishes tonight," he still managed to observe with a smile.

"Yeah, I don't know... I guess change is good, right?" Lana suddenly regarded Clark closely. "Clark, I still don't know why you won't tell me what happened."

"About what?" he asked.

"About the day the tornadoes hit—about how you found me?"

Clark averted his eyes briefly before speaking. "Lana, we've been through this..."

"No, Clark, actually we haven't—" Lana abruptly stopped herself. "It's OK, I didn't come here to pick a fight with you," she backpedaled. "I mean if you really won't say, I guess I can't make you."

"Lana." Knowing full well what she would see, Lana looked up into Clark's solemn face, his kicked-puppy eyes thrust into high gear.

"Look, I would never intentionally keep anything from you," he assured her earnestly. "All I know is that a lot of crazy things happened that day, but luckily you came out of it safe somehow... and that's the important thing."

Lana gave a plaintive smile in spite of the familiar, nagging questions that lingered in one of the more restless corners of her mind. "I know," she replied simply. "I'm lucky to have you, Clark."

»»««

"Just one before we get there," Lex told Calvin in the back of the limousine transporting them to Metropolis. "Then we'll be set for the night."

Calvin shook his head in amused wonder, not about to turn down the most appealing start to a weekend he could possibly imagine. "All right, man, whatever you say."

It really was funny he was even friends with somebody like Lex to begin with, Calvin reflected. All of his friends resented it, he could tell—especially now that he spent most of his free time with the kid anymore. He knew it all came down to envy, though; they were just jealous he could actually get in places with Lex and score whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. With odds like those, who needed friends who rarely delivered on anything?

Calvin smiled to himself as he watched Lex line up the works like a seasoned pro. Rich freak or not, this kid was the real deal.

Ironically enough, Lex wasn't even supposed to leave school on the weekends, but because his father was some kind of heavy hitter it was something that was overlooked. Calvin didn't really know much about Lex, in all honesty—only that he enjoyed a less than harmonious relationship with his dad and that his mother had just died a few years ago. And though Calvin had never actually believed in the rich and miserable lifestyle until he saw one firsthand, he still didn't pretend to understand Lex now—he was just glad they were able to have a good time in each other's company. Perhaps he should expect more from a friend, but in truth Calvin had been let down by far too many people far too many times to have any grand delusions or high expectations. It was a good enough definition of friendship to him.

Producing a small package from his pocket, Lex began tapping out its brownish-white contents into a spoon. He carefully sucked a measured amount of water into the syringe he had set aside and emptied it onto the waiting powder. Holding his lighter underneath the spoon, Lex delicately stirred the concoction with the tip of the needle, then placed a cotton ball directly onto the solution and inserted the needle into it, watching the liquid as it filled the chamber.

"Go time," he told Calvin with a grin.

"Do it up, man; I'll go next," said Calvin.

Lex rolled up his sleeve and fastened his belt around his arm, holding it fast with his teeth as he tapped the exposed skin for a prominent vein. Shooting Calvin a brief glance, Lex held the needle over the point of entry and pressed the plunger into his skin, waiting a beat before completely drawing the blood back into the chamber. Letting the belt go slack, Lex fired everything into his vein at once, the heroin instantly racing through his system to his brain.

Calvin watched as Lex closed his eyes and laid his head back against the seat, his mouth falling open in silent euphoria. Searching Lex's face restlessly, Calvin couldn't wait any longer. "So how is it, man—good stuff?"

Lex did not respond right away but eventually made a lethargic gesture towards the gear that he had set up for Calvin. "Guess you're just going to have to find out for yourself," he said.

Calvin rolled up his sleeve and hovered over the impending rush like a child over a candy counter.

He and Lex might come from different worlds, but none of it mattered on nights like these.

»»««

A day had passed since his dinner with Lionel, and yet Lex was still spending as much time away from the mansion as possible. Dropping by the Talon about an hour to closing time, Lex settled into a corner table with the newspaper he hadn't the chance to read yet that day.

"Hi, Lex," Lana greeted, stopping over from another table. "Can I get you anything?"

"Actually, yes," he replied, thinking a moment. "One of those chai tea lattes would be sublime."

Lana smiled but Lex thought he saw a bit of an eye roll. "Coming right up," she promised.

Somebody's gotta get these kids used to working, Lex thought with a smirk as he began snapping the paper into a more manageable size.

After a short wait, Lana returned with the order. Pulling the mug towards him, Lex looked up in acknowledgment. "Thank you, Miss Lang; I'll let you know if I need anything else."

"All right, Lex, you know where to find me," Lana replied with another affected smile.

Lex grasped the handle and took a deep sip, savoring the spicy hotness in spite of the considerable warmth outside. Not long after he had turned back to the paper, a man who was on his way out the door suddenly bumped into the back of Lex's chair as he passed, hovering awkwardly for a moment as he tried to right himself.

"I'm sorry; excuse me," he said, patting Lex's shoulder, but when Lex looked up the man was already out the door.

Lex froze in his seat. His eyes automatically went to the drink in front of him, as if aware something underhanded had just occurred and he'd missed it. Surveying the non-reactions from the proximate customers, however, Lex decided he was just being paranoid, and he gave his head the slightest of shakes as he took another sip from the cup.

He folded back the next section of the paper and glanced briefly over its rattling edges to see Clark approaching the counter. Lex continued reading while Clark greeted Lana, knowing his friend would spot him eventually. Of the few favorable outcomes the past couple of weeks had seen, the fresh slate Lex had apparently been granted with the Kents was one of the more promising developments. The whole fiasco with Nixon had just been so overwhelming, and it was nice to know that there was at least one major problem off his back.

Sure enough, Clark momentarily approached Lex's table and stopped. "Hey Lex," he said cheerily over the top of the paper.

"Hey there yourself," Lex replied. "How are things on the farm these days?"

"Settling down, I guess you could say. What about at the mansion?"

Lex's smile was cryptic. "I don't think things will ever be 'settled' there, Clark. It's not part of the place's original design, know what I mean?"

Clark raised his eyebrows awkwardly. "Yeah, well, if you need anything..."

"I know who to call," Lex finished matter-of-factly, raising the mug to his lips as he looked up at Clark.

Clark gave an indulgent grin. "All right, good enough. I think I'm gonna go for now; I'll see you around, though."

"See ya, Clark."

Not twenty minutes had passed when Lex noticed the paper in his hands was becoming increasingly hard to read. Why are the words blurring so easily? he wondered. He then realized that it wasn't quite his vision that needed help—it was the fact that he could barely keep his eyes open.

Guess lack of sleep is finally catching up with me, Lex mused as he folded up the paper. He then caught sight of Lana across the Talon looking characteristically preoccupied with something or other. Downing the rest of his latte, Lex rose and began heading in her direction, but when he went to walk he found himself struggling to approximate a normal gait. Undeterred but decidedly more worried, Lex made it to the counter, where he stopped to wait for Lana.

"A little understaffed tonight, I presume?" he asked as she busily gathered the abandoned cups and saucers on the countertop. It was only then that Lex noticed the place had almost entirely emptied out.

"Oh, you know how it goes," she said, straightening up and giving him a flustered smile. "Just trying to get out of here on time."

Lex returned the smile, but as Lana stopped and looked at him, she noticed his expression held a strange yet discernible vacancy.

"Is something the matter, Lex?" she said.

"What?"

"You just look—tired or something, I don't know."

"No, I'm fine. So, how are the Talon's figures for tonight?"

Lana turned to assemble the receipts she had been collecting on the back counter. "Well I haven't exactly tallied it all up yet," she said with her back to him, "but I think it's safe to say we did pretty well..."

Lex closed his eyes wearily, unable to fight this intense feeling of lethargy any longer. As Lana continued to gather the night's receipts, Lex slowly spun himself around to scan the room. With a flood of heartsick dismay, he discovered the place was, in fact, entirely devoid of customers—save for one. The man who had bumped into him maybe half an hour ago was there sitting at a table, patiently sipping his drink and flipping through a paper.

Just like me, Lex thought bleakly, and the realization of what had transpired came crashing down so forcefully that Lex literally cringed.

Lana turned in time just to see his expression as Lex, in turn, was hunching back over the counter himself.

"Lex, what is it?"

Even in his state, Lex was sure the man behind him was surmising his every move, and that anything either he or Lana said or did was being intensely scrutinized.

Where is that goddamn Clark when you need him? he found himself wondering listlessly.

Lex desperately wanted to tell Lana to get help; he wanted to whisper to her that he was about to be forcibly removed by that man sitting at yonder table, and that Lana should escape now and hide outside so she could at least gather some clues as to where he would be taken. But Lex had neither the luxury of time nor the possession of speaking faculties at this point to say any of that; he knew what had to be done.

"Lana," he whispered gravely, looking into what he decided must be her eyes as she lowered her face closer to his—"get the hell out of here."


END 2/?


Please content me, steal me from this priss-teen life
Oh so gently, everyone feels pain this time

Into the car, baby bleed the gas
Fast as fast, never turning back
Oh yeah, not scared of that
The past has passed and we cannot take it back

They want to know
If we could get away
Yeah, we backed it up
And made our great escape
When the dust will settle
And they discover
The furthest exodus getting somewhere
While the messengers
Get the message in
Try to capture us
We've done nothing wrong

~ guster