All of you who are waiting for the Chlark: Just be patient. I promise it's coming!

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Clark woke up lying on something relatively soft. Upon attempting movement, he realized that his wrists were tied down. Once he realized that he forced his eyes open and was a little surprised to find that he was lying in a hospital bed. He was quite unsurprised to find that his wrists were bound to the bar of it.

Even if Lex had betrayed him, he decided that maybe he'd be a little more sympathetic towards him than Jason would, because this bed and the clean clothes-even if they were hospital style scrubs and shirt- as well as the bath that must have accompanied them, certainly hadn't come from Jason.

His suspicions were confirmed when the door opened and Lex walked in, a tray of food in his hand. "Are you hungry?" Lex asked quietly.

"Yes," Clark replied, his tone cold. He tried to sit up a little and was quite frustrated when the chains bit into his wrists.

"Don't struggle," Lex advised him.

"Whatever."

Lex ignored his tone and simply said, "Jason won't be back until tomorrow morning."

"So? You're still here."

Lex didn't say anything to that either, but instead undid the restraints holding his arms to the bed. As they clicked open Clark couldn't help but be reminded of the ones in Summerholt that had secured him to the thing they'd lowered him into the tank on, for they were nearly the same thing.

As soon as his restraints were off, Clark tried to move off the bed. Before he could get off, however, Lex opened a box in his pocket and Clark fell back weakly. Lex withdrew the box from his pocket and set it on the floor near Clark's bed.

Clark glared at Lex through narrowed eyes. "You're worse than everyone said you were."

"Believe it or not, I'm doing this for your own good."

Clark couldn't imagine what that would be. "What? You thought I was going to take over the world?" he said with a smirk. "What is it that you're trying to protect me from now?"

Lex's jaw visibly clenched. His eyes held some emotion that Clark couldn't decipher, but he found he didn't really car to think on it. Clark continued by saying, "You know, I used to think you did things to protect me, because you cared about me. Now I see it was all just one big ploy, wasn't it?"

Lex didn't reply, but brought the tray over to Clark. He pulled the attachment on the bed that, when pulled out across Clark, served as a miniature table, and set the tray of food, which consisted of a sliced apple, some juice, and a sandwich, on it.

"Eat," Lex commanded simply, pulling up a chair to sit next to Clark.

Clark took a bite and swallowed. He was so hungry, but the food didn't seem to want to go down. Everything tasted like paper. "You want to explain to me what's going on?" he asked finally.

"No," Lex said quietly. "It's better if you don't know."

Clark narrowed his eyes. "I still just can't accept that you'd do this to me."

"Keep eating," Lex ordered in reply

Clark raised his eyes to look at Lex. "No," he said simply. "I'm not hungry."

"Yes, you are. In fact you just told me so," Lex shot back, his expression remaining calm, unsurprised at Clark's refusal. "But you feel like you can't swallow and you feel it's a better use of your incapability to fight me than to simply tell me that you feel sick."

"How-?"

"Did I know that? We're more alike than you think, Clark."

"I used to think so. Now I know we're nothing alike."

"You're wrong," Lex told him sadly.

"To quote you, even if you were lying when you said it, 'I'd do anything for my friends.' You obviously wouldn't."

Lex sighed and stood up. "Try to eat more if you can." Clark didn't answer and Lex simply left the room. Once he was gone Clark dumped the food onto the floor.

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Chloe was waiting for him when he got back to the mansion that night. He'd known that she would be, but that didn't make him any more prepared to see her. "Chloe," he greeted, as he entered his study.

She stood up immediately. "How is he?" she asked, the worry evident in her tone.

"How do you think?" he snapped. He simply could not deal with this. Seeing Clark's pain had been bad enough one time through. He really did not need to relive it just to satisfy her curiosity.

"Apparently he didn't take seeing you too well."

Lex sat down on the couch and ran a hand over his head. "That obvious?"

She sat down beside him. "He'll forgive you in a second, Lex, as soon as he knows the whole story. Just think how it must look to him right now-his best friend turned against him, being locked up in a lab."

Lex leaned back into the couch, but was in no way relaxing. "I know, I know, it's just he looked at me like-like I was my father's son." He looked up and seemed for the first time to realize Chloe was really in the room and that he was telling her things that were far beyond casual small talk. He swore softly under his breath.

"Look, he forgave me and I really was guilty. He'll forgive you."

"I know he will, but-" He cut off his sentence, refraining from saying that he wasn't sure he deserved to be forgiven. But that wasn't something he wanted to share with Chloe. She didn't need to be privy to his inner demons. Clark had always been the one he'd talked to about things like that.

"But what?" she asked patiently.

He shook his head. He wasn't going to be at all forthcoming with information, at least not tonight. "But nothing, Chloe. Look, it's getting late. I'll have someone drive you home."

She nodded and stood up. Lex escorted her to the door of the study. As she was walking out of it she turned and said seriously, "I know Clark's not here to listen, but I am. Anytime you want to talk, you know where I am."

Lex watched her close the door as he went over to the bar to pour himself a glass of scotch. Shaking his head, he laughed softly. She was a remarkably intuitive young woman. She'd make one heck of a reporter.

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"He's not the friend you thought he was, is he?"

Clark forced his eyes open. He'd just been having the most pleasant dream. He'd been back in Smallville, flying over the corn and, as far as he could remember, he hadn't had a problem on his mind. The sun had been bright and he'd been happy and…now he was awake and back in a cold room without windows. Somebody had also obviously re-chained him to the bed after he'd fallen asleep.

"He sold you out for your secrets."

Clark still didn't say anything. In his mind there was really nothing to say.

Jason moved from the doorway further into the room, a smirk on his lips. "Your secrets were the price of a Judas kiss." Jason stopped beside his bed and sat down in the chair that had earlier been occupied by Lex.

"What do you want?" Clark finally asked.

"You know what I want."

"I don't know where the stones are."

"Yes, you do." Jason pulled back his fist and slammed it into Clark's face. "You do."

"I don't."

Another hard-fisted punch. "Then I guess since you won't tell me that, I'll just have to keep collecting payment for your room and board in other ways."

Standing up from the chair, Jason headed to the door and waved his hand. A moment later two men dressed in white lab coats appeared. Clark felt his stomach roll with apprehension.

"Still don't know where the stones are, Clark?" Jason asked again. Clark glared at him, before letting his head fall weakly back against his pillow. Jason shrugged. "Ok, then."

The men stepped forward and one took out a sort of swab, much resembling the kind used to test for strep throat. Pulling a rubber glove on, the man pried Clark's mouth open and swabbed at it, collecting a generous amount of spit. Once he was done he placed it in a tube and handed it to the other scientist.

Then, to Clark's horror, the first scientists undid the tie on his hospital scrubs and pulled them down. Once Clark's lower regions were exposed the man began to massage the area of Clark's bladder. Clark tried to fight, but some reactions are impossible to stop and as the other scientist held out a cup, Clark was forced to urinate into it. The second scientist placed a cover over that as well. Jason only watched, a cruel smile on his face. His eyes were cold and hard, and Clark knew right then and there that he'd get no sympathy from this man.

Jason clapped the first scientist on the shoulder. "Thanks, Frank. I expect the results by tomorrow." As the two scientists left the room, he turned back to Clark. "You want to stop all this? You tell me where those stones are. I'll give you some time to think it over."

Clark could barely keep back tears as the door clanged shut again, leaving him only in the glow of the rocks. He was truly alone.