More Chlark for all of you who wanted it! By the way, I'm looking for ideas for another fiction, so if anyone has got any (or wants to see me write about something) I'd be really thankful if you sent them to me!
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They'd reached Smallville at five thirty that morning. The sun had just begun to peek into the sky, turning it slightly pink. Lex parked the car at the back entrance of the mansion. The staff couldn't know Clark was there. He didn't know how many of them would sell them out.
Clark's eyes fluttered open as Lex pulled him out of the car and picked him up again. Maybe it was the motion that had awoken him, but Lex thought it was more likely the loss of Chloe. "Hey, Lex," he said softly, his voice weak. "Thanks for getting me out."
"It's my fault you were there originally."
Up until that point he hadn't fully realized that, and he'd be darned if it was always Clark who managed to bring the truth out of him. At those words Clark looked up at him and his brows furrowed. "What?"
"No, I didn't sell you into that, but it was my sloppiness that led Jason to you-that allowed Jason to even live." The weakness of Clark's voice-it nearly killed Lex.
Clark's brow relaxed again, and his body even relaxed as Chloe fell into step beside them, only going ahead to open the door. She looked so happy, Lex thought, even smiling when Clark was brought through the door. He hadn't the heart to tell her that Clark's road to recovery wasn't going to be easy.
"You can't always blame yourself for what happens indirectly."
"I can't not blame myself for the look on your face when they-Clark..."
"It wasn't your fault."
Lex brought him down the hallway and into the room he'd had prepared. It wasn't a large room, but it wasn't tiny either. Its furnishings were modest and the carpet was red, but in the light of the sun coming through the wide windows, their red curtains pulled back to let in the sun, it seemed almost welcoming. He laid Clark on the bed, and Clark sighed softly.
"How are you feeling?" Chloe asked, instantly at his side.
"Happy to see you again," he murmured with a smile.
She grinned back and him and rubbed a finger across his brow line. "It was Lex that got you back."
Both teenagers turned their gaze back to Lex. Lex only looked down at the bed. "I don't deserve any gratitude."
"I heard your talk in the car last night when you thought I was asleep," Clark said suddenly.
Lex jerked his head up in surprise at that, and even Chloe looked a little taken aback. "You did?" Lex asked slowly, not sure how to feel about that.
"I forgive you, Lex," he said simply.
"Clark-"
"No, Lex, I do. You did what you could to help me. You did help me. If it wasn't for you I'd still be in that lab."
"Clark, I don't think you get this. This whole thing isn't over by any stretch of the imagination. You've got to stay hidden, because Jason-Jason's still out there. Your parents, Chloe, Lana and Lois if you want them, can come see you, but that's it."
Clark looked at him almost innocently for a moment, and Lex had no idea-no idea-how Clark could possibly still be so innocent. But then again, he supposed he was thankful, because that was Clark. "Okay."
"I'm going back to the lab in a few hours. I've got to keep drugging Jason. It's the only chance we have..."
"I trust you."
It was so blunt, and how could Clark trust him when just a few hours ago he'd looked at him like he'd ripped his heart out personally? But if he was really honest with himself, he knew he had the girl sitting beside him to thank. Chloe and what she had said in the car had done this. And he was so thankful for that. In answer to Clark's statement he could only nod.
Turning to Chloe, he requested, "Call Clark's parents and get them over here."
She nodded. As Lex walked out of the room, he stopped just outside the door. He wasn't sure what it was, but something compelled him to turn around and look. He was unsurprised to see that Clark had taken Chloe's hand again. He was a little more surprised to see that look in his best friend's eyes that was usually reserved for Lana only. It was, Lex thought, a little like love.
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"He's gone." Jason's eyes were cold and they told Lex all too clearly that Jason suspected him.
"Clark? Gone where?" He put every acting skill he had to the test as he said those words.
"Just gone. A wheel chair at the bottom of the stairs is all the evidence we've got."
"Well, they can't have gotten far."
Jason's jaw was clenched tightly and his hands were in fists. Lex imagined that his nails were probably digging into his palms. "I've had men out looking for hours. The bindings weren't broken, Lex-they were undone. Kent didn't get away-someone helped him out."
"Do you have any viable suspects?"
Jason shook his head. "Absolutely none." Lex watched as he brought his hand to his neck to rub the muscles that were obviously hurting him.
"Then what do we do?"
"We find him-that's what. We do whatever it takes. I will get those stones!" he yelled, anger flashing from his eyes and a little spittle flying from his mouth. Lex decided it was just a little scary how well the drugs were working-or maybe this was inner potential manifesting itself.
"Well, not keeping your emotions in check is certainly a cast-iron way to make sure it doesn't happen!" he said calmly.
Jason lost it. "Damnit! Don't play games with me! You took him, I know you took him! I saw the way you were looking at him when he was being cut open! I know you took him!" Jason took a swing at him and Lex was thankful for the training that allowed him to easily block the punch and throw one of his own.
Jason took it to his lip and fell backward. When he straightened up there was blood on his mouth and his eyes looked mad. "So stabbing people in the back is how you climbed so high up the corporate ladder, huh? Not hard to believe. Luthors are famous for their dirty dealings."
Lex remained passive. "You've lost it, Jason. You're mentally unstable."
Jason started forward again. "Yeah? Well, finding out your mother was killed, nearly getting killed yourself, finding the thing that could give you everything you ever wanted, and then loosing that thing because you were stabbed in the back by your 'partner', will do that to you. Where's Clark?"
Lex had known that a moment like what was happening would have had to take place. It was inevitable, unavoidable, undeniable. He took the gun he'd had in his pocket out. "I think that you'd be wise to watch me leave."
He backed slowly up the stairs to the door, never taking his gun off of Jason. He was lucky that he'd drugged all the drinks the night before he taken Clark.
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Clark felt the warm sunlight on his face and he sighed happily. There was still Kryptonite in his bloodstream, but he was feeling a lot better and the bed he was in was incredibly nice. So was the hand in his, the fingers of which were gently stroking his knuckles.
He forced his eyes open and saw Chloe. She was sitting on a chair next to him, reading a book while the afternoon light was hitting her in such a way that it made her seem ethereal-she seemed to glow. It was truly beautiful. "Chlo," he muttered.
Her gaze immediately turned from the book she'd been reading to him. She smiled, showing all of her perfect teeth. "How are you feeling?" she asked gently, squeezing his hand a little tighter.
"Tired," he said honestly, still watching her through half-lidded eyes.
"Yeah," she said with a laugh. "I suppose vivisection will do that to her."
Clark flinched a little. That was a memory he'd just assume forget.
"Sorry," she apologized, seeing his flinch. "I know that can't be the happiest of memories for you. I'll listen if you want to talk about it, though."
"I appreciate that, but I don't think I really want to."
The door swung open slowly. Both he and Chloe turned to see the newcomer and were a little startled to find Lana. "Lana?" Clark asked, slightly surprised.
Chloe prepared to sink back into the shadows again. It had been so nice being Clark's comfort while it had lasted. Inconspicuously she tried to slip her hand from his. To her immense surprise he only gripped her hand a little tighter, giving it a slight squeeze.
"How are you feeling, Clark? Lex told me bits and pieces about what happened." She sounded concerned and her large doe eyes held her worry.
"I'm better, Lana. Why have you been staying at the mansion?"
She closed her eyes briefly. "Some things...happened in the meteor shower."
"Anything I can do to help?" he asked softly.
"That goes for both of us," Chloe added.
Lana smiled softly. "Thanks, but I don't think so. Lex-he's pretty much got it covered."
"I think we all owe him a thank you," Clark said seriously.
Chloe sighed a little, her face tinged with sadness. "He's not going to accept a thank you, Clark. He feels responsible for you."
Lana sat down on the bed beside Clark, her hands in her lap. "It was eating him alive-what he was doing to you, I mean. He was coming home every night, well, I've been living here-I saw it. It wasn't pretty, believe me."
"She's right, Clark," Chloe added. "I'd come to see him and he'd tell me just how torn up he was by what he was allowing to be done to you."
"You don't need to convince me to forgive him," he told them both gently. "I don't blame him for what's happened, and I thank him for getting me out. I'll deal with what was done to me. You don't need to worry."
The three shared a smile. Lana didn't notice, not by any fault of her own-she simply didn't have that perceptiveness to other's hidden thoughts and feelings-but Chloe could clearly see the slightly haunted look in Clark's eyes. She knew Lex could see it too and had probably seen it when Clark was in the lab. They both had that gift-curse-whatever. No matter what it was, they had it.
After Lana had left the room and Clark had gone back to sleep, Chloe continued to watch him. His slumber was that of a peaceful person, except for the slight wetness beneath his eyes. The illusion of peaceful slumber was broken when Clark cried out softly in his sleep. Remembering that her presence in the car had helped, she climbed onto the bed with Clark and curled up in the crook of his arm. It was a strangely peaceful spot.