Chapter 17 - Leech

Six months ago, if Clark had gone on a field trip and come home without his powers, he might have been relieved. He could live a normal life, take the weight of responsibility off his shoulders. Pretend he was just a human.

He'd come a long way since then. Now, he was proud of his abilities—they were part of what made him who he was. Having spent time experimenting with them had given him a new level of respect for them, and being able to apply that knowledge to help people forged them as part of his identity. It didn't hurt that Lex thought Clark's powers were really, really cool. Clark knew his parents were proud of him, but he never really got to see that amazement in their eyes.

Being without his abilities changed everything in his mind, even though it didn't make much of a difference to many of the people in his life. His friends would never know the difference. His parents loved him either way, though he knew they'd be both more and less worried about him now. More worried because the invulnerability was gone; less worried because there was no secret to hide.

Lex, though . . . Clark didn't even know what Lex was going to say. They'd become friends because of Clark's abilities—Lex might not want to be friends with him anymore if he didn't have them.

Clark walked to the mansion that afternoon. He was twenty minutes later than usual.

It almost hurt to enter into the experiment room, seeing all of the equipment Lex had bought and set up for him. It was such a waste now. Lex was busy at a computer on a cart, but he pushed the cart aside when Clark arrived. "Everything okay?" Lex asked.

"Sorry I'm late, I . . ." Clark swallowed. Saying it out loud would make it all so much more . . . real.

"Nah, don't worry about that. Something's bothering you."

"Lex . . . I don't know how to say this."

Lex took a step forward and clasped his hands together. "You have the floor."

"I was on a field trip collecting rocks, and this guy in my class, Eric Summers, he didn't come back to the bus, so I went out to look for him, and . . . well, he almost fell off this dam, but I pulled him up, but we got struck by lightning, and his jacket was sort of still smoking, so I went to put it out with my hand, and . . . it burned me."

Lex blinked, his mouth falling open slightly.

"I had to walk here today, Lex. I don't . . . I can't . . ."

"Your powers are gone."

Clark's mouth felt dry. "Yeah."

"Wow."

Clark shifted his weight. He still couldn't tell what Lex's reactions were. "Are . . . are you upset?"

Lex's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you bought all of this stuff, and now . . ."

"Oh, I'm not worried about the money. It's disappointing we won't get to learn any more, but it wasn't your fault."

Disappointing. The word cut like a knife. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Disappointing you."

"No, I—" Lex shook his head. "I mean, it's sad, but I'm sure you're more torn up about it than I am."

Clark wasn't sure what to make of that. It sounded like a confirmation of what he'd suspected—they were going to stop running experiments, and that was disappointing, but Lex figured Clark would miss them more than Lex would. Clark had worried he was presuming too much when he wrote that Lex was his best friend on that birthday card. Lex was so much older and . . . cooler. He didn't even need powers to be interesting. Meanwhile, Clark was nothing without them. "Okay. Well, thanks for everything, Lex. I guess I'll go home then."

"Oh! Is everything alright?"

Clark gave Lex a look. "I just told you. I lost my powers. There's nothing for us to do."

"Nothing for—" Lex let out a short laugh. "Is that all this was, then? You were using me?"

"No!"

"Now that you don't need any of this anymore—" he gestured around the room— "you don't need me. I knew it was too good to be true, but I kept telling myself—"

"Lex, it's not like that! I didn't think you'd want to be friends with me."

Lex stopped short. "You're not real bright, are you, Clark?"

"Well, neither are you!"

"I—" Lex winced. "You're the best friend I ever had, Clark. You. Not your powers."

Elation filled Clark. He felt like he could run across the country. It wasn't the first time he'd felt that way, but it was the first time he'd felt it while knowing that he was unable to actually do it. Instead, he stepped forward and gave Lex a quick hug—Lex always seemed to be okay with that, and it always made Clark feel a lot better.

Lex smiled and kept a hand on Clark's shoulder after they let go. "Are you okay, Clark?"

Clark shrugged. "It's a pretty big change. My parents want me to try to enjoy my freedom. Maybe they'd let me play football, but without my powers, I'm not sure if I'd be very good at it."

"I see your dilemma. No chance of getting your powers back?"

"I don't even really understand how I lost them."

"Was there any meteor rock around when it happened?"

"Um." Clark tried to remember. "Eric was holding a piece of meteor rock, actually. I guess we both were, when the lightning struck us."

"Hm . . ."

"My parents don't think I can get them back. They seem to have transferred to Eric."

"Wow."

"Yeah." Clark didn't know how to explain why he still felt responsible for his powers, even though he didn't have them anymore. And that was why he couldn't relax. At least he hadn't lost his best friend on top of everything else "So . . . you're still okay with me coming over twice a week?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it."

"And . . . well, I guess you should stop paying me." That would be tough on his family, but it was fair.

"The money's for your cover story, Clark. Did you think I was actually paying you to do experiments on yourself?"

"Oh!" Clark's face felt warm. "I guess not."

"You're over two months into your internship, by the way. Is it too soon to give you a raise?"

"Probably, yeah." The Christmas bonus had already caused his parents to ask questions, and besides, he felt bad about accepting Lex's money, especially now that it really was just for cover.

"Oh well," Lex said, and he actually sounded disappointed, which confused Clark. "Want to try pool? I'm curious how well you'll play without your abilities."

Clark didn't know how to describe his relief at how Lex was handling this. He still had his best friend. "Sure. Snacks?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to be careful not to ruin your appetite, now. I'm pretty sure unlimited eating was one of your powers."

Clark grinned. "How much do you wanna bet?"

Lex stayed in the study for a long time after Clark had gone, holding up Lana's necklace and staring at the bright green rock.

So a burst of electricity, combined with the meteor rock, could transfer Clark's strengths from one person to another. Could they transfer his weaknesses as well? Maybe they could make use of this. Whoever this Eric Summer kid was, he shouldn't be left to wreak havoc with abilities he didn't know how to control.

The look on Clark's face had just about killed Lex. He had seemed so . . . empty. Lex couldn't imagine what it must have been like to go from being the most powerful person in the world, to being an ordinary teenager. The closest thing he could imagine was if he were to become penniless over night, and even that didn't seem to compare.

But Clark was Lex's best friend. Lex was never going to let him feel like he had to question whether Lex still wanted to spend time with him. And Clark was the last person in the world who deserved to feel weak or powerless.

Knowing that was enough to make Lex's decision for him. He was going to get Clark his powers back. No matter what it took.