Sorry about the missing update yesterday! I was at a family gathering and, well, if you knew my family than you'd know how interesting that can be. 

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The dye came out easily enough, as did the contacts. It was so amazing to see the transformation back into Clark Kent. For Clark it was like stripping away a whole identity and letting his true self come through.

When he took off his shirt he couldn't help himself from looking. The mark was clear on his left shoulder, just as he'd known it would be. Looking at its lines and curves in the mirror made him shiver, almost as though he were trying to shake it off.

"Hard to look at, isn't it?" Lex asked, coming into the bathroom uninvited. Only Lex could come in unannounced and still look so supremely confident.

"You've got no idea," Clark said softly, feeling uneasy under the scrutiny his shoulder was receiving.

"Did it hurt?" Lex asked suddenly. Questions like that weren't very common for Lex, and so Clark blinked a few times in confusion.

"Yes," he answered truthfully. "I threw up after actually. But, honestly, I think it was what led up to it that broke me."

"I didn't ask before because I didn't think you were ready to talk about," Lex explained. "Not because I didn't care. You know that, right?"

Clark laughed shakily. "C'mon, Lex, you risked public image to make sure I didn't die on the side of the road. Nothing says you care like that."

Lex returned his weak smile. "What happened before that was so terrible?"

"You know," he replied. Lex did too. Everyone knew. He'd heard rumors and he'd remained underground. Lex had probably even seen it happen. He'd certainly seen the branding part happen.

"I know that you were probably tossed in a truck and treated like some sort of animal. They burn the trucks with the sick and the dead. I know they've got barracks that the prisoners stay in before they're stigmatized, and I suspect that's where you got lice. I also know that after you received the mark you probably got tossed into an outdoor enclosure until you were transported sometime shortly after that."

Clark sank back into the seat. Could words used to describe his experience really sound that bland? He felt like there should have been some kind of flashing lights or background music, at the very least. Surely it couldn't sound so...simple, although he suspected Lex was only making it sound that way so that it would be easier for him. Sometimes emotion of others coupled with your own could be a devastating combination.

"That's very nearly completely correct," he whispered. "But-" Lex hadn't mentioned the smell, the look of the other people, the fear in their eyes. He didn't know what it was like to watch those trucks burn, knowing that you could have very easily been one of those people. Lex hadn't seen the leers of the aliens, hadn't heard their threats. Words couldn't describe a place like that.

Lex couldn't even begin to fathom what it was like to feel that iron on your skin, to be within the confines of the chair. And after, when Clark had forced himself to submit to the alien—Lex didn't know what that kind of submission was like either. He'd never had to kneel on the ground with his neck exposed, trying to placate an evil conqueror.

"Clark?"

"Yes?" he asked miserably, splashing some water on his face.

"Have you ever heard of security tapes?"

Clark froze at Lex's words, but forced himself to remain calm. "Yes."

"Did you know there were some at the compound where you were?"

He hadn't. He didn't want to admit that perhaps Lex had watched his sufferings either. If Lex had watched him receive that brand...His stomach rolled violently. "No," he whispered.

"There were."

"Did you watch them?" His knees felt so terribly weak. That kind of suffering...should never be revisited.

"Would it upset you if I had?"

Clark tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling, desperately willing himself not to vomit. Lex's question for his question had already given him an answer, but he wanted it confirmed. "You know the answer to that. Just tell me if you watched them."

Lex sighed heavily, and Clark squeezed his eyes shut. "Yes," he heard Lex whisper.

"How long ago?" There was no way he was going to be able to stave off the nausea for long. Now it was only a matter of how much information he could get out of Lex before it overtook him.

"When I first brought you here. You were still unconscious in bed."

"Why?"

"Because you were a mess."

Lex sounded, if Clark wasn't mistaken, almost a little broken. Perhaps nothing directly inflicted upon Lex himself could do that, but maybe if his friends were torn down...

"I'm still a mess, Lex," he found himself admitting, although he didn't remember thinking about the words before saying them. "I just keep it together and keep pushing through, because somehow, for some stupid reason, I'm not willing to admit that I might have lost. And I'd rather die than give up." He paused for a moment, not thinking—not allowing himself to think—about what he'd just said. "And don't give me a speech, because I know you're the same damn way."

He finally lost his battle with his stomach, and he quickly fell to his knees before the toilet, giving up what little he had in it. When he was done he fell back against the wall, his eyes half-lidded as he watched Lex approach.

"You're there for everyone, Clark," he said seriously, kneeling down next to him and bringing a wash cloth up to his face to wipe away the remnants of the vomit. "You were the one who held Pete, Lana, and Chloe together for nearly five years. I suspect that part of the reason Lana went so long without betraying everyone is because of you. You took care of Lois, and I know you blamed yourself for her death. You took care of all of Smallville, you tried to take care of the world once this war started. Hell, you even took care of me. You think you're responsible for the whole human race, and it has to stop, Clark."

There was another swipe of the washcloth across his face, and he leaned into it. Lex's words might have sounded harsh to anyone but Clark. But to Clark he knew them to be anything but harsh. "You can't do it all, although you certainly try. The last time you willingly let anyone take care of you was when both of your parents were still alive."

Clark knew his mom was dead, but only part of him wanted to talk about it. Lex was on a role anyway, so he doubted that he'd have been able to get the words out. "You still take care of Chloe. And you know what, Clark? You took care of me for years in Smallville. You gave me a reason to keep going and to not become my father. You're debt to me has been paid—not that you ever had one, though I know you thought you did. So you take care of Chloe, but you let me take care of you."

Lex was not asking him a question, he realized, but was rather telling him. Lex always got what he wanted, and Clark knew that. He didn't think this time would be any different.

"You're so unbelievably stubborn."

"Like you're not the same exact way," Clark hissed back, but not stopping Lex from pulling him to his feet.

"You're going to take a long, long nap. And I'll be damned if anyone—even Chloe—disturbs you. In fact, I'll have a nice long talk with her while you sleep."

"I'm fine, Lex," he protested, pushing back against the wall and trying to stand. He wasn't fine, and he knew he wasn't fine. Deep in his mind he was even aware that he sort of hoped that maybe Lex would keep pushing, even as his other half balked at that thought.

"You look like shit. You have ever since that trail. You're taking a nap, and we'll figure things out when you wake up. Drink this."

Clark took the glass Lex was holding out to him and drank deeply. He was tired. Probably more mentally than physically, but he was still really dragging. "Fine." he finally conceded. He didn't need to open his eyes to see Lex's smile.

"Get up, then, and I'll help you back to your room."

Clark did so and followed Lex out of the bathroom. The sight of the brand being seared into Victoria's flesh still haunted him.

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A warm armful of body and a face full of hair hit him as soon as he and Lex walked into Clark's room. "Chloe," he murmured softly. "Hey."

"Where have you been, and—Clark, what's wrong?" All her righteous anger apparently seemed to bleed out of her at the sight of Clark. "My gosh, what's wrong?" she repeated, her hands coming up to cup his face lightly.

"He's going to take a nap now, and we're going to talk," Lex said from behind him. "Now."

Chloe gave Clark a thorough once over and then nodded. Clark smiled softly. She may not have liked or trusted Lex, but apparently she was willing to join forces with him on this matter. "Lex is right. Get in bed," she said shortly.

Clark figured if the two of them were against him then he was out of a fighting chance. He allowed himself to be led to bed by Chloe and pushed down against the pillows. He was also aware when she started stripping his clothes off—nothing sexual and just down to his boxers—before slipping his pair of sweat pants back on him.

"Get some sleep, Clark," she said gently. A moment later he heard her and Lex's footsteps leave the room. Sleep came soon after that.

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"What the hell were you thinking taking him to that trial?"

Voices filtered into Clark's hearing. A pleasant warmth had crept into his very bones, and he felt incredibly relaxed. Well, not his mind anymore, because he'd heard Chloe, and she sounded upset, but his body still remained in a state of relaxation.

"What should I have done, Chloe?"

Lex's voice sounded just as angry as hers, only in a much more controlled way. That didn't surprise Clark; Lex was subtle anger, and Chloe was always right out there in her emotions.

"You knew—if you truly saw those tapes—you knew what that would do to him."

"Chloe, you can't relate to what happened to him in that camp anymore than I can. You didn't receive that mark."

"So what!" she hissed. "That automatically means that you know what's best for him and I don't? I've lived with him for nearly five years! I know that man lying in that bed. I sleep with that man! How much more damn intimate can you get!"

"You think because you slept with him that you know him?" Lex asked with a laugh. It sounded harsh and bitter even to Clark's ears. And, crap, why couldn't he move, or at least speak?

"Are you insinuating that I don't?" she countered him.

"Not at all," he replied smoothly. "I'm just simply purposing that your dislike of me clouds your judgment. That's a mistake I'd expect of Clark, but not of you."

"Clark's never been good at judging people. His heart gets in the way."

Clark couldn't see their faces, but he assumed that some sort of facial expression must have been displayed there, because Lex's voice became low. Clark knew that to be a sure warning sign. "Are you saying that he shouldn't trust me?"

"No, I think he can trust you, I just think he's foolish to do so in such a complete way."

"Perhaps I've earned that trust?"

"Oh, I don't doubt it," she said, her voice sincere. "You've earned my trust, but I don't have to like you."

"Fair enough," Clark heard Lex say. "But the other matter I wanted to discuss with you pertains more towards...Clark."

"Which is precisely why you drugged him, right?" Chloe asked with a half-laugh. To Clark it sounded as though she were more than a little bit amused.

"How did you know I drugged him?" Lex didn't sound like he was at all surprised that Chloe knew, nor did he sound like he was denying her accusation at all.

"Oh, please, Lex. We're making enough noise to raise the dead with our shouting. If he heard either of us shouting he'd be up and awake in a minute."

Lex didn't reply to that, but Clark could easily in vision his amused smile. Lex would find such a statement funny.

"But anyway," she continued. "What did you want to talk about?"

"He's got that brand."

There was silence for a moment. Clark felt as though he should have been able to at least flinch at this discussion. "Yes," Chloe said softly.

"So he's in danger. He's got the highest security level brand. If he's found outside this mansion with it he could be killed."

"What are you getting at?" she hissed.

"You don't lure him outside this mansion, got it?" Lex's voice sounded cold and firm, and Clark had forgotten to what lengths Lex would sometimes go to control lives—even his. He'd never liked it then, and he didn't like it now. Even if it were for his own good it still angered him.

"You unbelievable bastard!" she exclaimed with an incredulous laugh. "You know he hates being manipulated."

"Clark can hate me if he so chooses, but I'll lock him in that room before I let him again go through what he's been forced to endure already."

"Clark's going to resent that."

"I don't care," Lex said simply. "Chloe, I see things from him that you never will. He loves you and wants to be strong for you."

"He's cried before," she said defensively.

"I don't doubt it, but you've got to look at his face. With you his emotions aren't going to right out there, completely readable. Even when he's sobbing his heart out in front of you he's still—and I don't think he even knows he's doing this—he's still keeping some of it hidden. It's not because he loves you any less. In fact, it shows how much he does love you."

Clark heard her sigh and the sound of feet told Clark that they were entering his room. The drug seemed to be wearing off even more, as he was regaining his mobility quickly, though, he hadn't really tried it out yet in fear of being known to be awake.

"Are we clear, Chloe?" he heard Lex ask, his voice like steel.

There was a moments pause before Chloe finally answered, "Yes. It might be for the best."

"Clark," he heard her whisper a moment later, her hand running through his hair.

He didn't have to pretend to be groggy as he opened his eyes. No, the drugs insured that there was absolutely no playing about it. He cracked his eyes open a little and looked up at Lex and Chloe. "Hey..." he muttered.

As soon as he was coherent enough to move he reached for his shirt. He hated having that mark exposed longer or more than was necessary. Both Chloe's and Lex's eyes darkened a little as he did so, and he knew it to be in worry.

"Anything happen while I was asleep?" he asked curiously.

"Chloe and I had a nice chat," Lex said with a nonchalant shrug.

Clark had understood right from the moment that he'd heard the conversation start that Lex wasn't going to tell him anything that he didn't have to, but it still made him mad. "Oh, alright," he replied. Two could play that game.

"You were awake the whole time," Lex noted with a smirk.

"I-" Clark started to deny.

"Was most definitely awake the whole time," Chloe finished.

Clark swallowed. "Um."

"I'll leave you two alone," Lex said, heading for the door. He shot Chloe a small smile as he did so, only to be returned with a glare.

Once he was gone, Chloe asked, "How long were you awake for?"

Clark shrugged. "About two minutes before you came into the room."

"So you heard a lot then."

"Um...yeah."

Chloe sighed and sat down on the bed, her hands in her lap. "He's only trying to do what's best for you, Clark. I think he feels responsible for what happened to you these last five years."

Clark leaned back into his pillows and smiled softly. "Lex is so ruthless to his competitors that he overcompensates for his friends. He takes things as personally as I do."

She gave him a lopsided smile but nodded. "I think you're probably right. Anyway, while you two were out this morning playing Hardy boys I did some snooping around Lex's office."

"Chloe, you shouldn't be in Lex's office," he rebuked her softly, his voice chiding. He wasn't really mad, though. He'd expect nothing less from Chloe.

She rolled her eyes. "Because you haven't been?" she shot back.

"Not without him there. Look, Chlo, I know that you don't like him, but I trust him."

"Actually, Clark," she said seriously. "I trust him too. I dislike him, but I trust him."

Clark shook his head, almost amused at Chloe. "Anyway, what did you find?"

"Nothing that he probably wouldn't have shown you," she said with a shrug. "Plans from the aliens to eliminate more prisoners, times of some meetings—not a lot actually. But I don't think Lex is the type of guy to leave his important documents lying around."

"And neither are you, Chlo. You guys are alike in more ways than you know."

"I'm not sure I take that as a compliment," she replied, arching her eyebrow slightly. "He's not exactly the nicest person."

"Believe it or not, Chloe, he's a little more benevolent than you think."

"To you, Clark, to you. Look, all I'm trying to say is to be careful. Lex is capable of a lot."

Clark swallowed his retort and nodded. "So did you find out anything today?"

She sighed and lay down on the bed beside him, putting her head on his chest. "Yeah. Lana's pushing for a campaign to get all political enemies, as inanyone with your brand—be they prisoner, slave, whatever—killed."

Clark wrapped an arm around her waist and sighed. "Ah, so she's trying to kill me. I wouldn't worry about it."

"And why not?" she mumbled against his chest, sounding rather put off.

"Because I can take care of myself. Besides, Lex has more clout than she does when it comes to political movements like that."

She pulled up off his chest to look him in the eye. "See, that's the thing, Clark. He doesn't. I think she's probably sleeping with someone at the top."

"Yeah, Lex and I kind of already figured that one."

"Well, I think you figured right. But that's not the point. The point is that you have that brand, and if that law is passed-."

"They won't find me," he said confidently.

"No, but you'll be in even more danger than you are now. At this point if you're caught in public you'd just be unceremoniously dragged back to Lex, because the records say that he bought you. Right now that's your safety net. But if this bill gets passed you'd be killed upon discovery and Lex would be in a whole lot of trouble as well, just because he harbored you."

"The bill hasn't passed yet," he said, still trying to exude confidence, despite the fact that his was failing rapidly.

"But it could, Clark."

"What do you want me to do, Chloe?" he asked, his voice tired. He gently raised his other arm and wrapped it around her, bringing his hand up to her neck and carefully massaging out the kinks.

"I really don't know, but we need to think of something."

"You're right," he muttered. "Do you want to talk to Lana?"

She shook her head. "I don't have a mark, Clark. A little hair dye and some contact lenses and I could pose as a debutante, having just made her way up to the high society. I could practice espionage at the top. If Lana sees me then that won't work."

Clark laughed. "You're certainly pretty enough."

She returned his laugh with a good natured one of her own. "Don't flatter me, Clark," she chided teasingly as she kissed his chest. He squirmed a little, her hair tickling him.

"I'm not flattering," he said truthfully. "You're gorgeous."

She stretched up to kiss him. "You looking for some, Kent?" she teased.

He shrugged and mumbled, "Might be," before he leaned down to meet her lips.

He'd go talk to Lex later. At that moment there were more...pressing matters.