Glass Hearts

Chapter Two - Tainted Love

Righty - O Chapter Two is here me lovelies! I'm hoping it'll do wondrously but the likelihood is minimal. Sorry for the mammoth delay too I feel so bad about it! Don't own the characters just the story and any people like the Doctor ect. Includes nastiness at points I'm afraid, a nightmare or two, some angst… Anywhoodle on we go!

Three weeks since he had rescued Clark, three long windy weeks where Clark would cower from his touch or fling himself into Lex's embrace. There was no in-between, no half way stop. Lex could see fear so transparent on his angel's face that it nearly broke him. There was too much horror trapped in the blue eyes for smiles to crack through the months of torture.

Three precious weeks since Clark had been brought out of his father's sight. Lionel had no idea what had happened to the boy and Lex knew that it was breaking the perfect deception of his father's sanity. Lex sat comfortably in his red suede chair as Clark lay curled in sleep on the bed. With a slight smile Lex watched the peace on they young man's face… so innocent at rest… Still so perfectly innocent… Putting Clark to bed had become a habit. Ever since that first night…

God that night had been…

Frightening…

Lex stepped into the car, murmuring to the driver to take him home as fast as possible. Clark was huddled into the seat, knees drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped tightly about them. Gently Lex brushed his fingers across one hand, "Clark, look at me angel."

Clark's eyes were almost black in his semi-poisoned, terrified condition. The blood from his head wounds was dry on his forehead and cheeks, bruises spilt like blueberry juice across his skin seemed to be moving and throbbing in front of him.

"Is this real?" Clark's voice was faint and tremulous. Almost inaudible over the purr of the car, "You're really here?"

Lex smiled, flashing Clark a part of himself that he never showed anyone else, "Of course I am. You can feel me can't you?" He traced his fingers over Clark's arms and up his neck.

Clark nodded nearly imperceptibly, "But you've left so many times… You left me…"

"I wouldn't ever do that to you. Not in reality. I'm going to take you home, we'll see your parents, get you happy again…"

There was no recognition on the words, no acknowledging flicker, Clark recoiled slightly though and Lex knew that once again he was out of the loop.

He moved closer to Clark, wrapping his arms about him and noting that the boy didn't flinch from his touch but leaned into him, the small shudders in his body making the suppressed tears all too obvious to Lex.

"Let it out," he whispered softly, gently, soothingly, "We're going to make you safe Clark. You're not going back."

The fragility of his once Herculean saviour as he cried in his arms tore at Lex's heart. His arms woven around the battered form and Clark's once strong grip clinging onto him as if letting go would destroy him. There was a weakness to Clark that he had never seen before, hopeless and falling into a darkness that Lex had only seen in dirty mirrors and broken glass. Like glass… Glass…

The dark haired boy was curled into him for the rest of that journey. Lex rubbed circles on his shuddering shoulders, ran soothing patterns down his spine. Clark was a mess and Lex couldn't tell if it was because of what had happened or because the boy believed that it would happen again once he woke up. Even as the tears subsided and stillness came to the broken body Clark buried himself in Lex's warmth and the billionaire was only too happy to oblige.

As they drove up the long drive to the manor Clark seemed to have calmed at least a little. Lex guessed that it was simply Clark trying to find a solace in what must seem an 'unbelievable' dream. They spoke little, the older man whispering occasional words of comfort where as the boy expressed only the heart wrenching whimpers of the oppressed.

"Here we go…" Lex said softly as they pulled up outside the great oak doors. Of all the manor they were the most forbearing feature, weathered but still powerful and Lex loved them because they kept the world out.

Malik opened the door for them with a tentative smile at the pair before his eyes welled with that same pity that once had been shown for Lex himself.

"Thanks…" Lex looped Clark's arms about his neck, lifting him in a bridal position, into his hold. "Can you tell Marion to make ready a small meal, soup or something else easy? I'll take him to his room."

Malik nodded. Just like all the times the boy had personally brought vegetables from his parents farm to give to the staff and Lex; for all the times that the battered child had made Lex happy and alive… The staff loved him, he was more one of them than Lex but in many ways he bridged the muddy waters, everyone had been able to see a difference in their young master since Clark's appearance.

Turning inside, Lex carried the light weighted youth upstairs. He tried not to be shocked at Clark's malnourished body but couldn't help it. The boy was too thin, too bony for Lex to even struggle with him. He wasn't going to complain, he liked helping Clark, but it was dreadful to be able to feel the hard thrust of bones through the thin covering on his boy.

"I can get your parents if you want them here." Lex murmured as he took the boy up the stairs and through the doors to his specially made room. Gently he set him on the bed. Clark was sitting tentatively, knees habitually drawn up to his chest… But the blue eyes never left Lex's, the tear stained lashes seemed to make his eyes shimmer.

"Don't…" Clark shook his head slightly, wincing as he did so, "They don't need to know…"

Lex placed himself beside the boy, "Look, Clark, they will need to know eventually…" he tried to touch his friend's shoulder but he flinched away, burying his face in his arms.

"No!"

Lex knew better than to pressure him, "Well this'll be your room then… It's adjacent to mine so if you need me I'm either through that door," he waved his hand at a panel in the wall, "Or you can just call me. I've set up this place with an intercom system so if you need me just place you hand on the dressing table for at least three seconds and I'll be able to hear you."

Clark nodded slightly, tilting his face so he could see Lex, "This is really happening isn't it."

Lex smiled. The realisation hit Clark and he saw his eyes flickering between the Clark he saw now and the one he had known. Lex reminded himself that the boy would need to see Lorenzo, after all he knew that the injuries, though not much worse externally than he had ever received, probably were inflicted internally too and there was no other doctor Lex would trust than Lorenzo.

"Why don't you have a shower, by the time you get out I'm sure something will have been prepared for you to eat." Lex brushed a strand of the matted hair out of Clark's face, "There's an adjoining bathroom…"

Clark nodded, "Thank you."

The gratitude in the voice made Lex feel warm inside, no one had ever thanked him like that before… No one had ever given him a chance to help them. Clark made it to the bathroom on his own. Made it inside on his own. Lex even heard the shower going on and the murmur of the generator working it's magic. He was about to go through to his room to change his clothes when he first heard a thud. He paused, looked at the door of Clark's bathroom, heard the scream rise from the thundering water.

"Shit!"

The door opened into the steamy room, slamming into the wall on the other side. Wide, grey eyes peered through the haze to the form in the misted shower. Lex dashed across, the scream had petered a little but it was still unearthly, tormented. Clark's naked form was a wreck, littered with bruises, blood stains, scars; he was bent into the wall, head knocking against the side. Lex reached out to the boy, only to find himself flung back through the air. So some of his strength was coming back… even through the throb of his own pain Lex tried to see the positive.

"Don't… Don't come near me… Don't touch me! …. P…pl…please…. Oh stop…."

Painful, desperate whimpers came out of the resounding scream. Lex crept more tentatively to his friend's side, "I'm going no where." He reached out one hand, gently brushing strands of the wet hair from his friend's face.

Clark began to whimper, "Please… I don't know anything else! Stop! Please!" But whimpers turned to cries, which again turned into screams.

Lex felt Clark lash out again, trying to fight off the demons that were tormenting him. Staggering away from the wall he had been battered into again, he found his way back to the now silent form of Clark. He was completely motionless, body sagged into the wall, lifeless. Tears sprung into Lex's eyes as he once again was faced with the ravages of his father's work… What a masterpiece that monster had created this time… He was probably gutted now he had lost what was undoubtedly his finest canvas.

He turned the taps off, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the fragile body of his best friend. So fragile… The clear white towel contrasted dramatically with the contusions and abrasions and Lex felt anger leaching into his veins. Gently he lifted Clark, taking the boy back into his room before tucking him into the sheets. Lex perched on the bed, noticing the paleness of the beautiful face, the innocence that was inevitably lost in the day seeming to fall over his face in unconsciousness. He seemed so enviably pure with his eyes closed… Because his desperate, wronged eyes were hidden…

The door opened and Magda, one of the maids, was there carrying a tray of soup and warm bread. Lex put a finger to his lips, not wanting the boy to be unearthed too abruptly from sleep and she nodded silently at his command. They would need Lorenzo even sooner than he had anticipated so he voiced it in a whisper to the sad eyed woman.

"Don't tell him who needs him until I'm there though… I don't want any word of Clark's whereabouts spreading…" Lex gave the girl a resigned smile, "It's far too dangerous…"

"Don't worry Master Lex, we all anticipated that this was no public affair and have arranged for this part of the house to be sectioned if anyone is to visit." She beamed, even though the comfort of her smile did not take away all the concern from her face. Lex had been right, Clark was very much a part of the household, without even trying.

"Thank you."

Lex sat back in his chair, trying to remove the memory from his mind. He could still see the terror on Clark's face, hear his screams echoing in his mind and it hurt him even then… Now he wouldn't leave until Clark had been sleeping for at least an hour or two because he was afraid of the nightmare visions coming back. He knew Clark slept better when he was around to see him to bed because he also knew that being alone reminded him of the vulnerability that he had felt in the hands of Lionel Luthor.

"N..no…" Nonsensical words rose from the form in the bed. Sheets had twisted about Clark, "D…don…"

This always happened… Lex took one hand gently in his own and just held it, slowly running his thumb over the back, soothing the boy that was still suffering sleep.

"Lex…." Clark's lips were moving over the word repeatedly now and his mentor knew this had never happened before, "Don… leaf…"

Clark was dreaming. He always dreamed. Every night. Every time he closed his eyes and succumbed to the darkness.

He could see himself in a dark room. Completely dark. The whole world was black except for outline of a door which flickered with shadows outside it. Light trying to filter threw and failing. He curled into himself, not knowing where the walls were, not knowing who else could be in there.

"Lex?" he called out into the dark, "Chloe?" she wasn't dead… he knew she wouldn't abandon him… she was still out there… "Pete?"

No one.

Trembling he buried his head in his knees. Words were echoing back out him. Names turned into words by the Dark. Monster. Wretch. Faggot. Worthless… Scum… The darkness was hissing at him, snarling into his ear, standing over his shoulder and waiting for him. Waiting and wanting to trap him in it's nightmares. Clark shook. Numbness was spreading through out his body, he was scared and alone…

Something squeezed his hand.

Someone was squeezing his hand. Trying not to hope for a miracle he opened one eye. There wasn't a nightmare this time… Only calm grey eyes looking into his own. Clark opened both eyes and Lex started to fade away.

"Don't leave me…" he tried to reach for the hand again but it was pulled away angrily by the man who was smiling at him, "Please. LEX!" He was screaming now. The fading man disappearing completely, "Don't leave…"

But he was gone.

And the nightmares were there in front of his eyes that Lex had opened and they were crawling into him. Digging claws into his irises, putting dark tunnels through his mind and taking him directly into the river of pallid shades that he was drowning in. He could not move. He could not scream. He felt tears sting in his eyes but he could not let them fall. Paralysis pushed him into a submission he didn't want to understand. He waited for the merciless memories to pull him below the surface of sanity. Lionel's laughter was echoing through his mind, guffawing at his weakness.

"Please…" He felt his breathing becoming difficult as he became tangled in straps and chains that became tighter by the second.

But no one was going to help him. No one could.

Lex tightened his hold on the limp hand in his own. The room had gone silent. Too silent. Clark's body was wrapped tightly in his sheets and the still frail body was rolling slightly from side to side, rocking like a maltreated child. Then the whimpers started again with their nonsensical language screaming out to Lex exactly what was running through his friend's mind.

"Lex…"

"He's not coming. You are nothing to him. He never liked you, not really. You were the pathetic, wretched creature that blemished his day. Lex never could love you. He doesn't know how." Lionel's words were soft in his ears as they kicked in his ribs, as they belted his wrists and ankles, as they blindfolded his eyes, stuck needles into his skin, and he screamed.

Lex still did not know exactly how to react. His heart, splitting in two, was full of desire to wake him up, but Lorenzo had said not too… So what… what could he do? Clark's body was arching upwards in the painful embrace of his memory, screaming. Screaming… Always the screaming. He had seen this so many times and Lorenzo had never let him… But Lorenzo wasn't there this time. Tentatively he pulled Clark to him, unsure of what would happen.

Writhing in his arms, Lex feared that Clark's strength would emerge… If it did he knew… But Clark was calming. He was slowly beginning to stop thrashing and Lex relaxed slightly, watching with slight intrigue as the screwed up expression on the dark hair beauty relaxed.

"It's ok Clark…" He found himself whispering to his friend, "I'm here… You're safe…"

The needles were gone, someone was holding him protectively against the dark, against the glowering Lionel that was still watching, sneering at whoever it was who was there. Clark nuzzled into the embrace, trying to block out the visions in his brain.

"I'm here. It's ok. You're safe." It was Lex.

"You came back." He mumbled into the warmth he knew was his beloved saviour. Clark curled closer, blocking out Lionel and his contorted face completely. Smiling ever so slightly at being so close to the younger Luthor… Because he loved Lex and in his dreams… Lex loved him too.

Lex was asleep when Lorenzo dropped by the bedroom to check on the patient as he did every night before he went to bed. Accustomed to seeing Lex in his chair he was surprised to see the too younger men wrapped in each others embrace. The doctor smiled slightly, not failing to notice the protective way Clack was wrapped in Lex's arms, the way Clark's body was curled into the slender form of his employer.

Lorenzo smiled slightly, Lex had always held the boy to his heart. He knew that. Who didn't know that? In the past when ever Clark was expected Lex became a happier man. A less troubled man. Now whenever Clark was mentioned there was that cloud of sadness and concern for him reflected beneath Lex's carefully glazed eyes. It was a tainted love… One full of pain and lies and scars… Both had drowned in the terror of the elder Luthor and both still need to be saved. Prehaps this was was their salvation?

Quietly and silently Lorenzo left them, a strange twinkle in his eye and a smile on his lips.

fin chapter.