Chapter 46 - Ryan
Clark checked in with Lex about Ryan the next day. Lex's investigators were able to track Ryan as far as Somerholt Institute in Metropolis, but then the trail went cold. They weren't able to figure out where he'd gone from there. It seemed obvious to Clark—and to Lex, too, based on what he said—that Ryan must be at the facility, but the first round of police officers weren't able to get into the building, and the second didn't find anything. Clark tried the more direct route of calling Somerholt, and he was on hold for an hour before they told him to try back another day.
So Clark did what he would have wanted someone to do for him if he himself disappeared and the trail lead to a mysterious research facility. He ran to Metropolis.
It occurred to Clark when he reached Somerholt that he probably should have talked to Lex about some kind of rescue plan. Things tended to go better when he consulted Lex first. Before they'd started working together on these kinds of plans, Clark's usual course of action had been to knock out as many people as he needed to, in order to make sure he could do what he needed without being seen, but Lex had made him learn about how dangerous that was, and now he didn't want to do it if he could avoid it.
It was too late now, though. He was already here. And he didn't want to waste another minute.
He stepped into the drab, dimly lit lobby. His first move was to talk to the receptionist. It seemed like the first thing Lex would have told him to do. He had to clear his throat three times before she even looked up from her clipboard, where she was making notes.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"I'm here to see a friend of mine," he said.
"Who are you here to see?"
"Ryan James. He was supposed to have been brought here to receive care for headaches. He's twelve."
"This is primarily a research facility, sir. We don't have any child patients."
Clark held back his anger. Whatever was going on probably wasn't her fault, but she was still lying to him. "Are you sure? His name is Ryan James."
"I told you, we have no one here by that name."
"Check again. I know he's here."
"Sir, if you don't leave, I'm going to call security."
"I'm not leaving. I want to talk to someone in charge." He kept his voice firm, but he really had no idea what he was going to do if they tried to force him to leave. They couldn't physically force him out, but if he put up too much resistance, they might figure out his secret.
A man in a suit approached him from the other side, addressing the receptionist. "Mary? Is there a problem?"
"Dr. Garner. This young man believes you have a friend of his here."
"It's okay, I'll handle it." He turned to Clark and held out his hand. "Dr. Garner."
It was more a reflex than anything that Clark shook his hand. "Clark Kent."
"Kent . . . Did you try to call earlier?"
"Yeah. I'm looking for my friend, Ryan James."
"Well, there's been some sort of a mistake. We're strictly a research facility."
"I know he's here."
"Don't take my word for it, Clark. Talk to the police. They came by and checked. Twice. I wish I could help you, but your friend isn't here. I hope you find him."
Dr. Garner gave Clark a condescending pat on the shoulder and left, and the receptionist gave Clark a look that said Told you so. Clark clenched his teeth. He wasn't going to just leave Ryan here. There was no way.
The receptionist's arm was covering part of her clipboard; he easily used his X-Ray vision to look past it and check her information, skimming through the departments until he found one that sounded like where they'd be keeping Ryan if they knew about his mind reading: parapsychology. It was on the third floor.
He sped past the receptionist much faster than she ever could have seen, into the facility and up two flights of stairs. He only slowed down enough to ensure he didn't damage any doors on the way up, though he did break the lock on Ryan's door.
Ryan lay on his back, strapped down to a table with wires and probes attached to his chest and head. His eyes fluttered open as Clark began ripping away the wires.
"Clark?" he said in a weak voice.
"Hey!" a voice called from the doorway. "You're not supposed to be in here!"
An orderly stood behind Clark, and Clark winced. He really didn't want to knock the guy out, but he also didn't want to use his powers for the orderly to see. He picked up Ryan in his arms and shifted him onto his back, then he jogged to the nearest window. It was locked, but he broke it easily and glanced outside. It was a long way down, but he could climb his way down a lot faster than he could fight his way past the guards, and this would lead to fewer casualties.
"Hold on tight," he whispered to Ryan, and he climbed his way down.
Once he was out, he began to run as fast as he could. Normally, he could make the trip from Metropolis to Smallville in about ten minutes. With Ryan on his back, it seemed to take a little longer, maybe closer to fifteen. It wasn't even that Ryan's weight slowed him down; it was that having someone on his back made it more difficult to get full range of movement.
The one comforting thing was that, if Ryan had been weakened by whatever had happened to him at Somerholt, he certainly didn't show any signs of it while Clark ran. He kept a tight grip all the way to the mansion.
Clark realized too late that it was awfully late at night to just show up at Lex's house, but he figured Lex would still be up.
If Lex was surprised when Clark arrived at his doorstep at midnight with Ryan in tow, it was a pleasant surprise. He'd been concerned for the kid; he was glad he was safe. The mansion's kitchen staff had already gone home for the night, so Lex prepared the hot chocolate and brought it out to Ryan himself. "Here you go, Ryan. How're you doing?"
"Okay. Thanks to Clark," Ryan said. Even the few minutes since they had arrived seemed to have been enough to bring a bit more color into Ryan's cheeks, though Lex didn't know how much that colorlessness was due to illness and how much it was just because Clark had apparently run all the way from Metropolis to Smallville with Ryan in his arms. Just the thought of that was enough to make Lex feel seasick.
"Ryan," Clark said, "how could your aunt just leave you?"
"A couple months ago, I started getting nosebleeds and headaches. She took me to all kinds of doctors, but no one seemed to know what the problem was. The bills were becoming too much for her to handle. Then Dr. Garner showed up and offered to pay for my care."
Lex swallowed hard. Somehow, Dr. Garner must have found out about the mind reading and taken advantage of the information.
Ryan's eyes widened as he stared at Lex, then he looked over at Clark and glared. "You told Lex about me?"
Clark's voice caught. "Ah, Ryan—"
"I can't believe you told him! I trusted you. I never would have told anyone your secret."
"He knows my secret, too. I trust him completely."
"I warned you about him, Clark, I . . ." Ryan switched his glare from Clark to Lex. "Why are you being so nice to me? Really?"
Lex sighed. He could tell Ryan until he was blue in the face that he cared about him because Ryan was Clark's friend, and it wouldn't even be a lie, but Ryan would see right through to his other reasons. The hope that Ryan would lend them a hand by offering samples for their meteor rock research.
"That's what I thought," Ryan said.
Clark frowned. "What?"
"He wants to experiment on me, just like they do."
Clark's eyes went wide. "Lex?"
Lex groaned. "Clark, why were you looking into Ryan in the first place?"
"Because he's—" Clark winced. "Oh."
"What? What's going on?" Now there was real fear in Ryan's eyes as he looked up at Clark, and Lex remembered that Ryan couldn't read Clark's mind.
"Ryan, we want to help you," Clark said. "That's our first priority."
"But . . ."
"We think your mind reading might have something to do with the meteor rocks. We've been doing some research on them to try to figure out why they give people abilities."
"Why?"
"Because . . ." Clark looked over at Lex for help.
"Most people who are infected by the meteor rocks wind up with . . . homicidal tendencies," Lex said. "Others get cancer."
The fear in Ryan's face only intensified. "I—do I have cancer? Or am I going to start killing people?"
"No," Clark said, though Lex frowned at him. It didn't seem wise to be making those kinds of promises.
"Ryan," Lex said, "I'm not going to waste any more of your time by lying to you. I had investigators checking in for months after I found out about your powers. Clark was checking in on you because we're pressed for time to get some answers about the meteor rock mutations. Now, I'm not a doctor, but I've got medical scanning equipment here, and I've got on-call specialists in just about every medical field, just a phone call away. A couple of blood samples would help us out quite a bit, but even if you want no part in the research, we're going to help you."
"What's in it for you?" Ryan asked.
"Ryan," Clark chided.
"You're not just rich. You're busy. And you're bitter in your mind, though . . . I guess not as bitter as the last time I saw you."
"What d'you know, therapy works," Lex muttered.
"But you wouldn't just do all this for no reason. You might help me if you owed Clark a favor, but all of that research . . . Why are you doing that?"
Lex frowned. Of course, there were reasons upon reasons that Lex wanted to continue with the meteor research. Pure curiosity was a huge factor, though it probably would have been a more powerful motivator if he didn't already know Clark's secret and if Clark didn't come tell him about every meteor mutant he met. Curiosity about what had happened to him during the meteor shower when he lost his hair still drove him a fair amount. The desire to be a part of something greater than himself was a big part of it, as well as his desire to be a good friend to Clark so that Lex wouldn't have to be alone and friendless again.
But it all paled in comparison to the thought that he might be able to cure Pamela's cancer.
"Who's Pamela?" Ryan asked.
Lex's mouth felt dry. "She's the closest thing I have to a mother."
Ryan smiled. "I believe you," he said.
"So?" Clark asked. "Will you help us?"
Ryan's eyes went from Lex to Clark. "I'd love to," he said.