Immure & Side Effects.....

By Mindige0

“I didn't do it, you have to believe me” a man with black hair said to a room full of people, most were sneering at the man while a few looked on with sad eyes.

“Shut up” a man with graying hair said to the man before he was punched in the face. The man looked into the crowd and found that most seemed to be nodding their heads with what the man with the gray hair had done.

“I didn't do it” the man mumbled knowing now that no one not even his parents that were standing in the crowd believed him. If he had been given another chance at a phone call he would have definitely rethought who he would have called. Certainly not his parents as he had done, believing that they would try and sort this out with him giving him full support. That unfortunately didn't happen, instead he was met with a cold stare from his father and his mother bursting into tears and saying that she didn't understand where they had gone wrong. He would have instead called his best friend; the one person he knew would believe him even when all the odds were against him. He knew now that the only way that he would be able to contact his friend was if he was granted one phone call before they sent him to prison, for the next five years of his life, for something that he didn't even do.

“Kent” the man with the graying hair said grabbing the man's arm and dragging him away, while he took one last look at the people he had called friends and family; one of them standing out more than the rest, a girl with long dark brown hair, the one that had accused him of attacking her and trying to rape her.

“You lose” he saw her mouth to him, while she put on a show for the crowd that watched as he was dragged away. He could only shake his head at the thoughts that were running through his head and the reasons for why she had done this to him. He had been nothing but nice to the girl ever since they were little, even going so far as having a crush on her when they hit middle school but once his best friend had come to town he had focused all of his attention on him and it seemed that the girl was unhappy with that. So she had plotted and schemed and now she was reaping the results by having him dragged away and no way to even fight since his father had made him agree to everything the lawyer was saying not knowing that it wasn't in his best interests but that of the supposed victim.

“Clark how could you?” Made the man look up with dead eyes to another person he had called a friend, he was African American and much shorter than he was. He knew better than to answer, the last time he tried that he had been punched and he wasn't looking for a repeat that was for sure.

“Get in the van” the officer said pushing man towards the van that was stationed in the back of the courthouse. The crowd from the courtroom followed them out to where the van was and watched as the man slowly got in without a fight.

“See that, he's guilty” another person he had called a friend said, this one had short blonde hair and was female.

“Nice crowd don't you think?” The officer said to the dark haired man knowing that his words would only make the other man even more depressed. The man didn't respond just looked out the small window on the back of the van while the others that were in the van eyed him wondering what he was in for. He said nothing to the other men in the van instead he watched as the van moved further and further away from the courthouse and closer and closer to Stryker's Island Penitentiary, located in the West River of Metropolis. His accuser had made a motion for moving the proceedings from Smallville to Metropolis do to feeling that she wouldn't get a fair trial in the small town. He still couldn't believe that this had happened; he was still in shock, amazed that his own family had turned on him so easily by a girl, a woman, that had always caused problems for him.

“What you in for?” He was broken out of his thoughts about the girl as well as his family and friends, by a man with dishwater blonde hair asked him with a curious look on his face.

“Assault and battery and attempted rape”

“Damn” the guy said now eyeing him amazed at how someone that looked so passive could do something so destructive. He shrugged his shoulders not certain on how to respond, he never did well in social settings even when his friends tried to get him to do something that involved lots of people.

“Shut up back there” the driver of the van said before giving the man that was sitting in the passenger seat a look that seemed to communicate plenty. The rest of the ride was made in silence and with little incident, when the van touched the docks of the island a few of the men began to cry.

 

“What did I tell you?” The driver said before pulling up to large gates that all knew what lay behind them.

“Afternoon Ryan” an officer at the gatehouse said before taking a quick look in the back and seeing a new group of inmates.

“Afternoon Greg” the driver said back before nodding to the gate officer and then driving off once he got the signal that he was free to go.

“Do you think….” Another prisoner said not wanting to speak to loudly for fear of receiving the wrath of one of the officers in the van with them. Most of the men shrugged their shoulders not wanting to answer the man.

“Get out!” One of the officers said once the van had come to a complete stop and the doors were thrown wide open. The men closest to the door got out quickly not wanting to anger the officers that stood in front of them any more than they had to.

“Line up” yet another officer said which had all of the prisoners lining up in a single file line and looking towards the large cement building done is shades of gray. The dark haired man shivered in fear, not wanting to know what lay before him in his future.

“When I call your name step forward and move towards the double gray doors where you will be searched” an officer with a baseball hat on said before grabbing a clip board and looking at the names and starting to call out men one by one.

“Bellick, Cyrus” was called and a guy that had long brown hair stepped forward and moved towards the double gray doors not looking back, as if he had done this sort of thing before.

“Corben, John” was called and the same action happened, the names of Desmond, Mark; Hamilton, Maxwell; Jones, Thomas were called one by one and each man stepped forward and made their way through the double doors when they were given permission to do so.

“Kent, Clark” the officer said looking between a man with black hair and another with short blonde hair. The man whose name was ‘Kent, Clark ' stepped forward and waited for the officer to signal him that he could move forward and through the double gray doors.

“Go” the officer said waving him through, he walked silently into through the double doors and was met with three officers in what looked like a twisted version of a padded cell at a psychiatric facility.

“Kent, Clark?” One office said looking at a sheet of paper and waiting for the man to respond.

“Yes, sir”

“Good, take off your clothes and place them on the table here” the man was a bit shocked at the man's words and had to be told twice before he proceeded to take off his clothes and place them on a long gray table.

“Search him” the officer said while looking through the pile of clothes that were on the table, looking for any type of weapons or anything else just in case.

“Clear” one office said before both he and the other officer stepped back and watched the third officer give the man a clean jumpsuit in orange with the numbers 40886 on the back.

“Put that on” the officer said before sliding the man's underwear forward allowing him to put on his underwear and jumpsuit.

“Have a seat behind that door there” an officer who looked to be in charge said pointing to yet another gray door. The man followed instructions and was soon sitting with the same men he had been on his ride to the prison.

“Fun stuff” the guy that had spoken earlier said, the man just shrugged not wanting to talk to any one at the current time.

“Jeez” the guy said before going over to where another man sat staring at the door as if waiting for it to open up with an officer telling him that this was all a big mistake. A few minutes later the final man came through the door and sat next to the guy that was staring at the door. The seven men in the ‘holding area' looked around and wondered what they were to do next; this was answered for them by an officer entering the area with brown paper bags.

“Lunch....” the officer said before placing the bags in the center of the room and then leaving not explaining what would happen next. Each man stood up and grabbed a bag before opening it up and finding what was inside, which wasn't much.

“Crazy” the chatty guy from the van said making all look at him and wonder if he was going to cause a problem. Clark on the other hand looked at the small meal and took it as a blessing since he had been held in one of the jails that tended to be lean on meals for cost saving measures. About an hour later Clark along with the other six now inmates were broken out of their thoughts by a group of four officers coming into the ‘holding area'.

“When I call your name step forward and go through that door there” the officer said pointing to the same door that they had just come from.

“Bellick, Cyrus” the officer called yet again which had the guy standing up and moving towards the door.

“Go” the officer said once Bellick, Cyrus had stepped up. The officer rattled through the names again and then got to Kent, Clark . The black haired man stepped forward and waited for the officer's cue.

“Go” was said a moment later which had Clark walking through the gray door and back into the room where he had been strip searched.

“Stand there” an officer standing behind a camera said before he began to type something into the laptop that sat on the table. Clark moved to the marked area and stood still waiting to be what he assumed was photographed and moved along. He was still in denial that this was all happening, but he knew that it was and he best not anger anyone he had enough to deal with as it was.

“Now step forward” the officer said looking at the laptop and deciding if the picture taken was good enough for the identification badge he would be issued.

“Stokes” the officer said and waited for another officer whose last name was Stokes to enter.

“Kent, Clark ; prison number 40886”

“In interviewing” the other officer said before Officer Stokes led Clark towards a door he hadn't noticed before.

“Have a seat” the officer said before grabbing a folder with what Clark assumed was his information in it.

“I see here you were charged for assault and battery along with an attempted rape…” Officer Stokes read off, while looking Clark over.

“Yes sir” Clark said not saying any more, he had been convicted and him shouting about how it was a lie was futile at that point in time.

“So tell me a bit about your self…any medical issues we should be aware of? In any gangs? That sort of thing” Officer Stokes said waiting for Clark to respond.

“No medical issues and I don't belong to any gang”

“Alright, is there anything that we should know about then?”

“No” Clark said not wanting to even think about his stay in prison.

“Okay” Officer Stokes said, amazed at how quiet Clark was. Most of the inmates when given the chance spouted off about how they were wrongfully accused and that this was all a big mistake. Clark on the other hand seemed to be the exact opposite of that, soft spoken and very quiet almost as if talking about his prison sentence would put him in a state of shock.

“Follow me then” Officer Stokes said before standing and taking Clark's file along with a brown paper bag with him as Clark followed him to what looked to be another processing area.

“Wait here” Officer Stokes said before handing over the file and paper bag to another officer.

“Kent, Clark” was called out shortly there after, Clark stepped forward and watched as his things were searched yet again and then sealed up and handed off to an officer standing behind a large counter.

“Sheets, shoes, underwear….” The officer said passing Clark each items as they said the items name.

“Prisoner 40886; Kent, Clark is clear” the officer yelled letting everyone know that Clark was ready for the next step.

“Prisoner 40886; Kent, Clark is assigned to cell number 5021” a voice called which made the man that Clark was standing in front of write it down and then made a shooing motion with his hand. Clark stepped back and was met by Officer Stokes.

“Jonny” Stokes said walking over to where an officer stood looking so ready to go home.

“Stokes”

“Prisoner 40886; Kent, Clark ; cell assignment 5021”

“Guarding Prisoner” Jonny said before making Clark walk in front of him as he was guided by Jonny to his cell, while still holding on to all of the items he had been given before hand. Clark and Jonny soon arrived to cell block 5 and walked down two long hallways before getting to cell 021.

“Here you go your new home” Jonny said with a nasty smile on his face. Clark just nodded his head before stepping inside of the cell and then watched as it was closed in front of him. Clark watched as the officer walked away whistling some song that no one knew. Once the officer was out of Clark 's line of sight, he turned around and noticed the cell he was in, to the left of him sat bunk beds with the mattresses showing. Straight in front of him was a toilet and sink and on the wall to the right of him was cement painted in yet another shade of gray with a small desk and chair. Clark didn't know what to do, but he knew one thing and that was that he wanted to lie down and cry, so he took the crisp white sheets and made the lower bed up before he sat on the bed and just stared at the gray painted cement wall.

“Well…” Clark said at a loss as to what to think, everything had happened so quickly. One minute he was a dorky twenty year old staying back on the farm to help his parents and the next minute he was arrested, tried and convicted of something he didn't even do. For the next few hours Clark did nothing except sit in his cell and run over the last few days or weeks in his head, trying to see if there had been any sort of indication that this result was coming. He found none as he expected, for it seemed that the girl he had supposedly attacked and tried to rape had the plan worked out for a long, long time.

“Prisoners stand clear of the door” an officer yelled making all that were in the cell block move to the center of the cell and wait for what was to come next. Soon the sound of the cell doors being unlocked and opened could be heard.

“Prisoners step out and turn to the right” the same officer yelled making the entire prisoner cell block do as they were told. Clark followed the instructions on autopilot not knowing what was going on but hoping that it was something that happened every day. Once Clark and the other prisoners stood outside their cells and guards that stood every few feet in the cell block hallway were all accounted for the line of prisoners began to moved towards the direction that Clark and all of the other prisoners, at some time or another, had come from. Clark followed the man in front of him, who in turned followed the man in front of him and so on and so forth until you reached the front of the line which had been guided to a large room with benches and tables in the center and on the far walls was an area where food was served.

“Prisoners line up” was yelled before the line of prisoners were lined up at the food line, waiting for the workers to past out the food that would be considered dinner for the prisoners. After standing in line for a full twenty minutes Clark came away with a tray of food and fear in his heart. It was like high school all over again, you had tables that were filled with men, that must be ‘popular' and then you had the tables that held the casts off and mixed in there were empty tables waiting for some poor soul to sit at them. Clark eyed the many tables and decided to eat at a table that no one was at, hoping that it wasn't too close to the ‘popular' group and also far enough from the cast offs, so that he wouldn't get into a fight with either group.

“Can I?” The guy from the van ride and check-in said to Clark who was sitting at a table by himself. Clark shrugged his shoulders, as if not answering would send the guy on his way.

“Okay” the guy said a bit confused on Clark 's lack of speaking. He sat anyway and began to ramble on about himself.

“Name's Maxwell Hamilton, but most people call me Max” the guy waited for Clark to respond and when no response was forth coming, the guy continued to talk as if talking to him self or a wall.

“In for a robbery charge, can you believe it?”

“I got two years for it but I figure my parents will get me out once they see what sort of conditions I am living in…” on and on the guy rambled, which made Clark want to choke him to make him shut up.

“Move” a man with a tattoo on his neck said to Max, which had the man up and moving in no time. He knew when someone of higher standing was around and the guy that was now standing at the table was definitely that, if only in the prison setting. Clark looked out the corner of his eye and saw the man as well and followed Max's direction but he was stopped.

“Not you, only him” the guy said pointing to the now retreating back of Max. Clark nodded his head before sitting back down and waiting for the other man to speak.

“T-bag's the name”

“Clark” Clark said knowing better than to say his last name, that didn't matter here what mattered was what ‘crew' you were with and what was the latest commodity on the black market in the prison.

“No nick-name?”

“No”

“Hmmm” the guy said before sitting next to Clark and giving him the once over, it was only a perusal of his physique, the kind that people do when sizing up a person.

“Got any beef with hanging with me and my crew?” T-bag asked, making Clark seriously wonder what the man was really after.

“Dunno”

“How about I show you around tomorrow and you decide….” T-bag said leaving the end of the sentence hanging for Clark to interpret however he wanted to. Clark nodded his head before going back to finishing the rest of his meal, while T-bag made his way back to the table that held at least ten men and carried a short conversation with the group before sitting back down and eating a roll that had been left on his plate.

“Dude” Maxwell said walking back up to Clark . Clark just looked at the boy for that was what he was at least in Clark 's mind, since his ramblings had included his mother and father teaching him a lesson with his stay in prison.

“That was….was like the head guy you know?” Maxwell said looking at Clark in surprise before he started rattling on about how he had figured that he would be the one being approached since he was father was Steven Hamilton and his mother was Emila Hamilton, the names pulled Clark 's head up. He had heard those names before from Lex about one of the secret projects he had going on under his father's nose with his new company LexCorp, but he wasn't going to willingly listen to the guy next to him rattle on and on about his family's status and how he should be treated differently because of it.

“Scram” one of the guys that happen to be sitting next to T-bag said making Maxwell look over to the table and then stand up quickly and leave, trying to find a place to sit that wouldn't send him into the wrong group of people during his probably short stay. Clark nodded to the group before turning back around playing with the extra watery applesauce that sat on his tray. The rest of the time that was allowed for dinner, Clark sat at his table thinking about what he would need to do to get into contact with Lex or at least figure out a way to get some sort of appeal. He had watched the police shows on TV and knew that if he could show that he had not been given a fair trial based on something, he just didn't know what yet that he would be granted a new trial and hopefully then he would prove his innocence then. There had been things that had bothered him during the trial but since he wasn't able to even get his attorney to listen to him he had nothing that he could do.

“Clean up!” One of the officers yelled making the prisoners move towards the trash cans that were near the door. Everyone lined up and waited to throw their trash away before moving to stand next to a cement wall that was painted white.

“Well aren't you a cutie…” a voice said behind Clark which had him wanting to move away from the man, when Clark didn't respond he whispered into Clark 's ear.

“You looking for some fun?” the man said in what Clark thought was supposed to be a sexy voice but found it lacking since he had heard Lex in full out sexy mode and this guy couldn't touch Lex's sexiness.

“A quiet one” the guy said moving just a bit closer to Clark, which had Clark moving just a bit more forward. Luckily he was next in line to throw away his trash so he was able to get away from the man behind him quickly. Clark stood against the white wall and waited for further directions from one of the many officers scattered around the large room.

“Cell block line up” one officer dressed in a white shirt said watching the prisoners and noting which ones looked new and where they stood in the hierarchy that was within the prison walls. The officer noticed Clark right away since Winslow “Winnie” Milson had taken an interest in him shortly after Theodore “T-Bag” Burrows had spoken with him. He looked familiar but for some reason he was coming up blank as to where he may have seen the prisoners face before, besides on the dossier that came with him when he arrived. The officer watched Clark until he left with the rest of his cell block before he called on another officer.

“Stokes”

“Sir” Officer Stokes said taking a step towards his boss, wondering what the man wanted.

“Prisoner 40886”

“Yes sir?” Stokes asked confused on why his boss was asking about one of the new prisoners.

“What's his name and his deal?”

“Uh….” Stokes said trying to remember Clark and the information that he had been given by Clark .

“Kent, Clark; convicted of assault and battery along with an attempted rape charge”

“You got any other information on him?”

“Uh…I would have to double check but I remember something about his trial being moved from one of the county courthouses to here in Metropolis”

“Find out where…..he's….someone not sure but I think we might need to keep an eye on him”

“Yes sir” Stokes said before moving back and watching as the last of the prisoners walked out of the large room and towards their cells. Once the room was empty the guards that had been standing on the platform above it moved off to the break room to sign out and head home. The officer in white stood there for a bit longer wondering if prisoner 40886 was going to be a problem or not, there were of course the snot nosed rich kids that were sent here being taught a ‘lesson' but most of them stayed at max a few weeks, never their full sentence being let off for ‘good behavior'. They didn't know how to survive in a setting like this and when their parents saw them for the first time during visiting hours, the next day there would be a release for good behavior sitting on his desk waiting for his eyes to read it and follow proper protocol to release the prisoner and into his parent's waiting arms. It disgusted him, being sent to prison wasn't some sort of game or lesson, this was very real and very much something that shouldn't be taken as casually as most of the rich in Metropolis did. Officer Stokes broke him out of his thoughts by coughing, drawing his supervisor attention to him.

“Stoke, what do you have?”

“Prisoner four, zero, eight, eight, six's trial was moved from the Lowell county courthouse to that of the Metropolis court on the basis of unfair bias”

“What?” the supervisor said, amazed that such a flimsy excuse had been used and the motion had been granted for moving of a trial.

“Sir” Stokes said not sure on if he needed to repeat himself of not.

“Go on” the other officer knew there was more, people like that prisoner didn't come in with something as flimsy as the excuse they had used for moving the trial.

“He is the son of Jonathan and Martha Kent, still married and living in a small town called Smallville. He graduated from high school two years ago and from what I can see worked on the family farm”

“Smallville” the other officer said knowing the name but not sure from where.

“Uh…sir”

“Oh continue”

“Well it seems that his story is one of the many played out stories we see….he had a serious crush on the popular girl at school and it seemed that he didn't take no for an answer”

“Odd” the other officer said the prisoner didn't strike him as the type to even think of something like what the report was suggesting.

“Sir”

“Go on”

“Well from what it says here he watched her for a few years while working at the family farm and then one day decided he had enough waiting and attack her while also trying to rape her”

“Hmmm” the superior wasn't convinced of the story that he had just been told. He had seen too many cases with the same sort of story line come into this prison only to either rot away there unable to find a way to become free or the lucky few who found a way to appeal and show the court that they had been wrongly accused. He was of the mind set that the prisoner was of the latter, but he would watch and see if the prisoner was willing to go as far as he needed to get his appeal. Most didn't due in part because they hadn't finished their high school education, so they lacked the knowledge on how to do research and how to interpret the legal words into something they could understand. There were of course prisoners that would be willing to ‘help' you out, but that came at a price and it was never good.

“Anything else Stokes?”

“Uh…” Officer Stokes said looking over the file that was Clark 's and checking to make sure that he didn't miss anything.

“When I spoke to him, he stated that he had no medical issues and was not affiliated to any gangs”

“Is that it?”

“He wasn't much of a talker, sir” Officer Stokes said remembering the almost one sided conversation he had his Clark or prisoner 40886.

“Wouldn't expect him to be” the supervisor said in an almost conversational tone.

“Well the one that tried to sit by him…” Officer Stokes said remembering the guy and how much he ran his mouth.

“Yes”

“Talked a mile a minute, almost as if he was on speech speed or something”

“Good one” the officer said while laughing at the visual that the officer gave with his words.

“Hamilton, Maxwell Hamilton”

“Sir?” Officer Stokes was a bit amazed that his supervisor knew the guy's name.

“He's a socialite of Metropolis….read the paper more and spend less time playing video games”

“Sir”

“That's all”

“Yes, sir” Officer Stokes said before watching his supervisor for a moment and then going to the break room to sign out and go home. He would do what his supervisor said and do a little reading about the Metropolis elite, see if he could maybe figure out why his supervisor was so interested in prisoner 40886 if he was lucky.

Clark arrived back to his cell and sat down on his made bed. He had no idea of what had just happened but he had the feeling that he was way out of his league on this one. Before when he was in Smallville he would have just called Lex or gone over to the castle and tell Lex the problem and the other man would tell him some story about either the Romans or the Greeks that he would have to figure out and then figure out what he would do with the information he had been given. Now though, that wasn't the case now he had no one he could turn to since he didn't think that writing a letter to Lex would get him anywhere, he did after all need the advise soon, and he couldn't call because that would require a phone and maybe even money and he had neither and it looked like they were going to be in their cells for the rest of the night. Clark decided that thinking it over wasn't going to do much since he couldn't predict what would happen tomorrow, so he would try and not worry about it until tomorrow. Then and only then would be try and figure something out, but he knew one thing for sure he was going to stay the hell away from Maxwell Hamilton and that other guy that had called him a ‘cutie'.

“Lights out” was said a few hours later, which had Clark laying in his bed in the dark. Alone, truly and completely alone for the first time ever, he may have sleep alone in his parent's house but they had always been down the hallway or out of town, but they always came back always made sure that their son was okay. Now though, now he was alone no one was going to make sure he was okay or that he was even being treated properly. He was on his own and for some reason that scared him more than it should.

“Stupid” Clark mumbled to himself, remembering a time when his life had been so much easier, his routines were just that, routines something that he relied upon but never knew until now. Clark laid awake way into the late night, listening to the sounds figuring out what sounds went with which cell. Clark fell asleep listening to a rumbling that he wasn't sure where it came from.

“Wake up call” a voice said waking up all of the prisoners at Stryker Island . Clark awoke disoriented for a minute before yesterday came back to him making his eyes sting just a bit. He wasn't going to cry, at least not until he knew that his case was hopeless. He had to first try and get into contact with Lex, he knew the other man was out of the country but he hoped that he would be able to get Lex on his cell phone once he got to a phone and had money for a phone call. Until then he would go to the library, if the prison had one and see if he could figure out a way on his own to get an appeal. That was his main goal since he had already been convicted.

“Prisoners stand clear of the door” was shouted about an hour later, which gave Clark enough time to clean up a bit and wait for the call so that they could go to breakfast. Clark stood in the middle of his cell and waited for the cell doors to automatically open as they had the last time.

“Line up” the guard said before watching along with several other guards the prisoners walk out of their cells and stand in the middle of the cell block hallway.

“Turn right” the one guard said before he began to walk out of the cell block and down to the area that they had been taken the night before. Clark understood that they were going to breakfast, and he figured that the process would probably be repeated for lunch as well. The walk to the large white room was made fairly quickly and soon Clark was standing yet again wondering where to sit. He remembered the words from the guy yesterday but he wasn't sure on what to do.

“Hey” T-bag said waving his hand in a come closer wave to Clark . Clark moved towards the table where T-bag and all his ‘associates' as Lex would call them sat.

“Saw you had a bit of a run in with Winnie” T-bag said once Clark was seated at the table and looking around at each guy sitting there, wondering what they had done to end up in prison.

“Yeah” Clark said assuming that T-bag meant the guy from yesterday that had called him a cutie.

“Stay clear of her” Clark nodded his head at that and then began to eat his breakfast while looking out of the room and seeing Winnie and Maxwell sitting together.

“I see you looking over there” T-bag said wondering if Clark swung that way and if he had chosen Clark wrongly for joining his crew.

“The guy…Maxwell” Clark said before pointing with his fork to the guy he was speaking about.

“Oh the rich boy”

“Yeah”

“Figured he would end up with Winnie”

“Why”

“He doesn't look like the type to be in here for something serious. We get the rich boys a lot here” T-bag explained which had Clark nodding his head wondering if Lex had ever been to Stryker Island . He wouldn't put it past Lionel Luthor to send his son here to teach him a lesson that would always backfire on the older man.

“What's up with, Winnie?”

“She's a caller”

“Caller?”

“Gay and looking for a sugar daddy”

“Oh” Clark said surprised that T-bag had just said what he said. He had figured that Winnie was gay but he didn't think that the other guy would say something about it.

“You ain't no caller are you?”

“No” Clark said before shaking his head, he wasn't looking for a sugar daddy but he was gay but he wasn't going to tell T-bag that, continuing to eat his meal.

“Incoming caller” a guy sitting at the table said before everyone looked forward to see that Winnie and Maxwell were making their way over to their table.

“T-bag” Winnie said with what Clark was going to assume was a sexy quality to it, which of course fell flat for Clark yet again.

“Winnie, new boy?”

“Something like that” Winnie said looking at Maxwell while the other man blushed and looked down at the ground.

“What you need Winnie?”

“Your new boy” Winnie said not at all afraid of saying what was on his mind.

“Can't have” T-bag said making the other guys laugh while Clark continued to look at the food on his tray.

“Come on” Winnie whined hoping that it would make him cave. It did most of the time and Winnie really, really wanted Clark for some reason.

“No” T-bag said before giving Winnie a look that had her and her latest addition going back to their table.

“You are quite popular it seems” T-bag said wondering what was so special about the guy that was sitting at his table and being as quiet as possible. Clark shrugged his shoulders not really sure why everyone wanted to talk to him. He knew that most wouldn't be able to place his face, since they probably didn't read the papers but he was almost certain that Maxwell Hamilton would know who he was and then start running his mouth, as he tended to do, about who Clark knew and that was something that he was trying to hide here, at least for the first little bit.

“Clean up” an officer standing on the platform above the room said making all of the prisoners work their way towards the trash cans to throw away what they hadn't eaten.

“We can do anything we want at this point” T-bag said, who happened to be standing behind Clark said. Clark nodded his head, wanting to go to the library but having a feeling that T-bag and his crew wouldn't be up to that sort of thing.

“Location?” a guard said to Clark wanting to know where he would like to go for the few hours that he would be free to do whatever he wanted.

“Uh” Clark said at a loss as to what to say.

“Location prisoner” the guard said a bit unhappy that Clark was taking so much time.

“Library?”

“Over there” the guard said pointing to another guard that looked bored and had no one standing by him. Clark watched at T-bag and the rest of the crew said that they too were heading to the library.

“Bookworm?” T-bag said once he was standing next to Clark .

“No, not really” Clark said before they watched as Winnie tried to figure out where T-bag and Clark were heading too but falling short.

“That girl” T-bag said before laughing at his words. Winnie was no girl but he acted more like a girl then any girl that T-bag had ever been in contact with.

“Let's go” the guard said once every prisoner had been placed at the location that they were going to spend the next few hours at. Clark followed the guard while listening to T-bag talk about the ins and outs of the prison and who to avoid, if you could, prisoner wise.

“Two hours” the guard said before opening the door and letting Clark and the small crew that followed him in the room filled with books. A flash of Lex's den lined with bookshelves upon bookshelves came to Clark 's mind and he had to really try and not break down in front of T-bag and his crew. They would for sure think he was a pussy if he did that and now, in a library for crap sake.

“What you up to?” T-bag said wondering if Clark was much smarter than he looked, he had picked Clark to possibly join his crew due to how big he was but now he was rethinking that.

“Getting out of here” Clark said knowing that this would either piss T-bag off or make the other man agree and leave him be for the time being.

“How you talkin'?”

“Appeal, got to be something there right?”

“Cops always fucking up” T-bag agreed before taking a seat at a table and then watching as Clark figured out where the law books were held in the small room. Clark came back a few minutes later with two books that had looked promising on the shelf.

“You think you could get me out?” T-bag said wondering if Clark would help him or not. He had been in prison for years now and none of his crew were smart enough to get an appeal through court and even then he wasn't able to gather enough evidence to prove his innocence.

“Depends on what happened” Clark said knowing that there were certain cases that would never go back to court.

“Ah” T-bag said before looking around and noticing that most of his crew watched Clark was amazed eyes.

“Wish I had my glasses” Clark mumbled to him self, he had always had issues with reading for long periods of time but it seemed that prison wasn't going to allow him glasses so that the words would be cleared for him.

“I'll get you a pair if you can help me out”

“Sure” Clark said a bit apprehensive on helping T-bag. If the guy really was a scumbag he didn't want to put the guy back on the street only to have him be caught doing something much more serious than he had already done, but if T-bag was innocent like himself he wanted to help anyway he could.

“Good” T-bag said before waving a hand and a guy with a shaved head came over and T-bag gave the order for him to ‘acquire' a pair of glasses. The guy nodded his head and then

went back to the table he had been at and began to talk to the other men there. They weren't going to read that was for sure, but since T-bag had gone to the library they were going as well.

“So tell me what are you in for” Clark said before looking around for a piece of paper but finding none.

“No paper” T-bag said forgetting that Clark was new and had none of the items that they usually did after being in for a while.

“Yeah”

“Don't worry” T-bag said before snapping his fingers and another guy came up and handed T-bag a piece of paper and pencil.

“Thanks”

“No problem, you help me…I help you”

“So what are you in for?”

“Attempted murder and stalking charges”

“Did you do it?” Clark said wondering if he would be able to tell if T-bag was lying or not.

“No” T-bag said looking into Clark 's eyes with his own blue eyes. Clark looked in his eyes for a moment longer before deciding that T-bag spoke the truth at least on the surface.

“So what's the story?”

“I didn't used to always be T-bag…my real name is Theodore Burrows”

“Born and raised in Metropolis' slums but I managed to graduate from high school and was even lucky enough to get a full ride scholarship to Met U”

“Wow” Clark said stunned that the guy he was speaking to seemed to be much more intelligent then most of the prisoners at the prison.

“Well….I went just like I had planned but it seemed that the local gang banger on the block had other ideas.”

“I was home from Met U, majoring in Kinesiology if you can believe it, and well there had been an attack on a chick that left her almost dead”

“Well some how he managed to get the weapon he used in one of my bags and when the police came a knocking….”

“They found it, arrested you and charged you” Clark finished for him, knowing that the guy had the same sort of story he had, only his seemed a bit more dangerous.

“Pretty much”

“So the stalking charges”

“Oh that is the beauty of what the guy did, seems it was one of the girls that had a thing for me and when I told her no one day she took it not well”

“So when it came to pressing charges she lied”

“Pretty smart”

“I have almost the same issue”

“Really” T-bag couldn't believe that he was actually enjoying talking to Clark . He had been made leader of the crew when the other leader left, he hadn't wanted to step into the position but he had been where Clark had been and knew better than to turn down an offer like the one he had been given. That was over five years ago, and yet he had been unable to figure out a way to prove that he deserved a new trial or an appeal in this case.

“I guess you could call the girl that put me here, our the town princess. Every girl wanted to be like her and every guy wanted to date her. I was one of the guys at least for awhile, I was….” Clark said remembering the day that Lex had shown up in town and how his hormones had taken a great interest in the other man.

“Bitch I assume”

“Pretty much, one of her ex-boyfriends strung me up as a scarecrow for my freshman year in high school”

“Nice group”

“Yeah, well I watched her from a far as most of the guys did waiting their turn with her since she seemed to go through guys like cups of water”

“Well it seemed that when it was my time, my sights had already been set some where else”

“She wasn't happy?”

“Oh no she wasn't, so she started to sort of follow me every where, when you come from a small town it isn't hard to do. From there she decided that the best way to get me jealous was to use my best friend….”

“Didn't work”

“Nope, not in the least just made me not want to deal with her”

“So one day she up and decides she had enough and you get charge with what?”

“Assault and battery with an attempted rape”

“Dude”

“Yeah”

“And the friend?”

“Unavailable” Clark said with a worried tone to his voice. He didn't want to tell T-bag that he was friends with Lex Luthor but he knew he would if it would he was asked directly, he couldn't lie if you paid him. It was one of the reasons why he was amazed that everyone he knew believed Lana over him.

“And that leaves you here trying to figure out how to get out”

“Pretty much”

“Well then I'll leave you to it”

“Okay” Clark said before looking at one of the books and checking to see if it would help in his search for a reason he should be granted an appeal.

“Line up” a guard said making Clark jump, he had been deep in thought and note taking when the guard spoke. Clark looked around before he closed the book he was looking at then lining up with the rest of the group that had come to the library with him and T-bag.

“Lunch” T-bag explained to Clark since it seemed he was a bit lost as to what was going on. The group that had been in the library made their way back to the large white room that Clark was beginning to think was the cafeteria, but wasn't certain of.

“There's the cutie” Winnie said looking over Clark and trying to slide along the side of his body.

“Winnie” T-bag said knowing that he would be the only one to control Winnie and his advances towards Clark .

“Come on Theodore” Winnie whined knowing that he was one of the few that could get away with calling T-bag, Theodore.

“Leave him be” T-bag said closing the conversation and going to a table once he had gotten his food. Winnie looked Clark up and down and wondered if there was something more to Clark to have T-bag making him off limits. Since he had been here he had never been turned away from a new prisoner like he had with Clark and it made him wonder what was so special about Clark . He had asked the snot nosed rich brat Maxwell about Clark and his reason for being here, and the story about assault and battery with an attempted rape charge just didn't seen to fit with the way that Clark was acting. Most of the prisoners that had similar charges to Clark came in with a swagger that was soon killed by T-bag, but the opposite was happening here almost as if T-bag was protecting Clark for some reason. He would get to the bottom of this and then he would have a piece of Clark , there were few men that Winslow “Winnie” Milson hadn't bottomed on and he would be damn to start now. Of course there was the issue of T-bag but for now he would watch and wait, they did after all have plenty of years ahead of them, why push now when he could have later. Every man had needs and Winnie and the callers met those needs when someone finally broke.

“Clark” broke Winnie out of his thoughts and noticed that Maxwell was trying to get Clark 's attention. The kid just didn't know, being rich had its perks but it didn't matter in prison, the only thing that mattered was status and right now Maxwell was not someone people wanted to be seen with even more now that people had found out the real reason on why Maxwell Hamilton was now in prison. Maxwell “Max” Hamilton was in prison for prostitution with a charge of pick pocketing, not exactly what he claimed when he arrived. Winnie had of course known instantly when Maxwell spoke about his “crime” that he had been lying, so he had taken the boy aside and asked what was really going on. If one of his “associates” happened to over hear Maxwell then whose fault was that?

“Will that boy learn?” Winnie said to no one knowing that T-bag's crew would put the boy in his place, and he was a boy at only eighteen, and still seemed to think that the world at large owed him something he would find out soon enough that just because you were from the polite society that didn't make you someone important in prison.

“Boy leave him be” someone from T-bag's crew warned Maxwell, but it seemed that Maxwell had other plans.

“ Clark ”

“Leave him alone” the man said again not really caring if he hurt the guy in front of him.

“I want to talk to Clark ”

“If Winnie ain't talkin' to him you sure as hell ain't talkin' to him”

“Whatever”

“Wrong answer” the guy said before pulling back his arm readying him self to punch Maxwell.

“Don't” Clark said putting a hand on the man's arm, the guy looked at Clark and then T-bag to see what he should do. T-bag nodded his head as if agreeing to Clark 's words and so the arm lowered his arm and then went to the table to sit and eat his lunch.

“Thanks for that” Maxwell said a bit breathless at being saved by Clark at the last minute.

“Yeah sure, what do you want?” Clark said not really wanting to talk to Maxwell but knowing that the other guy wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't. He was sort of like Lex in that way, always getting their way, must have been an attribute that the rich gave to their children at birth.

“Well you see….” Maxwell started out a bit nervous on what he wanted to ask Clark .

“Spill already” Clark said already knowing that this wasn't going to end well for him, then again he was in prison and looked to be stuck there for the next five years of his life.

“I was hoping to uh…eat lunch with you”

“What?” Clark said surprised that Maxwell was being as bold as he was.

“You know eat lunch with you” Maxwell said a bit more confident now since he hadn't been turned down flat out.

“No” Clark said before turning on his heels and walking over to the table that T-bag and a good portion of the crew now sat. Maxwell was left standing near a bank of table stunned that he had been turned down. He had bragged to Winnie that he knew Clark , but it seemed that his plans were backfiring on him. Things weren't supposed to turn out like this but it seemed he now had to do damage control and he had no idea what he would say to Winnie and the other guys about what had gone on.

“What did that twink want?” T-bag asked knowing that Maxwell was a twink, the guy after all did hang out with Winnie and he had heard that the ‘boy' was in prison as a punishment from his parents for getting caught for prostitution and pick pocketing. Trying to teach another rich kid that life wasn't all that great when the purse strings were cut.

“To sit with me” Clark mumbled before digging into his food. He really, really didn't want to talk about Maxwell since it reminded him of his time with Lex before the other man boarded a plane on its way to Japan . Clark could still remember the frown that Lex had on his face when he had told Clark about his impending trip. He had stated that he knew his father was up to something, but had as of yet found a reason to turn down the trip. That was almost a month ago, and it seemed that whatever it was that Lex was doing in Japan was keeping him busy for he hadn't been able to reach Lex any time he had tried to call the other man before his arrest. Now of course he had no way to call unless he wanted to make the call collect and with the prospect of Lex not answering the phone he didn't think it was worth his bother, at least not yet.

“Twink will learn” T-bag said before he began to eat and talk to Clark about things that the other had read in the law books that were located in the library.

“Are we going back?” Clark asked not sure on what sort of routine was had for the prisoners.

“No, afternoon workout if you so desire” T-bag said before explaining to Clark that every afternoon was a different activity that you could partake in.

“Gotcha” Clark said now a bit more comfortable with what was going on, he of course would never be comfortable living in prison but at least he had an idea as to what his schedule would look like during his stay.

“Clean up” a guard standing above the white room said which made the prisoners start to make their way to the waste bins and throwing away their trash.

“Line up” the same guard said once all of the prisoners had thrown away their trash and were now lingering about waiting for the next command.

“Outside” the guard said before ten other guards appeared and lead the group outside for any sort of activities that could be done outside, whether it be working out or playing basketball it didn't really matter as long as you were outside and not in the prison.

“Clark” T-bag said waving a hand to Clark to show him over to the workout area that was set out outside.

“Well what you going to do?” T-bag asked wondering if Clark 's was as built as he thought the other guy was.

“I guess work out since I can't read and I don't want to get anywhere near Maxwell or Winnie” Clark said before sitting at the bench press and then asking T-bag to put on seventy-five pound on the bar.

“You got to be shittin' me”

“Nope, I worked on our family's farm, so I had to move a lot of bags of feed” Clark explained never really going into detail about his life before he was in prison. He of course gave highlights that were relevant to the story of how he came to be in prison but nothing about his life as a teenager.

“I'll spot you” T-bag said amazed that Clark could bench press so much. Most the guys that were in his crew could bench press that but that hadn't been the case when they arrived. Clark lay down on the bench and then began lifting the weights of course this brought Winnie and Maxwell over to watch Clark as he worked out. Both wanted a piece of Clark , but both were a bit unwilling at the present time to go against T-bag. An hour later had a sweaty Clark lining up with the rest of the prisoners who had be allowed outside. Winnie, Maxwell and T-bag were amazed at how in shape Clark really was, his off handed comment to T-bag had been the truth but Winnie and Maxwell didn't know that.

“Showers” the guard yelled before leading a small group of men to a showering area, waiting for the group to finish before sending in another small group. Clark had been lucky that both Winnie and Maxwell had not been in the group he had been in so they couldn't check him out as he knew they would. Clark dressed in silence wondering when he would be able to call Lex and try to explain what was going on. He didn't want Lex to cause trouble but when it came to Clark in Lex's world trouble was what you always got. Once all the prisoners that had been outside had taken a shower they were broken up into their cell block groups and sent on their way with a guard to their cells to wait out for dinner.

Clark, T-bag and his crew had the same routine for over five months. It was at month six that Clark was finally able to get enough money to make a call to Lex. He could only hope that the other man would pick up, for he wasn't really sure on what he would say if he spoke to the voice mail. It wasn't like he could just say, ‘hey Lex I'm in prison' he didn't think that would fly so he needed to have something to say should Lex not answer his phone.

“ Kent ” one of the guards called out wondering if Clark would want to make a phone call now that he had gotten his money for the state. It wasn't as if he could keep it since he had to pay for the items he had received when he arrived but he did have enough to make one phone call and one phone call only.

“Yeah” Clark called out standing behind T-bag since they had just gotten back from the library and the research that Clark had been doing there.

“Phone call?”

“Yes” Clark said hoping that maybe just maybe he would get lucky.

“Come on then” the guard said before asking a few others if they wanted to make a phone call and getting either a positive or negative response.

“Here you go” the guard said once he walked the small group of prisoners that were going to make a phone call to a bank of pay phones. Each prisoner was given exact change and then stepped up to the pay phone to call whoever it was they planned on calling. Clark hands shook as he placed the quarter and dime into the slot and then slowly dialed Lex's phone number. If he got to speak with Lex it would be well over seven months that the pair had spoken to each other.

“If you are hearing this then you have reached Lex Luthor's voice mail. I currently am unavailable to answer your call, so if you leave your name, number which you can be reached and a brief message I will return your call as soon as I am able.”

“Damn” Clark said before the beep came through the phone.

“Hey Lex its Clark, I just thought I would call and see how you were doing……uh…..don't worry about calling back” Clark said before hanging up the phone and becoming depressed. He didn't figure that Lex would answer his phone, but he had hoped that he would have answered but instead his hoping was for nothing.

“Should have said something” Clark said to himself wondering if not saying that he needed to call back would make Lex curious as to what was going on with Clark.

“Get that friend of yours?” T-bag asked once Clark had made it back to the common area in the prison.

“No” Clark said depressed that he hadn't gotten Lex.

“Maybe next time” T-bag said seeing that Clark was really down about not reaching his friend on the phone.

“Yeah maybe next time” Clark agreed before looking out over the room and seeing that Maxwell was still in prison. It had been a huge surprise when Maxwell had continued to stay even after his parents had come and visited him. Clark had to wonder if maybe Maxwell's parents weren't so happy with their son, and that leaving him here would limit the amount of trouble he could get into.

“Cell block line up” was shouted by a prison guard standing above the prisoners. Clark of course followed orders as he had been doing since he arrived to the island and to his cell. The prisoners were then lead back to their cells and were free to sit around and do whatever they wanted until dinner.

It was another six months before Clark tried to call Lex again. He didn't want Lex to think he was only calling for help but it would be coming up on a year that he had been in prison and hadn't found a way to get an appeal yet. He of course continued to look but was loosing hope that there was something wrong that he could get an appeal on. On the bright side though was the fact that if he got an appeal that he wouldn't necessarily have to give an ‘oral argument' if he was lucky and that meant that he didn't have to face his friends and family before getting out. He knew there was something that was wrong with the trial; he just couldn't seem to figure out what. He had found something for T-bag and the man had been working on getting the evidence that he would need to get an appeal.

“If you are hearing this then you have reached Lex Luthor's voice mail. I currently am unavailable to answer your call, so if you leave your name, number which you can be reached and a brief message I will return your call as soon as I am able. Also I am currently in Japan for an unknown amount of time, so your call will be returned in a timely manner.”

“Hey Lex, it's me again. Wow! Still in Japan ? Hope things are going well for you over there….uh….I'll try back later so don't bother calling back” Clark said in his short message. He hated not telling Lex what was going on, but he knew the man would be on a plane the minute he found out and for some reason he wanted to do this by himself. He wanted to prove not only to himself but to others that he could do this and do so by himself. After another failure to get in contact with Lex, Clark began to search even harder for a way to get an appeal. His break came two and a half years into his stay at Stryker Island Prison.

“You so have to be shittin' me” Clark said hanging out with T-bag had changed his vocabulary as well as a couple other areas of Clark .

“Got something?”

“Hell yeah” Clark said happy to finally have a way to get an appeal. He knew that his lawyer was ‘shady' but he just didn't know how, seems that the Lang-Potter family was a busy group of people. His lawyer was Shawn Preston, who just so happened to be Nell Potter's brother's son. How convenient that he just happen to show up in town at the same time that Clark was being arrested. Clark had to wonder on if his father knew of this since he had been in Smallville his whole life. He didn't want to think of that but he had a feeling that his father knew since he kept saying that his lawyer wouldn't let him down, seems the guy did and in a big way.

“So, what's the scoop?”

“You been hanging around with Winnie too much” Clark said with a laugh and a smile on his face. He hadn't been this happy since before he was put into prison.

“Shut it” T-bag said laughing with Clark happy to finally see the other man happy.

“Okay, okay….seems my lawyer wasn't so truthful about his family ties”

“What?”

“The guy is a nephew of my victim's aunt”

“Huh?” T-bag said confused, he was never one to understand linage and how it worked.

 

“My victim lives with her aunt, and well her aunt has a brother who has a son”

“Who was your lawyer?”

“Yup”

“You have to be shittin' me?

“Wish I was” Clark said before pushing a hand through his hair, now to figure out a way to prove that his lawyer should have recused himself when he was given the case since he was blood related to the person who was the plaintiff in the case.

“So what are you going to do?” T-bag asked wondering if Clark had any ideas on what his next step would be.

“I have to prove that the guy is related and was showing bias”

“Got any ideas? Need any help?”

“None, right now”

“Line up!” A guard said in the never ending cycle that went on in the prison. Both Clark and T-bag stood and made their way to the line that had formed near the door to the library.

“You let me know if you need help” T-bag said happy to help Clark since it was Clark that had helped him with his own case. He was close to getting the evidence he needed but not close enough to file anything with the court.

“Okay” Clark said before following the guard and the guy in front of him to the large white room for lunch.

“Well if it isn't farm boy and T-bag” Winnie said once the pair arrived to a table to eat at. Clark could only roll his eyes at Winnie's words, once word had gotten around that Clark had lived and worked on a real farm Winnie had taken to calling him farm boy. He hated every time someone said it to him who wasn't T-bag and a few of their crew. Winnie was especially high on the list of people who Clark hated to have him called farm boy.

“Winnie” both Clark and T-bag said, they had tried unsuccessfully to make Winnie quit trying to get into Clark's pants and the only thing that it had gotten them was that Winnie and the ‘callers' seemed to be hanging around them much more than before.

“Boys, boys” Winnie said before taking a seat as close as he could next to Clark .

“Winnie what do you want? Besides Clark here” T-bag said knowing that Winnie had another reason for being over by them.

“Well” Winnie said in the drama queen voice he was known for.

“Winnie” T-bag said knowing that Clark really wasn't up for the normal dance that they did with Winnie.

“Seems there a visitor here…”

“For who?”

“That's the thing”

“What?”

“The visitor is Maxwell Hamilton”

“That snotty rich kid from a few years back?” T-bag said trying to remember the person that went with the name that Winnie had said.

“Yeah”

“How do you know he is here?”

“I just got back from a visit with him, says he wants to talk to Clark here” Winnie said pointing a well groomed finger at Clark .

“Huh?” Clark said confused, he remembered the kid that they were speaking about. He had followed Clark around like a shadow for most of his stay, it was after almost a year in prison that his parents had decided that Maxwell had, had enough and took him home on the ‘good behavior' card that most rich kids that came to the prison got.

“He has the hots for you bad farm boy”

“Don't call me that and what the hell” Clark said still not understanding what was going on. He had done everything in his power to stay away from Maxwell for fear of Lex finding out where he was, through the kid and also for the simple fact that the kid was creeping him out by how much he followed him around when they were out in the common areas of the prison.

“Seems that Maxie is willing to help you out of this shit hole for the right price” Winnie said now looking at his nails.

“That ain't goin' to happen” Clark said which made Winnie look at him as if he was stupid.

“He's willing to get you out and you ain't going to take him up on his offer?”

“No” Clark said knowing that Winnie would have jumped at the chance he was being given.

“Are you stupid?” Winnie said before paling and looking at T-bag, who had risen to his feet ready to punch Winnie for what he had said.

“Leave” Clark said tired of dealing with Winnie.

“ Clark ….I'm….” Winnie didn't get to finished since he was pushed up and away from the table by T-bag.

“Clark” Winnie said before looking at Clark and realizing that he was in deep shit. Everyone in the prison liked Clark and for him to do something that upset the well liked guy would make his life hell until Clark would tell people to stop. It was just something that Clark seemed able to do, and for the life of Winnie he couldn't figure out how someone like Clark was in prison.

“You okay?” T-bag asked once he was certain that Winnie wouldn't return back to their table.

“Fine, its Winnie after all” Clark said a smile on his face that had T-bag smiling in return. If he wasn't straight he would be like Winnie and Maxwell following Clark around like a lost dog.

“ Clark that still doesn't give him the right….”

“It's okay, trust me. I would have to agree with him if I didn't find that there was an issue in my case. Rich guys can be great when you need a ‘get out of jail free' card that they seem to have wallets full of.”

“Clark” T-bag said with a laugh, only Clark would say something so truthful and look almost like an angel saying it but at the same time have a tone of voice that said otherwise.

“Well it's true right?” Clark said knowing from a past experience with Lex that it was in fact true. Lex had more of those ‘cards' then anyone that Clark knew, so it would stand to reason that a man who worked or works for Lex would have just as many for himself and his family should the need arise.

“I wouldn't know” T-bag said before finally digging into his lunch while watching Clark eat his lunch as well.

“Clean up” a guard yelled making the prisoners move to the trash bins and then continue on to stand in line waiting for the next set of directions.

“Phone calls?” One guard asked wondering who would be going on that visit to the pay phone. Only a few people stepped forward, none of which were Clark .

“Not going?” T-bag asked surprised.

“No” Clark said knowing that if he called Lex and got his voicemail that he would just get depressed and he didn't want that now that he had found something to help his appeals case.

“Outside” the guard said watching as most of the inmates nodded their heads.

“ Kent , you got a visitor” one guard said a smile on his face. He along with the rest of the guards liked Clark just as the inmates did and him getting a visitor after two and half years was a good thing in their book.

“Great” Clark whispered to T-bag, not at all happy that he was going to be dealing probably with Maxwell.

“Good luck”

“I'm going to need it” Clark said before following the guard out of the room and down a hallway he had never been in.

“Clear” one guard said once Clark was standing in front of a metal rod door.

“Here you go” the guard said before backing away and standing near the door and away from the station that he had been pointed to.

“Hi Clark ” Maxwell said with a smile on his face.

“Maxwell” Clark said not greeting the guy since he knew that Maxwell was up to something, Winnie had after all warned him.

“You look….”

“Like a prisoner” Clark supplied for Maxwell, he didn't need to be flattered by the guy.

“No, you look good”

“Sure, prison clothes do me good”

“Clark” Maxwell said his tone telling Clark that the other man was not happy with him at the moment.

“What do you want Maxwell?”

“Call me Max, remember?”

“Whatever, what do you want?”

“Well….”

“I really don't have the time….”

“You have all the time in the world” Maxwell snapped at Clark .

“Guard, I'm done” Clark said standing up and giving Maxwell an evil eye.

“ Clark ! I'm sorry, okay” Maxwell said but it was too late, for Clark had stepped back and moved towards the door that he had come in from.

“Didn't go well” the guard said once the pair of them were out in the hall.

“No and if he comes again for me please make him leave or something” Clark said wondering in the guard would agree to his request.

“I can't do that” The guard said sad to not be able to fill Clark 's request, it was protocol after all that all prisoners at least see their visitors before they decided to speak to the visitor or not.

“Thanks anyway” Clark said knowing that Maxwell would be back and with apologies on his lips about his words. Clark really didn't care about the words, it was more the tone that Maxwell had said the words he had. It was the tone that said ‘I'm better than you so you better listen' it was a tone that he had heard from his family and friends except Lex many times.

“So?” T-bag said once Clark was outside with T-bag and the crew.

“Seems that Winnie was right”

“Well damn”

“Pretty much my thought” Clark said looking around for Winnie to see if he could get any more information out of the guy.

“Looking for Winnie?”

“Yeah”

“Try over at Tats' table” T-bag said pointing to a small table in the corner of the courtyard where a small group of heavily tattooed men sat. Winnie just so happened to be sitting in the leader's lap it seemed.

“Off I go…” Clark said before walking over to the table with the intention of talking to Winnie.

“Clark” Winnie said worried that Clark was going to fight with him.

“Winnie, what does Maxwell want?”

“You saw him?”

“Yeah”

“He wants you bad, that's all I know”

“Winnie” Clark said knowing that Winnie was leaving something out, he always did.

“I don't know anymore than that, he rambled on and on ‘bout you for the whole time we were in visiting”

“That ain't good”

“ Clark just let him help you”

“I don't need nor do I want his help”

“Why? Why do you want to stay in here when you're getting a pass out of here with him?”

“I want to be out on my own merit and not on some kid's whim. I could land up right back here after he decided he's done with me”

“Oh” Winnie said not realizing what Clark said was true.

“Clark” the guy that Winnie was sitting on said, wondering what was going on.

“Winnie knows” Clark responded, glaring at Winnie before turning around and leaving.

“I'm sorry Clark ” Winnie called out only to get a head shake at his words. Clark was still at a loss as to what was going on with Maxwell Hamilton and he didn't like the idea of everyone in the prison knowing about how one of the ‘richy rich' kids had taken a shine to him.

“How did that go?” T-bag asked Clark once he came back from his chat with Winnie.

“It's Winnie” Clark said knowing that his words would explain everything.

“True” T-bag said before starting on their normal workout routine.

“Wow! Still can't believe that you are in still in Japan . I hope your father isn't doing this for some weird reason…you know?” Clark said into the pay phone that was located in the prison. It had been another year that he had been in prison and he was seriously thinking about not even bothering with the appeal process since he knew by the time things were all said and done he would be out of prison and on the streets of Metropolis.

“I had hoped to get you one of these times…..” Clark said before thinking over how much he missed his best and probably only friend, if Lex was even that any longer.

“Well I'll call again later” Clark said knowing that he would try again in a couple of weeks as he had done for the past year now.

“Prisoner” the guard said once Clark hung up the phone and a slump to his shoulders appeared.

“Okay” Clark said before stepping back waiting for the guard to get the all clear and allow him to go back to his cell. He would in just a couple of days be appearing in front of the appeals court, since his motion to get an appeal had been approved. He had hoped that he wouldn't have to give an oral argument but it seemed that luck was not with him on that day. On the plus side though, none of the people from the trial before would be there or at least Clark hoped they wouldn't.

“Ready for tomorrow” broke Clark out of his thoughts.

“Yeah”

“Well good luck” the guard said hoping that Clark would be released; he was one of only a few prisoners in the prison that the guards actually believed that he didn't do the crime he was charged for.

“Thanks”

“Here you go” the guard said locking Clark back up into his cell for the night. The guards had taken mercy on Clark today and allowed him to call Lex at an hour that would have the bald man up and moving if he was still in Japan as his voicemail still said.

“Wow! Still can't believe that you are in still in Japan . I hope your father isn't doing this for some weird reason…you know?” Lex heard as he listened to his voicemail while he was on a break from the meeting he had been in since early that morning.

“Lex” a woman with long brown hair said to Lex, making him a bit distracted from listening to his voicemails.

“Just a moment” Lex said before listening to the rest of the message from Clark and making a promise to give the other man a call as soon as possible. It had been three and a half years since Lex had spoken to or seen Clark and for some reason he was beginning to feel that something was going on with Clark and he had been left out of the loop either on purpose or by accident.

“Their ready for us” the woman said before glaring at Lex's cell phone and resolving to make the thing disappear. Lex and she had been in Japan for almost four years now, and in that time Lex had not taken advantage of either her body or the willing bodies of the Japanese women that were throwing themselves at Lex whenever he went out.

“Excellent” Lex said before ending the call to his voicemail but not before saving the message from Clark . He had noticed that when Clark called it was from a phone number that he didn't recognize and he was going to check into that just as soon as he got a moment to himself.

“Dr. Bryce” a woman with a pencil skirt in black and a matching black and white chiffon ruffled blouse and a pair of Valentino black patent leather polka dot pumps, said with a heavy Japanese accent.

“Yes”

“Mr. Oonishi is ready for the both of you”

“Thank you” Dr. Helen Bryce said with a nod of her head to the woman before opening the door for Lex to walk through.

“Mr. Oonishi” Lex said before bowing to the man as was custom and with that the meeting resumed with Lex bargaining with the other man while Helen stewed over Lex's lack of attention to her while on their stay to the foreign country.

“Mr. Clark Kent you are here today to appeal the conviction that was handed down four years ago”

“Correct” Clark responded hoping that things would go well and he would be out of prison within the next thirty-six to forty-eight hours if all went well.

“You are appealing the conviction based on the fact that your lawyer is of blood relationship to the plaintiff in this case?” A balding man said reading off a piece of paper that he and the rest of the panel, four others, had been given before meeting today.

“Correct” Clark answered again, he had found actual proof that not only was his lawyer not looking out for him but also that there was proof that showed that he no where near Lana at the time of the attack, and he only hoped that he would be able to use the evidence. It hadn't been used at trial and he wasn't sure what he would and wouldn't be able to use.

“Since that is the case” one of the other members on the panel said, agreeing with the evidence that Clark had given to the court system to show that his lawyer, Shawn Preston, was related to Lana Lang and had not stated that he had been or had recused himself from the trial if it was a conflict of interest to the man.

“We will listen to what you have for the reasons for overturning the verdict that was given four years ago.” The balding man said; he was not happy to hear that a prisoner had not been given a fair trial, and it was all because of a sloppy and or lazy court system, even if he was part of that court system.

“Well I have evidence from my trial that was not used that showed that I was not at the location of the crime when it occurred. I only came upon the scene on my way back to my house” Clark started out, hoping that he was doing this right. I wasn't every day that you had to talk in front a panel of five court members and try to explain how you are innocent of a crime you have been sitting in prison for; for the last four years.

“Continue” a women with blonde hair said looking at Clark with a smile on her face, trying to calm him down.

“Well here are the records from the Smallville Public Library, where I said I was at the time of the crime. I was accessing the internet at the time” here Clark blushed, for he had been looking up things about Japan since Lex was in the country and he wanted to impress Lex by sharing some knowledge that he gained from the internet, or maybe even say something in Japanese if he was lucky.

“How does this prove anything” a burly man with gray hair said.

“Well to access the internet you must sign into the computer and then sign into the application which allows you to use the internet browser available on the computer” Clark explained, knowing that the question was going to be asked as well as the next one out of the man's mouth.

“Well anybody could use your username”

“True, but since no one knows my username and password; I highly doubt someone logged in as me” Clark said, hoping that they wouldn't ask how he could confirm that no one knew of his password or username.

“How do you know this?”

“Well my username is easy enough, it is given to a patron when they sign up but for the password once you reset it you and anyone else know will know the password….”

“We understand that but….”

“Well if you look at the logs, it shows that I changed my password not an hour before that” at Clark's words all of the people sitting at the long table looked down and saw that Clark 's username had indeed changed their password not an hour before the attack.

“Why the delay to use the computer again?”

“The library only allows a person at a computer for two hours at a time, if you noticed my username had already been on for the allotted two hours”

“I see” a woman said amazed that a lawyer hadn't used this, even if the man was related to the plaintiff it was a sure bet to win a case and lawyers always wanted to win no matter what.

“So I sat around and looked at some books while waiting for the half hour break you get before logging back on, and as you can see I logged in promptly at four, fifty-two P.M. which means that I was still sitting in the library at a computer when the attack occurred” Clark summarized, he really hoped that the group sitting before him believed him for this was the only evidence that he could find that showed that he was actually at the library as he had told the police when they had arrived to the scene when he had called 9-1-1 after seeing how badly beaten up Lana was.

“But who's to say that you didn't leave”

“If I left that meant that the person sitting at my computer after me was using my username and I don't think any sane person would allow that” Clark said looking at the group wondering what they were thinking.

“Look at this” one of the panel members said pointing out the activity going on for Clark 's username.

“Japan…”

“Yeah” Clark said a blush to his cheeks, even now being twenty-four years old he still blushed at the thought of his crush on Lex.

“Care to explain”

“My friend was going there and I thought I would brush up my knowledge of the country”

“I see” a member of the panel said before looking over the rest of the log and noticing that Clark's username logged out ten minutes after the time of the attack, per the plaintiff's recount of the attack.

“Any other questions for Mr. Kent ?” The balding man asked making sure that the rest of the members had all of their questions answered or had made a decision.

“I don't think so” a woman said while the rest of the group nodded their heads, which made Clark sit down and begin to worry about what the outcome would be. He had no urge to go back to Smallville, but he wasn't really sure on what he would do in Metropolis either. He figured he would cross that bridge when it came time to.

“Mr. Kent ” the balding man said about five minutes later, which had Clark standing back up and waiting for the verdict from the panel.

“We have looked over the evidence that has been brought to light by you and have come to the conclusion that….”

“Sir” Clark said respectfully, not wanting to have the verdict changed if the man was angered.

“That you have been wrongly accused and convicted and because of this, we are motioning for immediate release as well as expunging the charges off your criminal record”

“Sir” Clark said amazed, he was free! Or about to be free in just a few short paper work filings.

“You are free Mr. Kent , and we apologize deeply for your incarceration and will pay you punitive damages for your imprisonment” the balding man said with a smile on his face, he along with the rest of the panel were always happy to free a wrongly accused and imprisoned person. Now if only they could get more of them, instead of the prisoners who found loop holes to get an appeal when they were clearly guilty of the charges they were imprisoned for.

“I….Wow….thank you…thank you” Clark babbled still amazed that he had proven himself innocent. The panel either nodded their heads or smiled at Clark before signing off to the paperwork that would be required for them to fill out.

“Congratulations Mr. Kent ” one of the panel members said before waving for the guard to come and get Clark .

“Thanks” Clark said a shy smile on his face; it seemed that his faith in the justice system actually held true, now if only he could have that same sort of confidence with the rest of the world, including his family and friends. Clark then followed the guard out of the room that the panel had been located in and down towards his cell, he would be placed there until it was time for lunch and then he would tell his good news to T-bag. He could only hope that one day T-bag would be released as well, for he had no doubt in his mind that T-bag was innocent. Things just didn't add up and he could only hope that the panel would have mercy on T-bag like they had with him.

“ Kent get your ass over here!” A man with a blue hard hat shouted out to Clark as he was working with a large piece of construction equipment.

“Right, boss” Clark said before finishing up what he was doing and then putting the piece of equipment down before jogging over to his boss.

“'Bout time” the man griped before handing over a file folder to Clark .

“What's this?”

“Just take a look” the man said watching Clark closely for the reaction once he found out what was in the folder.

“I don't understand” Clark said with wide-eyes.

“It's yours if you want” the man said still watching Clark closely.

“I don't have enough money for this….or the credit for that matter”

“Don't worry about either, the missus decided that she couldn't allow you to stay at that ramshackle of an apartment that you do now”

“But Rick”

“No fighting over it, you pay us what you do in rent and we're even, for the next thirty years or until you can buy it outright”

“But….but…..but…”

“No, take a drive by it at lunch and tell me what you think”

“Oh, wow…okay” Clark said stunned that his boss and his wife had done this for him. Once he had been released from prison he had been uncertain as to what the next step should, would or could be. He figured that going back to Smallville wasn't the best of ideas so he decided to stay in Metropolis and try to make it on his own. He had been lucky since the woman that he was renting a room from was having some major repairs to the house done while he had arrived. Clark had inquired about a job from the foreman of the job and he had been directed to Rick Turner, who had hired Clark on the spot. From that day forward Clark had been an employee of Hieroglyphs Architecture & Construction, one of the premier construction companies that specialized in restoration of houses and buildings. Clark had thought the name of the business was something that Lex would get a great laugh out of so he had gladly taken the position that had been offered to him. He had yet to speak to Lex but he yearned for a chance to hear the other man's voice and the silly jokes he would make about Clark and his lack of knowledge about Ancient Egypt.

“It needs work but I think she'll be a beauty when you finish fixing her up” Rick said before patting Clark on the shoulder and sending him towards his used truck so that he could place the paperwork Rick had given him out of harm's way.

“ Kent what you got there?” One of Clark's co-workers asked him, wondering if Rick and his wife had finally decided to surprise Clark with the small bungalow that they had bought in New Troy, in the newly redeveloped Garden District that had been once slated for demolition if not for the fact that Rick along with others had pleaded with the city for funds to redevelop the area. The pleading had worked and now the Garden District of Metropolis was becoming one of the hottest addresses to have either for business or for residency.

“Rick and Trina bought a house….” Clark was uncertain on how his co-workers would feel about their boss buying a house only to hand it over to Clark .

“I hope for you, that apartment you live in is horrible” the guy said before patting Clark on the back and moving back over to the large tool chest he had been making his way over to. Clark was stunned, never had he thought that his co-workers and semi-friends would be okay with their boss getting a house just for him. The house at the time was in pretty bad shape, at least from the picture but Clark knew it would be an amazing sight once it was restored to its original beauty. Clark sputtered before continuing his trek to his truck.

“Lunch!” Rick shouted out which had a large group of guys swarming Clark for a ride to check out his new pad. Rick had told the men at work about what he and his wife were doing for Clark and many of them approved, they didn't know the whole story about Clark but they knew that he had been in prison for four years for a crime that he didn't commit. No one asked about this previous friends and family, because in their minds they just didn't exist.

“So I know I'm coming with you?” One of the men said in a tone that had Clark blushing, he still couldn't get over the fact that some of his co-workers worked hard to make him blush. They had said it was ‘cute' before punching him in the arm with the promise of torture if he told anyone.

“Well” Clark said before he noticed that there were about ten guys, which was the whole crew standing there waiting for Clark 's response.

“I can't fit you all”

“I didn't ask about them…..it's all about me!”

“Terry” Clark said laughing a bit before nodding his head and also letting the others know they could follow and give him ideas on what he could do to the outside.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Rick said before hopping into his truck and waiting for Clark and Terry, the man that had asked Clark , to get in the truck and on the road. Soon five pick-up trucks loaded with workers followed Clark in his truck to the address of 610 Giardino Lane .

“How'd Rick end up buying something here?” Terry said stunned that they were going into the heart of the Garden District, where houses even run down and falling apart sold for well over a half million dollars.

“No idea” Clark said driving down one of the main streets trying to find Giardino Lane .

“Right there” Terry said pointing to the next street that had a old style lamp post with the name of the street on it in white letters and a dark blue background, almost as if they were in New Orleans. Clark took the street and then began looking at all of the other houses on the street and he began to worry that Rick and Trina had spent way too much money on a house, which they were basically giving to him.

“What's the number?”

“Six, ten” Clark said thinking about Lex and the numbers he just said. The numbers held special meaning to him and Lex, but he was unable to think any more on that since Terry had pointed to a run down looking bungalow that had an Asian flare to it, with the end of the roof scooped up making it look like a pagoda.

“Whoa”

“Yeah” Clark said before putting the truck in park and then making his way to inspect the house up close.

“So what do you think?”

“How much did you pay for this? I can't afford this….” Clark started out only to ramble on and on about how he would be unable to pay Rick for the house and how much it was worth.

“I got it for a steal” Rick said before leaning into Clark 's space and whispering into his ear how much he paid for the house.

“I bought it from the family whose parents had owned the property; they don't live in Metropolis so they had it priced well under what it should have been”

“How much?”

“I bought this beauty for only seventy thousand”

“You have to be kidding; it's like worthy at least like seven times that, even in this condition”

“I know!” Rick crowed, happy that he had been able to the house for so cheap. The family he had bought it from were a bunch of snobs living in New York and they thought that the house was a waste of valuable resources so they had wanted to off it and quickly. Rick had been lucky in being the first person to see the listing and had immediately put in a bid for full asking price and it had been accepted before any other bids were made.

“You could make a huge profit on this if you resold it” Clark said not wanting Rick and his wife to do something like this for him if he was putting them in a bad spot.

“I could, but I don't plan to sell to anyone but you and that is for the seventy I paid for it”

“I couldn't….” Clark said before Rick waved a hand and told him that he would hear nothing about Clark not accepting the house and the asking price that they were planning to sell the house to him for.

“Take a look around” Rick said pushing Clark closer to the house where most of the guys are huddled together already throwing out ideas for the front and sides of the house.

“So what do you think?”

“I think we go with…” one of the guys started off before explaining what the others had thought the front should look like.

“I want peonies in the front and back” Clark said, he had always loved the flowers but had never been able to grow them on the farm since his mother wasn't a fan of the large bush like flowers.

“That's fine, we can put them here and here” another guy that was covered in dirt said pointing to the areas on either side of the stairs.

“I think that painting the house a green color would be good” another guy threw out to Clark, before Clark was nodding his head and thinking of how the house would look in said color.

“I am thinking a slate tile roof as well” yet another guy said looking at the roof and wondering if there was water damage on the inside of the house since the roof looked so bad.

“I must agree” Rick said cutting into the conversation since he saw how overwhelmed Clark was over everything.

“How about we head back to work and we can do this later” all of the guys nodded their heads before heading to the pile of pick-up trucks that surrounded the house's driveway and curb.

“Okay there?” Rick asked Clark once most of the guys were gone.

“Fine, I think” Clark said still at a loss as to what to say about his boss buying a house only to sell it to him.

“Good, Trina will want to come over and help you decorate you know” Rick said a smirk on his face. He absolutely hated going shopping with his wife for decorating and remodeling goods; she would spend hours upon hours looking at the same thing before deciding that she either wanted it or not.

“Nice of you” Clark said knowing how much Rick hated to shop with his wife.

“I thought so” Rick said before patting Clark on the shoulder and then going to his truck, he would call his wife on the phone on his way back to the construction site and tell her the good news.

“Ready there big guy?” Terry asked Clark noticing that Clark had a far away look in his eyes.

“Sure am” Clark said before making his way to this truck and then starting up the engine.

“Back to work” Clark just nodded his head at Terry's words, already thinking about the changes to the house that he would make. He was quite happy that Rick was giving him this opportunity and he didn't plan to screw it up if he could help it. The ride back to the construction site was made with Terry throwing out ideas to Clark and Clark nodding his head. He felt that he should call Lex and update him, or maybe finally tell him what had happened and where he was now. He had worried that Lex would try and call the farm but he knew that when Lex had vowed never to call the farm unless it was an emergency he meant it. It was after a run in with Jonathan Kent over him calling the house to speak to Clark that Lex had made the vow and he knew that Lex would do everything in his power to keep that vow.

“If you need any help moving or whatever, I'm there for you” Terry said before jumping out of the truck once Clark had parked it.

“Thanks” Clark said happy that he had some people he could depend on more then his family and friends back in Smallville. The rest of the day was spent with Clark and the rest of the crew working on a building that was being restored for a multi-million dollar company. Clark had worried about who the CEO and president of the company was since Rick had been tight lipped about the work since they had started a few weeks back, Clark was pretty certain that if it was Lionel Luthor and LuthorCorp that should Lionel drove by and see him working on the building that it would reach Lex's ears, or he at least thought it would.

“Quitting time” Rick said at the end of a long that everyone was more than ready to see the end of.

“Going back to look at the house?” Rick asked Clark as everyone made their way back to their cars and trucks that sat in a lot with dirt as pavement.

“I think so” Clark said before waving to a few guys he called out his name.

“Good” Rick said before patting Clark on the shoulder and then moving towards his truck. Clark made it to truck with a few more waves to his co-workers, once inside his truck Clark brought out the packet that Rick had given him with the keys and other items for the house.

“I'll just take a peek inside” Clark told him self before starting up his truck and then making his way back to the house that he had visited earlier.

“Wow” Clark said still amazed that he was almost the owner of the house; even in the dieing rays of the sun it looked amazing. It needed work of course but nothing looked as good as the house did in his eyes, he had after spent four years in prison and currently lived in a horrible apartment. Clark got out of the truck with the keys in his hands; he was wondering just what the inside of the house looked like and if he would be able to move into it as soon as possible. His co-workers were right in that his apartment was horrible, and if he didn't have to live there he was all for moving out and into something better even if it did need a little work.

“Here goes” Clark said unlocking the door to the house and being met with a hallway and small foyer of the house.

“Wow” Clark said taking a step in and looking around at the cozy looking house, the previous owners had kept the house true to it's original makings with the hardwood flooring to the large crown molding in each room of the house. The house was three bedrooms and two and a half baths, which surprised Clark since most house built in the late 1930's usually had only one bath.

“Lex would love this” Clark said standing in the kitchen and thinking about the gleam in Lex's eyes should he see the house and how well preserved it was from the changes of time. It was then that Clark decided that calling Lex and telling him, if even by voicemail, what had happened and where he was now. He didn't know if Lex would even care, after four years of no communication but he thought it was at least worth a try. Clark soon was leaving the house, not really wanting to go but knowing that he had to if even to get a few things to take back over to spend the night with.

“Excuse me” an older woman said as Clark made his way out of the house and to his truck.

“Hello” Clark said nicely, not wanting to scare the woman away if she was a neighbor.

“Are you one of the Kertson's sons?”

“No, sorry” Clark said now a bit worried that the woman would call the police and have him arrested for trespassing or something.

“Oh” the woman said surprised, she had figured that once Shannon and Dan Kertson died that their children would come to Metropolis and get their affairs in order.

“Bought the house” Clark said telling a bit of a lie to the woman, but since Rick had given him the house, well sort of but she didn't need to know that.

“Oh”

“My name's Clark ”

“Ellen”

“Nice to meet you Ellen” Clark said making his way over to where the woman stood at the end of the walkway to the house.

“You as well” she said before sticking out a hand and then shaking Clark 's.

“Well I better get going, packing to do” Clark said a smile on his face that would make any person more at ease.

“Of course, of course”

“See you later” Clark said before jumping into his truck and then making his way back to his apartment. Twenty minutes later Clark was pulling up to his apartment complex with dread in his heart. He absolutely hated living there, but since there hadn't been a lot of places willing to take him in after he had moved out of the room for rent he had been stuck here.

“No messages, as usual” Clark said once he made his way into his apartment to see that there was no blinking light on the phone in his apartment. Apart from the people at work, no one ever called him and for that he was sad and glad. Sad because his friends and family back in Smallville still didn't know he had been found innocent of the crimes and glad because then he wouldn't have to put up the mask that he knew he would if he was to ever see them again.

“Shower, eat then call Lex” Clark said before making his way to the small bathroom in the apartment. There he would think about what he would tell Lex since he had no clue as to what to say to Lex. Even after all this time he still worried about what Lex would think of him and why he hadn't said anything sooner. Clark showered quickly not wanting to put off talking or leaving a message for Lex any longer.

“I'll just call now, no point in waiting” Clark said deciding to fore go dinner for the moment. Clark slowly dialed the number to Lex's cell phone and then listened to it ring four times before the voicemail picked up, yet again.

“If you are hearing this then you have reached Lex Luthor's voice mail. I currently am unavailable to answer your call, so if you leave your name, number which you can be reached and a brief message I will return your call as soon as I am able. Also I am currently in Japan for an unknown amount of time, so your call will be returned in a timely manner.” Clark heard in Lex's voice which still made his stomach do little flip-flops.

“Hey Lex, it's me Clark….uh…I was hoping to talk to you but I guess I will just leave a message. I don't know if you know/knew whatever but I was sent to prison for “attacking and trying to rape Lana” it of course wasn't true but I was convicted anyway. I was given five years, but I'm out now. Managed to get an appeal and prove that I am innocent. Now don't be mad at me for not saying anything to you, I just didn't want you to see me….like that you know? Uh….I….I have a job in Metropolis now, working in construction. I'm sorry to have had to tell you like this, but I miss you ya know? Pretty lame reason, huh? Well I hope that things are going well in Japan …..if you want to call me my number is 785-555-8917…..okay bye” Clark said before hanging up the phone and wondering if Lex would call him. He knew that Lex would be pissed that he had said anything to him in his previous calls but like he had told Lex he hadn't wanted the other man to see him in prison. After a quick dinner Clark spent the rest of the night packing up the few items that he owned in the apartment, which were few since the apartment had come furnished.

Clark woke the next morning with a heavy heart; he had figured that Lex would have called last night even if it was in the middle of the night. He figured that Lex had gotten the message by now and had decided to not speak to him, which he could totally understand, he guessed.

“I tried” Clark mumbled before getting ready for the day.

“Ready for the day?” Terry said as he walked with Clark to the job site.

“Sure”

“What's up?” Terry said knowing that something was wrong with Clark right away.

“Nothing”

“Don't even try that with me”

“It's hard to explain”

“Try me”

“I called a friend of mine”

“Not one of them?”

“No, he wasn't there, he doesn't or didn't know” Clark said trying to explain.

“Okay, so what's the problem?”

“He didn't call back after I left a message”

“I see” Terry said now figuring out what the problem was.

“Don't worry about it”

“He was a good friend and I miss him ya know?”

“Yeah” Terry said wondering if there was a way to get into contact with the guy and tell him how much Clark missed him.

“Maybe he is busy”

“Yeah” Clark said a slump to his shoulders as he grabbed his hard hat and made his way over to where he had been working the day before. Terry was uncertain as to what to do so he made his way over to his boss to alert him of the situation.

“Boss man”

“Terry”

“ Clark 's down in the dumps today”

“What? Why?”

“Seems he called an old friend and they didn't call him back”

“One from his home town?”

“Not the way he said it, but I'm not sure”

“Okay, I'll go and check on him” Rick said before making his way over to where Clark stood looking over something that looked to be a blueprint.

“Feeling all right there Clark ?”

“Terry told you”

“Yes he did, wanna talk about it”

“No, not really”

“Are you sure Clark ?”

“Yeah….okay it was a friend that was out of town when everything went down. I knew he would believe me should he had been there but he wasn't and I was worried about him seeing me in prison”

“I see”

“It was stupid of me to even think that they would talk to me” Clark said before turning his back so that it faced Rick, not wanting to talk about Lex and his lack of response with Rick.

“Clark things will work out, I just know they will” Rick said before walking away and wondering why this particular friend had effected Clark so much. When quitting time came, everyone including Clark was glad to see that the weekend now lay ahead of them with nothing but lazing about to do.

"So you plan on moving this weekend?"  Terry asked Clark as they made their way to the parking lot that held all of their cars.

"I would but there isn't any water or electricity to speak of in the house" Clark said trying to keep his thoughts away from Lex and him not returning his call.

"Well damn" Terry said before saying that he was willing to help Clark pack up the dump of an apartment if he decided to do that over the weekend.

"Not going out?"  Clark asked surprised, Terry was one of the men that always had a date come Friday night.

"Nah, not tonight" Terry said before patting Clark on the shoulder and getting into his beat-up looking truck.  Clark watched as the truck pulled off wondering what he would do for the whole weekend.  He had been hoping that Lex would sort of show up but it seemed that his dream of Lex riding in on a white Aston Martin wasn't going to happen.  Clark drove to his apartment and spent the rest of the night packing and actually looking at things that he thought he might buy for the house.  Come Saturday morning, Clark was over to the house with a tape measure in hand and pen and paper ready to take measurements of the rooms and draw up some plans on the changes he wanted to make to the house.  When Clark arrived to his apartment a few hours later, he noticed a foreign sports car sitting in one of the visitors parking spot.  Clark didn't want to get his hopes up but he knew only one person that would drive up to the dumpiest part of town in a sports car that cost more than what the people living in the area would make in a lifetime, if not more.  Once parked Clark made his way to his apartment since the car was empty, and there leaning against the wall on the other side of where his door stood was Lex.

"Uh, Lex....hey" Clark said uncertain on what to say now that the man of his dreams was standing in front of him.

"Clark" Lex said coolly, he was right pissed that he had gotten a message from Clark telling him what had happened to him in the four years he had been in Japan .  Once he had heard the words, prison and Lana he had chartered a plane back to Metropolis without Dr. Bryce knowing.  He knew that the woman was trying to make herself the next Mrs. Luthor, but she wasn't going to get anywhere with him since he had been in love with his best friend for years now.  He had thought that going to Japan would dispel the notion that he was in lust with his best friend, but as the saying went "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and fonder it had since he had been buying things for Clark since he arrived to the foreign country.  He had even gone so far as to have a jewelry maker make a ring for Clark , to which Helen Bryce was not happy about.

"Come on in" Clark said opening the door to the apartment and showing that he looked to be in the process of moving.

"Going somewhere?"

"Uh, yeah" Clark said clearly uncomfortable with Lex now that he was here.  He had figured that Lex would call, not come all the way from Japan .  He should have known better, this was Lex after all, leader of the unconventional.

"Now what is this about you in prison for four years and you not telling me about it?"  Lex said before pushing past Clark and then sitting on the couch and looking at Clark as he shifted foot-to-foot at the door of the apartment.

"I'm not sure where to start" Clark said before sitting down next to Lex, the older man always did have a way of putting Clark on edge even when he was calm and relaxed.

"The beginning is a good spot"

"Right" Clark said nodding his head and then beginning his tale on how he was arrested, tried and convicted of trumped up charges against him by Lana.  Lex had been livid to not only find out that the people that Clark depended on the most, his friends and family, had abandoned him in his time of need but also to find out that it seemed that no one in the town of Smallville believed that Clark had not attacked Lana.

"I didn't want you to see me in prison, ya' know?" Clark said before shrugging his shoulders.  He hadn't been real sure on how best to tell your best and probably only friend that he was in prison while the other man was in Japan probably living up the life that the exotic island had.

"It wouldn't have mattered Clark" Lex said wanting to touch Clark so badly but not sure on if the other man would allow it.  Lex was still livid but he knew better than to take it out on Clark, he knew that if he did that there was the very real possibility that Clark would run and hide never to be found again.

"I felt so stupid" Clark said now with tears in his eyes, he now felt like a right idiot for not saying something to Lex sooner.  Lex saw the pain and knew then that whatever reservations he was having about touching Clark were not something he needed to worry about.

"Clark" Lex said taking Clark into his arms and then breathing in the sent that was uniquely Clark, that of fresh air and cinnamon.  Clark broke down then, it had been so long since someone, at least someone from his previous life had acted like they cared.  It had been years since someone had actually touched him in a manner that didn't speak of sex or of a hesitant friendship.

"All right" Lex said pulling back a bit since his shirt was getting wet from the tears that were making their way down Clark 's face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine" Clark said before sniffing a bit to make sure that the snot that was running down his nose didn't make it to Lex's shirt.

"How about dinner and a movie?"  Lex asked not wanting Clark to stay in his current location alone a moment longer.

"Dinner sounds good, but I gotta pack" Clark said looking around the apartment to the few things that still lay out in the open.

"Pack?"

"I gotta house" Clark said now getting excited over showing Lex his new home.

"House"

"Yeah, my boss; great guy that he is got me a house" Clark said not noticing the frown on Lex's face.  People only did that sort of thing when they wanted something and Lex wasn't going to let Clark get sucked into some sort of BDSM scene because of a house.

" Clark I don't think....." Lex started out only to watch Clark 's face fall at his words.

"Well show me this house" Lex said changing his mind on what he was going to say to Clark .  He would explain later about how he was worried that Clark was getting mixed up in something that he may live to regret later.

"Okay" Clark said excited again, he knew that as soon as Lex saw the house that he too would fall in love with it.

"Come on slow poke" Clark said grabbing Lex's arm and dragging him back out to the hallway and then to the front of the building.

"My car" Lex said before sliding into the driver's side of the car and then waiting for Clark to get in.

"Stupid small cars" Clark grumbled as he got in, making sure that Lex heard him.  When he was in high school he had thought it was the coolest thing ever, to have Lex pick him up in one of the fancy sports cars that he had at the castle, now though it was a whole different story.  He was six foot six inches tall and was weighing in at almost two hundred and twenty pounds, with no fat in sight.  Lex laughed but made a note to find some other cars that Clark would fit into better.  The ride to the house was made with Clark updating Lex on how his life in Metropolis was going; he made no mention of life back in Smallville or if he had even gotten into contact with his parents and Lex was of the mind to not ask about it.

"There it is" Clark said pointing to the run down, but okay looking house.

"What..." Lex said before stepping out of the car, after parking it and getting a closer look of the house that Clark had said that his boss had given/bought for him.

"It's a bit of a mess but I think it is great" Clark said before bounding up the stairs, the inside looked much better than the outside of the house did.  Lex just shook his head and then made his way to where Clark stood with the door open and a smile on his face.  It was something of his own, something that once he fixed up he would be proud to say that he had earned this all by himself.  Lex walked into the house and was amazed, truly amazed at how well preserved the house was on the inside.

" Clark this is..."

"Great!"  Clark said a big grin on his face at the look on Lex's face.  He too had been a bit skeptical when Rick had told him and showed him the house, but now after peeking on the inside he was glad that the older man had been thinking of him when he bought the place.

"That it is" Lex said before walking around the house and making noises that Clark knew as ‘Lex in think mode' noises.

"Well the kitchen needs a major overhaul and that half bath..." Lex got to rambling on and on and it was just like they were back in Smallville and Lex was getting ready to remodel some part of the castle.  Clark could only smile, he was so happy that Lex was here now and that things seemed to be fine.  He knew that Lex was probably pissed beyond measure but he also knew that the Lex wasn't mad at him per say.  He too would have kept his confinement to himself until all other avenues had been exhausted before calling him.

"And that den, perfect for my office" Lex kept going and going, which made Clark just a bit happier that he had decided to call Lex, even though he was certain that Lex would get an ear full from his father for being back in the states.  Clark pulled up short once he replayed the words that Lex had just spoken.

'His office?' Clark thought, wondering if he had heard wrong.  He had no qualms about letting Lex live there with him, but for the other man to already have decided that made Clark even happier and a touch scared.

"Upstairs" Lex said marching up the stairs and making noises and comments as he went through each room and what he thought the room needed or didn't need.

"Master is a good size, good" Lex commented before checking out the ensuite bathroom.

"Total overhaul here" Lex said before making his way back out into the hallway where Clark stood stunned by Lex's words.

"Uh Lex" Clark said not really wanting to say anything but knowing that he had to say *something* to Lex about the living arrangements at the house.

"Hmmm" Lex said pulling out his PDA and tapping at the screen.

"Are you...what I mean is....you plan to live here?" Clark said before holding his breath at the look he got from Lex.

"Of course" Lex said as if this made total sense, which Clark guessed it did in Lex's mind.

"In the master bedroom"

"Yes" Lex said now looking at Clark confused, he wasn't really sure on where the questions were coming from but he could see they were going somewhere, he just didn't know where yet.  It was then that Clark decided that maybe he needed to explain to Lex that this was *his* house and the only way that he would be sleeping in the master bedroom was if he was sleeping with Clark himself, but how to do that without making Lex want to bite his head off.

"This is my house Lex" Clark said his tone even.  Lex stared at Clark for a moment before responding.

"Yes, I know that" Lex said as if Clark was being dense for some unknown reason.

"Then how are you staying in the master bedroom?"  The question pulled Lex up short, he hadn't even realized he had said something to that effect out loud.

"Well" Lex said not sure on how to answer now, he was more than willing to sleep next to Clark but he wasn't really sure on where their friendship stood at the present moment, what with him returning home after receiving a voice mail message from Clark.  Clark and Lex stared at each other before Lex decided to let Clark know what his feelings were; he had opened his mouth when his PDA started to ring.

"Luthor" Lex barked into the PDA making the moment break and taking with it the confidence that Clark had over what there could be between the pair of them with it.

"Why am I not surprised to hear your voice" Lex said blandly into the phone.  His father had waited all of three hours before calling him to let him know that he was to still be in Japan and not back in Metropolis.

"I had a pressing matter that I couldn't over look any longer" Lex said not noticing that Clark had left to the downstairs to wait out the fight that was going on between Lex and his father.  Clark shook his head of the thoughts and scenes that flashed before his eyes, that of Lex wrapping his arms around his waist as he cooked breakfast or a stolen kiss between the pair of them in the hallway while entertaining.

"All some cosmic joke" Clark said before looking through the living room windows and watching as the sun set with blazing reds, oranges and yellows.

"No father I will not be returning to Japan " Lex said as he stepped off the last step of the stairs that led to the upstairs.

"Fine have it your way" Lex said before hanging up the phone.  He saw Clark staring out into nothingness and he had to wonder what he was thinking about.

"Penny for your thoughts..."

"They're not worth that much" Clark said back before giving a half hearted grin.

"Well I think that they are" Lex said taking a look at Clark and seeing just how grown up Clark had become since the last time he had seen him.

"You're probably the only one" Clark said turning a bit to grin at Lex a bit more fully.  It was great to have best friend back, but he also knew that it would only be a matter of time before Lex was back on a plane to Japan to finish whatever business he had been conducting there.

"I'm not going back" Lex said knowing what Clark was already thinking about his imminent return to Japan .

"Huh"

"I'm not going back, my father and his lackeys can take care of things from now on" Lex said now looking out the dirty living room window.

"I don't want to cause any trouble"

"No trouble to cause that I hadn't already caused" Lex said a smirk on his face at the trouble he had been making while in Japan .  Lex had stuck by his promise to see if his feelings for Clark were true and had not spent any time outside of the apartment that LuthorCorp had provided for him.  His father had thought that with a beautiful woman so close by that Lex would of course fall right into bed with her, and he had thought about it on more than one lonely occasion but then thoughts of Clark had entered his brain and he renewed his vow to remain true to see if his love for Clark was real or not.

"Lex" Clark said shaking his head, it was then that Lex noticed something on Clark 's neck but didn't make comment.  He would ask later when he was certain that he had seen what he thought he had.

"Let's get going" Lex said not really wanting to go back to Clark's apartment but not wanting to press the living arrangements with Clark just yet.

"Dinner at your place?"  Clark said not really wanting to go back to his apartment either.  He was pretty certain that Tracee, the whore next door, had seen and heard Lex's voice and he was sort of unwilling to fight with the whore about his choice of friends right now.  The whore always did have a knack for showing up just as Clark was coming or going from his apartment, it was almost as if she watched his door which totally freaked him out.

"Do we need to stop by your apartment for anything?" Lex said fully planning to keep Clark over night at his apartment.

"Yeah" Clark said thinking of the few things he would need if he was to stay over at Lex's.  He knew the clothing that may be in the closet wouldn't fit him; he had filled out quite a bit since being in prison and now working at a construction company.  Lex nodded his head and then took off to Clark 's apartment; it was about ten minutes later that Lex pulled the sports car into a parking spot.

"I'll be right back" Clark said jumping out of the car and then making his way into the apartment building.  A knock on the window while Lex was watching for Clark surprised him.

"Yes" Lex said putting the window down a bit so as to not give the woman, who was standing on the other side ideas.

"Looking for a good time?"

"No" Lex said putting the window up just as Clark was making his way out of the apartment building with a small bag in hand.

"Tracee" Clark said now noticing that the whore next door was standing right by Lex's car.

"Ooooh" Tracee said looking at the car, the bag and Clark .

"Oh shut up" Clark said before opening the door and getting in the car.  He knew that Tracee would be waiting at his door come tomorrow morning and it was not something he was looking forward to.

"And the reason you live here" Lex said as he threw the car in reverse and sped out of the apartment complex parking spots as fast as he could.

"People don't like the whole, been in prison thing" Clark said with a shrug of his shoulders.  The place didn't bother him, much, most of the time he kept to himself and the people around him did the same, it was only now that he was beginning not to like the place if you could call what Clark thought of place as like.  Lex had nothing to say to Clark 's words, how do you go about talking about that when you yourself knew nothing of that?

"Lanthrop Living Community?"  Clark said looking at the huge high-rise that Lex was pulling into.

"Father does like new and shinny things"

"Sure he does" Clark said eyeing the place as they pulled into one of the underground parking spots.

"Well come on" Lex said getting out of the car and making his way towards the elevators that would take him and Clark up to the penthouse of the complex.  A short ride later had Clark seriously wondering what he had been thinking offering to go with Lex to his 'apartment'.  Apartment was not a word he could use for what he was standing in now, which was a huge one floor flat or something.....European, or at least Clark thought so.

"Chinese or pizza?" Lex called out looking through his PDA for a place that would deliver and quickly.

"Pizza" Clark said before walking around the living room, where Lex had left him, and looking out the floor to ceiling windows.

"What do you want on it?"  Lex said sticking his head in the room and raising his eyebrows at Clark .

"The usual"

"Got it" Lex said knowing exactly what it was that Clark wanted on his pizza, it seemed that things hadn't changed, at least much in Clark 's world of food.

"Is it alright if I take a shower?"

"Sure go right ahead" Lex said before he watched as Clark checked out each room before finding a room that seemed to find what he was looking for.  Twenty minutes later the door bell was being rung and Clark came out of the bathroom with a clean t-shirt and pair of jeans on.  As Lex paid for the food, Clark got plates and silverware from the kitchen.

"Here we are....." Lex started to say but noticed that there on Clark's neck was something he thought he would never see there, for a tattoo was on Clark 's neck done in black ink standing out against the tanned skin.

"Uh, Lex" Clark said now sitting on the couch with the plates and other items sitting on the coffee table.

"Clark" Lex said not really sure on how to bring up the fact that Clark Kent had a tattoo, of what Lex was still uncertain but he knew it was a tattoo and now that he was looking a bit closer he noticed two more tattoos on Clark 's body.

"You okay" Clark asked concerned on why Lex wasn't acting normally at least for him.

"You have a tattoo" Lex stated before setting the two pizza boxes down and not taking his eyes off the black design sitting on Clark 's neck.

"Uh, yeah" Clark said a bit self-conscious now, he had totally forgotten about his tattoos but now that Lex pointed them out he was feeling a bit naked for some reason.

"What is it?"  Lex said before brushing his fingers over the design that sat on Clark 's neck.

"What's it look like?"  Clark said tilting his neck to the side so that Lex could get a better look at the design that lay on Clark 's neck.

"Like a dragon" Clark nodded his head at Lex's words, it was small in design but he was glad that Lex could figure out what it was.  Most people thought it looked like a blob, but he should have known that Lex would know what it is.

"You have more than one" Lex said before pointing to Clark 's arm and wrist, where two more tattoos were.

"I do"

"Why"

"Each one reminds me of something, someone important" Clark explained, he wasn't willing to say that each tattoo reminded him of Lex, but if Lex was to ask he would tell him the truth.

"Someone?"

"You" Clark said quickly, each tattoo he had gotten while in prison he had thought about Lex for each one was a symbol of Lex or at least he thought so.  The dragon with its fierce protectiveness that Lex had over things he deemed important, hence why it was on his neck next to his pulse point.  The dragon was protecting his blood or life, the two on his left arm where linked together by tribal swirls.  The one on his wrist was Lex's name, if you looked hard enough.  The artist had pulled up short when Clark had asked for Lex's name on his wrist but he had done so, when Clark had come back wanting Alexander the Great's Breast Plate on his bicep the man had asked if there was something going on.  Most that read about Lex in the papers, knew about the link between Lex and Alexander the Great, and his infamous Breast Plate.

"Me"

"You" Clark said now running his fingers over the tattoo on his wrist, writing and rewriting Lex's name over and over again.

"How many do you have?"  Lex said not wanting to break whatever it was that they had going on.

"Six" "Six?"  Lex said amazed that Clark had gone under the needle six times.

"Six"

"And each one....."

"Reminds me of you"

"Clark" Lex said now willing to take a step further with Clark, so he brought his hand up and run it down the side of Clark 's face.  Clark leaned into the touch, wanting so much more from Lex, so much more.

"Show me" Lex whispered his lips a breath away from Clark 's.  Clark nodded his head after Lex's words got to his brain.  Clark pulled away to then pull his shirt over his head and there on half of his chest lay intricate designs all connecting to each other.  Lex ran his hand over the large tattoo that took up half of Clark's front and half of Clark 's back, registering that that only equaled five tattoos, not six.

"Here" Clark said blushing a bit as he pulled down his jeans a bit to show off the small tattoo that lay on his hip bone.  Lex had the urge to run his tongue over the tattoo, wanting nothing more than to kiss, bite and love each of the patches of skin that had been touched by another even if it was to place the black ink on it.

"Clark" Lex said his head bent looking at the designs and noticing that they all sort of related back to the Breast Plate that sat on Clark 's bicep.

"What is it?"  Lex said leaning closer to the spot where the last tattoo sat.  Clark blushed; he was sort of embarrassed now that Lex was looking at his tattoos.  He never thought that Lex would be looking at the tattoos as he was now.

"I never thought..." Clark said before noticing that Lex was shaking his head.

"You misunderstand me, what *is* it?"  Lex said now pointing at the spot that Clark had yet to cover with his low riding pants.

"Oh" Clark said now blushing a brighter red than before.

"A Celtic Knot" Clark said leaning back a bit more when Lex leaned in to see the design a bit more.

"Celtic Knot?"

"Yeah" Clark said now a bit breathless since he could feel Lex breathing on his stomach and part of his groin, which was hardening with Lex being so close.

"A never ending line" Lex said while running a finger over the outline of the knot, Clark had the distinct pleasure of feeling all sorts of things running through his body as Lex's finger ran the course of the tattoo.

"For our....friendship" Clark whispered wanting and not wanting Lex's fingers to leave the spot where the tattoo was.

"Hmmm" Lex said his fingers reaching the point where he had started tracing the tattoo to begin with.  Lex and Clark said nothing for several moments, before Lex seemed to break out of whatever trace he had been in.

"Let's eat"

"Right" Clark said confused, he was pretty certain that something had just occurred, what he couldn't tell you but he was certain it was something important.  Lex quickly opened the first pizza box and grabbed a piece of pizza and placed it on one of the plates that Clark had gotten from the kitchen.  Clark watched Lex out of the corner of his eye for a moment before deciding to put his shirt back on, hiding his tattoos and himself from the world again.  As the shirt went over Clark 's head, he never noticed the look of pure lust and love written so clearly on Lex's face, the only thing he saw was the mask of Lex Luthor, billionaire playboy.  The pair ate in silence for a few moments, neither one wanting to say anything while eating.

"Something to drink" Lex said when he noticed that there was nothing to drink on the table along with their food.

"Sure"

"Well I'm not sure what's in here" Lex said standing up and making his way to the kitchen to see if there was something in the refrigerator to drink for the pair of them.

"There are some beer and some apple juice" Lex called out, before making a joke to himself about his father drinking beer.

"I'll have some apple juice" Clark said now leaning against the door frame to the kitchen.

"Sure thing, can you believe my father actually has beer in here?  Beer, the thing that looks and smells like piss"

"Your father?"  Clark said a smile on his lips; he was glad that Lex seemed to be out of whatever mood he had been in just a few minutes ago.  Lex nodded his head and then gave a shark like grin to him.

"You would think he would drink something much more sophisticated" Lex said using air quotes around sophisticated.

"To each his own" Clark said before grabbing the small bottle of apple juice that Lex was offering him.

"Do you drink?"  Lex said realizing that Clark was well over the age for drinking but seemed quite happy to not be drinking alcohol.

"Can't afford to" Clark said before taking a sip of the juice and then shrugging his shoulders.  It had been one of the black market items that T-bag and his crew could get and the few times that he had been talked into trying it, he had been disappointed at the taste and general issues afterwards that were brought up when drinking.

 

TBC........

 

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