Out of the Black
Author: Shaman
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Disclaimer: Own nothing, least of all these characters.  They belong to DC comics and Warner Bros.  Storyline copyright 2005, Secret Garden Productions. http://www.shamanswatchtower@bravehost.com/
Feedback always welcomed and ferverently answered at twotrails4860@yahoo.com
Spoilers for: Memoria
Category: Hurt-comfort, Romance, BDSM, Drama, Established Relationship 
Summary:  After Summerholt, Clark closes up and only Lex can see into the green to pull him out again.  This story is a sequel to "Into the Green." 

Out of the Black
By Shaman

He was here.  He was real.  This was no illusion. 

Lex reached out one pale hand in the darkness and gently touched one of the thick, glossy black curls that tumbled across his young lover's forehead as the boy turned onto his side in his sleep.  A small smile quirked the corner of Lex's mouth as he gently wound the hair around his finger. 

"So beautiful."  He whispered, and the boy shifted in his sleep again.  Lex let the curl spring back into the mass of tousled hair, and was content to simply watch his lover sleep. 

A part of Lex, the part that was eternally watching his mother's coffin being lowered into the earth as his father gripped his shoulder possesivley, was both amazed and frightened by the boy that lay sleeping beside him so soundly.  Lex had never known anyone as good and kind and full of light as Clark Kent, and now he was here, wearing nothing but Lex's lavendar silk top-sheet, slumbering in what looked to Lex like a blissfull post-coital sleep.  It had been their third time together and their first time, an explosive catharsis of their mutual feelings for each other up in Clark's hayloft after Clark had revealed his secret, had only been several weeks earlier.  Lex had been afraid to hope that Clark's feelings were genuine, but he learned quickly that the seventeen-year-old was an affectionate and open lover, his love and willingness to build their relationship a reality.  He had been honest about their realtionship to his parents as well, and after tears, arguing, and finally, acceptance from The Kents, Clark had all but moved into the mansion.  He stayed with Lex all weekend, and even spent some weeknights at the mansion, working hard on his homework as Lex's staff spoiled him with food and attention while Lex finished up business in Metropolis before coming home to his young lover's bright smile and innocent kisses. For the first time in his twenty-three years, Lex saw a future for himself that wasn't filled with loneliness.  Clark's goodness filled him up, and drove back the darkness. 

"Nnhhh."  The soft moan brought Lex out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see Clark's eyes moving rapidly beneath closed lids.  His hands twitched, and he drew them to his chest. 

"Mmm . . . nnnhhooo.  No."  The sounds were whimpered and hitched with fear, and Lex reached out to stroke Clark's face with gentle fingers. 

"Shhhh, Clark.  Shhh, it's okay, I'm here."  He whispered.  Clark twitched once more and then his eyelids fluttered open to reveal eyes ringed with irises the color of deep water at sea.  Lex saw fear and muddled confusion within their sea foam depths, and then Clark was finally blinking into complete consciousness. 

"Uhn . . . Lex?" 

"I'm right here, Clark."  Lex whispered softly as he curled his body closer to the younger boy until their bodies were touching.  Clark burrowed close to him under the covers until Lex put his arms around him. 

"Are you all right?"  He asked, and Clark nodded. 

"Yeah . . . guess for a second there I woke up and didn't know where I was." 

"You were whimpering in your sleep.  Saying no."  Lex told him, and Clark shook his head. 

"I don't remember." 

For a moment Lex thought he saw a shutter close over Clark's eyes as he spoke, but then he dismissed that thought.  Clark wouldn't keep things from him . . . didn't he trust Lex with his ultimate secret, after all? 

"Go back to sleep."  Lex whispered, stroking Clark's dark curls.  Clark heaved a deep sigh and his eyes fluttered closed.  A moment later he was breathing deeply in Lex's arms, his head pillowed one one pale, slim shoulder. 

Lex lay in the dark and listened to Clark breathe as he considered their relationship.  The physical side of it had progressed slowly after that explosive first night, where Lex had ended up kneeling in front of Clark as the boy sat on that old couch in the hayloft, his long, lean legs splayed wide, looking amazedly down as Lex sucked on him.  Since that night there had only been two more encounters, and Lex sensed in Clark the hesitation of a young virgin; eager, yet frightened.  Lex had no wish to push his inexperienced partner, and knew that when the time was right, he would accept that which Clark would give willingly.  The young boy seemed to enjoy touching Lex and being touched himself, but he had shied away both times when Lex had tried to roll him onto his back that night.  Lex had finally backed away, even though he ached to fill Clark up and be the first to bring the long, sweet lines of Clark's magnificent body to orgasm beneath him. 

*It'll happen when the time is right,* Lex thought to himself as he inhaled Clark's exotic scent.  *Can't push him.* 

Lex dropped off to sleep with those thoughts in his head and as he slept, Clark's eyes began to shift restlessly beneath closed lids once more. 

                                                                       ********************

A month passed by, then two, and although Clark and Lex's relationship deepened and intensified, Clark still shied away from Lex when the older boy tried to gently coax Clark into allowing Lex to mount him during their lovemaking sessions.  He was a willing and eager lover otherwise, but Lex was becoming concerned about Clark's refusal to submit.  The young billionaire knew that fear was no longer an issue, for Clark had been a willing pupil when it came to Lex's lessons in bed . . . until Lex tried to take his virginity.  Then there were the dreams; the fear-filled whimpers, the pleadings of *No please, no* that Lex had heard on more than one occasion while Clark slept. 

*There's more going on here then meets the eye,* Lex thought one night as he undressed for bed and listened to Clark splash around in the shower in the master bathroom nearby.  *And tonight, I'm going to find out what that is.*  He threw his pants down the laundry chute and slipped into a pair of black silk lounging pants as the shower turned off and Clark emerged, a soft red towel wrapped around his mid-section.  He smelled like shampoo made from exotic fruits and expensive soap, and Lex inhaled deeply. 

"Mmmmm . . . well, someone smells good." 

Clark smiled as he went to the dresser that held his things and picked up a brush.  He ran it through his hair, the loose, wet curls even glossier with moisture.  Lex watched as he brushed his hair until it was nearly dry, and then dropped the towel in order to pull on a pair of clean black-and-red plaid pair of pajama bottoms.  Lex caught his eye and patted the bedclothes. 

"Come here, Clark, and sit with me." 

Clark sat, his bare toes wiggling as he sat on the edge of the bed and swung his feet.  "Is something wrong?"  He asked, and Lex put a hand on his arm. 

"That's what I wanted to ask you, Clark.  Is there something you'd like to talk about?  You know that you can tell me anything.  I've proved that, haven't I?" 

"Uh huh."  Clark replied softly, averting his gaze, and Lex rubbed his arm with affection. 

“Is it me?”  Lex asked softly.  “Am I pushing you into something you’re not ready for?” 

“No!  Lex . . . please, don’t think that!  It’s not you; its . . . it’s just something that I have to work through on my own.” 

Lex’s brow furrowed.  “On your own?  I don’t see why, Clark.  We’re together, we trust each other.  Please tell me what’s bothering you.  I want to help.”  Lex reached up and brushed a lock of damp hair from Clark’s face.  Clark flinched, and with that flinch Lex had his answer.  He pulled back, his expression carefully guarded. 

“All right, Clark.  If that’s what you really need.”

The boy’s eyes pleaded for forgiveness.  “Lex please, don’t be angry with me.” 

“I’m not angry.  If space is what you need, then I have to respect that.  Good night, Clark.”  Lex kissed Clark’s cheek before he lay down and rolled over, and a moment later Clark curled up on the other side of the bed.  He made no attempt to move toward Lex, but instead brought his knees to his chest and rode the very edge of the king-sized bed.  Lex lay there with his eyes open as he contemplated what he’d seen in Clark’s eyes when the boy had flinched.  The question was, where had it happened, and under what circumstances?  As Clark dropped off into a troubled, restless doze, Lex turned the questions over and over in his mind until it struck him with such force that his whole body gave a convulsive jerk.  Clark whimpered in his sleep, and Lex quieted him with a low shushing noise before sitting up, his expression sharp.  The coverlet and blankets fell to his lap in a puddle of silk and Egyptian cotton.

The Kent’s barn, the day after Summerholt was shut down.  Lex, offering apologies and awkward verbal tokens of concern.  Clark, his green eyes hard but injured, the clipped, abrupt tone of his words as Lex probed gently for signs of damage in the boy he loved so much. 

I came to see if you were all right.  You looked pretty messed up back there. 

Clark’s reply was harsh, wounded, but forbade further discussion:

Yeah I’ll survive. 

“I’ll survive.”  Lex said softly into the darkness.  How many times had he told himself that after one of Lionel’s punishments, or after one of his special night-time visits to Lex’s room after his mother had died? 

Lex’s fists clenched.  Someone had hurt Clark; hurt him like Lex himself had been hurt by his own father, and since Lex knew the only circumstance under which Clark might have been under restraint lately was his time in the memory well at Summerholt.  His time with Dr. Garner. 

The doctor was still in a coma at Bell Reve, but Lex knew in his heart that if the man had spoiled Clark in any way, Lex would personally drive over to the asylum and pull the plug on him. 

And do so with a satisfied smile. 

“Oh, Clark.”  He sighed softly, and lay back down.  His lover was still sleeping precariously close to the edge of his side of the bed, and Lex curled up close to him, his heart heavy.  He knew now what he had to do. 

                                                                    *************

The following evening, Lex stayed in Metropolis later than usual and Clark moped around the mansion, ignoring his homework and even rejecting the kitchen chef’s offer of one of the peanut butter milkshakes that he’d come to love so much.  When ten o’clock came and Lex still hadn’t returned, Clark went and sat in his lover’s study with the lights dimmed as he stared unhappily at Lex’s unoccupied desk. 

                                                                   ***************

At a Lexcorp lab somewhere in Metropolis

“Are you sure it will work?”  Lex asked as he carefully set a small rectangular pan with a snap-on cover inside his briefcase.  A thick green liquid sloshed around within. 

“Yes, Mr. Luthor.  We were able to test the replicated memory well solution, but there was no way to test the other drug.” 

“Then I’ll have no choice but to test it myself.”  Lex replied, and held out his hand.  The lab technician hesitated, and then handed Lex a small gray metal box. 

“Sir, if our calculations are wrong-”

 “Pray to God that they’re not.”  Lex replied, cutting him off as he turned away quickly, his long black overcoat fluttering around his ankles as he walked out of the lab, the small gray box tucked neatly away in his pocket. 

                                                            **********************
At Lex’s mansion, the grandfather clock in Lex’s study struck ten.  Clark glanced at it, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he listened to the deep, resonating gong of the clock’s chimes. 
I shouldn’t have pushed him away like that.  I should have told him the truth, but I was too scared and now he’s angry.  He’s probably driving around Metropolis, trying to think of the easiest way to break up with me. 

Clark got up from his chair and turned toward the study door when it suddenly opened wide, letting in a slight gust of air, a waft of expensive cologne, and Lex.  Relief flooded Clark’s heart, followed by an equally copious flood of anxiety.  Was Lex here to kick him out? 

“Lex, hey.” 

“So here’s where you’re hiding.”  Lex replied, his warm, rich voice so full of control, yet inundated with barely harnessed sexuality that still made Clark shiver nearly every time he spoke to him.  

“I wasn’t hiding.”  Clark replied, and hated the petulance he heard in his voice.  Lex only smirked, and Clark plowed ahead.  “It’s just—you were late, and I—”

“You were in here wondering if I was with someone else, or if I was driving around the city, trying to think of ways to get rid of you.” 

Clark blushed and silently damned his lover for his perceptiveness.  Lex put an arm around Clark’s shoulders. 

“I wasn’t with anyone else, and I’m certainly not planning on kicking you out.  I was working on a project at my office, and I decided to stay late to finish it.  If you like, I can bring you the security tapes to prove that I left my office at exactly—” Lex glanced at his Rolex—“Eight thirty seven p.m.” 

That stung Clark deeper than he expected, and he winced.  “Lex, I didn’t mean to imply that you were . . . with anyone else.”  The word ‘cheating’ just sounded too ugly, Clark couldn’t say it.  “It’s just that last night you seemed angry at me and I wasn’t sure if you were still angry, maybe angry enough to stay at your apartment in the city overnight or . . . ” Clark trailed off with a miserable shrug, and Lex squeezed his shoulder. 

“I’m not angry with you, Clark.  You told me you needed space, and that’s what I was trying to give you.  On the other hand, I’ve been doing some thinking about what you told me and what happened last night, and I think we need to talk about it.” 

“Talk about it?” 

“Yeah.  Come on, let’s go to the bedroom.”  Lex took Clark’s hand, which always swallowed his own, and grabbed his briefcase on the way out the door.  They walked to the bedroom together, and Lex closed the door firmly.  “I told the staff that they could leave early, and that we wouldn’t be requiring anything else this evening.”  The staff usually stayed on until midnight before retiring to their comfortable quarters nearby. 

“Oh.  Uhm . . . all right.”  Clark replied softly as he watched Lex set his briefcase on the bed and pop the latches.  He stood there, his head down, and when he next raised it, he spoke words that sent rivers of panic through Clark’s big frame. 

“Clark, I need you to tell me what happened to you at Summerholt.” 

“Summerholt!”  Clark swallowed hard.  “Why do you want to know about that?  It happened weeks ago!” 

“That may be, but something happened to you there that’s having a negative effect on our relationship.  Therefore, we need to discuss it.”  Lex’s back was still turned to Clark as he spoke. 

“There’s nothing to discuss, Lex.  I told you what happened.  Your dad sold me to Dr. Garner in exchange for stopping your sessions, and he put me in the memory well to try and find out who I really am.  I don’t remember much else, and when I came to, you were leaning over me.  That’s all there is to it.” 

“That’s not all there is.”  Lex replied quietly, and finally turned to face his lover.  He had a small sliver of Kryptonite in one hand, and set of leather bindings in the other.  Clark went pale and his stomach cramped painfully as the green rock began to glow. 

“Lex . . . what are you . . . what are you doing?  I’ve told you what that stuff can do to me!  Get it out of here!” 

“It’s not big enough to destroy you, Clark.  I’d never hurt you, and you know that.” 

“Then get it away from me!  Lex, please . . . uh!  Unh . . . no . . .” Clark sank to the floor, his long legs folding under him like a wounded buck, and Lex stood over him impassively. 

“It’s going to be all right, Clark.  I know you’re frightened, but I also know that we need to work past what Dr. Garner did to you.” With difficulty, Lex hauled him up onto the freshly-made bed and used the thick leather bindings to secure Clark’s hand and feet to the oak bedposts.  He set the sliver of Kryptonite on one of the shelves that had been built into the headboard, and carefully adjusted its distance until Clark appeared to feel weak, but was not in too much pain.  He set his open briefcase beside it.  The big teenager squirmed weakly, and Lex stripped off his jacket and tie.  He unbuttoned his white dress shirt halfway, and then sat down next to his captive lover. 

“I’m not doing this to hurt you, Clark.  I just want to help you, and I knew that this would be the only way.” 

Clark’s stomach spasmed with fear and he struggled as much as the sliver of Kryptonite would allow.  Lex put a hand on his chest. 

“Don’t struggle, Clark.  The more you fight, the more the bindings will shrink and eventually they’ll cut off your circulation.  Just lie still, and listen.  You know that I won’t hurt you.”  Lex leaned over and kissed his lover’s full, trembling lips.  “Shhhh, Clark.  Relax.” 

“Lex, how could you do this to me?”  Clark asked weakly, and Lex stroked his head. 

“I’m not doing anything to you, Clark.  I’m trying to save our future.”  He looked down and caught Clark’s frightened gaze.  “Tell me what Dr. Garner did to you.”

“Nothing!  I already told you!”  Clark cried weakly, and Lex shook his head. 

“You didn’t tell me the whole story.  You said my father sold you to Dr. Garner in exchange for stopping my treatments.  I phoned my father that afternoon, and he was already at Summerholt.  He left the memory well to confront me, which left you and Dr. Garner alone.  What happened between the time my father left and when I found you, Clark?” 

“Nothing!  Nothing, Lex, please!”  Clark cried. 

“Did he touch you, Clark?”  Lex asked softly, and watched as horror sprang into Clark’s green eyes.  Lex pressed ahead.  “Did he touch you while you were locked into the memory tank, or maybe before then?  Were you helpless, like you are now?” 

Clark closed his eyes as he remembered the doctor cutting his clothing away, the cold metal of the examination table seeping into his skin as the Kryptonite in the memory tank weakened him; Dr. Garner’s hands on him, slick with lotion, touching him where he’d never been touched by anyone.  Pleasure, pain, fear.  Clark’s muscles quivered and Lex stroked his hair as his other hand reached into his briefcase and withdrew a pair of gleaming surgical scissors, the kind he knew that Dr. Garner would have used to cut away Clark’s clothing.  The young billionaire never hesitated, and the scissors blades flashed in the light of a nearby lamp like two small mirrors.  Clark’s white t-shirt fell away in two halves, and Lex yanked the remains of it off of him.  Clark’s body bucked upwards, his eyes like those of a child caught in the unyielding grip of a nightmare. 

“No . . . no . . .” He begged, and Lex began to unbuckle Clark’s belt.  He pulled it from the loops of the boy’s faded jeans with a soft whispering noise, and then tugged open the well-worn button fly to reveal the ribbed band of Clark’s briefs.  Clark squirmed again, and Lex pulled the boy’s jeans down as far as his bound ankles would allow, and left him in his briefs. 

“No Lex, don’t, please!”

“Is this what he did to you, Clark?”  Lex asked softly, and then leaned down to whisper in his ear.  “Did he touch you before he put you in the memory tank?” 

“He wanted to know what I was.”  Clark whimpered suddenly, but his eyes never met Lex’s.  They were wide and glassy with the memory that the teenager had kept locked inside of him for so long.  “He said he wanted to know what I was, and if I would react like a human.  He started to touch me and I tried to get away, but I couldn’t.  Oh God, I couldn’t . . . ”  Lex watched as the memory tightened its grip on Clark’s mind, mercilessly enhanced by the solution of the memory well that still lingered in Clark’s body.  The memory became a reality for him, just as the memory of Julian’s death had been real for Lex that day in Clark’s loft.  A high keening noise rose from Clark’s throat and his hips suddenly twisted viciously, as if he was trying to avoid someone’s touch. 

“Stop. . . stop Dr. Garner, please!”  He cried, and Lex watched his body shudder as if he was being electrocuted.  His penis gave a sudden sharp jerk, and then hardened as if it were being stroked by an invisible hand.  Lex swallowed in sympathy at the memory of unwanted pleasure and Clark threw his head back, the cords on his neck standing out in a tortured relief.  Lex jerked the boy’s briefs down, exposing his erection, and Clark’s eyes rolled.  Knowing that the time was right, Lex reclined next to his lover and reached over to pull one final thing from his briefcase—the narrow, shallow plastic pan with a rectangular cover.  Lex yanked the cover off it with one hand and plunged his other hand into the solution that he had paid his chemical labs well to replicate . . . Dr. Garner’s memory well solution.  With his hand in the cold, thick liquid, Lex leaned over, kissed Clark’s lips . . .  and fell into the green with him. 

                                                      ********************

Clark’s memories of Dr. Garner’s lair were tinged emerald.  They shimmered in the lights of the memory well, and were full of wavering liquid shadows.  Lex walked soundlessly across the cool tile floor of the memory chamber, across the foundation of Clark’s traumatic memory.  Across the room, Dr. Garner stood over Clark as the young boy lay nude on a cold metal examination table.  Lex’s fists clenched as Clark’s soft, weak pleas reached him. 

“No, stop!  Stop, please . . .”

“Relax, Clark.  I am a doctor, after all.”  The doctor’s tone was one of mocking reassurance tinged with excitement as he reached down to capture Clark’s virgin flesh with his right hand.  Clark wailed, and Lex’s jaw clenched in fury.  He watched as Clark writhed weakly on the table while Dr. Garner slipped a pair of tight red briefs over Clark’s thighs, the briefs he’d been wearing when Lex had found him, and began to impale the boy with his fingers.  First one, and then another, and Lex’s mind clouded with rage.  Clark shrieked with pain and sensation as his virgin hole was breached, and Lex remembered Dr. Garner’s words during one of his last treatments. 

Remember, Lex, I can bring these memories to the surface, but I can’t change them. 

And then, on the heels of that, the words of his father:

Sometimes, son, change can be both necessary and dangerous.  The question is whether or not you’re willing to chance the danger in order to force that change. 

With those words echoing in his ears, Lex slipped a hand into his pocket and withdrew the gray case he’d been given at the lab.  He popped it open to reveal a small round object that was approximately the size and texture of a bath bead.  Dr. Garner had finished his ministrations on Clark, and was locking the boy into the memory cage.  Lex could hear Clark snuffling back tears of pain and fear as Dr. Garner walked over to the memory well’s control panel and pushed a button in order to raise the apparatus into the air.  Lex removed the sphere from the box and clenched his hand over it. It burst open like a ripe grape, causing a thin liquid to be absorbed quickly through his skin and a sharp pain to spike briefly through his head.  Clark cried out at the same time, and suddenly the blurred, green-tinged edges of the memory came sharply into focus as Lex stepped out of the realm of observer, and into the reality of the web of trauma which had his young lover so helplessly entangled.  The two were connected now, bridged by the liquid concocted by the people at Lex’s labs.  The liquid, a mixture of both boys’ DNA, liquefied meteor rock, and other elements, had allowed Lex to break through the barrier of memory and reality.  He stepped out of the shadow of the memory well, his eyes flaring with fury. 

“Stop!” 

Dr. Garner looked up, his eyes narrowing. 

“Lex.  What the hell are you doing here?  Your treatments here have been terminated.” 

“So I’ve been told.”  Lex replied, advancing on the doctor.  “And now I see why.  It looks to me like you have a new patient.” 

“Clark Kent’s presence here is none of your business, Lex, and you’re no longer a patient at Summerholt.  Now if you don’t leave, I’m going to call security.” 

“So call them.”  Lex replied sharply, and elbowed his way up onto the control station.  Dr. Garner slapped at his hands as Lex reached for them. 

“Don’t touch the controls!  They’re highly sensitive!” 

“I’m getting Clark down from there before you dunk him in that damned solution.  You don’t know what you’re doing.” 

Dr. Garner shoved him roughly.  “I know exactly what I’m doing, Lex.  Now get out.” 

“I’m not leaving without Clark.  He’s here against his will, and he’s a minor . . . a minor who you’ve just sexually assaulted.  I wonder what the police would think about that?”  Lex mused, his eyes narrowing slightly, and Dr. Garner advanced on him aggressively. 

“Get out of here Lex, before you regret it.” 

“The only thing that I regret is exposing Clark to this place, and to you.”  Lex replied.  He reached for the controls again, and Dr. Garner shouted in rage.  He bent down and picked up a long steel rod, a left over part from the memory cage, and wielded it like a baseball bat.  He swung at Lex’s head with a blow that was meant to kill, and Lex ducked lithely to avoid the strike.  He lunged for the controls once more, and Dr. Garner swung again, this time connecting with Lex’s right shoulder.  Lex roared in pain as the skin and muscles there flared with white-hot pain, and then seemed to disconnect from the rest of his body.  The doctor glanced up at the memory cage, and then slammed his open palm down on one of the controls.  A sensor in the system blinked and one end of the cage flipped forward sharply, suspending Clark headfirst over the tank.  Lex caught a glimpse of Clark’s terrified expression, the green liquid of the tank reflected in his eyes, making them even greener.  Dr. Garner grinned at Lex in triumph. 

“I’ve seen your memories, Lex, and I’ve seen how you look at Clark Kent.  Do you think I’m a fool?”  The grin grew wider.  “You love him . . . but you weren’t the first to have him.  He might be immortal, but he’ll remember forever who it was that was the first to touch him, to take him, to breach that tight little hole of his.”  Dr. Garner’s voice grew mocking and haughty.  “And you’ll remember it too, Lex.” 

“You son of a bitch.”  Lex said, his voice low and dangerous, like the purring rumble of a jungle cat just before it pounces with intent to kill.  He made a quick lunge at the doctor, who swung the rod at him again.  Lex feinted to the left, and as the other man raised the rod high over his head to bash Lex’s skull in, the billionaire lowered his head and leapt forward, driving his head into the doctor’s stomach and sending him flying backwards.  Overbalanced and out of control, Dr. Garner crashed into the control panel of the memory well.  The steel rod punctured the metal casing and made contact with the equipment within, and a shower of sparks erupted from the thing like a geyser.   Dr. Garner began to jerk and jitter, his hands still wrapped around the other end of the rod.  Lex watched as the man was electrocuted, smoke rising from under the collar of his white lab coat.  His eyes bulged and his tongue popped out of his mouth like some macabre jack-in-the-box.  Finally he slumped against the smoking panel, his eyes vacant and his fingers blackened where they had fused to the metal rod.  The panel suddenly threw up another shower of sparks, and there was a harsh jangling sound as the memory cage came free of it’s supports, its sensors destroyed, and sent Clark plunging headfirst into the memory well.  It came to a crashing halt with the solution up to Clark’s hips, and the boy’s imprisoned, partially submerged body arched and jerked in its bonds as he struggled to free himself.  Lex’s eyes widened as he saw Clark’s submerged head whipping back and forth wildly, his face horrified and distorted by the solution, the eyes huge with panic—he was drowning, and unable to escape the confines of the cage. 

“Clark!”  Lex yelled, and turned back toward the control panel.  It was hissing and ruined, and Lex knew he’d share Dr. Garner’s fate if he touched it.  With his heart beating hard, Lex stripped off his shirt and pants and tossed them aside.  He climbed the high wall of the memory tank and grasped the thick cable that held the cage.  There was a muted splash as he jumped into the tank, and one hard tug on the cage told him it was too heavy for him to lift.  Clark’s struggles were weakening, and Lex knew he had only minutes.  The older boy took a deep breath and ducked his head under the thick solution.  The cage was jerking and rattling with Clark’s attempts to escape, and Lex felt along the sides until his hands fell on the locking mechanisms that held Clark’s wrists.  For one awful moment he thought they were magnetically locked as he tugged hard on the metal pins, and they refused to budge. 

No, God no, please . . . he begged silently, and then the pins came free of their moorings with a muted snap.  Lex slid his arms under Clark’s body and stood upright, lifting the boy with him.  Clark’s legs were still locked in the cage, and Lex grunted with effort as he slid one arm around Clark’s shoulders and reached out to unlock his ankles with his other hand.  The shackles finally popped open, and Lex cradled the unconscious boy in his arms as he stood chest-deep in the memory well.  Clark’s lips were blue, his skin tainted green. 

“Clark?  C’mon Clark . . . don’t you dare do this to me, don’t you dare . . .” Lex pushed Clark’s dripping hair from his face and cupped his chin.  “Clark!  Answer me!”  He commanded, and near-hysteria gripped his chest, making it hitch. 

“Clark, no!  No.  Come on.  Come on, baby . . .” Lex leaned down and covered Clark’s cold, wet lips with own, creating a tight seal.  He blew hard into the boy’s lungs, praying that he had the strength to fill them.  Clark’s chest rose, then fell, but his face remained slack.  Lex began to fear that his young lover had been poisoned beyond any hope of recovery, and he battled tears. 

“Please.”  Lex whispered, and blew into Clark’s lungs again.  “Please come back to me.”  Another deep, hard exhalation, and suddenly Clark drew a harsh gagging breath.  Lex pulled back as the boy spit up green memory well solution and a little bit of blood.  Lex gasped in relief. 

“Thank God . . . c’mon Clark, that’s good . . . breathe!” 

Clark gasped and moaned, his body shivering.  Lex held him tight and closed his eyes, willing himself back into reality, just as he’d done during his sessions with Dr. Garner.  The hazy atmosphere faded and when Lex next opened his eyes, he was laying in his own bed with Clark in his arms.  They were both dripping with memory well solution, and Clark was breathing in harsh, gasping breaths.  Lex sat up in the sodden puddle they had made, and threw an arm around his shoulders. 

“Stay with me, Clark.  I’m right here, stay with me, okay?”  With difficulty, Lex got the younger boy off of the bed and into the master bathroom. He stripped off the red shorts and then his own briefs as he turned on the shower as hot as he could stand.  He pulled Clark inside and carefully sat him against the wall, letting the spray wash away the green liquid.  Clark shivered and moaned, and Lex knelt down beside him with a stiff lavender loofa in his hand.  He slathered it with soap and began to scrub Clark’s chest.  Streams of green-tinged water ran off of him and swirled down the drain, and Lex kept scrubbing frantically, pausing only to add more soap to the loofa. 

“You’re going to be fine, you hear me?”  Lex asked as he scrubbed Clark’s arms, legs and feet.  He then washed the boy’s hair, and the last of the solution washed away down the drain.  Clark’s breathing finally eased, and his eyes fluttered open.  Lex sat back on his heels, water dripping from his chest and back. 

“Clark?” 

The younger boy gulped and swallowed; his green eyes slightly unfocused as he peered at Lex.  Lex smiled and brushed a sodden curl from the boy’s eyes. 

“You all right?”  He asked softly, and Clark blinked at him. 

“You . . . you came for me." 

"Of course I did.” 

“How?” 

“My people at the lab found a way for me to infiltrate your dream.  I was able to manipulate it instead of being an observer.”  He brushed Clark’s hair back again.  “I saw what Dr. Garner did to you, Clark.  Why didn’t you think you could tell me?”

“I don’t know.”  Clark whispered miserably, and Lex helped him to stand.  He dried Clark off with a thick purple towel, and then slipped a robe over his broad shoulders. 

“Come on over here.”  He said softly, and led the boy over to the bed.  Some of his staff had quickly and quietly cleared away the sopping green sheets while they had been in the shower, and the bed was once again clean.  Clark sat down obediently, and Lex sat beside him. 

“I can certainly understand why you were hesitant with me, Clark.  When someone has been abused, it’s not an easy thing to forget.”  He said quietly, and Clark blinked back tears.  

“I wondered what it would be like for so long, Lex, to be with you.  Then when that time came, all I could think of was what Dr. Garner did to me, and that he’d been the first one to touch me there.  Whenever you tried, I could see his face in my mind, and I felt ruined.  I wanted it so badly to be you . . . but I ruined everything.  He took something I can never get back.”

Clark . . .” Lex put his arm around Clark’s shoulders and squeezed gently.  “You went to Summerholt because you thought that I was in danger.  Your reasons were selfless.  It’s not your fault what happened to you . . . victims of abuse often blame themselves, but you did nothing wrong.  It’s not your fault that he hurt you, and I don’t feel any differently about our relationship because of it.” 

“I just . . . I wanted you to be the first.” 

“I can be, Clark, if you let me.”  Lex replied, and slipped his right hand under Clark’s chin to lift his head.  “Dr. Garner may have touched you out of lust and perversion and some sick sense of curiosity, but I don’t think our relationship is about that.  What I hope we have is built on trust and understanding.  Am I wrong?”  He asked as he stared into Clark’s green eyes, and the boy shook his head.

“No, Lex.” 

“Then understand this—I love you.  That’s never going to change, no matter what events take place in our lives.  I want to show you what its like to be touched and to feel pleasure and joy, not pain and fear.  Will you let me do that, Clark?”  Lex rubbed a gentle thumb over Clark’s wet cheek, and the boy took a shuddering breath. 

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted you to do.” 

A small smile quirked the corners of Lex’s mouth and he turned Clark’s head toward him.  He touched the boy’s rose-red lips with his own, and Clark responded with a soft whimper of desire.  The sound flared heat into Lex’s loins and he eased Clark back on the bed as he slipped the half-open robe off the smooth, broad shoulders.  Clark gazed up at him, small muscular tremors making the long lines of his thighs twitch.  Lex put his hands on them to quiet them, and Clark inhaled sharply. 

“It’s all right, Clark.  Trust me.  Trust my touch.”  He said softly, and slid his hands up until his pale, slim fingers were inches from Clark’s exposed flesh. 

“There’s a big difference between touching someone and making love to them, Clark.  I’m going to slip deep inside of you . . . you’re going to feel every inch of me, and I’m going to know every inch of you.  You’re still a virgin, Clark, because no one’s ever made love to you.”  Lex rose up and straddled his lover, his rapidly hardening erection nudging the flat planes of Clark’s belly.  He then reached over Clark’s head to one of the drawers that was built into the headboard of the bed to withdraw a small clear tube that was filled with a reddish gel.  He squirted some into his palm and tossed the tube back into the drawer. 

“Like this, lover.”  He whispered, and pushed gently on Clark’s knees.  The young boy drew them up and back, trying to control his rapid breathing as Lex reached down and touched his exposed hole with two lube-slick fingers.  The muscles there twitched and a small sound escaped Clark’s throat. 

“Shhhh.”  Lex soothed him.  “Shhhh . . . Clark, it’s all right . . . I know, I know.  Trust me.”  He eased gently between the firm cheeks of Clark’s ass and breached the tight hole with one fingertip.  Clark arched up slightly, and Lex reached out with his other hand to stroke Clark’s tousled damp hair. 

“I’ve got you, Clark.  You know I won’t hurt you.  You know that, shhhh . . .” Lex continued to soothe his young lover with soft crooning sounds as he inserted his finger deeper into Clark’s tight heat.  Clark clenched around him, his bright green eyes never leaving Lex’s face, as if he were trying to reassure himself that it was Lex, and no one else, that was touching him this way. 

“Uh . . . unh!”  He gasped as Lex carefully pushed another finger inside of him, and a dull cramping pain shot through his pelvis.  He cried out softly, and Lex quickly changed the angle of his thrusts.  He pushed up and in, and suddenly Clark’s lower body filled with such heat that he thought he might explode.  His eyes widened, and Lex grinned down at him. 

“That’s what makes you virgin, baby.”  He purred, and continued to push gently against the nodule of nerves with his fingers.  Clark’s cock gave a hard jerk, and then rose from his thighs to lie trembling against his belly.  Knowing that Clark’s youth and inexperience wouldn’t allow him to last long, Lex pulled his fingers free and picked up the lube once more.  “Give me your hand, Clark.”  He commanded gently, and Clark held out his right hand.  Lex filled it with lube, and arched his hips forward slightly.  The unspoken instruction was more than clear, and Clark wrapped his slick hand around Lex’s erection.  Lex groaned and trembled at the feel of Clark’s hand on him, and struggled for control as the boy spread the lube over his cock from head to shaft.  When he was done, Lex guided Clark’s hand down to his own opening to spread the remaining lube against it.  Then Lex straddled him again, and rested his hands on Clark’s cocked knees. 

“Trust me?”  He asked, and Clark nodded. 

“I do, Lex.  I swear I do.”  He replied, and Lex reached down to guide himself to the boy’s slippery opening.  His erection was already rock hard and weeping, and he hoped he could prolong his climax at least long enough to sink inside his lover all the way.  He hadn’t felt this out of control of his body since he’d been a teenager.  Gripping Clark’s knees for leverage, he pushed the boy’s legs back toward his chest and slipped inside his tightness.  Clark cried out softly, his eyes going wide and surprised, and Lex reached out to stroke his head as he watched Clark’s teeth clench. 

“It’s all right, Clark . . . you’re just tight, that’s all . . . God, so tight . . .” Lex moaned, and pushed forward again.  Clark grunted and squirmed, and Lex held him still. 

“Shhhh, it’s okay.  Almost there, baby, almost there.”  Lex took a deep breath and rose up over Clark’s body, angling in and back as he sunk into his young lover to the hilt.  The head of his cock drove up firmly against Clark’s prostate and Clark gave a strangled howl at the sensation, his hips bucking up hard.  His muscles clenched tightly around Lex in a firm hot sheath, and Lex’s mouth dropped open. 

“Oh, Jesus!” He gasped, and struggled not to come as Clark writhed beneath him, impaled and mewling.  The boy’s erection thumped eagerly between them, smearing both their bellies with pre-seminal fluid.  Lex gulped in a few deep breaths and settled Clark’s wild bucking into a steady rhythm.  He set the pace for them, rocking the boy in a cradle of passion and pleasure as he plunged into him again and again.  Clark’s muscles closed around Lex’s bucking flesh, making the billionaire’s eyes slit with pleasure, the gray-blue irises gleaming down at Clark’s face.  His young lover, beautiful under any circumstance, was almost ethereal in his arousal.  His eyes flashed many hues of green and his powerful throat muscles bobbed and worked as the long, sweet lines of his body worked its way toward climax.  His hair dampened and curled as low moans issued from his chest, and Lex couldn’t take his eyes off the boy.  He was simply exquisite. 

“Sweet boy . . . God, so sweet and tight, Clark . . .” Lex moaned, sweat breaking out along the ridge of his spine and across his chest.  His nipples suddenly stiffened and grew hypersensitive, announcing his impending climax.  He brought Clark’s big hands up and encouraged him to touch them.  Clark rubbed his palms over the hard nubs in rhythm with Lex’s strokes, and the older boy’s eyes went wide and glazed as his mouth dropped open. 

“Clark!”  He gasped sharply, and he bucked his hips sharply as his erection gave a tremendous jerk and Lex spilled into his young lover with a hitching cry of intense pleasure.  Clark bucked up against him as the sensation of Lex’s hot sperm coating his prostate sent him over the edge of this sexual precipice.  His muscles closed over Lex again and again as his cock hardened before spurting out its own load onto Clark’s belly.  Lex’s wild bucking smeared it between them, and finally the young billionaire’s movements slowed to twitches and jerks as he slowly slid out of Clark.  Clark groaned in disappointment, but he put a hand on Lex’s smooth scalp as he rested his head against Clark’s chest.  He stroked the hairless flesh comfortingly, and listened to Lex’s breathing even out as his softening cock jerked between them with the tremors of aftershock.  Clark lifted his arms and put them around his lover, his heart filling up.  Lex had been right.  Dr. Garner might have hurt him, might have touched him first, but it was Lex who made him feel pleasure.  He turned slightly so that Lex slid off of his chest, and he pulled the languid young man close, nuzzling his neck and face.  Lex’s pale lashes fluttered and his eyes opened halfway. 

“Mmmm.”  He sighed, and Clark continued to nuzzle him until Lex chuckled and opened them the rest of the way.

“What is it?”  He asked sleepily, and Clark captured Lex’s gaze intently. 

“You were right, Lex.  I . . . I’ve never felt anything like that before.  With Dr. Garner there was pain and I was so scared . . . I thought I was going to die.” 

Lex stroked his cheek.  “I’d never let anything happen to you.” 

“I didn’t feel any of that with you.  It was . . . well, it was incredible.”  Clark laughed shyly and lowered his eyes a little.  Lex observed him with great affection.  He had the feeling that no matter how many times he made love to the boy, Clark would always retain that innocent quality that made him so damn sexy. 

“Yes, Clark.  It was.”  Lex agreed, and Clark spoke without looking up. 

“Did . . . did I do it right?”  He asked, and Lex stroked his tousled ebony hair. 

“Clark . . . I wouldn’t have come like that if you hadn’t done it right!”

“Lex!”  Clark exclaimed, his cheeks reddening, and Lex grinned. 

“Yes, Clark, you did it right.  Now come here.”  He curled up close to Clark’s heat and rested his head in the hollow of the boy’s shoulder; a perfect fit.  He sighed and closed his eyes.  Clark smiled and put his arms around Lex’s lean, pale shoulders. 

“I love you, Lex.” 

The blue-gray eyes flared open a moment at the words, and then closed again slowly. 

“I love you too, Clark.  I always have.  Now go to sleep.” 

Clark smiled and closed his eyes without another word.  As his breathing slowed and slipped into tandem with Lex’s, Clark plunged gently down into a world of dreams that were no longer tinged with pain, fear, and the swimmy emerald colors of Dr. Garner’s memory well.  In his dreams, Lex’s heartbeat turned the world on its axis, and the color of his eyes painted the sky.  The long lines of Clark’s body relaxed in Lex’s arms and he slept deeply.  In his own dreams, Lex sensed the boy relax and a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he swam in a deep, warm ocean full of sea foam that was the same color as Clark’s eyes, and rocked him into the oblivion of a deep slumber with its constant, undulating rhythms.   

THE END