Similis

"Clark?" Lex turned to face his friend. "What's up? Not enjoying the film? I thought you wanted to see this one?"



"It's not the film." Came the muted reply.



"Then it must be the company?" Lex joked. "Hear that Haze? Should we be worried?" He looked along the line of the sofa to where Haze was sitting. Haze's arm was resting lightly across Clark's shoulder, and the younger teen was slouched down in the very middle of the sofa, as if trying to keep the maximum distance from the two others. Something was definitely wrong. Clark had always been so at ease before.



Before…? A horrible suspicion began to grow at the back of Lex's mind. Before the abduction...



"Clark?" Lex tried again, only to see Haze sign 'Don't push him' subtly from behind the other boy.



"It's me…" Clark whispered. "I … I can't …" He bit his lip. Unshed tears brimmed in his eyes.



"Clark…" Without thinking, Lex reached over and pressed a comforting palm against Clark's shoulder.



Uttering a sharp cry, Clark jumped back as if he had been burned. Visibly trembling now, he folded in on himself, drawing his knees up and wrapping his arms protectively around his torso, his forehead jammed against his kneecaps.



Haze reached out, and gently pulled his 'brother' into a close embrace, utterly ignoring the initial resistance.



Sniffing, Clark finally accepted the embrace, turning toward Haze and nuzzling his face tightly against his 'twin' as if he could hide himself in his duplicate's chest.



"You have got to let us in on this Clark." Lex insisted.



Haze let Clark sink deeper into his arms. Clark whimpered, his breathing becoming more rapid, more panicky. Adjusting his grip, Haze bent in closer over Clark, and stroking his fingers over Clark's hair, held him without hesitation. Looking across at Lex, he shared a worried glance with the billionaire.







After maybe five minutes, Clark seemed to have calmed a little. He still trembled, but his breathing had evened out.



Haze shifted slightly, leaning back so that Clark could continue to rest on him.



"Clark." Lex said, keeping his voice gentle. "We can't begin to help if we don't know what's wrong."



Clark sniffed loudly and scrubbed at his face with the back of one hand, while Haze rubbed soothing circles along Clark's back.



"We are going to sort this out." Lex promised, watching Haze brush his lips lightly over the top of Clark's head. "And you are going to let us in on exactly what happened to you."



"I can't…" Clark sobbed. "I…" His breath hitched, "c.can't t.t.tell a.anyone."



Haze gently lifted Clark up, until their eyes were level, and shook his head, giving Clark a meaningful look.



"No, Haze… I can't, I just can't!" Clark was obviously refusing to allow Haze to read him.



"Clark, what's up?" Lex was almost frantic with worry over his friend.



"You won't w.w.want to be anywhere near me!" Clark blurted. His duplicate sighed, and mussed his hair in a comradely fashion. Despite Haze's obvious effort at reassurance, Clark wriggled, refusing to be persuaded.



"You idiot..." Lex could scarcely believe how stubborn Clark was being. "Nothing in this world could make me think any less of you." He looked at Haze. "I can't speak for Haze, but my guess is that he feels the same. Right?"



Haze nodded emphatically. He squeezed Clark tightly against him again.



Lex shifted closer, choosing his words carefully, "Clark, I… I care about you, and I am not going to let you go through whatever this is without at least trying to help. I already feel bad about my father and his obsession with you. I know I don't have the best track record with that, but I swear that I will never let anyone have the chance to hurt you again if I can help it."



"It wasn't your father that organised my abduction." Clark whispered, staring off into nothing. "It was Morgan Edge."







"Edge?" Lex was incredulous. "How?"



"They stole the kryp… the meteor rock from Lionel's lab, and took his research notes. When Edge found out what was in them, he wanted to … to …" Clark's voice choked off.



"Take you and do experiments on you?" Lex finished for him. It was pure guesswork, but given the evidence, not that big a leap.



Clark simply nodded, as the tips of his ears flushed scarlet in mortification.



"How did you find all of that out, Clark?" Lex really did not want to believe it, but it had all the hallmarks of a horrible truth. It would also go some way to explaining why Lionel had been so pissy lately. Jumping to his feet, Lex paced furiously across the polished floor, sensing a few more of the previously hidden details fitting neatly into place.



"I heard them on the phone, while I was … in the car." Clark managed to say. "Lionel was trying to buy me back…"



"Something happened to you in the car, didn't it?" Lex had seen enough trauma victims to recognise the signs.



Clark nodded. His eyes filled with unshed tears again.



"They hurt you?" Lex guessed. "How?"



Clark's eyes widened.



"Clark… I don’t care about your secret. I mean, I do want to know ... someday, but only when you feel ready to tell me. I care more about you, as a person, as my friend, than about anything else." Lex forced himself to keep his voice low and calm. Probably the last thing Clark needed now was loud noises, or worse, someone shouting at him.



"I understand that." Clark said quietly, as Haze's arms instinctively rose to cradle him closer. "I'm just scared. This has been a bit overwhelming for me, although," He glanced up at Haze. "I guess it's not exactly been easy on anyone."



Lex moved back and eased himself down behind Clark. He was just making his mind up whether or not to try touching Clark again, when Haze's warm fingers closed lightly around his wrist and guided his hand until it rested in the middle of Clark's back.



Under his fingertips, Lex felt Clark's heart beating like a steam hammer. Not just anxious, more like bloody terrified! He leant closer to his friend. "Is it okay if I hug you too?" He asked softly.



Clark froze. Slowly, he nodded.



Lex looked across at Haze.



'Fine by me, I'm here to be leant on', Haze's gestures and ready grin assured him.



"So I should just think of you as a pillow?" Lex teased.



Haze shrugged as if that was perfectly fine by him.



Lex laughed, raising the tiniest of smiles from Clark.







"How can either of you stand to touch me?" Clark whispered into the growing silence.



"Clark?" Lex was confused. "Why would you even say that?"



"I'm a fr… freak…"



Haze chuckled silently at that, raising one eyebrow. And? The look said it all.



"Haze and I aren't exactly normal, by most people's standards." Lex slipped one arm around Clark's waist and squeezed him lightly. "That doesn't matter. Those meteors have a lot to answer for. But not everything to do with them has been bad." He was referring to his own reprieve from chronic asthma, and the excellent health that he now enjoyed, but even as he said it Lex could have kicked himself. He felt Clark go suddenly tense under him.



What was it with the boy and those rocks? Apart from the obvious.



"It evidently does matter to you though Clark." He apologised.



Haze nodded.



"Or perhaps that isn't what's bothering you?"



The middle of the three-person sandwich gave a sudden hitch. Flinging his arms even tighter around Haze, Clark started to sob openly.



From the steely tension of the muscles Lex could feel moving under Clark's skin, it was a fair guess that Haze was currently the lucky recipient of a full-throttle 'Clark crush', emphasis on the 'crush'.



Lex decided that he was very lucky that it was Haze on the receiving end, and not him. He had the feeling that his own ribs would be the consistency of peanut butter by now; a robust constitution could only do so much.



'Being squashed here…' Haze fidgeted to remind his 'twin'.



Clark shifted uneasily, but let up just a little.



"Clark. Tell us, please!" Lex begged, rubbing his hand over Clark's upper arm.



Haze signed that maybe Clark couldn’t?



Was that it? There were times when Clark's natural modesty was a definite disadvantage.



"You can't bring yourself to say it?" Lex guessed.



With an indrawn rush of breath, Clark nodded.



Haze tucked one hand under Clark's chin and lifted his face until their noses were nearly touching.



God, it's like watching a 3-D animated mirror! Under better circumstances Lex would simply have sat and marvelled at the dual perfection in front of him, however he was currently more interested in resolving Clark's distress. "If you can't say it, then maybe you can just remember it?" He suggested to Clark. "Could Haze pick it up from you? Then he could help you tell me?"



Haze nodded as he rubbed Clark's shoulder tenderly.



"No matter how bad it is Clark, it won't change the way I feel about you." Lex promised.



Clark closed his eyes and buried his face in Haze's neck. He let his upper hand drift down to Haze's waist, the other arm already disappearing behind Haze's back.







Lex didn't know whether to be concerned or jealous… He was already fighting not to let his arousal get out of control. The beautiful boy in front of him had inadvertently teased and tormented him since the moment they met, and now there was two of him. And they were entangled together in intimate proximity, with him sitting right beside them…



Double the … No! Not going there! Cold water! Ice baths! Baths … Somehow that sent him off onto an unintended tangent, to which his mind's eye obligingly supplied him with a singularly interesting image of a naked Clark …



No! Not now! Bad Lex! Think of Dad… Dad in a tutu … Shit, not working! Clark's Dad! Jonathan Kent! Angry Jonathan Kent … with a loaded shotgun!



The sheer terror induced by that particular image did it for the moment, and Lex was able to sit back on the padded cushions without quite so much strain on the seams of his tailored slacks.







"… probably already know the beginning…" Clark was talking quietly. His voice was muffled, but he sounded determined.



Lex pulled his attention back from the gutter where it had been looking for lodgings.



"One of them came to the Talon, in a LexCorp uniform, and said that Lex had been in an accident and was asking for me. I wouldn't have gone…" He hesitated, "But I was so worried about Lex I wasn't thinking."



Lex was horrified. He knew that Clark thought the world of him, but for someone to exploit their friendship, and turn it against them… That was sick…



With an expressive wave, Haze encouraged Clark to continue.



"As I walked to the corner, someone came round from one side and grabbed me. The guy in the uniform shoved a cloth in my face. They both had m.meteor rocks in their pockets."



"You couldn't have done anything more, Clark." Lex reassured him as Haze soothed his 'twin'. "They were obviously well prepared." Plus they knew your weaknesses, he added mentally, keeping the last part to himself.



"They pushed me into the car while I was dizzy and sick, and shoved me down on the floor. One of them tied my wrists with wire." Clark rubbed at his wrists absently. "It hurt."



Haze stroked his own fingers over Clark's, even though the wire cuts were long﷓vanished, healed by Haze's own hands even before the rest of that curious ritual.



"How many men were there?" Lex wondered, making a mental note to ask for more detail concerning the extent and limitations of Haze's unusual talents later.



"Four, I guess." Clark thought it over. "Three in the back with me, plus another driving. As they joined the freeway, I started to get my … strength … back a little. The man with the red hair saw me trying to break the wire. He …got angry … he started kicking me. Hard. I'm not used to being hurt like that … My head went all fuzzy…"







Lex tensed at the remembered pain evident in Clark's eyes.



"The man with the glasses was yelling at him to stop." Clark recounted softly. "The two of them were still arguing about it when the phone rang. The blonde guy answered it. I eavesdropped. Although it wasn't like I had any choice, they were right next to me."



Lex smiled at Clark's endearing honesty, hoping that his friend would never lose that innate sense of right.



"When he heard them fighting, Edge warned them that he didn't want any real damage done to me. That seemed to be enough to stop them. After a few minutes the car pulled over. The guy with the red hair was sent up front with the driver. I didn't see him again after that."



"No one's ever going to see any of them again." Lex promised.



Haze nodded in agreement.



"Unless they care to consult a really top-notch spiritualist…" Lex added.







"The man with the glasses started to … notice me." Clark recalled, starting to sound tense again.



"Notice?" Lex lifted an eyebrow. "Notice, how?" He had a feeling that they were getting closer to the bad part.



"He said … he liked boys." Clark murmured, face scarlet, and his eyes now fixed firmly on his sneakers.



Oh … Lex waited, dreading what he was going to hear next.



Haze slid his palm over Clark's cheek, gently encouraging him to lift his face. Their eyes met.



Lex watched entranced as Clark immediately calmed.



"He pulled at … my … " Clark's face flushed brighter and he clamped his lips together tightly and shut his eyes. "My ... shirt…" He finished.



Haze shuddered and looked over at Lex.







"I'll have to try and say it in one go …" Clark decided after pulling himself back together. "It won't be perfect, but it’s the best I can do. Make whatever sense you can of it. Haze can fill you in on anything else later."



"Understood." Lex nodded, not sure if he did actually understand at all, but more than willing to try for Clark's sake.



While Haze pulled himself more upright on the padded couch, pulling Clark in close against him, their legs pressed thigh to thigh, Lex couldn't help but notice how near their faces were, lips only inches apart. That familiar slow heat began to pound in his groin. It was wrong and he knew it, but he couldn’t help it.



Haze rested his face against Clark's and Clark's eyes widened momentarily, slowly the tension seemed to drain out of him. His duplicate stroked the side of his neck, fingers brushing lightly over his ear.



"So he was pulling at your shirt." Lex prompted quietly.



Clark nodded, mesmerised as the solidity of the arms around him relaxed him. Over the next few seconds their breathing synchronised, eyelids matching blink for blink. Lex would have bet anything that their hearts were beating in perfect stereo.







Shifting in Haze's arms, Clark began to speak again. "He rubbed his hand … On my waist. They were cold … with something gritty on them. Rocks… everywhere … The dust … burning where it touched me …" Hesitantly he swallowed.



"He pressed his hands up …" There was another telling pause. His eyes snapped shut again. "Under my t-shirt, over my ribs." He shivered.



Haze took close hold of him again without hesitation.



"The filthy bastard!" Lex couldn't help but hiss.



Haze nodded, agreeing with Lex's angry response, but never taking his focus from his 'twin'.



"He started pinching me. Hard." Clark's hand clenched tight around a handful of Haze's shirt. Haze leaned in close, letting Clark feel that he was there and that Clark was not alone. Not any more.



Clark's eyes opened and he accepted the warmth that Haze was offering. "Here." He echoed. "Not alone."



Haze nodded solemnly.



Clark began to speak again. "The blonde was sitting by my head. He kept touching my hair. I tried, really tried, not to let them see me cry, but I wanted … to go home … and everything hurt so much. I tried begging them to let me go back to my folks… They said… said freaks couldn't have parents…"



"What was the other man doing?" Lex probed.



"Picking more rocks out of a box … putting them on me…" Clark answered in a curiously distant voice.



"More?" Lex began to see where this was going. Oh, hell…



"He … rubbed his fingers in the dust and wiped them against my face. He put his fingers,"



Haze shuddered, evidently too closely enmeshed with his twin to distance himself from Clark's pain.



Clark started to weep in Haze's arms, each tear timed to the words still streaming out of him. "In … my mouth …" He whispered.



Haze jerked slightly.



"Clark?" Lex was anxious.



Looking absolutely livid, Haze signed a curiously familiar shape.



"Bottle?" Lex swallowed hard. "Clark, what was that about a soda bottle?"



At the movement from Haze, Clark's eyes regained some of their clarity and he attempted to pull back. Haze accommodated the slight change in position, but both of his arms remained close around Clark.



Lex frowned, wondering what Haze had just found out?



Clark's face lost all trace of colour. He shivered, despite the closeness to his 'twin', and opened pleading eyes. "No… I can't … don't make me go back there."



Haze resumed stroking Clark, their eyes met.



"You're stronger than this," Lex told Clark, recognising a pivotal moment. "You can fight it. You trust us?"



"yes…" It was little more than a whimper.







Haze pressed his cheek back against Clark's, settled him back against him, and gradually soothed his 'twin' back into a state of relative calm. There was even less distance between them than before.



Lex fancied he could almost see the breath leaving Haze's mouth and being sucked directly into Clark's. He fidgeted, finding something incredibly erotic about the action, and, given the horrible circumstances, felt a surge of shame and guilt at his own response.



Oblivious, Clark snuggled sleepily, his eyes flickering almost closed.



'Not sleeping', Haze signed.



Lex nodded in acknowledgement, having long since ceased to question the existence of the connection between the two youths. Lex's main concern now was if revisiting the moment like this would actually help Clark or if it could somehow damage him further?



"What about the man with glasses?" He worried, watching Clark. Looking uneasy, Haze met Lex's eyes, pointing at the waistband of Clark's jeans, and miming the button being pulled undone.



A sick feeling rose in Lex's gut, did they really need Clark to relive this? Do I even want to know if there is a next part?







"He was touching … hurting … His fingers… in…" Clark's panic and terror were evident, even coming in retrospect.



Bolting up straight Haze shuddered, snatching Clark tight against him, hands rubbing up and down Clark's back. Clinging to Haze, Clark shivered while Haze held him.



At that moment Lex understood that Haze would never willingly leave Clark, no matter what they might learn. He only hoped that Haze could convince Clark of that.



Writhing in Haze's embrace, Clark muttered unintelligibly as he burrowed still closer to his duplicate "… hate him!"



The two words were all that Lex could make out from the mumbled flow, "That's it, get it all out." He encouraged. "All of those bastards are dead, Clark. They won't get to do that to anyone else."



"The blonde man too?" Clark groaned, burying his face in the solid comfort of Haze's chest.



"Already taken care of." Lex promised, while Haze massaged his fingertips over Clark's scalp, carding the tousled curls.



"Oh, Haze …" Clark murmured, against his 'twin's' neck. "You shouldn't have had to do that…"



Haze merely shrugged and held him tighter.







It seemed to Lex that Clark had immediately understood what Lex had not said, and that somehow he knew that it had been Haze and not Lex that had taken the offensive. Perhaps their link was completely open again? Of course, Haze might already made a full confession to Clark at some earlier moment?



Lex would not have been surprised to hear that. In the Kent household, they probably discussed these things over breakfast, along with all the other Kent Family Secrets. Then again, would Haze necessarily volunteer anything of what he had done to rescue Clark?



Given what Lex had seen Haze do, Lex was not sure that he would have chosen to share those particular details, not even with Clark… especially not with Clark, knowing how sensitive the youth was. But whatever the explanation Clark most definitely knew now…







'Those people are history. We are the future.' Haze silently communicated to Clark, before gathering his 'twin' back to him and pressing a tender kiss to Clark's forehead, then his nose, and finally onto his chin. 'I love you… Never doubt that.'



As if the dam inside him had finally broken, Clark began to sob desperately, his entire body shaking with each stuttering breath.



"That's it, let it all go, Clark. You'll feel a whole lot better once you have." Lex promised, as Haze comforted his 'twin'. "Although, I bet Haze wishes he'd picked a waterproof shirt this morning…" He added, hoping to lighten the moment.



Before Lex could even offer, a single tissue wafted out of the open box on the coffee table, fluttered up into the air and landed in Haze's waiting palm.



'Thanks,' he signed, looking directly at Lex.



Lex managed to stutter that Haze was welcome, and waited for his brain to stop whirling.







Gazing fondly down at Clark, who was only sniffling lightly by now, Haze pressed the cloth to Clark's nose.



'Blow.' The silent command was evidently not open to discussion. 'And don't even think of snotting on me…'



As Haze's mental voice echoed in his mind, Clark managed a muffled chuckle. Ruffling his hair Haze hugged him all the tighter. His eyes met Clark's and Clark nodded. "'Kay… I just wish that I …"



He fell silent as the support flooded through from Haze.







After a few second's more of the wordless exchange between them, Clark looked over at their bemused host. "Haze says that it's a good time for a change of topic." He translated. "He also says to let you know that he meant it when he agreed to tell you about himself, Lex. And that he doesn't intend to insult your intelligence or your hospitality by making excuses for what he can do, or by hiding the fact that he is doing it."



"Are you okay with that, Clark?" Lex wondered.



"Sure." Clark sounded anything but okay, as he gave a deep sigh. "I trust Haze. I know he hates having to keep what he is hidden. I won't ask him to live a lie. I wish that it could be the same for me, but…"



"But you don't feel that you can?"



Clark shook his head. "I want to, Lex, I really do, but Mom and Dad would have kittens."



"Clark." Lex smiled. "The last thing I want to do is start a rift between you and your parents. I did a lot of thinking when we were getting you back, but I'd already made up my mind long before that. Clark, now I have the chance to say it, I want you to know that I don't care about whatever it is that you can't tell me. What I care about most is you, and the things that you do share with me…"



* * * * *



About half an hour after they put the film back on, Haze fidgeted cautiously: an emotionally-drained Clark having drifted off to sleep in his arms in the first ten minutes.



"You want me to spell you for a few?" Lex wondered. "He's got to be heavy."



With a casual nod Haze signed that it would be nice to be able to stretch his … wings? It was an unusual gesture, but utterly unambiguous.



"Quaint. Most people ask for the little boy’s room." Lex smirked, sliding over smoothly and taking Haze's place.



Giving a happy little sigh, Clark continued snoozing.



Haze shook his head, and certainly didn't seem in any hurry to leave the room once he was upright.



"'If not that, then why?" Lex gestured at his new accessory.



Stretching up to his full height, Hazed took a deep cleansing breath, twisting forward and bending his spine into a serpentine curve.



"That better?" Lex smiled.



Pointing towards the base of his ribs, Haze tugged up the hem of his t-shirt and showed Lex the red mark that had been left on his flank by the arm of the sofa.



"Ouch." Lex sympathised. "Clark is pretty solid. Guess you really did want to stretch?"



With a nod of affirmation, Haze tilted his head to one side, listening. 'Door. Jonathan.' He signed.



"Jonathan?" Lex raised both eyebrows. "He's here? Hey, why didn't I hear him?"



‘Truck, parking.' Haze relayed.



"Right." Lex gave him a quizzical stare. Was his leg being pulled or was Haze serious? The thought of Clark's Dad arriving at the Mansion at all was bad enough in itself, but what he would do if he found them like this hardly bore thinking about! Jonathan would probably be reloading his shotgun for a second blast before Lex could even get his running shoes on.



'Relax! Jonathan, not shoot you.' Haze promised with graceful gestures, accurately interpreting Lex's alarm with amusement. 'Parking brake on. Truck door … Open… Shut.'



Lex strained but heard nothing.



'Walking, step.' Haze grinned at Lex.



Holding his breath Lex listened even more intently. Still nothing. Was this a wind up?



Giving a knowing wink, Haze pantomimed pressing a thumb against…



As the distant doorbell rang Lex nearly jumped out of his skin, but having a heavy farm boy sprawled out in his arms served to keep him firmly located on the sofa.



Haze's smug grin implied that he could get that, if Lex asked him really nicely?



"Please?" Lex gave him a frantic look.



'Okay.' Haze grinned back at him. 'Full hands, you.' He signed with a wink. 'Owe me big.'







Jonathan Kent was determined to be as patient as the next person. However today he was also a man with a mission and, having counted to a quick five, was just about to ring the bell again. As the door opened, he made the immediate assumption. "Clark?"



Haze's wave and easy silence gave him the answer.



"Hi Haze, where's Clark?"



Haze indicated that Clark was in the TV room with Lex, fast asleep and that everything was under control.



"Thank the Lord for small mercies." Jonathan let out a small sigh of relief. "Is he any better?"



Haze obviously thought Clark would be just fine. He looked at Kent senior, and signed 'Trust me?'



"Sure I do, Haze. It's those damn Luthor's I don't trust. Why do you ask?"