Clark panted for breath as he lay on the ground. He'd been so stupid--so, so stupid.

It seemed that not even Kryptonians were immune to mud--at least not when it got under their tires and sent them flying off the road and over a steep embankment. He hadn't thought about the possibility of a flash flood washing the road out. Why should he have? He was invulnerable, and this was a back road--there was a good chance that no one had come by here in several hours. In fact, probably the last person to come through here was the security guard who'd been commissioned to guard the foundry. It wasn't as though Clark had gotten any warning.

That had actually been the reason that Clark was going to the foundry. The foundry was closed--no one worked there anymore, and so why would a guard be needed? Naturally, given the fact that Chloe had picked up that many high tech pieces of equipment were being moved there, Clark had gone to investigate.

He'd never noticed that the road had been washed out because the unstable area had only been about four feet on the side of the road. To make matters worse, the road had washed out from underneath, leaving an unsupported layer of black top that made it appear as though the road were still intact.

That, Clark had found out as his truck had slipped off the side of the road, was a grave misassumption. As soon as the ground had given out, Clark's truck had rolled off the side of the embankment, tumbling over and over as it hurtled down the steep slope. Parts of the slope dropped off for up to ten feet, and the truck went flying over those, causing a mighty crash when it hit the ground.

Somewhere along the line Clark had been thrown from the truck. He'd hit the ground hard, and he thought he might have blacked out for a few moments.

The only reason he wasn't dead was that he hadn't encountered the meteor rocks until he'd been thrown from the truck--if he'd been in the truck when the effects reached him, then he would have been crushed. Despite not having been crushed in the truck, though, the impact that he received when he had been thrown had been hard. Had his body had time to fully absorb the effects of the rocks, he knew he'd be dead.

Clark could feel blood on his face. Once he'd hit the ground he'd rolled, cutting himself on sticks and stones. It also hurt to move his leg, but he suspected that was from the impact. Of course, it hurt to move anything; the rocks were still so close.

To make matters worse, it was beginning to get dark. No one would see the wreckage if there was no light--not that it would matter, as it was unlikely that anyone would come by for quite a few hours.

I could die, Clark realized with a shiver. The rocks made him vulnerable, and he was bleeding. Besides, even if he got away from the major chunks of rocks, there were still tiny bits that were barely even visible in the soil. Healing was not going to be an option, and so he needed to stop the bleeding. If he didn't, he knew that he could die of blood loss. Of course, if he didn't die from injuries, he could simply do so from exposure, because it was beginning to get cold as the sun went down.

As the minutes dragged by, Clark began to get colder and colder. The boiling of his blood wasn't warming him up, either, but only causing him pain.

Realizing that no one was coming, it began to set in that he'd have to help himself. Groaning, he dug his fingers into the soil, trying to lift his body despite the fact that the meteor rocks were still present. Clark succeeded to some degree--he was at least able to start dragging himself towards the slope. His leg hurt badly, but he was able to use his other one to push his body forward.

By the time he'd reached the start of the sharp incline, he'd only moved about twenty feet and he was already exhausted. Looking up at the daunting climb ahead of him--at least forty feet up--it became clear that he had no hope of making the trek. In fact, probably not even a normal healthy human could have made it, given the overhangs of rock.

Finally collapsing in a state of fatigue, Clark weakly turned his head and glanced over at the wreckage of his truck. Parts of it were just twisted metal, and the windows were completely shattered. Yet another destroyed truck in the Kent family, he thought bitterly.

As he sprawled weakly in the dirt, he realized that his strength was gone. His only hope of rescue was someone finding him.

And amazingly, it seemed that he was going to get a shot at that.

The bright headlights of a vehicle sliced through the darkness, and Clark could hear it slow down as it approached the scene of the accident. The road had to be out, Clark thought desperately. There was no way that the car could pass.

Please, please get out to check the road! Clark thought desperately as he heard the car pull to a stop.

Once again, luck was on his side. Clark could hear the engine being cut, followed by the echo of a car door slamming. Footsteps on the gravel came next, and then the sound of someone swearing quietly.

"Help me!" Clark gasped out. It wasn't very loud, and at first he'd thought he hadn't made himself heard.

There was silence from the road. "Help me!" he cried again, vainly trying to rise from the dirt so that he could project his voice a little more clearly.

The footsteps began again, this time moving closer to the edge of the road. "Is someone down there?"

"Yes!" Clark managed to choke out. His body hurt so much; the rocks were taking away his presence of mind. If only he could clear the haze of pain around his mind, then he might be able to figure out why that voice sounded familiar.

"Let me get a flashlight!" There were more footsteps on the gravel and more sounds of a car door, followed by the light of a flashlight cutting into the darkness.

A few seconds later the light was shinning over the embankment, and Clark blinked at its brightness. "Clark?" a stunned voice asked. The light shifted over to his truck. "Shit!"

Lex.

Of all the people he wouldn't have wanted to rescue him, Lex was it. Lex, who had stolen his girlfriend and who was currently dating her. Not to mention that Clark now had a fairly good idea of who was running the operations at the old foundry.

"Clark, are you hurt?" There was worry in Lex's voice. Despite the fact that about a month ago Lex had told him that he was no longer welcome in the mansion, he still seemed concerned about Clark's state of being. "Do you need an ambulance?"

"N-no," he gasped out through gritted teeth. No ambulances, because that meant doctors, and Clark couldn't let that happen. He was fairly certain that he'd ground enough of the meteor rock into his skin during the fall so that he wouldn't heal until he'd washed his cuts out, but he still didn't want to risk anything. There were just too many things that could go wrong.

"Can you get up?"

The truth was that, no, he couldn't, but he didn't want to ask Lex for help. Unfortunately, if he didn't ask for Lex's help, then he could very well die. He wasn't being left with a whole lot of options.

"N-no, I don't think so," he admitted. The pain in his voice was awful, even to his own ears.

"Clark, you need an ambulance," Lex told him in frustration as he withdrew a cell phone from his pocket.

"No!" he cried out again, trying to jerk upright and gasping at the pain that caused. Lex paused, cell phone in hand. "C-Call my mom!" Clark added as fervently as he could. How he was talking, he didn't know, because his lungs felt as though they were on fire.

There was an annoyed sigh from Lex that Clark could hear even from the bottom of the slope. Despite that, Clark could see him looking down at his cell phone. "There's no coverage," Lex announced after a few moments.

Clark laid his head back down on the ground. He was so tired, and he hurt so much. Apparently this ordeal wasn't going to end, though, because if there was no coverage then there was no way for him to get a hold of his mom.

"G-go back to the m-mansion and call her," Clark told him weakly, turning his head to the side so that his words weren't completely muffled.

"There's blood all over the ground!" Lex snapped. "You could be dead before then."

Clark glanced back up the slope, realizing that Lex was hinting at the idea of coming down to help Clark. Since parts of the slope were overhangs, that meant that if Lex came down to get him, he wasn't going to be able to climb back up again--at least not without help.

"You c-can't climb back up!" he pointed out. His voice was getting weaker with every passing minute.

Lex, it seemed, picked up on the lack of force behind his words. "You won't last the night, Clark. If you don't accept professional help, you're going to die. Let me drive a little ways down the road to get some coverage and I'll call an ambulance."

"No!" He'd rather die then end up being studied in a lab.

Lex sighed in frustration. "This is your life, Clark!" he shouted angrily.

"Call my m-mom!" Clark told him again again.

Lex paused. A few seconds passed before he asked, "Did you hit your head, Clark?"

Did he hit his head? What kind of question was that? He'd fallen down an embankment and Lex wanted to know if he'd hit his head? Of course he'd hit his head--he'd hit just about everything.

"Yes," he admitted weakly. His voice was beginning to fail in volume. The damn rocks were sapping his strength. At the rise of the slope, their affect was a little weaker than it had been where he'd landed, but he could still feel them clearly.

There was silence for a moment. "Your mother is in Topeka for a conference. My father attended it with her. You had to have known that."

Clark groaned. He had, but he'd forgotten. Maybe he'd hit his head harder than he'd thought.

"Chloe, th-then!"

"You'll be dead by the time she gets here," Lex snapped. "I'm coming down."

Clark tried to refute that idea, but it only came out as a groan. Weakly, he let his head rest back in the dirt.

For a moment there was nothing but footsteps and the sound of Lex opening and closing a car door. After that the sound of snapping twigs and loose dirt tumbling assaulted Clark's ears, as did the harsh gasps of someone working physically. Lex was truly coming down, he realized.

It seemed like a lifetime before careful but firm hands were turning him over, gently patting his cheek. "Did the road wash out from under you?" Lex asked, his face close to Clark's.

Clark forced his eyes open enough to look at Lex. There was certainly worry there, he noted.

"Yeah," he breathed out. It was easier to talk now that Lex was close to him instead of at the top of an embankment.

"And you obviously went off the road," Lex noted. He carefully put his hands to Clark's face, moving down to his neck and arms. "You're freezing," he noted grimly. "Not that I'm surprised since it's November." He was silent for a moment, and then he began to press at Clark's limbs in what Clark assumed to be an attempt to check for broken bones. "How are you not dead?" Lex asked grimly as he prodded.

Clark never had a chance to answer, for he was interrupted by a searing pain when Lex pressed down on his leg. The pain overwhelmed him and he let out a cry of agony, his vision going blurry.

Lex immediately let up on the pressure and moved to hold Clark steady until the terrible pain had passed. Once the pain was gone, Clark remained motionless as Lex reached down, grasping his wrist and taking his pulse.

After about a minute, Lex calmly said, "I don't think you're going into shock, which is a miracle. If you were then your pulse would have increased." He paused, and with a sigh, ran his hand over his head. "Anyone else would be dead, Clark."

Clark remained silent, closing his eyes. He wasn't explaining this to Lex. Apparently, Lex was going to let that slide for now, because a few moments of silence elapsed before Lex spoke again.

"Clark?"

"Hmm?" Clark muttered.

"Are you allergic to the meteor rocks?"

Clark immediately tensed up, which, he realized a moment later, was a horrible reaction, because it answered Lex's question. Hoping against hope that Lex had been unobservant for once in his life, Clark remained silent.

"You are," Lex deadpanned. His voice dropped an octave as he said, "All those times that I couldn't understand how you could be hurt--those times with Lana's necklace--were all because of the rocks. When I found you on a cross in a field, when you backed away after I tried to give you Lana's necklace, when you got sick in my lab the time I split myself with the black rock--it was all the green rock."

"No," Clark denied, opening his eyes to look up at Lex.

"You're surrounded in a gorge by the rocks--they're all around you, Clark. I don't know how I didn't see it before."

"How d-did you see it today?" Clark asked, finally giving up. Lex knew; there was no denying it.

"I just glanced down at the rocks and suddenly it all just clicked."

Clark sighed heavily, immediately regretting it when his lungs began to burn even worse. "I'm sorry I lied," he said quietly. He and Lex might not be friends anymore, but the least that Clark could give him was an apology.

"We'll talk about that later," Lex replied quietly, his fingers still skimming over Clark's body. Apparently finding no broken bones, he withdrew his hands and reached over to a black bag at his side.

After going through it for a moment, Lex withdrew a first aid kit. "Why do you h-have that?" Clark stuttered out.

"I've been injured enough times that it seemed like a good idea to have it with me," Lex replied emotionlessly.

As Lex opened the kit, Clark shook his head. "Move the rocks away first." His condition might at least improve if that happened. Besides, if Lex knew about the rocks, then Clark might as well take advantage of that.

Lex raised an eyebrow. "To where?"

"Just...away," Clark said with a sigh.

Nodding, Lex got up. "All right." He moved out of Clark's line of sight, and Clark didn't have the energy necessary to turn and follow his movements. The only way that he even still knew that Lex was there was by the crunching of sticks and dead leaves that could be heard as Lex moved around.

Over the next few minutes, the pain began to decrease. It wasn't all at once, but it began to subside in little increments, and Clark could at least breathe easier.

"Is that better?" Lex asked as he moved back next to Clark. He turned off his flashlight, presumably to conserve the batteries.

"Yeah," Clark murmured, "that feels so much better."

The rustling of the first aid kit let Clark know that Lex was again going through it. "You're leg is in rough shape," he announced.

Groaning, Clark pushed his arms under himself and forced his body into a sitting position. The pain was less than what it had been when the rocks were closer, but it was still present, leaving him gasping for air. Once he was sitting up, he looked down at his leg to see blood seeping through the torn material of his jeans.

"Moving around isn't going to help any of your injuries," Lex snapped at him as he pulled a cleaning pad from the first aid kit. Kneeling next to Clark, he began to wipe at what Clark assumed to be a cut on his face. That thought was confirmed when it began to sting.

Clark hissed at the pain and made an attempt to pull away, but Lex caught his chin, holding him still. "This would be easier if it wasn't dark," Lex muttered, sounding frustrated.

"You could just turn on the flashlight," Clark pointed out.

Lex's tone was cold and clipped when he replied. "I don't know how long the batteries will last, and the moonlight is enough so that I can see the cuts on your face."

Clark fell silent, sensing that whatever he said, Lex was going to have a sharp retort for it. In his present condition, he just didn't feel up to their usual verbal sparring.

A few minutes passed while Lex cleaned the cuts on Clark's face and neck. Clark thought that besides the one large cut on his forehead, they were mostly little cuts, probably made by twigs and small rocks.

"You're shivering," Lex pointed out as he tossed the cleaning pad aside in favor of a bandage.

That was true, Clark realized. He hadn't been aware of that up until now, but he really was freezing. Sitting on the ground wasn't exactly warming him up, either.

"There was a sleeping bag in my truck," he told Lex. "It might still be there or at least somewhere around here." Chances were that it had gone flying in the crash, but it would be so nice if it was still somewhere nearby.

Lex didn't reply, but he did get up from where he was sitting, heading in the direction of the wreckage. Clark watched him go, observing as he began stepping tentatively, trying to avoid the broken glass.

The truck was definitely beyond repair, Clark realized with a sigh. The cab was completely smashed, and for what felt as if the thousandth time, Clark tried to figure out how he'd survived. Even if he hadn't hit the meteor rocks until he'd completely fallen down the whole slope, he didn't know how he'd survived that last part.

Clark couldn't see Lex's face as he searched through the wreckage, but he imagined that his mind was working overtime. If it hadn't been obvious that Clark was different before, it certainly was now--Lex was smart enough to know that no normal person could survive a crash like that.

An angry jab of pain in his leg forced Clark to tear his eyes away from Lex. He looked down at his injury and was once again worried by the blood that he saw there. Pushing aside the half foot-long tear in his jeans, he was able to make out a deep cut, which was still oozing blood.

Clark was still looking at his wound when Lex announced, "That's needs to be wrapped." Looking up, he saw that Lex had somehow managed to make his way back over to Clark without being heard.

At least it appeared that he'd found the sleeping bag, though, as he was carrying it under his right arm. "You found it?" Clark asked, ignoring Lex's comment about his leg.

Lex nodded. "It was a few feet away from where you landed."

Saying nothing more, Lex put the sleeping bag down on the ground, clearing away as many rocks as possible before moving the bag into place. Once he'd done that, he hooked his hands under Clark's arms and helped lift him onto the more cushioned surface.

With a sigh, Clark lay back, thankful for the built-in pillow. "Thanks," he murmured.

Lex gave him an assessing look. "Sure."

The touch to his leg that followed a few seconds later was completely unexpected, and Clark jerked. Despite his reaction, however, Lex continued to touch his leg, pushing the torn denim aside. "You need to get your pants off so that I can wrap this," he told Clark. There was a hint of worry in his voice.

Clark groaned. He was already freezing; taking his pants off wasn't going to make him warmer. "Lex, I'm already cold," he complained.

"Let me wrap it and then you can get in the sleeping bag." Amazingly, Lex didn't sound annoyed, but rather...understanding.

Sighing, Clark nodded. He knew Lex was right, because the cut was messy. Even so, the idea still didn't appeal to him.

Apparently realizing that Clark wasn't going to voluntarily remove his pants, Lex reached down and undid the button himself. By the time Clark recovered from the fact that Lex was unbuttoning his pants, his zipper was being pulled down as well.

When Lex drew his pants down, it became obvious that the dried blood was making Clark's pants stick to him. That made their removal rather painful, and Clark cried out in pain as Lex peeled them away, pulling at the cut. That hurt.

Lex didn't speak, but when Clark tried to push him away, he paused to catch Clark's wrists. Transferring them to one hand, he held Clark back while he continued to pull the pants away. Ordinarily, Clark would have had no trouble pushing Lex away, but the meteor rocks on the ground and on his skin prevented him from using his normally amazing strength.

When Lex took a cleaning pad to attempt to disinfect the wound, the pain spiked again, reaching new levels. "Stop it!" Clark shrieked, pulling frantically against Lex's hold. Lex wasn't letting go, though. In fact, he only held Clark wrists tighter.

Then it stopped, and Clark was left panting. Only a mild stinging was left to remind him of the pain he'd been feeling only seconds before.

"I need to wrap it, Clark, and it's probably not going to feel good," Lex told him calmly, still holding his wrists. "I need both hands to do it, though, so I can't hold you down. I don't care what you do to stop yourself from moving, but you need to make sure you stay still."

He was right, Clark knew, as much as he wasn't thrilled by that fact. Knowing that it had to be done, however, he nodded. "I won't move," he promised. He could do this, he told himself. He'd dealt with pain before, and he could do it again now.

Lex's mouth went into a thin line, his expression grim. "All right."

Lex released Clark's wrists as he picked up some gauze. Carefully he placed it on Clark's leg, smoothing it. "Breathe deep," he told Clark as he made a move towards his leg.

It hurt when Lex pushed the edges of his wound together, binding it up tight. Just the pressure on it was enough to make him bite his tongue to hold in a scream, as well as to dig his hands into the edges of the sleeping bag as Lex continued to poke and prod in order to make sure he'd done everything properly.

Clark panted for breath, but the pain wasn't as bad as when Lex had cleaned the wound. It was painful, yes, but not excruciating. Even so, it was a challenge not to try to push Lex away.

When Lex finally finished, Clark slumped back into the sleeping bag, breathing hard. "Are you all right?" Lex asked after a moment, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," Clark murmured as he struggled to catch his breath.

A small sigh escaped Lex's mouth. The sound almost seemed to be one of relief. "Good. Do you want to get in the sleeping bag?"

"Mmhmm," Clark quickly agreed. He was freezing cold as it was, and his lack of pants wasn't helping. His thin T-shirt wasn't much of a buffer for the wind that had come up, either.

Before Clark could say anything else, Lex was already unzipping the edges of the bag. "Here," Lex muttered absently, pulling Clark over enough so that he could open the bag before moving Clark onto the opened part of it.

The softness of the inner lining of the bag was wonderful, especially after lying on the ground for so long. With a small smile, Clark lay down and placed his head on the built-in pillow. "Take off your shirt before you get comfortable," Lex told him emotionlessly. Suddenly the pillow didn't seem so amazingly comfortable. Was Lex insane? To add to Clark's surprise, Lex was moving down into the sleeping bag, too. He probably shouldn't have been surprised at that, though, because Lex had to be almost as cold as he was.

"Why?" he asked, confused. He was already cold--why would he want to shed more clothing?

"Because body heat is the best way to get warm," Lex told him blandly as he stripped off his own jacket before going to work on the buttons of what Clark thought was probably a ridiculously expensive shirt.

Clark swallowed; they weren't going to take off all of their clothes, were they?

Lex seemed to read his mind. "You can keep your boxers on, Clark."

Wincing at the pull of his shoulder, which he'd apparently bruised, Clark did as was told and removed his shirt, leaving him in his boxers. At this point, it would be easier to just not argue with Lex. This might have been slightly embarrassing, but it wasn't worth an argument.

Lex also cast aside his shirt and quickly toed off his shoes, which were followed shortly by his pants. Seeming to be satisfied at the fact that they were both nearly naked, Lex reached down and began to zip up the sleeping bag. Right before he completely did so, he slipped into it, pulling the zipper up behind him.

This sleeping bag was clearly not meant for two people, Clark realized.

Lex was nearly pressed right against him, and while Lex had been right--it was warm--it was also slightly awkward. Trying to shift a little in an attempt to gain space, Clark moved his leg into Lex's knee and cried out in pain.

"Stop moving," Lex snapped, getting a hand on Clark's arm. "Let me just--uh-get situated," he muttered as he got himself settled. "Okay, now put your head here," he said much more clearly as he brought a hand up to hook around the back of Clark's head. Gently, he guided it a little further down the pillow so that Clark's head was protected from the wind. "Don't try to shift your legs around too much."

Sighing heavily, Clark did as he was told. It appeared to work, too, as he was fairly comfortable in the directed position, and he was most definitely warmer. After they had both gotten settled, silence fell between them, and Clark closed his eyes. He was so tired. If he could just sleep through the night, then Lex could get his men to help them in the morning, and maybe he'd end up being okay.

It never even dawned on him that he was trusting Lex more than he would trust the ambulance workers.

A sharp tap on Clark's cheek quickly drew him back away from any sort of slumber. "Huh?" he murmured.

"I don't know if you have a concussion," Lex said in explanation.

So that apparently meant he couldn't go to sleep, Clark realized in annoyance. "Sleeping doesn't actually make a concussion worse," Clark replied irritably.

"No," Lex agreed, "but it does make it so that I can't monitor your behavior and make sure that your condition isn't getting worse."

"There's not anything you could do if it was," Clark reminded him. "You might as well let me sleep."

"No." Lex's tone was firm, clearly leaving no room for an argument.

"And so what do you suggest that we do all night?" Clark snapped. He was tired, and he wanted to sleep. Why did Lex have to be so against that?

Lex shifted a little, burrowing his head further into his side of the pillow. Apparently that sparked some ideas in his head, as he answered, "We could make pillow talk."

Even in the dark, Clark was sure that Lex could see his blush. He had to be practically glowing, after all; Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had nothing on him in this situation. It wasn't as if he could really hold it back, though. Lex hadn't teased him like that for years--not since they'd been friends. He'd blushed then, and he couldn't help doing the same now. This) was a thousand times more awkward anyway, given the enclosed space that they were in.

"Was that an attempt at humor?" he asked, though his voice wasn't quite as venomous as he would have liked. Actually, he had to admit that he'd sounded rather shaky.

"You would have thought it was funny four years ago."

"I might have," Clark conceded, regaining a grip on himself. "But four years is a long time."

Lex sighed. "When did you start hating me, Clark?"

Clark paused. "I don't hate you," he said finally. That was the truth--he didn't hate Lex. He hated some of his decisions, but he didn't hate the man himself. No, they had too much history together--good history--for Clark to be able to muster up that emotion.

"No?" Lex asked with a chuckle. "You do a good job of faking it then."

"I don't know--" Clark tried to say.

"You know exactly what I mean," Lex said, cutting him off. "The only time you ever come to see me anymore is when you have an accusation--and you have no qualms about making those known, loudly and obnoxiously, at that."

Clark swallowed angrily. "If you wouldn't do stuff then--"

"Then what?" Lex snapped. "If I adhered to your strict moral code, then we could be best friends again?"

"You don't even try anymore, Lex," he spat. How could they be having this conversation less than a foot away from each other?

"There's no reason to," he countered. "What reason do I have to try to be good anymore, Clark?"

"Because you should." It was the only way he could think to put that. Lex shouldn't be trying to be good for anyone, but just because it was what he should be doing in the first place.

Lex laughed bitterly. "I seldom do what I should, Clark."

They lapsed into silence again, but this time Clark was far too furious to even think of sleep. After a few minutes of silence, his anger bubbled up to the surface again. "And why do you say I hate you, Lex?" he asked. "You haven't exactly been friendly to me this year."

There was silence, and then a venomous whisper. "You stupid son of a bitch, don't you dare try to pin this on me."

Clark felt his anger overflow. "Don't try to pin this on you? The whole reason that we stopped being friends was because of what you did!" he shouted, ignoring the fact that Lex was less than a foot away.

Clark wasn't prepared for the hand that grabbed his hair, shoving his face into the ground. "You called this friendship quits, Clark! That was your decision!"

"You tried to hurt my parents and Lana!" he yelled back, trying to shove Lex off him. His bruised muscles burned, and the cuts stung as his skin pulled, but he was too proud to simply give in.

"Because you lied to me!" Lex roared. In an act of utter impossibility given where they were, Lex grabbed his wrists and flipped them so that he was on top of Clark, pinning his wrists to the ground. The sleeping bag was stretched to the absolute limit. "I've never met a worse hypocrite than you!"

Lex shifted on top of him again, but this time he slipped, jamming his knee into Clark's injured leg. Agony shot through Clark, so sharp that for a moment white spots swam in front of his vision. He could hear himself screaming. Almost immediately the weight on top of him was gone.

As Clark began to regain his hold on conscious thought, he realized that Lex had rolled him over again and was holding Clark tightly as tears leaked out of Clark's eyes. This was worse than Kryptonite. Kryptonite was a slow burning pain, but this had been sharp and killing.

What surprised Clark even more was that he was clutching at Lex's arms like his life depended on it. "Are you all right?" Lex asked carefully after a minute or so. His voice sounded shocked, as though he hadn't expected Clark to feel pain.

"Yeah," Clark panted, still trying to ignore the angry spikes of discomfort that were shooting through his leg. Unable to really hold a conscious thought, he let his head drop against Lex.

Strangely, Lex didn't move away, but instead continued to hold onto Clark. Clark didn't have any desire to move away either, as the heat radiating off Lex was nice. What really surprised Clark, though, was that Lex was allowing such contact.

Lex was furious at him for so many things, just as Clark was angry at Lex. Yet just as Lex had been willing to spend the night in the middle of nowhere because Clark was injured at the bottom of a cliff, it also appeared that Lex was willing to drop their differences to take care of Clark. The bottom line was that Lex cared about him, and that would always come first. They could hash out their differences once Lex was sure Clark was physically all right.

"You're not used to pain, are you?" Lex asked after a minute or so. There was a slight pause. "Are you invulnerable, Clark?"

Clark swallowed. He didn't really see any point in lying now; there was a crushed truck just feet away from where they were lying in the sleeping bag. Lex was going to be able to figure things out, and if Clark admitted to a few things now then it might make it possible to avoid the downright animosity that would only increase from the current level that they were already at.

"Yes," Clark whispered. "Except around the rocks."

Clark could practically hear Lex thinking. "I hit you with my car?" he asked.

"I--" Clark tried to say, but his voice cracked. This wasn't an easy thing to say after he'd lied for so long, and it was especially hard to say to Lex, given the events that had recently transpired. "Yes," he finally managed to choke out.

He'd just given Lex all the reason he needed to hurt him, he realized. If Lex wanted to put him in a lab, he could now. Lex knew about the Kryptonite, and he certainly had the resources to keep Clark effectively hidden from the world.

Lex sighed. "I never wanted to hurt you, Clark. I would have protected you."

"I know," Clark replied honestly. "But I just couldn't...I don't know," he murmured, his voice trailing off. "All my life I've been told to hide who I really am."

Lex was silent for at least a minute, and Clark began to think that the conversation was closed. "Then why tell me now?" Lex finally asked. "After all that's gone on this year, why not just keep lying?"

Clark didn't even have to think on that answer. "Because you're too smart to think that a normal person could survive the accident that I was just in. I can't lie my way out of this like I did with the first car crash. You've seen the wreckage, and you've wrapped the injuries."

"You could fall back on sheer dumb luck," Lex suggested wryly, moving against Clark as he attempted to get more comfortable. His arms remained securely around Clark, though, almost protectively.

Clark furrowed his brow. "Are you trying to give me an out?"

Lex's arms tightened a modicum of a degree. "Is that what you need?"

"Is that even the point?" Clark countered. "I've needed a lot of things lately, Lex, but I haven't gotten any of them."

"Yeah?" Lex murmured. "What have you needed, Clark?"

"Too many things." That was certainly the truth, just as much as the fact that many of those things that he needed were no longer assessable to him.

His father, Lana, his mother's attention, Lex's friendship--so many things.

Lex sighed again. "For what it's worth, I won't use this to hurt you."

Shifting a little against Lex, Clark moved his head to bury it against the pillow. "Not even now?" Lex was so warm against him, and he was getting tired again.

"Not even now," Lex promised with a sad little chuckle.

Silence fell between them, but this time it was comfortable. The presence of the other man wasn't invasive--not like just a few minutes before. For a little while, at least, they could ignore the five hundred pound elephants that were still between them.

However, it appeared that such a status couldn't last forever, as eventually those elephants had to be addressed.

"Lex?" Clark murmured. He could feel himself beginning to slip off towards sleep again, and talking seemed to be the only way that he knew to stave it off. Besides, he had some things that he wanted answered.

"Yes?" Lex replied, sounding only a slight bit more awake.

"Did you ever want to make pillow talk with me?" Clark blushed as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He honestly couldn't believe that he'd just said that out loud.

Lex was silent for a few moments, apparently not believing that Clark had said that out loud. When Lex eventually spoke, his voice was tense, and Clark could almost envision the tight line that his lips had gone into. "Clark, do you actually know what pillow talk is, or more specifically when it occurs?"

Clark swallowed. "Yes."

There was another short pause. "Then do you realize what you just implied?"

Clark took a deep breath. "Yes," he answered again

"And do you still want an answer?" Lex sounded wary this time, as if he couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard.

"I wouldn't have asked the question if I hadn't."

Lex moved, situating himself better as well as tucking the edge of the sleeping bag more under their heads so that the wind wouldn't sneak in. It was clearly just a tactic to stall time, but Clark didn't push; he knew that Lex would eventually answer. He was proved right when Lex replied, "I think you know the answer to that question already, Clark, otherwise you never would have asked it."

As if things weren't awkward enough already, Clark still had one more thing that he wanted answered. "Do you still want that?"

Lex paused; it was one of the few times Clark had seen him hesitate to give an answer. "I'm dating Lana," he said finally.

"That's not an answer," Clark pointed out.

"Clark, if I give you an answer, then I can't take that back." He sounded intense and so completely different from someone who was simply trying to say the right things. In the past, whenever Clark had heard Lex sound like that, it had been related to a topic that he had treaded very carefully around.

Understanding that they were now touching on one of those topics, Clark hesitated. A conversation like this couldn't be taken back. He could let this topic drop now, and he knew that Lex would let him.

For some reason that Clark couldn't explain, he didn't want that. "I think you've just given me an answer," he said softly.

"I guess I have," Lex murmured in return. "Was it the one you wanted?"

"I don't know." That was an honest answer, and the only one that he felt he could give at the moment--except that might have only been because it was the only one that he was willing to give.

Clark didn't know what he wanted--at least not really. He'd always thought that he'd been meant to be with Lana, but that had fallen through in the most spectacular fashion possible. That still hurt--and he thought that it always might--but maybe it just hadn't been meant to be.

"If you feel that way, then why are you dating Lana?"

Lex chuckled bitterly. "You're just full of questions tonight, aren't you?" he asked, finally removing his hands from Clark. Clark, taking the hint, removed his touch from Lex, as well. Continuing, Lex told him, "Sometimes, Clark, second best is better than nothing at all, and what better thing to settle with then the thing that your actual object of desire wanted most?"

Apparently Lex hadn't been completely lying when he'd told Clark that he'd wanted everything he had--it just hadn't been for the reasons that Clark had thought. However, Clark was thinking that he liked this reason better anyway.

"And if I were to say that we'd both been wrong--that maybe we gave up too easily--what would you say?"

Lex laughed, though the sound was once again bitter. "I'd say that you hit your head harder than I'd originally thought. Clark, I don't know what you think this is going to turn into, but we'd destroy each other. We both know that."

"Why?" Clark murmured. "What makes you say that?"

"Look at us, Clark!" Lex exclaimed in obvious frustration. "I've killed people. Can you honestly tell me that you'll ever be all right with that?"

Clark hesitated, but finally replied, "No, I can't." Lying now would be senseless, because whatever he gained through his lies would only crumble later. "But I wouldn't be lying if I told you I was willing to compromise."

"Compromise?" Lex asked with a sharp laugh. "What, I can only do half as many maniacal things in a week, and you'll be all right with it then?"

Clark sighed. "We're supposed to be a balance, right? So what if we make a deal?"

"A deal?" Lex parroted, sounding somewhat contemptuous. "And what would that entail, Clark?"

"Whatever projects of yours that I uncover, you shut them down. You can't involve my family and friends, either."

Lex laughed again, but the sound came out much less caustic this time. When Lex spoke, his tone sounded almost fond, as though he thought Clark had said something adorably idealistic. Actually, Lex had always found it amusing when Clark had been nave and full of ideals. "And you think that you could sleep next to me at night knowing that I could have killed someone that day?"

"I think I could, knowing that I could try to uncover it the next day," Clark replied thoughtfully. He moved in the sleeping bag, trying to get a little bit closer to Lex. That wasn't difficult, considering that they had almost no room between them anyway.

Two hours ago, Clark had thought that he'd come as close to hating Lex Luthor as he'd come to hating anyone. But now, having been forced to talk to him again--to realize that they both still cared to some degree--was bringing up feelings that Clark had thought were long buried.

And the truth was, Clark wanted to give those feelings a chance this time. Maybe if he did, things might turn out better than they had been of late.

Lex's amused laugh brought Clark out of his thoughts. "You realize just how dysfunctional this sounds, don't you?"

Clark smiled in spite of himself. "Most of our friendship was built on lies, Lex, and we were best friends for quite a while. I think we can handle our own special brand of dysfunction."

"Our friendship crumbled, Clark--don't forget that. Those lies killed it, and I'll still lie to you now."

"But at least you're honest about lying."

"I'm honest about my lies," Lex said with a sigh, though he reached out to lay a hand on Clark's arm again. "You can't really think that we can balance each other," Lex said skeptically.

"I think it's worth a try," Clark replied quietly. "Don't you?"

"Lana's going to hate you if I break up with her for you," Lex said mildly as he raised a hand to Clark's hair.

Clark smiled, leaning into the soft stroking. When he woke up today, he never would have considered that this could happen. Even now, part of him thought he was out of his mind--a relationship with Lex could be his own undoing. But the other part of his mind--the one that had wanted Lex since he'd been in high school, even if he hadn't admitted it--thought that this was worth a try.

What did he have to lose?

Scooting closer to Lex, Clark nuzzled into his neck. "Tease," Lex murmured, tightening his hold on Clark's hair.

"I'm not teasing," Clark muttered as he nipped at Lex's jaw.

"We're not having sex in a sleeping bag after you've just been in an accident," Lex stated, though he sounded rather annoyed at that restriction.

Clark huffed in annoyance, shifting his leg experimentally. He had to bite his tongue to keep in his gasp of pain, and even so, Lex caught it.

"See?" he said with a small laugh. "You're not up for anything tonight."

"All right," Clark grumbled, even if he knew Lex was right. He assumed that cuddling was still all right, though. It probably wasn't something that a Luthor really liked to do, but Clark immediately made that a priority to change.

Not waiting for an okay from Lex, Clark pushed his body against his, leaning up for a kiss as he did so. Lex's own lips caught his, and he smiled into Clark's mouth. "This isn't sex," Clark murmured as they pulled away a fraction of an inch before again moving back.

The kiss that followed was hot and hungry, detailing years of pent-up emotion. Lex, Clark quickly found, had a talented tongue, and maintaining his rhythm turned out to be a challenge. Eventually he simply let Lex take control of the kiss, allowing his teasing until Clark grew hard.

Lex felt it also; he slowly broke the kiss and moved his hand back into Clark's hair, tucking Clark's head neatly in his neck. "That's all for tonight," he said rather breathlessly.

"Fine," Clark mumbled into Lex's skin, inhaling after he spoke. Lex smelled unbelievably good.

Apparently the rule about no sleeping had been forgotten in light of other things, as Clark began to slip off to sleep, still lying against Lex. Lex's breathing was evening out as well, lulling Clark even further towards slumber. In a matter of minutes, they'd both fallen asleep, tangled up in each other.

Waking up in a sleeping bag, Clark quickly found, was not the most fun experience he'd ever had. Clark had a tendency to be unaware of where he was when he woke up in the morning, and this morning was no different. As a result, he tried to move, forgetting that he was, one, in a sleeping bag, two, sleeping against Lex, and three, dealing with an injured leg.

Crying out in pain as he jerked his bad leg against Lex, Clark tried to jump backwards, only to get caught against the side of the sleeping bag. Panic rippled through him, as he still didn't know where it was. It was completely dark, and he was thinking that he was caught in his sheets.

Lex's harsh grunt sounded from just inches away from Clark. "Breathe!" Lex snapped, rolling over and grabbing Clark's shoulders, pinning him down.

Clark, being held still by Lex, began to feel reality seeping back into him. That reality, however, wasn't exactly a joyous one, given that he was badly injured and waiting for morning to dawn so that Lex could hail down one of his men.

"That's better," Lex said with a sigh, letting Clark go as he felt him relax.

"We weren't supposed to fall asleep," Clark reminded him as he pushed his hand up to move aside the sleeping bag flaps. When he did so, light streamed into the darkness of the sleeping bag, making Clark squint.

"Well, you're obviously still alive, so I suppose there's no harm done," Lex said calmly, moving towards the head of the sleeping bag. "You stay in here where it's warm," he instructed Clark.

Clark, who was not eager to head out into the cold, was more than happy to acquiesce to Lex's orders. He did, however, poke his head out to look around.

Morning had obviously just broken, as the sun was barely up. Even so, Clark could easily see the wreckage of his truck much more clearly this morning than he'd been able to in the dying light the night before. From what he saw, he was even luckier to be alive than he'd thought, considering the metal and glass that was haphazardly strewn down the slope and at the bottom of the gorge.

By the time Clark had taken a good look around, Lex had already pulled on his shirt and pants. He was doing up his shoes by the time Clark said, "What are your people doing up in the old foundry?"

Lex raised an eyebrow as he tied his shoes. "Getting an early jump on your endeavor of uncovering all my misdeeds, Clark?"

Clark sighed and rolled his eyes. "You don't have to tell me, but you have to admit that I usually have a way of finding out."

Lex smiled, apparently inwardly agreeing with Clark, even if he was less than fond of that fact. "I'm storing meteor rock there, which isn't exactly illegal."

"I guess not," Clark agreed. "But it does get a lot of people killed."

"I'm not responsible for collateral damage," Lex told him with a serious look. "Those people aren't my responsibility."

"Then whose are they?" Clark countered, pulling the sleeping bag close around him. It was so wonderfully warm compared to the air on his face, and now that Lex had moved out of the bag, he had much more room--not that he was complaining about having been close to Lex all night. It was nice to be able to stretch out a little, though.

Lex sighed as he stood up. "Sometimes, Clark, it's easier not to think about things like that."

Clark kept his stare intently on him. "Which only proves that you know you're responsible."

"It doesn't change the situation, does it?" Lex replied wryly. Dismissing the conversation, Lex looked up towards the road above them. "My car's blocking the road, and it's not as though the road is passable anyway; anyone that comes this way will have to stop."

Clark nodded, following his gaze. "Soon?" he asked. "What time is it?" As an afterthought, he looked down towards his watch. It had been smashed in the fall, and it was no longer ticking. Sighing, he looked up at Lex expectantly.

"Seven o'clock," Lex told him, looking at his own watch. "My people usually head in around eight."

"An hour then?" Clark leaned back into the sleeping bag. His leg was still aching, and the thought of being in an actual bed again was incredibly appealing.

Apparently noticing his discomfort, Lex moved back over towards the sleeping bag, settling on the ground next to Clark. "I'd assume so. How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better," he admitted. "My leg hurts pretty badly, and some of the cuts are stinging."

Lex's face was unreadable as he reached towards Clark's face, brushing at one of the scratches. His brow furrowed as he observed the injuries. "We stopped the bleeding on your leg, but it still definitely needs to be looked at." Glancing down at Clark, he gently pulled him forward until Clark's upper body was situated against Lex's leg, his head in Lex's lap.

"I thought I was going to die, you know," Clark confessed, closing his eyes as Lex began to stroke his fingers through Clark's hair.

Lex paused, and for a few moments Clark thought he was simply going to abandon the conversation. That appeared to be incorrect, though, as a few seconds later he quietly said, "When I first looked down, I thought you had."

Clark shivered, hearing the unmistakable remnants of fear in Lex's voice. "If you hadn't moved the rocks away, I think I really would have died."

Lex's fingers tightened in his hair for a brief moment before resuming their gentle stroking. "You didn't," he said firmly. "There's no reason to dwell on 'what ifs'."

Clark was about to reply, but the sound of a car silenced the both of them. The gravel crunched as the car pulled to a stop. Almost immediately, Lex gently set Clark down, getting to his feet and hurriedly going to the edge of the slope. "We're down here!" he shouted.

There were footsteps from the road above. "Are you hurt?" a voice called down. Moments later a man that Clark didn't recognize appeared at the edge of the slope.

"I need you to send in a private rescue vehicle--one of mine," Lex shouted. "No one except you and the rescuers are to know about this, am I clear?"

The man nodded sharply. "Yes, Mr. Luthor."

"Good," Lex replied. "I want that vehicle here in the next half an hour."

The man nodded again and then disappeared from sight as he made his way back to the car. Approximately twenty seconds later the sounds of a car backing up were audible, and then a cloud of dust indicated that it was zipping down the road in the opposite direction.

Lex watched the car go for a moment, his eyes following the formation of the dust cloud. Eventually, the car was hidden by trees, and Lex had nothing else left to watch.

When he turned back to Clark, his face was completely placid. "I'm going to give you a mild sedative, all right?" he told Clark calmly.

Clark's head jerked up at that. "What?" he asked, looking at Lex disbelievingly. Why would Lex need to do that? Fear rippled up his spine as he thought of the implications of that statement. Had he been wrong to trust Lex?

"I expect the ride out of here isn't going to be very pleasant for you," Lex explained as he went over and retrieved his first aid kit.

Clark immediately shook his head. "I don't want you to sedate me. Besides, last night you were very adamant that I shouldn't sleep."

Lex sighed and once again sat down next to Clark. "Clark, I'm not going to hurt you," he promised gently. He once again coaxed Clark to put his head in Lex's lap. Though still wary of what was about to happen, Clark did so. "You're not going to wake up in a lab, if that's what you're afraid of," he added, stroking a hand through Clark's hair.

Clark said nothing, swallowing thickly? His body was tingling with nervousness, leaving him with a very unsettled feeling. "I'll be fine, Lex. I'd rather deal with a little bit of pain."

"It probably won't be little," Lex told him candidly as he withdrew a syringe and a vial from his kit.

"You bring sedatives with you in your first aid kit?" Clark asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lex said nothing but instead only smirked as he drew the serum out of the vial and into the needle. "Relax," he told Clark as he moved the needle forward.

Before Clark even really knew what he was doing, he'd jerked away, making a move to get up out of Lex's lap. Lex caught him before he really had the chance. "Do you trust me, Clark?" he asked, his voice completely devoid of emotion.

Clark froze. He didn't really have an answer for that, as he didn't know. Yesterday, he would have said absolutely not, but now he wasn't quite so sure. He certainly didn't trust Lex not to lie, but he did think he could trust Lex not to stick him in a lab somewhere.

Capitalizing on Clark's hesitation, Lex pushed his head back down again. "Just trust me with this," he murmured soothingly. "Everything's going to be fine."

If they were going to take a shot at actually having a relationship again, Clark assumed he'd have to trust Lex to some degree--at least with some things. If he couldn't trust Lex not to hurt him when he wasn't aware of his surroundings, then he didn't think that sleeping in his bed would be very practical.

Reaching a decision, Clark laid back. He would give Lex a chance to prove that he could be trusted.

Lex must have felt him relax, because he smiled and gently tipped Clark's head to the side. "Lie still," he instructed as he guided the needle to Clark's neck.

The only thing that Clark felt was a tiny prick. Before he'd even really known what had happened, Lex had pull the needle back out again and was setting it beside him, bringing both hands back up to Clark's hair to pet gently.

"I'll see you in a few hours," he said with a small smile.

The drug took effect quickly, and Clark could feel himself becoming tired. Lex was running his fingers over Clark's forehead, adding to the sleepy feeling. It was so soothing, and Clark wanted to just sink into the embrace. He wasn't even really aware of it when his eyes closed.

Clark slipped off into slumber with the feeling of Lex's hands on him. For the first time in quite a while, he felt content.

The pillows under Clark's head were soft, and from the comfortable support under him he knew that he was definitely not lying on the ground anymore. Occasionally the sound of typing or of a paper being rustled could be heard.

"Mmm?" he muttered groggily, fighting to open his eyes.

There was a pause in all of the sounds right before he heard someone standing up and walking across the room. "Hey," Lex said from above him. A moment later, Clark felt a gentle touch to his cheek.

As Clark finally succeeded in opening his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of Lex standing right above him. There was worry on his face, but it was masked behind a thin smile that probably originated from seeing Clark awake. It was a nice sight to be greeted with, Clark thought.

Blinking slightly, Clark glanced around the room, quickly determining that this was certainly not a lab. Something inside of him brightened, and he looked back up at Lex, smiling slightly.

"Hi," he greeted.

Lex's smile grew. "How are you feeling?"

Actually, the longer Clark was awake, the better he was feeling. The aches and pains of the previous night had apparently subsided, leaving a feeling of bland contentment in their place. Moving experimentally, he found that there was no pain anywhere. "Much better," he admitted, realizing that his voice sounded a little surprised. He supposed he had a right to that, though, given how he'd been in a near-fatal car accident just hours before.

"There was meteor rock on your skin," Lex informed him, trailing a hand up Clark's arm. "Once we cleaned that off, you healed."

"We?" Clark asked, feeling a bit worried. He wasn't in a lab, but if Lex had had other people look at him, then it was possible that people knew his secrets.

Lex seemed to recognize his fear. "I worked on it with one of my scientists. He's well paid for his silence, Clark, and it's not as though he knows what you are, anyway."

Clark paused. "Do you?"

From the way Lex was looking at him, it was likely that he did. Watching Clark carefully, Lex sat down on the bed. "An alien," he said slowly. Clark froze beneath the sheets, warily looking up at Lex. There must have been terror on his face, because Lex dropped a hand to his neck, which he caressed gently with his thumb. "Clark Kent." He was silent for a moment before saying in a low tone, "Mine."

Clark closed his eyes with a tiny smile. "What about Lana?" he murmured.

"Gone, three hours ago," Lex explained emotionlessly. "Furious, but gone. I'm not sure she ever really loved me anyway."

"How'd we get out of the woods?" Clark asked after a few moments of enjoying the light and careful touches to his neck.

"I had my people bring in a helicopter." When Clark stiffened he added, "Don't worry; no one saw. We got you back here and cleaned you up, and then I watched you heal."

Once again, Clark was silent. The silence stretched on, though it wasn't uncomfortable. If anything, it was the most companionable silence that Clark had ever been a part of.

"Do you regret it?" he asked after a few minutes.

Lex's touches stilled for a moment. "Regret what, Clark?"

"Saving me, breaking up with Lana...everything."

The touches resumed again. "Saving you? No. I certainly don't regret that. And as I believe I stated earlier, I don't know that Lana really loved me anyway."

Clark smiled, having received the answer he wanted. "We're going to make this work."

"Yes," Lex agreed, stroking through Clark's hair again and rubbing at the silky locks. "But right now, I think you should try to get some more sleep. Even invulnerable aliens have their limits."

"You'll stay?" he murmured.

Lex's low chuckle rumbled from above him. "I'll stay."

With a happy sigh, Clark snuggled back into his pillow. Lex may have his problems, but Clark was willing to try to make this work. After all of the fighting--all of the lies--they had to start over. Lex wouldn't be perfect, and there would be fights, but Clark was more than eager to try.

Clark drifted off to sleep smiling, enjoying the feel of Lex's hand in his hair. They would make this work.