Free at Last

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"And who are you?" Clark asked, keeping his arm on the door frame to keep the 'stranger' out.

"I'm an old friend of his." Justin said, Clark was about to say something when Nikolai interrupted him.

"How did you find me?" Nikolai's voice was cold with fear and hatred.

"Nikolai. It's good to see you." Justin pushed his way past Clark, who glared angrily at the intruder.

"I wish I could say the same, Justin. But I cant." Nikolai backed up a stepped with his arm crossed across his chest, looking anywhere but at Justin.

"I think you should leave." Clark stepped in front of Justin and placed a firm hand on his chest.

"I'll only be a second." Justin brushed his hand away and stepped closer to Nikolai.

"Clark..." Nikolai stepped back again.

"I said it's time for you to leave." Clark stepped in front of Justin again, making sure he couldn't pass this time. Justin glared at him, Clark was bigger but Justin had a certain air about him. He was thinner than Clark and a few inches shorter, but he had a cruel and dangerous vibe pouring from him. One that Clark didn't have.

"What do you want from him?" Clark asked.

"I just wanted to stop by and say hi." Justin gave a dangerous smile.

"How did you find me?"

"Your old landlord." Justin shrugged like it was nothing. Clark rolled his eyes.

"It doesn't matter. Point is, you're leaving." Clark turned him around by his shoulders and began pushing him towards the door.

"This could be considered assault." Justin sneered.

"This could also be considered trespassing and self defense." Clark spat, and finally managed to get Justin out the door.

"I just wanted to talk to him, if That's so much to ask."

"It is." Clark slammed the door in his face. He locked it before running around to the other entrance to the house, locking that too. He checked the windows before going to find Nikolai. He found him standing in the same place he was before, rubbing his arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Nikolai looked up at him like he hadn't seen him there. He nodded but his eyes were empty and Clark saw goosebumps on his arms.

"Come here, baby." Clark opened his arms and Nikolai let himself be folded inside his embrace. Nikolai stared at the lock door for a long time before Clark dragged him into the bedroom.

"Come on, love. I'll make you forget."

~~~~~~~~~~

Images of the rape came flooding back to Nikolai that night. His body knew he was cuddled close in Clarks warm arms, but his mind screamed he was back in that ally. He woke with a start and felt Clark mumble in his sleep and turn on his side. He looked around the dark room and saw the pink sky through the window. He rubbed his temples and brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and placing his head on his knees. Clark woke up and looked over at him.

"Nightmares?" He asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"Yeah..."

"Don't let him get to you, babe. He won't come back."

"Why wouldn't he?" Nikolai turned towards Clark, who pulled himself into a sitting position. He rubbed the back of his head and sighed.

"I don't know, I made it clear he wasn't welcome here." Clark shrugged.

"That won't stop him, Clark."

"I don't get it. Why are you so afraid? From what you told me he was just a giant douche bag. He never got violent with you did he?" Clark asked, getting out of bed to get dressed. It was early but he was already up, so he figured what the hell? When Nikolai answered he turned to face him.

"Nikolai?" He asked, terrified of his answer.

"I don't know why I stayed with him." He said, so quietly Clark had to step closer and turn his head to hear him.

"Nikolai..."

"He didn't mean to, most of the time. He just... Liked it rough." Nikolai said, even quieter.

"Nikolai." Clark sighed, and sat down on the bed. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" He touched Nikolai's shoulder gently.

"I don't know," Nikolai said honestly, "I really don't. I tried not to think about it to much myself. Talking about it just made it worse." Nikolai shrugged. Clark scooted behind him and hugged him to his chest.

"You should have told me, sweetheart. I don't want anything between us." Clark squeezed his shoulders.

"I know, I know. I thought about it once or twice. But we got closer and closer. And I didn't want to ruin what we already accomplished." Nikolai shrugged again.

"Don't ever think like that. Nikolai... I love you. Nothing is going to change that, okay?" Clark turned Nikolai to face him. He wasn't crying, but his eyes showed so much pain it almost made Clark cry.

"Okay." Nikolai hugged him close. The two sat there for a moment, in the early pink hours of the dawn. They felt like the only two people in the world. The air was cold and still, and the only sound was the symphony of chirping birds in the sky. Finally the two men seperated and got dressed.

~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Clark asked as he pulled on his jacket.

"No, I think I'm going to take a nap." Nikolai gave a weak smile. Both of them were tired and a nap sounded great.

"Okay, I'll tell Ana you said hi." Clark blew him a kiss and left. Nikolai sighed and walked towards the bedroom. He stripped as he went and climbed into a warm shower. He scrubbed himself clean, paying extra attention to his ass. He felt the tender fading hickey Clark had left on him. He smiled and as he rinsed the last of the shampoo from his hair, he swore he heard something. He shrugged and finished his shower. He stepped out of the steamed up room and made sure he got all the water out of his ears with a smaller towel. The larger towel was wrapped around his waist and he moved towards the drawers he kept his clothes in. He threw the smaller towel into the dirty clothes and reached for a pair of underwear.

"Hello, love." The chilling voice said from only inches behind him. Nikolai wipped around to see Justin standing not more than two inches away from him. He reached his hand out and picked the underwear from Nikolai's hands. He threw them onto the floor and proceeded to step towards the frightened young man until he was up against the dresser.

"Justin... Please just leave." Nikolai begged.

"Where's your thug of a boyfriend?" Justin asked, ignoring Nikolai's pleas.

"He's visiting his daughter, and could be back any minute. Please just leave and I'll never tell him you were here." Nikolai glanced at the phone on the other side of the bed.

"Don't even think about it, bitch." Justin suddenly turned into his cold and deadly self.

"I wasn't going to-"

"I'm talking!" He shouted, pushing Nikolai back onto the bed. Nikolai wimpered and tried to show he wasn't afraid. Justin began toying with the towel wrapped around Nikolai's waist.

"Justin ple-" Justin looked up into his eyes and Nikolai froze when he saw the clear threat in them. He clenched his jaw as Justin undid the fold in the towel that kept it from falling off his waist. He slowly stroked Nikolai's flaccid cock, trying to get him hard to no avail.

"Clark will be home any minute." Nikolai lied.

"You and I both know That's not true, he only just left." Justin smiled against his neck. Nikolai squeezed his eyes shut, tears forced their way out and he bit his lip to try and keep himself from sobbing. Justin put Nikolai's still flaccid penis in his mouth and sucked gently. He knew what Justin said was true, Clark had only been gone forty-five minutes at most. The hospital was only ten minutes away, but he would be visiting Ana for longer than that.

"He could be back..." Nikolai clung to false hope.

"Oh my sweet Nikolai." Justin chuckled.

"Your Nikolai? I think you had better stop touching MY Nikolai. Or I'm going to beat your scummy face in." Clark stood in the doorway. Justin looked up but didn't let go of Nikolai.

"Let me rephrase that. AND I'm going to beat your scummy face in. Theres no avoiding the second bit." Clark wrapped his hand around Justin's neck and pulled him back. He dragged the man off the bed and threw him against the wall. Nikolai had never seen the pure anger in Clarks eyes. He covered himself with the towel quickly and stood from the bed.

"Nikolai, call the cops." Clark said, without turning from Justin who was still pinned to the wall.

"For what? I didn't do anything." Justin smirked.

"Uh, breaking and entering, attempted rape, being a douche bag." Clark hissed. Justin rolled his eyes.

"He liked it."

"No, he didn't." Clark squeezed his neck, causing Justin to choke.

"They're on their way." Nikolai said. His voice cracked and it was obvious he was hardly holding together.

"You're okay, sweetheart." Clark reached out to stroke Nikolai's cheek. He was shaking and his eyes were wide. He held the towel around his waist, making sure it stayed on.

"Why don't you get dressed, babe. Then go sit in the living room until the cops get here, okay?" Clark said. Nikolai nodded absently and turned to get dressed. He stepped into the bathroom and a few minutes later came out, completely dressed and his hair combed.

"You know Clark, muscle isn't everything." Justin said quietly, Clark turned to look at him and barely caught the gleam of the blade before he thrusted it towards his stomach.

"Clark!" Nikolai cried. Clark shut his eyes and waited for the pain and blood. Several seconds passed and he felt nothing. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Nikolai standing in front of him. Justin's face was pale and he jerked his hand back, removing the knife from Nikolai's stomach.

"No..." Clark whispered. Nikolai put a hand to his stomach and when he pulled it back his fingers were stained red. He fell to his knees and his breath was getting rougher.

"Clark?" He fell farther down, onto his side and then rolled onto his back.

"Hold on, love." Clark heard the cops knock on the door and screamed for help. He heard the door open quickly and the footsteps of two officers come in. Everything happened in a blur and all he could see was the blood staining Nikolai's white shirt.

"We need an ambulance down here, now."

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Nikolai woke in the uncomfortable bed with the stiff starchy sheets. He forced his eyes open even though they resisted as much as possible. Clark sat asleep in a chair near his bedside.

"Oh fuck me, of all places?" Nikolai groaned. Clark woke up and was leaning over the bed in a heartbeat.

"Nikolai, love you're okay. You're in the hospital." Clark said.

"I know, I know! Of all places you had to bring me back here? You couldn't have just let me die?" Nikolai rolled his eyes. Clark smiled and tears fell from his eyes. He hugged Nikolai's head to his chest.

"Ow." Nikolai grumbled.

"Nikolai, I heard you were in here. I hope you didn't do that to yourself." Henstridge stood in the doorway.

"Nooo, leave me alone." Nikolai whined.

"Sarcastic as always." Henstridge rolled her eyes and walked away.

"You're cute when you're pissed off." Clark kissed his forehead.

"Justin?"

"In jail. He had like four warrants out for his arrest, it wasn't difficult." Clark said.

"Why did you get home so soon? You had just left." Nikolai said.

"I went to go see Ana..." Clark said.

"How is she?" Nikolai asked, nervous.

"The treatments are working, Nikolai. She's getting better." Clark smiled, tears falling faster from his eyes. Nikolai began crying and Clark kissed him again.

"She was asleep when I got there, she had treatment yesterday. I talked to the doctor and she said it's a miracle. They didn't tell me sooner because they didn't want to get my hopes up but she's made a turn for the better.

"That's fantastic!" Nikolai sat up and gave Clark a real hug, before regretting it.

"Oh good god who let them take my abs?" Nikolai collapsed on the bed.

"Yeah, they said you wouldn't be able to do much. It's like you had a C-section." Clark giggled.

"I told you, I want a natural birth." Nikolai glared at him, rolling his eyes. Clark laughed and stroked his lovers hair.

"I love you so much." Clark kissed him.

"I love you, too." Nikolai returned the kiss and relaxed into the bed.

"Oh I haven't told you the best news." Clark leaned back in his chair.

"And what's that?" Nikolai asked, playing with the remote controls on the bed.

"Because of the stab wound, you're going to need physical therapy again."

"Oh fuck that!"

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