Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental multi-fandom project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 2 April.

'Pariah' AU, Alicia survived, Tim's in jail and now it's time for Clark to deal with the other side of the situation.

Disclaimer: "Smallville" is the property of Warner Brothers Entertainment and DC Comics and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit. "Coward of The County" is performed - and in the case of the movie based on the song, also happens to be starring - Kenny Rogers.

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"Unrepressed"
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

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"They said I was carrying around a lot of repressed anger."

"And now?"

"I'm not repressed anymore." - Ranger Marcus Cole and Lennier, after Lennier walks into a bar where Marcus is now the only person in the room still standing, "Babylon 5", 'Ceremonies of Light and Dark'.

-o0o-

For the first sixteen years of his life, if almost anyone was asked to describe Jonathan and Martha Kent's son Clark, they'd likely use terms like 'good kid', 'nice boy', or 'a fine young man'. If someone asked about Clark and girls, some people would say they expected him to pull his head out any day now and see his old friend Chloe Sullivan for what she wanted to be; others would expect Lana Lang to do the head-pulling out to see that Clark was always there for her.

Nobody ever expected that the girl whom this 'fine young man' would fall in love with would be one of Smallville's infamous 'meteor freaks'. They didn't know it at first, but after Alicia Baker was caught trying to kill Lana and sent to Belle Reve, everyone in Smallville seemed to reach the conclusion that she must have done something to control Clark to get him in a relationship with her; the idea that a 'good kid' like Clark Kent could love a 'meteor freak' was so foreign to them. None of them knew that Clark wasn't a 'nice boy' from Smallville, Kansas; he was an interstellar traveler from the planet Krypton who just happened to be raised by a Kansas farm couple, and he had more in common with the so-called 'meteor freaks' than he did with the rest of the town - including, especially including, Alicia Baker. When he was in her arms, he didn't have anything to prove, he was special and normal both at once, that kind of combination that only comes from being with the one you love.

That was why a year later, when she was released from Belle Reve, Clark welcomed her back to Smallville with open arms, even though his friends, family and the rest of the town didn't trust her, didn't believe she was no longer psychotic, and certainly didn't like the idea of a 'meteor freak' living among them as though everything were perfectly normal. 'Normal people', after all, couldn't teleport themselves around like she could. Of course, 'normal people' couldn't run faster than the speed of sound, survive being hit by a speeding car and knocked into a river or see through walls, either, all of which Clark could do and Alicia knew, even if the same people who hated her for her own power didn't.

When Lana was attacked, everyone just decided that it had to be Alicia because it had been her before, after all, she was a 'meteor freak' and there was no 'fixing' them. The situation had only gotten worse after Lana's new boyfriend, Jason Teague was attacked as well. When he wanted her to turn herself in, for her own protection if nothing else, Alicia had begged Clark, pleaded with him. She had told him that if he'd reveal how he'd been protecting them for years, show them the things that he could do, they'd have to accept them, not just her and Clark, but others like them with powers of their own.

It was morbid irony that someone else with powers was the one framing Alicia, the one who tried to kill her when she discovered him trying to steal her scarf to leave as 'evidence' proving she was the person attacking Lana and those close to her. If Clark had been even a minute later when he had gone to apologise to her for the way he had reacted when she wanted him to reveal his powers, they would have been successful and Alicia would have been dead, 'suicide'. As it was, Alicia was still in the hospital recovering from the oxygen deprivation she had suffered before Clark had arrived. With visiting hours over and no desire to return to the Kent Farm and listen to another lecture from his adoptive parents on the sanctity of marriage, finding the right girl and how important it was to keep his powers a secret, Clark turned the other way and started walking deeper into Smallville, lost in his thoughts. He hadn't gotten far when the voices of two people walking on the other side of the road reached his ears because of his powers, disturbing his thoughts.

"Can you believe the hospital is actually treating that freak? You'd think they'd have a no-freaks policy or something."

"I know what you mean, it's so disgusting. I can't stand being this close to anywhere like that. I'm heading to The Talon, there's a celebration going on."

"Oh, yeah? What's the excuse?"

"I think Lana's throwing the party because the freak girl's in the hospital and can't get near her now."

"Good as any and better than most. Too bad they're not throwing her back in the looney bin. That's something that would be worth celebrating."

Standing there in disbelief and anger, Clark could literally hear his blood pounding in his veins, his fists clenched and his teeth as well. Part of him wanted to cross the road and make the two people talking glad they were so close to the hospital; but another, larger part knew that he now had some place more important to be.

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The atmosphere in The Talon was festive, the patrons actually celebrating the fact that Alicia was in the hospital, and with his hearing Clark had heard it literally from a mile away and it just made his blood run that much hotter. Inside the building, however, no one knew that, no one knew what was about to happen. One person, however, had a pretty strong suspicion that things were about to get... interesting.

Lex Luthor shook his head, he personally was having nothing to do with this, more interested in his drink than the back-slapping and self-promotion coming from the other side of The Talon. He and Clark were finally starting to get their friendship back on track and Lex had no intention of ruining that by having a party in honor of Clark's girlfriend ending up in the hospital. Despite some of the situations he'd been in since coming to Smallville, he had no problems with people with meteor powers. They had been altered by space rocks, he had Lionel Luthor for a father. Sometimes, he thought that the people with powers got the better deal.

Besides, Lex smirked knowingly to himself looking at his reflection in his drink, three years was enough to know that his friends and family were Clark's biggest trigger and that the younger man wasn't going to let this party go on very long once he learnt of it... and maybe if Lex was lucky, he'd have a front row seat for the show.

"Clark, what are you doing here?" a voice asked from behind Lex, causing him to look up and over his shoulder.

'Speak of the devil,' Lex thought.

"Why shouldn't I be here?" the cold, hard tone to Clark's voice was something unfamiliar to everyone listening, "It's a free country, isn't it? People can go to public places, see people romantically, things like that aren't against the law last time I check. I mean, why shouldn't I be here... unless there's something you don't want me here for?"

"Well," Jason Teague took his arm from around Lana's shoulders and walked over to where Clark was standing, "We are kind of having a party."

"I heard," Clark answered in that same cold, hard tone.

"What is your problem?" Jason demanded.

"It's not enough that you threatened Alicia," Clark retorted, "Now you're celebrating because someone tried to kill her? All of you?"

'Not me,' Lex mouthed knowing Clark could see it, 'I just wanted away from the mansion for a while.'

"Like you said," Jason shot back, "It's a free country."

Clark's blood finally reached the boiling point and he turned away from Teague and started walking back towards The Talon's front door.

"Yeah, Kent, go back to your freak girlfriend," someone taunted from behind him, "Maybe next time the freaks start fighting each other, you'll get the room next to her!"

The laughter that followed that statement was loud and boisterous, but it cut off sharply and if you were in the Talon that night, you could have heard a pin drop when Clark stopped and locked the door. Almost his entire life, ever since his powers had started showing, Clark had held back, following his parents' wishes for him to try and appear normal, to keep what he could do a secret in hopes it would protect him from people wanting to study him or control him. Unfortunately, it had also had the side-effect all his life of making him the target for anyone wanting to give someone a hard time, someone to pick on, put down or harass, just like with the scarecrow incident in freshman year. Everyone was watching as Clark walked back across the room to grab Jason by his shirt collar and when Clark threw the first punch, he had stopped holding back and Jason Teague suddenly found himself seated in a booth on the other side of The Talon, groggy from the impact with the wall before he had slid down into the seat.

"Clark!" Lana shouted in shock.

Instead of answering her, Clark looked around the room, "Free country, huh? What happened to 'All men are created equal', then? Or maybe 'I Have A Dream'? How about 'Liberty and Justice for All'?"

One of the people that had passed Clark on the street earlier managed to regain their nerve from seeing Jason sent flying and marched up to look Clark in the eyes, "Those don't count for freaks."

Lex winced since the smile that Clark wore after hearing that was the same one he had seen on Lionel's face every time the elder Luthor had humiliated a defeated business rival just to prove he could do it - his own son included. It turned out to be a good thing for him that he was watching since it meant that Lex could lift his drink just before the guy facing off against Clark found themself slammed into the table Lex was sitting at, smashing it to the floor.

"Not bad for a boy scout," Lex remarked casually, punctuating the statement with a sip of his drink.

Clark looked at him and managed a half-friendly smirk, "I'm no more a boy scout than you are."

"I see that. And you do it so well, too, " Lex touched his drink to his brow in a mock salute before adding, "Behind you."

Clark twisted and avoided the punch that was thrown at him, grabbing the guy that had tried it with his near hand as he drew back his other fist, the friendly smirk he had given Lex fading to a grim frown as he looked at the other person from earlier, the one who had wanted Alicia sent back to Belle Reve.

"Since you were never taught to treat a girl with respect, I guess I shouldn't be surprised you weren't taught not to interrupt other peoples' conversations, either," Clark remarked before he slugged the guy and let them drop to the floor.

When the sound of metal moving reached his ears, Clark looked at the door and saw Jason had managed to recover enough to reach the door and was now trying to unlock it. Before he could even raise the lock to slide it, Clark had reached him - helped by super-speed - and grabbed him by the shoulder to spin him around.

"You want out? Fine," Clark remarked as he grabbed Jason by the collar with one hand and the belt with the other to lift him up over his head. Then he took two steps away from the door and threw Jason head-first through the window and out of The Talon onto the sidewalk outside.

Turning Clark addressed the room at large, at least those still conscious to hear him, "Anybody else want out?"

"Clark..." Lana's voice was filled with horror, "You... you're a... a freak!"

"I hate that word," Clark said coldly, "Yes, I have powers. And I've been using them to protect people every since freshman year, whether anyone else knew it or not. But now, I'm just wondering what the hell I've been doing."

If the fact that he had just left three people unconscious and The Talon a wreck wasn't enough to prove that something had changed for Clark, the sound of him swearing certainly was.

"A second chance, that's all you had to do," Clark announced, "Just give Alicia a chance to prove herself. I guess I shouldn't be surprised you couldn't do that, I mean, after all; this town judged Lex based on his name before anyone knew him."

Clark nodded towards Lex and recieved a nod in return from the man who could now guess easily what the secret was that Clark had been hiding ever since they had known one another.

"This was just a warning," Clark added, "From now on, keep your opinions about people with powers to yourselves. You never know who might be listening and what their own opinion might be."

Turning, Clark walked over to the door, calmly unlocking it and opening it before looking back over his shoulder, "And just to help everyone remember..."

Just as calmly as he had unlocked the door, Clark drew back his fist and punched a hole in the concrete wall next to the door. Pulling his hand out of the hole, he shook the concrete dust off of it and walked out. He even remembered to shut the door behind him without slamming it.