Sometimes Goodbye is a second chance

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It all happened so quickly. Ben had pushed his way into her apartment.

"It's cozy in here. Looks like it needs broken in." He smirked. Taryn was standing between her bedroom and kitchen. If she ran she could get to her gun but not before he got to her. Kitchen for the knives was a better bet but still, she didn't want things to get deadly. Her head throbbed with anxiety.

"Please, just get out of here, you reek of alcohol. Ben, I'm not interested."

"Everyone's always interested when it comes to me. Don't make me prove it to you doll face."

Taryn grit her teeth. She moved slowly around to where her phone was laying on the couch arm rest. His eyes fluttered from the phone to her. He shook his head and lurched towards her.
 
Clark sighed and opened his door before locking up and heading towards his car. It would take him about twenty minutes to get there if traffic was good. "I won't be there too late and then I can go back to the office..." He mumbled under his breath.

He relaxed into his car, glad he had an excuse to see Taryn again. Then he planned on heading to the bar and drinking himself numb. He smirked and shook his head before hitting the gas pedal
 
All the work she had just put into unpacking her apartment and making it look like home was quickly destroyed. Wherever Taryn managed to elude Ben, he would trash the area. He dossed book shelves, tossed tables, lamps broken, mirror and pictures hanging tossed and crashed into dozens of glass shards.

Taryn had landed a few blows to keep him away but he was not giving up.

"This is so much fun, when I finally get you, I'm going to enjoy tiring you out." Ben said wiping at the bloody lip Taryn had given him.
 
Clark was stopped at red light after red light and he growled in frustration. He didn't want to arrive to Taryn's apartment too late. He finally pulled up, making sure to pull her paycheck from his duffel bag.
 
Taryn was winded, she fought through her panic and anxiety as her training had taught her to do. Yes she was strong, yes she was trained in combat, but this man towered over her and overpowered her in weight, his strength was double hers and eventually she would tire out.

"Look, you can leave, I won't call the cops... no one has to know that this happened." She pleaded through heavy breaths. Ben shook his head.

"Nah, I like the challenge." he said and bolted towards her. Taryn managed to avoid the assault sending him flying against her front door. He let out a shout and some curse words as he stood and tried to focus on where she was. Taryn was already in the kitchen her phone in hand attempting to dial 911. her fingers faltered as the adrenaline made her shake. When she was about to hit the send button she felt his arms clasp around her and yank her, the iphone crashing onto the counter once more.

"Ben let go of me! please!" Taryn shouted, her voice showing just how exhausted she was.
 
Clark made his way towards Taryn's apartment slowly. He climbed the stairs, his guard going up when he noticed that her door was open. He slipped in, hearing a commotion from the kitchen. He set down the pay check on the counter and moved slowly towards the noise source.
 
Taryn used a training maneuver she had learned during basic from a group of moves designated as CPI, crisis prevention intervention. She used the quick maneuver to force Ben to bend down at the waist, anyway he moved he could not break her hold though she was going all over the place as he was trashing hard.

"Please just give up. Please." Taryn pleaded, her voice so weak she was surprised her hold was as strong as it was against him. She hadn't noticed that anyone had come into her apartment and that said person was now a witness to what was occurring.
 
Clarks eyes went wide at the sight. Her apartment was trashed and she was fighting against a figure he recognized right away. Within seconds he had arms wrapped around Taryns waist and pulled her free from Bens grasp. Then with speed that surprised him, he had an arm around Bens neck.

"Sick bastard!" Clark was fuming, a ball of icey rage.
 
Taryn stood off to the side. Someone had yanked her away and she fought to regain her breath. Clark... it was Clark! She groaned internally. Just great. He had had to come and rescue her. Why was he even here? She couldn't answer all the questions that floated to the front of her mind. Ben and Clark continued to fight, Clark agily landing blow after blow. Taryn just wanted it all to end. Once Clark had tossed Ben out the apartment, down the stairs and made sure he was out of the building Taryn slid down to the ground. She was exhausted. She hadn't fought that hard since she was overseas.

She rubbed at her arms, she was chilled to the bone as the adrenaline began to leave her. She would begin to feel the blows he had landed. She hoped that Clark was okay, that he hadn't gotten too hurt when coming to her rescue. How could she thank him? She groaned aloud now, after all she'd done in her life she was still a damsel in distress at the worst times.
 
Clark was breathing heavily by the time he made sure that Ben was tossed out of the apartment. He shut the door, turning to find Taryn huddled against a wall. All of instincts to protect had kicked into overdrive. He felt like killing Ben and he blushed when he realized she had seen him at his worst.

He moved towards her, eyes taking in the cuts from broken glass on her feet. "Oh Taryn..." He approached slowly, pushing her hair away from her face as gently as he could. "I'm sorry"

She was starting to shiver and he knew she was probably in shock. He poked her up, careful not to startle her as he carried her into the bathroom. Clark started a bath, making sure she was seated on the lid of the toilet before holding up one of her feet. "Alright, looks like I have to remove some glass shards...so just relax..I promise I'll be careful..." He spoke softly, as if he was speaking to an injured animal. "Just tell me where to find some tweezers..."
 
Taryn could feel the adrenaline crash come on. She shakily opened a drawer beneath the sin and handed the tweezers to Clark. "I..is this going to hurt?" she managed to whisper. Now that the adrenaline was wearing down she knew the throbbing would begin any moment.
 
Clark was surprised. He had never heard her sound so exhausted and meek before. He took the tweezers, beginning the painstaking process of taking the shards from her feet. He kept his mouth shut, not having the heart to lie to her.

A few years of working the bar and taking care of himself after a few barfights had made him swift at this. He finished quickly, looking back up at her. "Alright, hon. Now let's get you in the tub..."
He shut off the water testing the temperature with his fingers. It was mildly warm and he turned back around to face her. "It's all ready.." He reached forward, about to help her take off her clothes when he froze.

He shouldn't press that kind of situation on her. Not after what she just went through. He was torn between helping and letting her do it herself.
 
Taryn was hazy but she too knew what almost just occurred. She was very tired. She knew she was weak. "Just turn around." she murmured. She waited until he had done so before slipping out of her clothes. She winced when she stepped into the tub. The warm water soothing as well as irritating the wounds to her feet. They weren't too deep but they were cuts nonetheless.

She closed the shower curtain as she sat back in the water. "Thank you" she whispered. "Who knows what he would have done." she added as her tears finally began to fall.
 
Clark turned around, resisting the temptation to peek. He heard the shower curtain close and moved to pick up her clothes. He stopped himself again, face scrunching up. "Yeah it's...it's fine. Just holler if you need me." He cleared his throat to wipe away the worry before he left the bathroom. He left the door open, knowing she needed some privacy but still wanting to be in ear shot.

Instead Clark focused his attention on picking up the shards of glass and broken items. He picked books up and wiped them off before putting them back on shelves. His gaze turned towards the broken lock and he growled. He would need to replace that for her.
 
Taryn washed quickly and drained the tub. She wrapped a towel around herself and padded quietly to her room. She winced the entire way. Once she pulled on a long tee shirt she walked back out to see him cleaning up her apartment.

"You don't have to do that... you've done enough." she said looking over at him, her crystal eyes landing on his for just a few moments. What the heck was it about Clark? It was pleasanty unnerving.
 
Clark grunted. "It's fine." He looked up, blushing and having to look away at the sight of her in just a long tahirt. "Hum....you probably shouldn't stay here alone though..." He cleared his throat awkwardly before pointing to her door.

"The locks broken..." He took the pan of glass shards and dumped them in the trash before going to fix the furniture. He rubbed the back of his neck, pausing when he felt something sticky. "Hey, why don't you go gather up some clothes? You can camp out at my place until the door is fixed." He smiled at her, keeping his hand on his neck as if he was just pausing awkwardly.
 
Taryn watched him confusedly. Why was he acting that way? She looked to the door and sighed. She hadn't noticed that. She nodded that staying here wasn't safe.

"You don't have to do all that, I don't want to be a bother. You can just drop me off at a hotel. Besides, I have a feeling you were headed to the bar anyway." she looked around before heading back into her bedroom. She filled a bag with some clothes and pulled on a pair of shorts and a hoodie. She slipped her sandals on and bit her tongue at the stinging that filled the soles of her feet.
 
Clark moved to the sink as soon as she was out of sight. His hand came away bloody and he frowned. Ben must have landed a blow on him that he hadn't felt. The good thing was that it wasn't too bad. He felt around the base of his skull and found a small cut like from a dull knife.

It wasn't until he looked around that he found the small pocket knife that had blood on it. It was broken, maybe just a few centimeters long and he sighed in relief. Ben had always brandished the broken thing around as if it was his greatest treasure. He tossed it before Taryn could see and then went to wait for her.

"Nonsense. You're coming back to my place. I just came by to drop your check off." He took his keys out of his pocket and twirled them around while singing under his breath.
 
Taryn wasn't going to argue. She was way too tired. It didn't take very long for her to fall asleep, a few blocks into their drive to his place that Clark had said was a twenty minute drive and she was out cold. Her head was pressed to the passenger door glass. Her body had finally shut down and what's worse, were the nightmares that began to plague her at once. These she kept seeing Nate and Krystal. Her own sister. Her own husband had thrown her out like trash. Now in her dream was Ben, then Clark... in the end she ended up alone. hurt and alone.
 
Clark was silent on the drive home. He kept glancing over at Taryn, his heart breaking for the woman. He finally pulled up outside his house, moving over o her side of the car. He slung her bag over his shoulder, careful not to get any blood residue on it.

Bending over he then scooped her up in his arms, shutting the car door with his foot. "Yo Kent..." A neighbor waved at him, the guy was a night owl. A famous comic book artist, or so he told everyone.

Clark shook his head and then moved up to his door. He struggled to open it with her still in his arms and then finally stepped into his house.
 
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