"What?"

"Can you hypnotize me and give me a suggestion that I wouldn't tell Lex your secret? Maybe something, like if I were in Lex's presence, I wouldn't remember your secret? Then I'd act normal around Lex."

Clark sat, stunned. He'd never thought of something like this. He'd just been mentally planning the worst. Here was a thread of hope.

"That's a good idea", Clark said slowly. "I never considered that."

"I think it would work", Lana said pleadingly. "I don't want to betray you." She turned so she stared him in the eyes, making a flat statement.

"I appreciate that", Clark said softly. Then he got up, began pacing. "I don't know a lot about hypnosis. I read a book about it once."

"I read a book about it once too", Lana said, echoing his tone. "I think I'd be a good subject."

"Why?"

"They said that one trait of good subjects was being able to lose yourself in a book or a story. I've always been able to do that – get into a book and lose any sense of what's happening outside."

Clark laughed. "You know, I've always been that way too. Give me some good story and I'm deaf to the world till it's done." For the first time he felt a flicker of optimism. He stopped pacing, sat down near Lana again.

"What I remember from the book is that you can't be hypnotized into doing something that you would have serious objections to. It's basically a state of heightened suggestibility."

"What would you suggest?"

Clark stopped, not sure. He said slowly, "Well, let's talk about that. We don't want any problems or crazy things happening. How about that you won't tell my secret?"

"That seems OK, but what if things happen?" Lana asked.

Clark didn't want to know what kind of things could happen. "How about…if you're in a situation where it's very likely that you might tell…that all your memories, your knowledge of me being an alien, me using my abilities, will get walled off into a part of your mind and you'll forget it temporarily? Then, if anyone asks you, you really won't know."

"But…"

"Then we can say, that once you're out of danger, that the memories will come back, and you will know again. But you won't show any sign that you know." Clark sounded hopeful.

"I think I can go with that", Lana said slowly. Then she straightened and said, "You want to try now?"

"Now?"

"No time like the present", Lana said briskly.

Clark swallowed, said, "OK. Why don't you feed Laura first, and go to the bathroom. You're supposed to be comfortable for the hypnosis to happen."

"OK." Lana got Laura from the tent, the baby just waking. Putting Laura to her breast, Lana nursed her and burped her. She grimaced as Laura cried, moved, and filled the diaper.

"I'll take care of her", offered Clark. Lana gave the baby to him gratefully, and Clark, familiar with long practice, cleaned and changed Laura. Lana went to the forest while Clark played with the baby, saying nonsense words, smiling at her, holding her.

Fortunately Laura was a good sleeper and took a lot of naps; Clark worried at times that this was abnormal, maybe because of poor nutrition or her irregular housing and sleeping circumstances. But since Laura seemed to be gaining weight and didn't seem to be crying all the time, he said nothing, not wanting to upset Lana. And, frankly, he didn't know a lot – heck, he didn't know anything – about child development. He'd never had younger siblings (a flash of remembered pain here), nor nieces or nephews. He'd held Pete's sister's baby once, but Clark had been a young teen then, and babies were so out of his area of interest at that time. So it was a learning experience, in many ways, dealing with Laura.

Lana came back, took the baby, whose eyelids were drooping. She put Laura in the tent, wrapping her up in their makeshift baby blanket. Lana came back to the campsite.

Clark had gotten the blanket and unrolled it next to the fire. "Why don't you lie down?" he asked. "Then you can relax."

Lana looked at the blanket dubiously. The whole thing seemed crazy. But let's try it.

"OK", she said, and stretched herself out on the blanket.

Clark sat next to her, near her head and shoulders. "I've never done this before." He seemed nervous too. "Let's just try me talking in a low tone. In a monotonous voice."

Lana grinned at the thought. "OK, Clark", she said. "Low tone. Monotonous voice. You'll sound like one of my recent college professors. He put me to sleep every day I was in his class."

Clark laughed too. "We're halfway there, then." He said, "Why don't you take a few deep breaths?"

Lana stopped talking, focused on her breathing, trying to make it regular, deep. She felt herself calming, her heart slowing. Muscles she hadn't known were tense were relaxing themselves. She shivered, feeling chilled a little as she lay still. Then a wave of warmth came over her; without looking, she knew Clark was helping her with his heat vision.

"You are feeling very sleepy…." Clark couldn't keep the humor out of his voice at the cliché, and it made Lana come up a little from her already-partly-relaxed state.

"Clark!" Lana sat up partially.

"What?"

"Try some other words. That sounds like bad movie dialogue." She resumed her prone position.

"OK", Clark said, abashed. He sat silently for a moment while Lana concentrated on her breathing again.

"You are very relaxed….you're here on the blanket….it's nice and warm…your eyes are closing…you feel relaxed and happy…" Clark continued in a quiet, even tone. He looked at Lana; her breathing had slowed more; her heartbeat was strong and steady, and slowing as Clark looked at her.

Clark continued with the voice. "You feel fine…you are relaxed…it's quiet and warm…." He stopped talking as Lana sighed just a bit.

He remembered one test from the book he'd read a few years ago. "Your left arm has a helium balloon attached to it….your left arm feels light….the balloon is lifting your arm…" Clark looked on in amazement as Lana's left arm rose slowly. She really was a good subject.

"Now the balloon is dropping; your arm is going slowly back to your side…" Clark continued the monotone as Lana's arm came back to its normal position. "You feel relaxed but alert….you can respond to questions…you want to stay in this state until you are ready to come out….it feels good…"

"Yes", Lana breathed.

Time to put it to the test. "You know me, Lana", Clark said quietly.

"Yes", she said, apparently still in trance.

"You know my secret now. You have seen me use my abilities."

Lana's breathing sped up just a bit. Clark went back to the monotonous drone. "You feel good…you are relaxed…."

"Yes", she agreed.

"Now think about knowing that I am an alien. Think about me using my powers." Clark was nervous, but held the same tone. "Think about taking all that knowledge, and bundling it up, like putting clothes into a laundry basket."

Lana remained silent for a moment, apparently gathering memories. "Yes", she breathed.

"Now think about putting that laundry basket behind a door. The door is big and strong. It has a knob and a lock. You open the door and set the basket behind the door. The basket is in a strong room and the door is the only way in."

"The only way in", Lana said.

"Now you are holding the key to the lock in your hand. You turn that key. The basket with all the knowledge of my abilities is locked in the strong room, behind the tall door with the big lock."

"It's locked", she said.

"When the basket is locked in the room, you won't know that I am an alien. You won't remember that I have abilities. To you I will just be Clark Kent, a regular guy."

"A regular guy", she breathed.

"You can unlock the door at any time, and remember, and know the truth about me. But sometimes you don't want to unlock the door."

"Yes", Lana said.

"When you are with Lex, you want to put the basket in the room and lock the door."

"With Lex."

"You don't want Lex to know about me. You want Lex to think that Clark Kent is a regular guy."

"Yes." Lana's breathing remained steady, her voice quiet.

"If you are with Lex, or with anyone, and they ask you about me, you'll automatically put all your memories and knowledge about my abilities in the basket."

"I'll put it in the basket", she agreed.

"You won't talk about my abilities, or that I'm an alien. And if someone presses you about it, you'll put the basket in the room and lock the door."

"Lock the door."

"Again, you can unlock the door anytime you want, and take out the basket and know about me, but you won't want to unlock it unless you are in a safe place where you won't tell anyone."

"Yes", Lana breathed.

"You want to keep my secret. You don't want to tell anyone."

"Keep your secret."

Clark couldn't think of something else to say now. He settled for going back to the monotone. "You are relaxed…you are warm and comfortable..." He thought it was time to end the session.

"You feel relaxed…you feel yourself coming up out of the trance…slowly you climb up…you will awaken, feeling refreshed, and remember everything we did here…"

Clark looked on in fascination. As he continued telling Lana to wake up, her heartbeat quickened as did her breathing. The air of total relaxation slowly changed into a more tense, more alert posture, even with her staying prone on the blanket. When he finished with, "When I snap my fingers, you will be fully awake", and snapped his fingers, Lana immediately was the Lana he'd come to know on the trip.

She looked at him and smiled. "I feel good", she said. "That was kind of cool."

"Cool?"

"It was like I could wake up any time, but I didn't want to. And what you were saying really made pictures in my mind."

"Oh", Clark said awkwardly. "Well, I'm glad it worked."

"I want to try it again at least three more times today", Lana said.

"Again?"

"I want to repeat it and repeat it. I figure that'll get it set in my mind."

Clark sat back. I guess I can't argue with that. "OK."

They did repeat the hypnosis session, not three, but four times that day, intermixed with taking care of Laura, eating dinner, and washing up before bed.

"I was thinking of trying it out", Lana said.

Clark looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Let's see if this works."

"How?"

"In the next session, you reinforce what we've already done. Then say something like, "You'll come out of the trance with all your knowledge of Clark's abilities locked away in the basket in the room." Then we can see if it's really working."

Clark thought about it. Probably a good idea. "OK."

It was quite interesting. Lana fell into trance again, even faster this time. Obviously it was one of those things that got better with practice. Clark made the suggestion about locking away her memories of his abilities. Before he woke her, though, he added, "When I snap my fingers, you will unlock the door, take out the basket, and remember."

He gave her the standard coming-out-of-trance routine they'd done several times before. But this time, when Lana woke, she didn't seem all that relaxed. She sat up suddenly, stiffly, casting her eyes around frantically. She caught sight of Clark.

"Clark? What are you doing here? Where am I?"

Clark looked at her, nonplussed. Apparently the memory of him being outed, and using his abilities, was so intertwined with the events of the last days that the whole time period was being censored.

The rising note of panic in Lana's voice drew him from his thoughts. She was looking at her stomach. "Where's my baby? Where's my baby?" Her breathing grew fast and ragged; she seemed on the verge of panic.

He couldn't stand it anymore; he snapped his fingers. Comprehension bloomed over Lana's face.

"God, that was weird", she said. Her breathing slowed.

"What was it like?" Clark asked, curious.

"It was like…suddenly I was back at the lake and the last thing I remembered was that the plane crashed. And then I was here, at a different place, and I…wasn't pregnant anymore. And you were here. And it was a big shock."

Lana got up, walked with quick nervous steps.

"Then you snapped your fingers, Clark, and it was so weird. It was like one of those time-lapse photos where you see a flower bud blooming. That's what it felt like in my mind, when I suddenly remembered."

"That does sound weird", Clark agreed carefully.

"Oh God, I don't want to go through that again. Not knowing what happened to my baby…"

Clark got up too, came to her, hugged her. "I think we need to work on the hypnotic suggestion." He walked with her a bit, guided her back to their places by the fire. "How about we add this to the plan?" He wrinkled his brow in thought.

"How about, we add, 'When you put your memories of Clark's origin and abilities in the locked room, you will remember the normal, unremarkable parts of those days. And your mind will fill in seemingly real details of those days. You won't lose pieces of time; the events in the time that passed will seem normal to you, until it's safe to remember everything.'"

Lana seemed a little worried. "Is that implanting false memories?"

"I don't think so. Well, maybe a little. We're asking your mind to take out the fantastic stuff and replace it with mundane, everyday things. So maybe it's just selective memory." Clark sighed. "Heck, we do that every day – do you remember what really happens on a particular day? No, you remember the high points, and if someone asks you what you did that day, you fill it in. Like, "I brushed my teeth", or "I went to dinner". But you don't remember every little detail."

Lana sighed too. "I guess you're right. It still kind of freaks me out."

Clark turned to her and said earnestly, "We don't have to do this. We can stop. I don't want to hurt you."

Lana sat silent for a moment, then said, "No, Clark, I don't want to hurt you. And if your secret gets out – if I can't keep quiet about it – it'll be the worst thing in the world for you. I don't want that to happen." She assumed a jauntier tone. "We'll get this hypnotic suggestion thing worked out and I'll be OK."

"Well…OK."

Lana said, "Let's try it again."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"OK." Lana stretched out on the blanket again. Clark took her hand, held it gently for a moment before letting go. He started in with the droning monotone again. It took longer this time for Lana to relax and enter trance; the previous events had shaken her. Clark kept on droning patiently and finally she was in the suggestible state again.

Clark gave her the suggestions they'd decided on. Again, he asked her to wake up with her memories of his powers locked away. Again, he told her that when Clark snapped his fingers, she would remember.

When Lana woke up this time, she glanced around, but not with the panic she'd had previously. She seemed normal to Clark.

"Lana?" he questioned her.

"Clark?" she replied. "How are we doing with the camping? How's the baby?"

"She's OK", Clark replied cautiously. "Lana…"

"Yes?"

"Why are we here?"

There was a momentary confused look in her eye. "Well, my plane crashed when the pilot died, and you happened to be hiking up in the wilderness and ran into me." She gave him a sharp look. "Don't you remember, Clark? How could you forget that we've been hiking for the past ten days or so? Why are you asking me this now?"

"Um…I was just wondering if you needed to be carried."

"Like you could", she said sarcastically. Then Lana's tone moderated. "I know you've carried me across a few streams, which I appreciate", she said. "But come on, carrying me all the time?"

"What have we been eating?" Clark asked, changing the subject.

"What's the matter with you, Clark?" Lana asked. "You know perfectly well we've been living on those dehydrated meals you brought, and then you caught some fish."

"Don't you want some red meat?" Clark asked, almost mischievously now.

"I would kill for a steak. It's been over two weeks! I'm getting so tired of ramen noodles!" Lana looked at him suspiciously. "Why? Do you have a dehydrated steak in your backpack too?"

"Um, no." Clark looked at her in interest. The hypnotic suggestion seemed to be working. Time to test it out.

"Um, Lana…."

"Yes, Clark?" She said in an annoyed voice.

"Will you come with me?" he moved over to her and scooped her up in his arms, not giving her a chance to say no.

"Cl--" she began saying, as he blurred into super-speed, running a fair distance down the lake.

"—ark!" Lana finished, looking wide-eyed at the campsite far away in the distance. "How did you do that?" she asked curiously as Clark set her down. "We were right there, and now we're here…" her voice trailed off.

Clark shifted into super-speed again, ran to the campsite, checked on Laura sleeping in the tent, grabbed their cup, ran to the lake, filled the cup with water, and brought it to Lana.

"Ah, Clark…"

He heat-visioned the water and it began boiling. Lana's face turned rigid with fear. "You're one of them…." She trembled.

Time to stop this. Clark snapped his fingers. Lana got the same inward-turned, wondering expression he'd seen before.

"Thanks, Clark", she said, shakily. "I was going to go through the whole finding-out thing again. I'm glad you stopped it." She came to him, hugged him tightly.

He embraced her in return, holding her in silence for a moment. Then Clark said, "So it works? You didn't remember anything…odd…about me until I showed off my powers?"

"Yeah. It was really weird – I know I keep saying that, but it is – everything just seemed normal and natural, with the exception of us being stranded in the wilderness. And then you snapped your fingers, and it was like a whole new world opening up."

"That does sound weird."

Lana continued. "You know, it was like….like going back into a cocoon or something. I was back in my old habits of thought, thinking about you, wondering if you were a hidden meteor freak or something. And then you snapped your fingers, and it was like a butterfly coming out of the cocoon, and I knew about you."

"I'm a little worried about your reaction when I used my powers."

Lana grimaced. "Yes. I don't want to go through the whole amazement-horror thing every time."

Clark suggested, "How about we add to the plan again?"

Lana smiled. "It's always the fine print. Batteries not included. Some parts sold separately. And additional hypnotic suggestions are required."

Clark smiled back. "How about we add, if you see me use my powers while you are in that state, you'll remember everything, but then, if you need it to, everything will go back into the locked room?"

"That sounds OK to me." She looked at him in hope. "Clark, I think this is working. Let's do it one more time for practice."

Clark laughed. "OK, but not the test this time. We'll just have you go over the basic suggestions. And then it's time for bed."

"OK."

The last session was in the tent, right before they went to sleep, Clark repeating his words in the droning monotone which had become second nature to him. At the end of this session, though, he said, "You will come out of trance and fall into a deep restful sleep." And she did.

Clark looked at Lana sleeping comfortably on the blanket. She'd never know the temptation he'd faced during the last hypnosis session. He'd wanted so hard to say, "You want to leave Lex and come to me." He'd really thought about that a lot. But in the end he didn't say it.