--Chapter 28 -- Wide Open Spaces --

Clark stared at the clear pod he was supposed to sit in for the trip home, not that he remembered home. No one here seemed to care what happened to him or where he ended up so long as he got out of their hair. Well, that wasn't completely true, Lola seemed to be attached to him.

"Of course I'm attached," Lola said. "I'll tell you what I know about Earth, most of which I picked up from you before Ascension." She switched into librarian mode. Her mental voice lost any hint of emotion and she started spewing facts. "Earth is a relatively rural world. The inhabitants, humans, are not aware of extraterrestrial life. Your true nature is unknown by most of the humans you know. Humans are a delicate race of creatures. They are physically slow, mentally unremarkable, and socially pseudo-developed. That said, they have a remarkable capacity to both love and hate. They are fearful creatures, and rightly so considering their delicate natures, but they have a remarkable tendency to stand against what they fear anyway."

"Home," Clark said. The picture Lola was painting wasn't perfect, but it sounded right. "I have a family there, people that care for me and that I'm supposed to care for?"

"Though not the planet of your birth, the Earth is your home. You have a family and a life there."

"If that's where I belong, then I guess it's okay to go." Clark crawled into the small pod and held Lola close in to his chest. "I wonder how this is going to work?"

"An excellent question, but one I can't answer." Lola dropped the pretense of words and hummed a gentle little song to soothe and calm.

Clark almost let himself cry. Lola was too kind after a long string of, if not cruelty then disregard. Her song seemed to urge him to relax, sleep, and be well because he was loved. The clear sphere began to glow softly, blotting out the small unremarkable room and its technician. Clark closed his eyes and tried to mentally hum along with Lola.

There was a moment like falling and then the smells hit him: grass, dirt, fertilizer, honeysuckle. Clark's eyes flew open and he was staring into an endless blue sky. "Instantaneous." Rather than try to wrap his brain around the distances he'd just hopped in a single moment, Clark dug his fingers down into the thick grass under him and just lay there soaking it all in. "Home...this is nice."


"Why God?" Lex groaned. His head was pounding a regular rhythm along with every beat of his heart. The hangover was an aspect of his teenage years he'd at least partially forgotten. A nice dark room with a thick blanket and absolutely no noise was in order. The damn sun was torturing him for the moment, making the pulsations in his brain three hundred times worse. Cautiously, Lex cracked an eye open. Where had he passed out? What had happened the night before? The field in front of him brought back bits and pieces of the evening.

Jonathan Kent had found him boozing it up last night, and he took the keys to the Jag. Lex groaned again and hid his eyes behind an arm. "Have to get home." Thanks to the ever conscientious Jonathan Kent, he didn't have any keys. Lex pushed himself into a sitting position and brushed at the grass clinging to his head. If Lionel could see him now, dirty and hung over, he'd laugh until little tears rolled out of his mocking eyes. "Your father isn't going to see you like this. If you hurry and call for the limo, you can probably avoid anyone but Reginald seeing you." Had he brought the cell phone though?

Lex regained his feet and patted at his pockets, hoping for a solid oblong resistance. He was squinting out toward the test field when he spotted motion. Someone was already at the worksite? "Lovely." Unless the cell phone was in the car somewhere, it was just as well. Lex headed out into the field. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a cell phone?" Now that he got a better look, this guy was dressed oddly for a field hand. Black leather would get kind of hot as the morning wore on. The man turned and smiled nervously. "Clark?" Hangover forgotten, Lex covered the last few feet and grabbed him by the shoulder.

Clark jumped when the young bald man, heretofore one of his more vocal hallucinations, grabbed him. Not a hallucination then? "God, hi," Clark said. "How are you?"

Lex frowned at the odd melodic language. "Can you understand me? You are Clark, aren't you? What the Hell did that psychopath do to you? Where have you been?"

"Wrong language, sorry, I am Clark. And you." Clark caught a brief flash of memory while looking at this man and his shocked expression. In the memory, they were both soaked to the skin and the bald man was looking up at him like he'd just seen a miracle. "My memory is a little patchy. I don't actually remember your name."

"You don't remember my name?" Lex nodded slowly. Chloe had said the Eradicator woman could screw with a person's head. "My name is Lex Luthor, and we're good friends. We need to get you to the hospital."

"I'd rather go home," Clark said. "Can you show me where home is instead?"

They were standing on the Kent farm, the place where Clark grew up, and he needed to ask for directions. The freak of the moment, the Eradicator, did this to him. "You're probably right. Home first. You can get your bearings." A niggling temptation flitted through Lex's mind. He didn't have to take Clark home. Without memories, he wouldn't know the difference. Wouldn't it just be symmetrical for the liars to be denied a simple truth for a change. Clark seemed so relieved and he smiled at Lex. He trusts too easily. Lex ignored the voice of his father, accusing him of weakness, naivety, stupidity. "Let's go. The farmhouse is this way. I'd offer to drive, but my keys aren't on me."


Using a small hand trowel, Martha turned over a section of her herb garden. The dead plants shredded beneath her efforts, disintegrating into the soil and returning some of what they took out to live. This row was going to be mint this year, a nice cool crisp breath of fresh air for the summer. It would be perfect for the bread and butter pickles she wanted to try her hand at.

The sound of footfalls on the nearby porch gave Martha a moment's pause. Jonathan must have forgotten something. There was no way he was through with the vaccinations. She brushed the black dirt off her hands, wiping them on the grimy front of her work jeans. "Jonathan? Did you forget the deworming gun? I saw it in the shed, yesterday."

Martha abandoned her garden for the moment. Maybe Jonathan had come to a decision about his run in with Lex? Maybe it couldn't wait? "I..." All the words that had been sitting on the tip of her tongue died, and Martha felt a rushing in her ears like a river were churning at her elbow. First she'd noticed Lex. Lex wasn't quite an unexpected visitor, but the young man next to him had Clark's blue eyes, his smile, his posture. His hair was too long, actually hitting below the shoulders, but more than six months without a haircut could catch up with you. Was she dreaming? "Clark?" The rushing in her ears got louder, and she was falling.

"Mrs. Kent." She's going to faint, Lex thought to himself. He was half-way down the porch steps before he realized Clark already had her. He must have taken a flying leap over the side of the porch to get between his mother and the ground. "Still saving the world, I see. Is she okay?"

"I think so," Clark said. "She's my mom, right? When I woke up, I had these hallucinations, and she was there. She called me her baby and her son."

"Yeah Clark, she's your mom. I'm going in to get some water and we'll try to bring her around."

Clark stared down at the woman in his arms and cradled her close. There were the beginnings of lines around her eyes and mouth, and dirt smudged her cheeks, but she was still pretty with her bright red hair and green eyes. Those eyes were open and staring up at him. "Hello, I'm sorry for making you faint."

Her baby was home. Martha touched his face to make sure he was really there. Her hand left two perfect black fingerprints on his pale skin. "I got you dirty," she whispered. Martha pulled Clark into a hug. She held on as tight as she could. It was almost like she was afraid he would disappear if she didn't hold him to her. "We were so scared. You were gone so long."

"Was it a long time? I can't remember," Clark said. "I can't remember a lot of things." It was strange, the way this woman was hugging him and crying. She was his mother, adoptive, but he didn't remember her at all. What was he supposed to say? What should he do? God, why couldn't he just remember? Clark squinted his eyes and tried to force the memories to come.

"Nearly total amnesia," Lex said. He proceeded down with a small mug of tap water. "I found him out at the test plots, and he didn't know me or where home was." The image of mother and son embracing was endearing and beautiful. Lex couldn't quite squash a tendril of envy and bitterness. His mother was six feet under, cuddling up with the writhing worms. It was an old childhood nightmare, his mother's decay. He hadn't thought about it in years. What a moment for it to come back to him. "A trip to the hospital is in order I believe, but he wanted to come home first."

Martha released Clark from her grip, seeming to realize his discomfort. She pulled herself back onto her feet. "You don't remember anything? You were hurt. The Eradicator hurt you. Where is the Eradicator? Is she coming back for you again?" Maternal instincts singing, Martha wished she could punish the Eradicator for everything she'd done. He really didn't remember?

"The Eradicator saved my life, at least once that I remember. I don't know what happened before, but she didn't come back with me. I don't think she'd hurt me," Clark said.

"I would say that isn't an issue to argue at the moment. Hospital-time, head injuries are nothing to play around with," Lex said.

Clark could sense his mother's tension at the mention of a hospital. What do I do, Lola? I'm an incognito alien. I can't go to the hospital. If my friend, Lex, knew that he wouldn't be insisting like he is. So how do I put him off?

"How exactly should I know?" Lola asked. "You know these people. I don't."

That's helpful considering my memory situation. "No hospitals, I woke up in a hospital, bad experience. I don't want to go back."

"Then I'll bring a doctor to you," Lex said. "Can I borrow your phone?"

Martha smiled briefly at Clark and nodded. He had to remember something because he knew to avoid hospitals, or maybe it really was just a bad experience motivating him? "I think you should let us handle this, Lex. Jonathan and I can take it from here. Thank you for bringing him home."

Dismissed? Years of carefully cultivating self control was the only thing standing between Lex and a royal outburst. Just like that, they were asking him to leave. It was because of the secrets., whatever they were hiding about Clark that they don't want anyone to know, the secret they told Chloe. "I know you have secrets, Mrs. Kent. You don't trust me, fine. Clark needs to see a doctor. It isn't about me or you or trust. This isn't an issue to debate."

I wonder why they don't tell him. He was one of the half-dozen people important enough to me that I hallucinated him. Clark stared at Lex and wished he could apologize. "I'm going to be fine," Clark said. "I'm home. I don't need a doctor to tell me that my memory might or might not come back, and I don't need one to tell me that my heart and lungs and reflexes are fine. I know they are. All I need is a little time to try and put the pieces back together. Can I have a little time?"

Lex had never been more tempted to just scream. Were they both insane? Missing for seven months, amnesia, and you don't go to the hospital or even seek out a physician? What was he supposed to do? He could try dragging Clark in to the hospital kicking and screaming. "I'm not letting this go. If he doesn't see a doctor, I'll make sure a doctor sees him," Lex snapped.

Clark's vision blurred and his head started pounding. "It doesn't seem right. He's just trying to help." Clark turned to his mother and frowned. "Lex is a friend, right? Why doesn't he know? Do I lie to everyone all the time? This could be an exhausting way to live. I don't think I like lying. Maybe I did before, but why? Would he hate me if he knew?" He took a step toward Lex a confused frown plastered on his face. "Would you hate me Lex, if I told you why I'm not going to the doctor? Do you hate that easy?"

Martha's felt her jaw drop and she shook her head at Clark. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't remember. Hush, now. You don't know."

Clark rubbed a hand across his forehead and winced. The pain, the needles poking his brain, why did they have to come back now? Would the hallucinations follow? "You're right. I'm tired and it just...it hurts."

Martha winced as Clark wavered. "Oh God, sit down right now. Lex, I need you to get Jonathan. He's at the shoots behind the barn, please."

Lex stood absolutely still for a long moment. He'd never been so close to knowing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about Clark Kent. It had to be a pain, living a lie every day. But what was the lie? He was maybe a meteor mutant of some kind. It was the only thing that made sense. Did the Kents think he'd line up to dissect Clark if he knew? Did they think he'd betray the secret? Maybe he could just let it go. Maybe he could just forget anyone ever confirmed his suspicions about Clark and the secrets surrounding him. I'm not good at letting things go. "I'll get Jonathan, but we aren't through with this conversation."


Shoving the chrome deworming gun down a calf's throat, Jonathan shot a thick gray sludge of fenbendazole safely down its esophagus. The cow bellowed at the offense and scuttled out of the shoot and up to its mother. Jonathan shoved the gun into the waist of his pants and released the next calf into the slot. "Come on girl, I know it tastes bad, but this is for your own good."

"I don't think she understands."

Jonathan turned to the person glibly stating the obvious, and all thoughts of cows or parasite control fled. "Lex." He looked thoroughly hung-over from his blood shot eyes to the dark circles highlighting them. Had he returned for his keys? Maybe he wanted to continue their discussion from the evening before? "Did you come for your keys? They're in the kitchen, next to the sink."

Any niggling voice encouraging Lex to treat Jonathan tactfully and carefully was overwhelmed by his sheer frustration, and Lex didn't hold anything back. "Mrs. Kent needs you. Clark is home, but he isn't feeling well. She doesn't want me to get a doctor. I hope you have a different opinion," Lex said.

Jonathan turned from the calf and walked stiff-legged to the fence. "Did you say Clark is home? Are you sure?" When someone tells you the truth, plainly and bluntly, it can take a moment to really sink in. Jonathan clutched his right hand over his heart, the old muscle suddenly straining in his chest.

"Saw him, touched him, he's home. With your permission, I'll go for the doctor now," Lex said. He tried to hide his anger and annoyance, but it was hard.

"Hold off on the doctor," Jonathan said. He took off at a run for the house. "Martha!" It was impossible to really believe what Lex was saying until he saw it with his own eyes. You talk about hoping and having faith but those emotions only live so long. In all honesty, he'd given up on seeing his son again. He hadn't admitted it consciously, but he had started to mourn his child. "Clark?" His family was whole again. Clark had his head resting in Martha's lap and his eyes were shut. It was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.

Martha motioned for Jonathan's silence as soon as he reached the porch. "Very bad headache," she whispered. "He doesn't remember us, Jon. He doesn't remember this place or anything. It's all gone. Lex had to take him home because he couldn't find the house."

Jonathan dropped to his knees in front of Martha and Clark. Now that everything was coming back together, was this illness going to destroy it all? Amnesia hadn't been a complication he'd considered when worrying about Clark's return. Was it total? Everything was really gone, and what about the Eradicator? "Will he be okay? Do we know what happened?"

"I'm fine," Clark said. His eyes were still shut but he smiled. "It's just a headache, a mild one compared to what I woke up with beating in my skull. Lola thinks the headaches are a good sign. My brain is healing, rerouting. I get flashes of memory with the headaches usually. I recognize your voice, you know. That's the voice that kept telling me to come home."

Jonathan didn't bother fighting the tears building in his eyes. "Well you're home now, and it doesn't matter what you remember. We're going to help you through this."

"Who exactly is Lola?" Lex asked. "I hope and pray she's a doctor."