First, Lex was drowning. Untroubled, he drifted until he came to rest in the unsounded depths. At peace, waiting dormant until it was time to rise, out of the water and into the air.
He slipped skyward, and the glowing colors of the countryside spread out before him. His home, restored to an untouched perfection it had never possessed. The vista was endless, and so was the future.
Until the alien yanked him back to the hard earth.
Lex was suddenly weighted by gravity and weakened; the world before his eyes had contracted to encompass just this face. He wondered that he felt no fear, no instinct of self-defense. But strangely, the alien's face was not threatening, cruel or vindictive, but filled with concern.
"I missed you," the alien said.
Lex found that a bit difficult to believe, but accepted the sentiment in a spirit of amnesty.
The alien returned Lex's weak smile — not with the accustomed cruel smirk, but a wide grin like sunshine. Lex had never seen that before.
It occurred to Lex that he was dreaming when his father showed up. The mood of benevolence dissipated; he looked annoyed with his son. Typical. Even in death his dad couldn't be pleased.
Inexplicably, his father put a comforting arm over the alien's shoulder. "Drive slower," he told Lex.
"Drive?" Lex wondered aloud, but his father did not elaborate. Drowning and flying, Lex remembered, but not driving. So he turned to the alien, who looked apologetic to be drawing such attention.
"Thanks for saving my life," Lex said.
"I'm sure you would have done the same thing," the alien replied diffidently.
An insistent beeping distracted Lex, drawing his eyes to the river where he had rested. A crane was lifting a mangled Porsche from the water. It must be in reverse, Lex determined. Beep beep beep. The noise grated as the car backed up into the air.
Beep beep beep.
"Lex!"
A voice cut into his reverie. No river, no car, his dad and the alien were gone – Lex was rudely returned to a waking state. He roused himself to slap the alarm clock, and the beeping was silenced.
"Thank you!" his wife called out from the bathroom.
Lex lay back on the pillow with a groan. Dawn had not yet begun to break, and being so abruptly pulled out of that dream – he did not feel rested. He dragged himself up to sit on the edge of the bed and tried to shake off the unease. His morning appointment would require his mind to be sharper than he felt right now.
"You were far gone." Lois entered the bedroom. "I could hear that alarm in the shower – I was about ready to come in and kick you awake."
"I was dreaming."
"Huh. Well, you said you needed an early start, so ..." She pulled him up his both hands and kissed him. "Time to face the day."
As Lex got ready, he should have been thinking about the upcoming meeting with the Scientific Commission. Instead, the dream stayed with him, until he finally gave into temptation and told Lois, "Kal-El was in my dream."
"That's not too surprising."
True, Lex thought, he did seem to consume their lives.
"Okay, I'll bite," Lois continued. "What was he doing?"
"I'm not really sure, actually. My dad was there, too – we were in Smallville – and he dispensed some of his usual helpful advice. 'Drive slower.' So what do you think, did he show up to weigh in on policy from beyond the grave? Or was it just the story of my life, or our relationship, anyway, putting in a cameo?"
His wife laughed. "It's your subconscious, and don't ask me to fathom that. I'd like to just stay out of it."
"Thanks so much. Maybe Dad needs to be putting in an appearance in Pete's dreams, talk to him about slowing down, not me."
"Pete is still pushing for Kryptonite bombing."
Lex knew she'd probably memorized this familiar litany, but still launched into it: "'We need to prepare for it,' he says. He's not so big on the idea of deterrence, but that's what the things were built for. With the supply of Kryptonite outside the Zone so limited, we can't risk throwing it all away on one bombing run. And the people who live there, innocent people – it's hell enough for them as it is." He had followed her into the bathroom as she began to apply her make-up. "I know, I should be arguing this with Pete, but I've had this debate with him a million times."
"So you want to have it with me for a change of pace? It's tough for Pete. He's lost a lot. More than you or I have."
"He's not alone. Bombing could be ineffectual, but popular. We can't keep up containment forever; I just hope we can find a better way."
"Then here's hoping the Scientific Commission will bring some workable ideas today. You said you wanted to read over the preliminary report this morning before meeting with them, so you'd better get moving, Smallville" – no matter he far he strayed from his hometown, Lois would not give up that nickname for her husband – "while I'm off to deal with my end of it. I'm going to my office to go over my speech before I leave."
"The Zone Refugee Assistance Fund today, right?"
"Right," she said.
At least it was a worthy cause. Lex knew Lois found some of the more superficial duties of a First Lady dull, and he felt a bit of guilt that she had given up her career as a renowned investigative reporter to play second fiddle to him.
Lois pulled him to her for a quick kiss, and said, "Good luck with your meeting. Fill me in later." And then she left.
Refugees. In a way, they all were – himself, Lois, Vice President Pete Ross, and Pete's wife, Lana.
Lex, Pete and Lana had all grown up in Smallville, while Lois came from Metropolis, the heart of what was now called "the Zone." Metropolis and its surrounding area, including Smallville, were under the iron hand of the alien Kal-El. It was a matter of some debate whether or not he was of extraterrestrial origin – Lex believed it – but his superpowers were unquestionable. With those, and with the money and infrastructure of his adoptive father Lionel Luthor's corporation, he had consolidated power in the region, becoming de facto ruler, beyond the reach of the state and federal governments. It had happened so gradually that his control was solidified before most in more traditional positions of power realized the full extent of the crisis. Lex, as a senator from Kansas, and Lois in her articles for the Metropolis Daily Planet were among the early, unheeded voices of warning.
Lois got out, left the Daily Planet and Metropolis to live in Washington full time and freelance for national publications. It took some convincing to get her to make the move, but her safety was imperiled. She could no longer live in Metropolis and expose the truth about Kal-El's regime without fear for her life. In the end, Lex joined forces with Daily Planet editor Perry White to get her to acquiesce.
Lois fled, and Perry paid for it. He was killed, and the Daily Planet was shut down for good.
Not long after, the Zone became a geographical reality, as the region around Metropolis was made inaccessible by Kal-El and his thuggish operation. The borders were fuzzy, but in the core, getting in or out was near impossible. And people died trying – including Pete's parents.
Lois's immediate family had left before she did. Lana Lang-Ross was orphaned in the meteor shower that brought Kal-El to Earth. The aunt who raised her was still in Metropolis, carefully and practically living within the system, by all reports.
For Lex, there was his mother. She was caught in, he was caught out. At first, nothing could induce her to leave the farm that was her late husband's legacy. And then it was too late. It had been seven years. She had not been present for her son's inauguration to the presidency he had won on the strength of his long-time opposition to Kal-El. Now, as Lex began his second term, the tyrant's rule loomed over the nation, threatening to spread beyond Kansas like a cancer.
Word got out of the Zone, somehow. Snatches of news – Lex knew his mother was still alive, keeping as low a profile as she could. He suspected Kal-El withheld his punishment of her for her son's prominent misdeeds as a simple calculation: Best not to leave his most powerful foe, President Alexander Kent, with nothing left to lose.
When Lex arrived for the meeting, the five members of the commission were already assembled. Lex was at least marginally acquainted with them, and despite his own state of mind, he was anxious to dispense with formalities and get down to business.
And so he would have, but things did not quite work out that way; during their brief greetings, several shots were heard from the White House lawn.
The frenzy was instantaneous. Secret Service agents began communicating with each other, as alarmed voices came from staff just outside the conference room's open door. Of all the hue and cry, one thing broke through to Lex's mind: He heard the words "Mrs. Kent."
Lois. The thought had scarcely registered with him when, amid the distraction, one of the scientific team stepped forward – Dr. Shawn Dolman, a physicist. Before the Secret Service or Lex could react, the man lightly touched Lex's arm, and the two men, to all observers, vanished.
From Lex's perspective, the room vanished from view, and an infinitesimal moment later, he found himself, lightheaded and slightly nauseous, standing next to Dolman somewhere dusty and dark, probably underground.
Lex staggered a little, disoriented, and in the dim saw Dolman make a rapid, shaky move: He darted for an object on the ground and came up with a gun pointed at Lex.
"What is going on?" Lex exclaimed. "What did you do to me?"
Dolman shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Just ... just get your hands in the air." He whirled around, peering into the corners. "You're going to help me find it, tell me who ... when ... tell me what you did, and fix it."
"Fix ...?" The question died as Lex uttered it. His eyes had become adjusted to the darkness, and with cracks of gray daylight filtering in from above, he could see they were in a storm cellar. Aside from an incongruous, foot-high pyramid with faintly flickering lights in the middle of the floor, the rest looked familiar. Very familiar.
Somehow they had traveled thousands of miles in the blink of an eye. This was the Zone. This was Smallville.
The storm cellar belonged to the Kent farm. This was home.
To think a few short hours ago, Lex had been worried about a too-real but meaningless dream. Its importance faded now that he was in the heart of enemy territory in the hands of an armed lunatic.
Indeed, the physicist seemed to be distracted, almost frantic. On the occasions that Lex had met him before this day, Dolman had been levelheaded and collected, if a bit too smug and ingratiating to Lex's liking. As a physicist, he was well-respected, even renowned; certainly no word of his mental instability had reached Lex. Yet now the man was falling to pieces.
Dolman was, at that moment, apparently preoccupied with attempting to both ransack the cellar and keep the gun on his captive. Lex decided to give talking him down a try.
"What is it you think I can help you with?"
Dolman paused in his search and waggled the gun in Lex's direction. "You ... you must have done something to cause the change. My plan, it wouldn't have done all ... this." He gestured wildly to the ceiling of the cellar. "It would have made me ... it would have added to human knowledge, but you — no surprise — you fucked it up." He stopped, annoyed, and looked as though he expected Lex's apology.
"You realize I have no idea what you're talking about. You're going to have to spell it out for me, if you even can, because we've met only twice before today, and nothing about this – "
"I know!" Dolman put the palm of his free hand to his forehead and shook his head in frustration, or perhaps pain. "No, we have. I can't remember, it's all jumbled up. I was working for you, then I was working for him, and it's ... I didn't think it was possible, but it's so much worse. So much worse."
"For him? Who?" Lex thought he already knew the answer, and when Dolman simply rolled his eyes he was sure. "You've kidnapped me for Kal-El."
"What? No! Or, maybe, this is his equipment, the transporter, even though I invented it, he thinks it's his because he provided material from that ship of his –"
"Dolman! I don't care. You've been a plant for Kal-El in my administration, and now you've kidnapped me. Why?"
"Not for him. Last night I realized, I knew that you'd done something, so it doesn't matter what he wanted, I had to get you here."
"You seem to be trying an end run around Kal-El – isn't Smallville a bad place to do that? My family's home?"
Dolman looked blankly confused for a moment, then snapped, "Your family home is just where you might have hidden it."
"But I don't know what 'it' is." Keep him in the cellar, Lex thought. Keep him away from the house, from Mom. "Tell me about it and we can look together."
"Liar. You have to remember. You were the only other person there. It all came to me last night. I saw that everything has changed. Except there are pieces missing, and I can't remember what I did yesterday, or most of my life, but I do remember ..." His brief lucidity blew over and was gone. "It's your fault. What did you do?"
"Did you stop to think," Lex asked gingerly, "that if you can only remember pieces, that maybe that's all I can remember, too?"
Dolman seemed to consider this, then threw it off. "Come on," he said, waving the gun again for emphasis. "It's not down here. We're going up."
= = = = = = = = = = = =Author's Note: Like Chapter 1 was, this Chapter 2 has been slightly revised from the original. Much thanks to Meri for reading, being honest about her confusion, and helping me see where I could make things clearer. Oh, and time to thank my beta reader, Crossbow! Excellent nitpicking!