Clark sped in the front door, coming to a bit of a messy stop in the kitchen, stumbling and almost falling over one of the chairs. The last five seconds had been surreal, as that was all the time it took for him to get from outside the Torch office to his home. Clark was surprised at how easily all this stuff came to him, i.e., the use of his powers. If what Jonathan had told him was true, then it had taken him years to learn how to control his powers, and after only half a day, he had almost mastered all of them. It was strange, but in the end, Clark put it down to the fact that he had already learnt it once before, even if he couldn't remember it.
He turned to Martha, who was still doing their budget at the kitchen table.
"I need the containers that our food came in last night." Clark said, not the least bit breathless, even though he had just run about ten miles in record breaking time.
"Uh, they should still be in the trash still, I think." Martha replied. Thrilled, Clark dashed over to the trash can in the corner of the kitchen, and began searching through it. Almost straight away, he found some old rice cartons, chopsticks and plastic sushi containers. He pulled them out, but his hopes were dashed when he opened them and discovered them spotless. He turned to Martha, confused.
"These are clean." He said. Martha looked up.
"Yes, I washed them." She said. "Can't leave them in the trash with all the bits and pieces still in it. It'll bring the rats."
Clark sagged. "No…" He moaned under his breath, plopping down in a chair opposite Martha.
"What's wrong Clark?" Martha asked, regretting her stupid question as soon as it left her mouth.
"I needed the food in those cartons." Clark said. "Chloe was going to get it to a lab in metropolis, to have it analyzed. They could've found out what caused this."
"Oh, Clark. I'm so sorry!" Martha gasped. "If I'd have known…"
"It's ok mom," Clark said. "That's it, you didn't know."
"But are you sure that's a good idea, Clark?" Martha asked, suddenly concerned. "Chloe will know the results before either you or Pete do. What if it turns out it has meteor rock in it?"
"That's what me and Pete think." Clark replied. "What else could it have been? According to dad, I could knock back a pint of gasoline, and feel nothing. It must have been meteor rock."
"But what if Chloe finds out your secret?" Martha asked. "Not many people lose their memories from eating meteor rock."
"Maybe not, but it's a risk I have to take." Clark said. "And anyway, according to Chloe, meteor rocks do affect other people."
"Just so long as you can hold onto that excuse when the results come back." Martha warned.
"Well, now there might not be any results." Clark said, making Martha glance guiltily at the spotless containers.
"You know, you could go and get some more food at that restaurant. I'll write you out a list of what we had last night." She said "It's likely that our food wasn't the only ones contaminated with meteor rock."
"Well, it's worth a shot." Clark said reluctantly, then he sighed. "Mom, what if I can't get my memory back?"
"Clark, you're strong," Martha said. "And not just physically. You may be able to pick up tractors, but you can also pull through this. There hasn't ever been anything you haven't gotten through before, and this will not be the first."
