Chapter Three

Clark was floating. He was floating on a soft cloud. Normally he was scared of heights, but Clark felt so comfortable he wasn't scared of anything.

Slowly he began to realize he wasn't floating, but laying down. In a bed. His bedroom? He remembered his sheets feeling different. Soft and warm, not cool like a cloud. He wasn't in his bed.

His eyes opened. Definitely not in his room. The ceiling was too high for that. He rolled his head to the right. The window was too big. And it had thick drapes. His room didn't have drapes.

Someone gasped. He rolled his head to the left and saw a woman sitting in a chair beside him. She looked shocked.

"Hi." He managed to say.

"Oh, my. Oh, my." The woman stood up and made small bounces. "Umm…doctor. I'll get the doctor."

Oh no! I can't let a doctor see me. The rising panic helped Clark sit up. As he tried to swivel to the side of the bed, he heard things snap. A quick look to the right showed he had pulled plugs from a machine monitor that was now making loud noises. Wires that were once connected to the machine were taped to Clark's head and chest. He yanked them off and threw them aside.

Waking up more, he noticed he was wearing pajamas. Blue silk pajamas. The shirt was currently unbuttoned at the top, to give access to the monitors. He buttoned it closed and saw the pocket had monogrammed JL on it. He couldn't go home like this. Clothes. Need clothes. He was hoping his clothes would be in plain sight, but no luck. He did get a better look at his surroundings though. He was clearly in a bedroom in the Luthor mansion, he would guess. This was not Lex's room, but it seemed more of a personal one than just a normal guest room. There were posters on the wall showing constellations and one of the Periodic Table.

In his scanning of the room to find his clothes, he noticed a book on the bedside table about astronomy. A book Clark had back at home.

That's odd, Clark thought and picked it up. He thumbed through the pages. It was an introduction to astronomy. He had gotten it for his birthday not too long after his Dad gave him the telescope. He paused going through the book when he landed on page that had a coffee stain on it.

This is my copy. The stain was made when Clark used a coffee cup to mark his page, unaware coffee was on the bottom. Why would my book be here? Focus. Need to get out before the doctor comes in.

Clark heard footsteps coming toward the room. Fast. Lex appeared in the doorway, looking just as shocked as the lady had.

"Hi, Lex. What's going…" Before Clark could finish, Lex had run forward and gave Clark the biggest hug he ever had. Lex gripped tighter than his Mother, and that was saying something.

"You're awake, you're awake, you're awake."

Lex was crying? "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Of course, you are. Of course, you are." Lex started to run his fingers through Clark's hair.

Clark had never known Lex to be physically affectionate. He couldn't remember ever hugging Lex, let alone him petting his head. As Lex loosened his grip, Clark took a few steps back. "Are you ok?"

"Am I ok?" Lex gave an exhausted laugh. "Never been better."

"Cool. Well, thank you for…taking care of me, but I think it's best I get out of here."

"No, no, the doctor needs to check on you." Lex grabbed onto his shoulders gently. He was actually making small circular motions. Clark took another step back getting out of the embrace.

"No, no, no doctors. I'm fine. I just need to get home."

"What?" Lex frowned.

"Where are my clothes?"

Just then, the red headed woman and the doctor appeared. The doctor was none other than Dr. Hamilton.

Clark gasped and took a step back. He had watched Dr. Hamilton die. Earlier that year, Dr. Hamilton had kidnapped his friend, Pete Ross, threatening him with an overdose of kryptonite poisoning to get him to reveal the identity of who owned the spaceship they had come across. As Clark had tried to save Pete, Hamilton accidently got the overdose instead.

"Awake at last. Just need to ask a few questions. What is your name?"

"Huh?" Clark glanced at Lex. He seemed perfectly calm at Dr. Hamilton's presence.

"Standard procedure, you understand. Name?"

"Uh…Clark Kent."

Lex, the woman, and Dr. Hamilton exchanged a look. "Sorry. Could you repeat your name?" Dr. Hamilton said.

"Clark Kent," he repeated.

Clark stared back at them as they each gave worried looks. Dr. Hamilton was tapping his pen rapidly against the clipboard; the woman was biting her lip and looking at Lex. Lex was staring at him with a clenched jaw. "What?"

"Umm…why don't you wait here for a minute, ok? I'm going to speak with Lex briefly." All three went out into the hallway.

Clark began looking for his clothes again. He couldn't find his jeans or flannel shirt anywhere. He hated to disappear on Lex, but there was something wrong if Dr. Hamilton was walking around and nobody was finding it weird. Plus, he couldn't stay in case they insisted on more tests.

Inside the walk-in closet was a variety of clothes. There were a few suits, but there were a few pair of jeans as well. Very high-quality jeans. Clark borrowed a pair of those, a t-shirt with Warrior Angel on it and a pair of boots. Again, very high quality. Clark promised to return them once he got back home and had his own clothes to wear. Funny thing was, Clark didn't know who these clothes belonged to. He knew Lex was a Warrior Angel fan, but he had never known Lex to wear anything this casual. And they fit him perfectly; this shirt would have been too big for Lex.

Something weird was going on. He needed to get home and talk with his parents. They'd explain why he had been at the Luthor mansion. Clark super sped out the window and to the Kent farm. As soon as his feet touched the long gravel driveway, he stumbled. He was overcome with a strong feeling of drowsiness. His limbs felt heavy, and it was hard to keep his eyes open. Somehow, he managed to get to the house and open the front door, immediately collapsing after.

He no longer could open his eyes and just laid on the floor hearing his Mother scream in shock and his Dad saying he should get moved to the couch. Clark tried to speak, but he felt as if he were floating again. He didn't know if he slept at all, but he felt safe resting on the couch listening to the comforting, familiar sounds of his parents' voices and his Mother making dinner.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting."

That was Lex's voice.

"No, thanks for coming as quickly as you did. He's over here." His Dad's voice said.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," chimed in his Mother. "I was in the kitchen, and he just stumbled in barely conscious. He hasn't moved all afternoon."

"Thank you so much for taking care of him. I don't understand what's going on either. Again, I'm so sorry."

Strong hands were lifting him from the couch. Through the heavy drowsiness, Clark tried to fight through it. He tried to open his mouth and shout for help. Why were his parents allowing Lex to take him away?

"Mom!" Clark wanted it to be a shout, but it only came out as a desperate whisper.

"It's okay, Julian." Lex said close to Clark's ear. "You're safe."

Clark continued to try and thrash his way out of the grip he was in; tried to continue to shout to his parents for help. But despite his efforts he felt himself be put in a car and driven away from his home.