Chapter Eight

"So, Lionel found me in the field?" Clark asked, and then preceded to take another bite of waffles.

He and Lex were again having breakfast on the patio. But this time it was a breakfast Clark was more familiar with. There were dozens of buttermilk waffles, an entire plate of crispy bacon, hashbrowns, and scrambled eggs. There were even sides of berries and sliced bananas as toppings, along with maple syrup and whipped cream. There was coffee again, and a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Clark found he was ravenous. All he had to eat yesterday was breakfast. The fatigue, coldness, and utter emptiness he felt after speaking with his parents led him to go to sleep early. He did feel better; more awake and alert. Clark knew that if he had any chance of getting things back to the way they were before, he would have to treat this like any other escapade he had faced before.

That meant he started with research.

Lex was more than willing to talk, and seemed delighted Clark was calmer and more eager to listen now. Clark still felt strange talking to Lex about his powers and alien heritage, but Lex led the conversation, sharing how much he knew. Lex described the spaceship perfectly and clarified Krypton was the planet Clark came from. The destruction came from the planet being too old to support itself anymore. Clark was the only survivor.

"Yes. Lionel was a part of a group called Veritas. They had been tracking the aftermath of Krypton's implosion for years. Lionel's visit to Smallville on the day of the meteor shower was not an accident. He came to get you.

"A few of the meteorites were taken back as samples, naturally. However, when it was discovered how it affected you, the scientists proceeded to see if there were any effects on other types of organic matter. Once that was proven accurate, LuthorCorp covertly collected all the Kryptonite they could find in this town."

"Kryptonite. Lucas said the bullets were made of that."

"Kryptonite refers to the meteorites that were once Krypton. Green is the most common and is the type that can kill you."

"Oh. Well, that was nice of them." Clark thought of all the people he came across whose lives were changed once they were mutated. Mutations caused by chance encounters with random kryptonite pieces.

"Nice had nothing to do with it." Lex sipped his coffee. "It was all about power. Lionel was trying to find a way to control the effects of the mutations or to control the people it affected. It never worked. But, you were a major key in his research. While you didn't live in a lab, you spent most of your life inside one as a lab rat. Dr. Hamilton was, is the lead scientist."

Lex walked over and held up Clark's bracelet. "Lionel used this to control you. Blue Kryptonite nullifies your powers. I'm sorry I had to use it, but once you woke up and claimed your name was Clark Kent, I didn't know if you would remember what you could do. I knew you couldn't live with yourself if you hurt anyone, especially if it was unintentionally. But I think we can take this off now, yes?"

"I understand why you did it." Clark nodded and Lex began to unlock the clasp. "I guess I should be thanking you, anyway. Yesterday, I was so mad, I don't know if I could have stopped myself when I grabbed you."

"Don't worry about it. It's in the past." Lex ruffled his hair.

"So, green, red, and now blue. How many types are there?"

"As of this date we've also discovered black and gold. Effects are unknown so I recommend you keeping your distance. Which won't be a problem since they are safely locked away in the lab. A place you will never step foot in again if you don't want to."

"Where's Lionel now?"

"Dead. And we shall leave it there. Ah, Marci," Lex said as the red headed woman Clark had seen when he first woke up came in. "Julian, I don't think you've properly met my assistant, Marci Grieves."

"Hello, Julian." Marci smiled. "It's nice to see you awake, finally."

"Thanks."

"Well, I don't mean to interrupt, just want to give you the headlines from yesterday and also need to confirm if I should cancel the opera tickets for tomorrow night."

"Yes, please do."

"Lex, you don't need to cancel. I'll be fine by myself."

"Julian, I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone right now."

"Well, could I join you?" Clark didn't like being alone. And from the look of things, he wasn't sure if his friends knew him.

"Sure. In fact, we'll make an evening of it. Marci, keep the tickets and please book us a suite at the Metropolis Plaza."

"You got it, boss." Marci left as abruptly as she came in.

"Nice to meet you," Clark said after her.

"So, Julian, what shall we do today?"

"I thought I'd go into town. Walk around. Talk to some people."

"You're still not convinced you're Julian."

"No." Clark confessed.

"Well, if you're still going with the theory that I'm an evil genius, there must be something I missed." Lex said it good naturally, so Clark knew his feelings weren't hurt.

"Like what?"

"Only you can answer that question. But it will be small. So mundane and unimportant no evil genius would give it a second thought."

So, Marci Grieves is a play on the character Mercy Graves. Why not just use that name? I wanted to do my own thing while giving a small nod to the DC lore.