Chapter Forty-Seven

Clark found it hard to breathe. He was somewhere dark and laying down. Someone was putting a cool washcloth on his forehead.

"Lex?" Clark croaked out.

"I'm here."

Clark turned his head and opened his eyes. He was in his bedroom, and Lex was sitting beside him. His brother looked concerned. It slowly all came back to him; going to Cadmus. Reading the file for project Eurydice. Turning on the device and feeling pain like no other. "Don't tell me I was asleep for another year."

"Just the night." Lex didn't even crack a smile at Clark's attempt at humor. "How are you feeling?"

"Head hurts. Other than that, I'm good." Clark cleared his throat. "Lex, I'm sorry…"

"Shhh." Lex helped Clark sit up to sip some water. "Just rest. We'll talk when you're feeling better."

Clark ended up staying in bed for another day. Lex stayed with him and took care of him, putting cool washcloths on his forehead, helping him eat soup, and reading to him. When Clark was well enough to get up, Lex went to his study. Clark took his time showering and getting dressed. He was not looking forward to the conversation they were going to have.

He dragged his feet as he walked towards the study, where Lex was typing away on his laptop. Quietly, Clark took a seat on the other side of the desk. Without a word, Lex closed his laptop, folded his hands in front of him and began to stare at Clark with a steady gaze. His face was stone. Clark squirmed a little, hung his head and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For?"

"I'm sorry for reading top secret files."

"And?"

"And…almost killing myself."

Lex tossed the project Eurydice folder on his desk. "This was the one you wanted to read about?" Clark nodded. "Julian, dare I ask why you didn't just ask me about it? How did you even hear about this?"

"I heard it mentioned from one of the subjects at Cadmus."

"I take it that person would be Sarah Conroy." Clark just looked down. "It's not that hard to figure out. She visited you a few days ago. What do you want to know?"

"Did Hamilton prolong her coma?"

"Yes. Sarah was in a car crash on Loeb Bridge. Kryptonite was discovered in the water, and she was brought to Cadmus for observation. Somehow, she was able to connect with you while you were asleep. Hamilton lengthened her coma, so his team had longer to map out the brain wave patterns. Lionel wanted to create a device that duplicated the results as an interrogation technique for the military. The desired effect was to allow the user to enter the mind of the enemy and obtain information."

"Something tells me it didn't work."

"Correct. Our scientists were not able to recreate the desired results. What you came across was the first prototype. Lionel insisted on keeping all versions for important projects. Julian, why didn't you just ask me?"

"You didn't tell me about the sleeping potion. I was wondering if Hamilton kept me in my coma longer and I thought I'd just read the file real quick."

"Julian, I assure you, Hamilton did nothing to prolong your coma."

"And there's nothing else you aren't telling me?"

"We've had this conversation before." Lex tapped his fingers against the glass of his desk. "And I have a feeling in a month we might have it again. At some point, Julian, you are just going to have to accept things as the way they are."

"Yeah." Clark got up to leave.

"Where are you going? This conversation is not over. You haven't received your punishment yet."

"Huh?"

"Julian, you broke into a secure lab where there are things that can kill you, minus one now, and read documents that require authorization. I cannot let behavior like that slide. I am requiring you to do two hundred hours work of community service. You may choose where. By the end of the day tomorrow, you will put a thousand-word essay of why what you did was wrong in my hands. Depending on how well written it is I will either add or subtract four to eight hours. And don't make any plans for Saturday."

"What am I doing Saturday?"

"I'm taking you to Metropolis Stadium. Metropolis Pirates are playing the Mustangs." Lex continued to speak with his stern face.

Clark smiled. "Aw, gee. Do I really have to?"

"Yes. And not another word about it."

I couldn't find what the mascot was for the Metropolis baseball team, so I went with Pirates to keep with the ocean theme.