At 11am , a man arrived in Oliver's suite where Lois, Kara and Oliver were gathered.
"Kara, Lois, can I introduce you to Dr Emil Hamilton. He is my private physician." Oliver gestured.
"Nice to meet you both."
Kara looked nervous. She did not know who to trust except for Lois. She looked to Lois for support.
"So, Ms Kent. I believe you are experiencing some form of powers but you can't remember how or when you got them." Emil commented even though he knew the full extent of Kara's powers from his time working with Clark.
"Yes." She replied quietly.
"Would you agree to come with me to my room. I think I know how to restore your memories." Emil asked gently.
"Only if Lois can come with me."
Emil looked at Oliver who nodded for him to agree. Emil was not happy as it would make it very awkward carrying out the procedure if Lois was present and was not to discover Clark's secret.
"Ok." Emil tried not to sound reluctant.
Emil led Lois and Kara to the lift where he took them to the basement where all his equipment was located. Lois could not believe this was actually a working lab. You could barely see the floor with all the chaos and mess.
"How do you work in this." Lois asked.
He moved a few things off some chairs to make space for Kara and Lois.
"Have a seat." He knew he would just have to keep Kara talking until Lois left even if it took hours.
"So Kara, what powers have you developed?"
Kara took a deep breath before she started. "Well...I can fly, see through walls, hear things from miles away and run fast."
"Can you not remember anything?"
"Not really. I have been having vivid dreams recently but it is hard to decipher what they mean and whether they have any bearing on reality."
"What sort of dreams?"
"I dream about another world where the sky is red and there are huge ice like structures stretched as far as the eye can see. I see a man arguing with another man. Then I see a baby and a woman crying over the baby."
Emil realised that must be Krypton. He was just about to probe further when Oliver burst through the door.
"Emil, we have a situation." He was stressed. "We need to speed this up. I have just had word that Boy Scout is missing."
"Boy Scout..." Lois was puzzled. "What is this, some sort of secret heroes club."
"Something like that!" Oliver replied.
"Lois, would you mind leaving?" Emil asked.
"I am not agreeing to anything unless she stays." Kara demanded.
Oliver looked at Emil. "We have no choice, Emil. He would understand our reasons for doing this."
Oliver turned to Lois. "Lois, you are going to find out a lot in the next 5 minutes, and you will have questions. I would appreciate if you could keep these to yourself until this procedure is over with."
Lois was puzzled. "Ok...whatever Ollie."
"Right, Kara could you lie on this bed. I am going to play back some flashbacks to your past which may be enough to trigger your memories. This machine will render you unconscious for the procedure. It is the only way to do it."
Kara nodded and climbed on the bed. "Ready!"
Emil pressed a button on a nearby console and images started to appear on the screen above Kara.
Lois sat there in amazement, with one burning question on the end of her tongue. Why were there so many pictures of Clark appearing and then a spaceship. Then there were pictures of a huge ice structure.
She looked at Oliver for answers but could see she was not going to get any answers at this moment.
A few minutes later, Kara suddenly sat up and ripped off the machine.
"Kara, do you remember?" Emil asked.
"Yes, I do. Everything..."
Oliver looked at Kara. "We need your help. Can you fly me to the Arctic?"
"The Fortress?" Kara asked in a panic. "What's happened to Kal-el?"
Lois jumped out of her seat at the sound of that name. "Who is this Kal-el? I keep hearing the name but never get to meet him."
Oliver ignored Lois. "Lex found the Fortress and went up to find him. He went up to intercept Lex but we have lost contact with him and we are picking up reports that Lex is missing, believed dead. I have AC en-route but I need to get there as quickly as possible.
"Get your stuff ready and we will leave now. I can go in myself if you like."
"Kara, it is too dangerous. We don't know what he came up against there and it could affect your powers. Please stay at a safe distance until I can give you the all clear."
Kara nodded reluctantly. "ok then." She walked over to Lois. "We will bring him back I promise you."
Kara then turned and left with Oliver.
Lois was left in a state of confusion. Emil knew he was going to have plenty of questions to answer.
"Why did Kara say that to me?" Lois looked at the doctor.
"You don't know who Kal-el is, do you?" Emil asked.
"No..." then her face dropped. "Clark..."
he realisation and all the implications from this discovery were hitting Lois at break neck speed. She felt sick, worried beyond words. Clark had carried this secret around for years without any support and was more than willing to sacrifice himself for others on a daily basis. There was only one person who could answer all her questions and he may in mortal danger. Most of all she needed Clark back safe and well.
She looked at Emil. "Is there any way you can get in contact with Kara. I need to be there."
"No, it is too dangerous. Clark would never forgive me. That is why he is so secretive because he does not want to endanger other people." Emil explained.
"That is him all over. How could he go through his life with no one to talk to except a few chosen people."
"He never chose to tell anyone. It just happened. Chloe, Lana, Lex all found out for themselves. Oliver and I found out from the work he did with the Justice League of Heroes."
"Chloe...Lana...they both knew." She was shocked.
"Yes, they did." Emil replied.
She panicked. "When do you expect to hear from Oliver."
"He would have been there in minutes but he will need to rendezvous with AC at the exact location of the Fortress. Lex's people will have people crawling all over there by morning so they need to move quickly." Emil replied.
"I need to know more Emil please... Where is Clark from? Is he meteor infected?"
He wanted to hold back but he could see the devastation and pain in Lois's eyes. "No, he is from a planet called Krypton. It was destroyed before he reached Earth in his spaceship. The Kent's found him during the meteor shower and raised him."
"He could not have found better parents than the Kents. They treated him like their own. I wish my dad had been more like them. "
For what seemed like hours, Emil chatted about his time since he had met Oliver and Clark and how he fit in with the superheroes.
Eventually there was a secure audio message from Oliver.
We have him, there are issues with him but he is alive. Taking him back to the meeting point for Kara to fly us back. Should be back within the hour.
Lois jumped up from her seat, unable to calm down. "I wish he was back. I need to see he is ok.
Within the hour, Emil had a message to prepare for Clark's arrival. He required medical assistance urgently.
Soon Kara landed on the balcony with Clark in her arms. He seemed limp and lifeless.
"He has lost a lot of blood. He needs some blood." Kara shouted as she ran down to the lab with him and Emil.
"Kara, can you go by Met Gen hospital and get some blood. I have never been able to cross match him so we will need to get some Type O negative. Where are his powers?"
"He said something about them being taken from him. He is human now."
Lois got in the lift and headed down to the lab. She hated seeing Clark like this.
"Emil, what's happening? Can I do anything?"
"Can you come and hold this pressure bandage down to staunch the bleeding. Kara is getting blood. Normally he would heal up instantaneously but his powers are gone. I just need to hook him up to these monitors so we can get an idea of how he is getting on." Emil replied.
Within seconds the screen was flashing red and making beeping noises. "His blood pressure is dangerously low. We need..."
Before he had chance to finish, Kara burst through the door. "Got them."
Emil grabbed the blood and connected it to the line. Clark's blood pressure was soon rising slowly but it was not quick enough. His chest wound was still bleeding.
"Kara, can you seal his wound without causing any further internal damage."
Kara nodded and took a deep breath. The heat was seering but started to seal up the wound. Unfortunately it was obvious that Clark could feel some of the pain. His teeth clenched and his face screwed up. Kara headed off to get Oliver.
Soon the bleeding stopped and Clark was still again. The blood pressure soon came up within normal limits but Clark still had signs of other injuries including a fractured humerus and head injuries. He could be unconscious for a while but he was out of danger for the moment.
Oliver entered the room. "How is he?"
""He is stable for the moment, but it could be a long road back to health unless we can help him get his powers back. What happened?"
"We found him in the location of the Fortress under a pile of ice. The whole structure had collapsed in on him. There was no sign of Lex. AC is staying back to keep an eye out for any developments when Lex's team arrived." Oliver explained.
"What happened to his powers?" Lois asked.
"He said something about his father taking them away from him."
"His father – he is dead."
"No, he can contact his real father via the Fortress, well at least he could until it ended up as a heap of rubble."
"Lois, why don't you go and grab some sleep."
"I will but I am sleeping down here. I won't leave him until he comes around." Lois kissed Clark on the forehead.
She made a bed out of a nearby examination bed and was soon falling asleep hypnotised by the reassuring bleep of Clark's heart on the monitor...
Lois woke up the following morning by the sound of Emil doing some stuff to Clark.
"Morning, Lois." Emil said quietly.
"Is he ok?" she jumped up in a panic.
"He is stable. He should regain consciousness soon and then we know the full extent of any possible repercussions of the head trauma. His bleeding has stopped."
"That's good. I hope he is ok. I don't know how I would cope without him."
"Look Kara is having breakfast upstairs with Oliver, so why don't you go and join them." Emil suggested.
She was going to argue but seeing the look on Emil's face told her that he was not going to take no for answer.
"I will call you if there is any change."
"You'd better or you'll regret it." She managed a smile.
Lois went over to Clark and kissed him on the forehead, whilst whispering in his ear. "I love you Smallville."
Kara and Oliver were tucking into a feast. "Hi Lois. I hope you got some sleep. Sit down and have a coffee at least."
Lois sat down. "Thanks Oliver. "
"Kara, can we talk sometime today. I want to know more about Clark. Are you his real cousin?"
"Yeah, my father and his father were brothers. They both perished when Krypton was destroyed." Kara seemed upset. "Kal-el is a good man with or without his powers."
"I just pray he pulls through." Lois teared up.
"We have another problem. There was a message sent from Jimmy to Clark's phone telling him that Chloe has been arrested by the DDS for spying. But when I checked the DDS files they have no record of her leading me to suspect it is of Lex's doing. I have checked all the facilities and have found one possible location for her. I have a feeling it is a trap, so Kara is staying here whilst I go and get her out of there."
Kara was not happy but with Clark already powerless she needed to follow Oliver's advice until any threat from Lex was wiped out.
Lois went back down to see how Clark was doing. In fact she sat there for the next few days. Clark's vital signs were improving as were his blood results. He was still unconscious but as Emil pointed out that was mainly due to the fact he was sedated giving any swelling in his head a chance to reduce. His left arm was in a cast due to the fracture. Other than that he did not look too bad.
Oliver was staking out the facility in Montana was waiting for back up from Black Canary and Bart before he proceeded.
"I think it is time to reduce his sedation to see if he will wake up." Emil said that particular morning.
Lois was excited. She wanted to know what kind of state Clark was in.
The sedation levels were slowly tailed off but as Emil pointed out, it could take hours for him to come around.
It was Lois who first noticed a slight twitch in one of Clark's fingers. She grabbed his hand which tightened up to grip hers back.
"Emil, he is waking up." Lois shouted.
"Ok, calm down. Just let him come around in his own time. He needs to acclimatise to his environment."
Lois nodded and waited patiently. Minutes later his eyes blinked open and then immediately shut again in response to the lighting. Then they opened again and stayed open longer.
Emil walked over to him. "Clark, can you hear me? It's Emil."
Clark nodded slowly and tried to focus on the doctor but he was still squinting due to light.
"What happened?" Clark asked weakly as Lois watched from the back of the room.
"What do you remember?" Emil asked.
"I remember being at the Fortress and confronting Lex and then everything came in on us. I can remember being carried somewhere by Oliver and then it is blank."
"Oliver rescued you and Kara brought you back to Star City which is where you are now."
Clark started to sit up. "I need to go and see Lois and tell her everything. She hates me."
Emil motioned for an emotional Lois to stay back out of sight. Lois just wanted to run up and hug him.
"Stay still, Clark. You were badly injured and you are attached to all sorts of drips and machines. Take your time. It could take a while to get you back on your feet." Emil explained.
"Jor-el took my powers so Lex could not use me as a weapon. "
"By the looks of the Fortress it may be difficult to get to talk to your father for a while so he can return your powers."
"I have lived without my powers before and can do again. It was my one chance to lead a normal life with Lana. Maybe I can have a normal relationship with Lois, after all I don't want it to go the same way as Lana and me." Clark said wide awake still not realising Lois was standing in the corner listening to every word.
Emil smiled. "Look Clark, I don't think I am the one you need to talk to. I will leave you two to it."
Clark turned to find out who Emil was meaning. He saw Lois appear from the shadows at the other side of the room...