Memoria Part 4

At the Kent farm…

Clark went about his regular chores at a slower pace around the farm. His father was doing well, but his mind was preoccupied with Alicia's actions. Clark had been taken by surprise when Alicia frenched him in the hospital waiting room. She grinded against his body and had moaned loudly enough for the entire hospital to hear. It had taken both Pete and Chloe to pull her away from him.

But then, when he and his mother needed to wait his father's side, Alicia had waited patiently at his arm. She was silent and consoling; holding on to him as they listened to the doctor's prognosis. Because of that, a small part of Clark felt complimented by Alicia's actions. He had never felt confident about his looks. Clark had always thought Lana was beautiful, but he never had known if she found him physically attractive. There was no doubt Alicia found him appealing with her calling him her "sexy nerd" and frequent displays of PDAs. Clark was snapped out of his current thoughts as Lionel approached the farm boy.

"Mr. Kent," Lionel drawled as he walked further into the barn.

"What do you want?"

"To warn you. If there's any truth to the gossip I've been hearing, it seems as if Miss Baker is rather taken by you."

"So?"

"For the moment, let's ignore you forgiving her so quickly. Are you aware, Mr. Kent, of what befell her previous boyfriend?"

"You locked him up."

"Yes, I did. So why didn't Alicia, the girl who can get through any lock, rescue him?"

Clark opened his mouth with a ready answer; it would be illegal. Just before the words escaped Clark's mouth, he knew they would be considered foolish by Lionel.

"She didn't know where he was," Clark said instead.

"I assure you, Mr. Kent, Miss Baker did indeed know where Adam Knight was being held," the business snake laughed. "So, I'd like to know exactly when Miss Baker's infatuation transferred to you. And why."

"I'm not sure," Clark answered truthfully. "I was nice to her. Nothing more to it than that."

"Mr. Kent," Lionel stared at Clark with an intense gaze and stepped closer, "that girl is dangerous. If you don't want to be left at her mercy, you could use an ally."

"The only dangerous person in this room is you, Lionel," Clark sneered. "You might own half of this town, but this is still my family's farm. So, get out."

"You're making a mistake, boy." Lionel growled as he took his exit.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Alicia watched from a discreet corner in the Kent barn. She had been wanting to walk up to Clark and say 'hello' but that ended when she noticed Lionel had entered the barn.

Her heart melted hearing Clark defend her to that tyrant.

She could see Lionel's questions had disturbed Clark. He had never asked her why she hadn't rescued Adam, and she had been lucky for it. That made Alicia troubled now, but she would soon find a way to put Clark at ease. An idea began to form.

Yes, Alicia thought to herself. That would be just the thing.

At Smallville High…

"Hi, gorgeous," Alicia purred.

"Hi, yourself. Check it out." Clark opened his locker door open further. He had added more of the photos back in and wanted to show Alicia his work. He knew it meant a lot to her, and after everything she did for him, Clark wanted to show his appreciation somehow. But when Clark opened the locker door, it was plastered with photographs again from top to bottom.

"What?" Alicia asked, peering inside.

"Well, I just, added more photos. Not this many, though."

"Guilty." Alicia giggled. "Please, don't be mad. I just love knowing other people will know you think of me."

Clark closed his eyes in annoyance. He took in a deep breath. "Okay. If it's this important you, then fine."

"Thanks." Alicia kissed his cheek. "My sexy nerd. Any other good news?"

"Don't think so. Why?".

"Really? Not even certain hospital bills?"

Clark stopped walking. He knew his father's medical bill had been paid in full, but he thought was that it was from one of the groupies. "I thought that was Lex. It was you?"

"Yep." Alicia grinned triumphantly. Her smile faded as she noticed Clark's expression. "What's wrong?"

Clark had seen the hospital bill over his mother's shoulder; it was a fortune. Between that and the jacket, Alicia was willing to spend unlimited funds on him.

"Can we talk in private?"

In the blink of eye, Alicia transported them to Clark's loft.

"What's wrong?" Alicia asked again in earnest.

"Just, the jacket, and now this medical bill. Alicia, where's this money coming from?"

"Don't worry about it," Alicia consoled him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I earned it."

Clark broke free of her arms grip and backed away. "How?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Yes, Alicia, it does. Tell me where you got that money."

"I got paid for it."

"Doing what?"

"It's no big deal. Lionel's just asked me to take photos of certain documents for him. That's all."

"What?" Clark couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You've been moonlighting for Lionel? You stole it!"

"I did not," Alicia seemed wounded at the statement. "I earned it."

"Through corporate sabotage. Alicia, that's illegal!"

"Oh, like you never stole money before."

Clark winced. He knew she was referring to his past summer in Metropolis. "Alicia, what I did was wrong, and I returned that money."

"If it'll make you happy, fine. No more jobs. Besides, I have enough now. You got a smart girl. I bought a whole bunch of stocks and other investments. We are going to be set for life, Mr. Kent."

"Huh?"

"Well, it's our money, Clark. That's why I had no problem spending it on my future father-in-law. All of it will be yours the moment you say, 'I do'."

Alicia leaned up for a kiss as Clark's body went rigid. She was talking about a wedding again. Clark didn't know how he felt about future wedding bells. His biological father had extracted a huge price from his adopted father over the summer.

What price would he extort from his wife?

Through the corner of his eye, Clark saw a flash of metal and blue from a bracelet on Alicia's right wrist. He recognized the pattern. Clark took hold of her arm to scrutinize the piece of jewelry.

"This is Kyla's bracelet."

Alicia beamed as though Clark had just complimented her instead of giving an accusation.

"I should wear it, don't you think? After all, I'm your soulmate." Alicia stepped closer, peering up at him, her lips ready for a kiss.

But Clark stepped away.

"That was not something I just had lying around." Clark clenched his fists. "Alicia, you stole from me!"

"No, I didn't." Alicia seemed surprised by Clark's reaction. "Please, don't be mad. I just wanted to show my devotion to you."

Alicia reached for him again, her arms outstretched. Clark again stepped back.

"I think I need some space."

Without another word, Clark supersped from the loft.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Space? SPACE!?

"Clark?" Alicia called out to the empty loft.

He left me. HE LEFT ME!

"Clark!" Alicia cried out for her love to hear. There was no response. She popped into Clark's bedroom. She went to the Torch office, the cave, even the Talon searching for her beloved. When he wasn't in those places, Alicia finally collapsed on her bedroom floor. She gasped for air as she pulled the teddy bear Clark gifted to her tight.

"Clark loves me. He loves me. HE LOVES ME!" Alicia said aloud to herself as she knelt on her bedroom floor. She clutched the album of Clark's photos closer to her person.

Clark still loves you. Of course, he does. Of course, Alicia's mind reasoned. Clark still loves you. This is all their faults.

Of course, Alicia consoled herself as she flipped through the pages. They're trying to deinfluence you.

"My poor baby." Alicia said aloud as she kissed the photo.

Clark's surprise wasn't ready. Not yet. Alicia would need to buy some time for them.

At the Torch office…

Pete was grateful Chloe had taken over the Sarah Conroy investigation. And yet, he now felt useless as Chloe took the helm of the search engine. Pete shared what he'd found by himself, hoping to get some sort of recognition from Chloe, but the Torch editor just took the information in stride and began her own research.

"It turns out your dream girl was admitted to Metropolis General after the accident until one Dr. Garner requested her uncle submit her under the care of the Summerholt Institute," Chloe declared as she read off the computer monitor.

"But what's that go to do with me? Or Alicia?"

Chloe shrugged. "Luthor Corp has investments in Summerholt. Need I say more? Besides, Alicia was working for Lionel to spy on Clark. You've been his best friend for years. Maybe they took you somewhere to interrogate."

"So, Sarah has some kind of mind power."

"And if she's asking you for help it's not willingly," Chloe added solemnly. "To branch out if you needed help, I reached out to Lex on a hunch and the coroner's confirmed that the same drug that was in Lana's system was the drug that killed Van."

"And you're sure it's Alicia?"

"I am, but I don't exactly have proof. Everything's been off the books."

"Okay, maybe we can't prove Alicia killed Van, but maybe we can prove she killed Cyrus. Think about it, I might not like her, but I really believe Alicia loves Clark," Pete said.

"More like obsessed if you ask me."

Pete knew he couldn't share some things with Chloe. How Van knew about Clark's weakness and witness his powers.

"Okay, I can have my guys try and match the bullet that killed Ian to the one that killed Cyrus, or match any of the guns in Van's arsenal."

"I hope we're right. Clark's never gonna forgive us if we're wrong."