Author's Note: Before I do anything else, I would like to sincerely apologize to The Die Hard for my response to their review of one of my previous chapters. I have had problems in the past with people jumping to conclusions and I know that I overreacted in this case. I was merely trying to point out that you cannot always assume that you know exactly what the author is thinking. I guess I just needed a proverbial slap-in-the-face to realize that I myself jumped to a conclusion in this case. I would like to thank everyone that responded to my response the way they did, it really helped. Also, as some people have pointed out, my biography section is pointlessly long. I realized this a long time ago and just never got around to downsizing it as much as I should have. As you all might have noticed, that problem has been taken care of.

One more thing: when I had said "I don't remember asking for your critique on my bio", I never meant that I never asked you to review the story - I was merely referring to the things that were nitpicked on in my author biography. But, as mentioned previously, those things were amended anyway.

I would also like to apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter out – I actually don't have a plausible excuse for that.

On to the story!

Memory

Chapter 5

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Lana woke up to the smell of hot cinnamon rolls and bacon mingling with fresh coffee. But Clark almost never made breakfast... She opened her eyes to the sight of bold red numbers blinking at her. Her alarm clock wasn't digital... Sitting up quickly, she looked around the room to find that it was not her own. This was Clark's old room, and she was at the Kent Farm. She looked at the clock again. It was already past ten.

Climbing out of the warm bed, Lana made her way downstairs to the kitchen where she was greeted by the sight of Martha Kent and Lex Luthor talking over coffee. Martha looked up as one of the steps creaked and smiled when she saw Lana. Setting her mug down, she stood and went to the cupboard where she pulled out a plate.

"Good morning Lana. Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving," Lana replied before yawning widely.

"Have a seat while I fix you a plate, honey. Lex if you could get the pitcher of orange juice out of the fridge?"

Lana shook her head in protest. "No, Martha, I can—"

"Sit down," Martha said firmly as she dished a couple pancakes onto the plate. Lana did as she was told and took a seat at the table.

"You know, you had me worried this morning, Lana," Lex said, setting a glass of orange juice in front of her before taking his seat across the table from her.

"Oh?"

"When I asked your wait staff where you were, they said that they hadn't seen you at all this morning and you weren't at your apartment."

"I'm sorry Lex. I guess I should have let someone know where I was going to be. I just... I was in such a hurry to get out of the apartment last night that I didn't even think ahead at all," Lana said apologetically.

"Stop pestering the poor girl, Lex. She's had a rough night as it is." Martha set a plate heaped with food in front of Lana. "Now you eat up, honey."

"Thank you Martha," Lana smiled before digging in to the food.

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Alex sat in the nurses' station, filling out paperwork, when a fellow nurse stopped to lean against the counter beside her.

"So Alex, I heard that you had a bit of a run-in with Lex Luthor yesterday."

"I'm busy Andrea," Alex sighed in annoyance.

"So tell me, what was he like?" Andrea pressed, twisting her index finger in her dark curls.

"Bald. Now go away," Alex scowled, growing even more irritated.

"You're no fun, 'Lex," Andrea pouted.

"Don't call me that," Alex snapped, her eyes still not leaving the papers in front of her.

"Ahh, I remember now – you're not a very big fan of the Luthors and it offends you when people call you Lex," Andrea smirked.

"Shut up Andrea."

"Fine," Andrea said, glancing down at the chart that Alex was working on. "You're working on 'Mr. Doe', right? Have you found anything new?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I think he might have grown up on a farm."

"Ooh, a Kansas farm boy, huh? Too bad he can't remember anything; he's pretty good-looking."

"You're horrible Andrea. Have you ever thought about the fact that the hospital wasn't set up for you to meet guys?" Alex shook her head, jotting down another bit of information on the chart.

"I know, I know," Andrea rolled her eyes, pulling a chair up beside Alex and sitting down in it. "You know, I've heard that Lex Luthor lives just outside some little farming town about three hours from here. It's called 'Smalltown' or something like that... Do you think I'd find any good-looking guys there?"

"Who knows; but I think you've got plenty of guys right here in Metropolis to terrorize – I think maybe you should leave the ones in Smallville alone," Alex smirked, flipping back through Clark's chart to make sure she had everything down correctly.

"Alright, alright. I doubt I'd ever find a small town guy with any sort of potential anyway," Andrea smiled before turning to go. She stopped a few feet away and turned back to where Alex sat, reaching for another chart. "Hey 'Lex?"

"Don't call me... that..." Alex's eyes grew wide as the pen dropped out of her hand.

"Alex? What's wrong?"

"Andrea, you are so amazing!" Alex said jumping out of her seat and pulling the other nurse into a hug.

"Umm... Okay..."

"I'll explain later!" Alex called back over her shoulder as she took off down the hall.

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Lex stormed into his office. "I told you that you were no longer welcome here," he scowled.

"Is that any way to greet your father?" Lionel Luthor didn't even bother turning from where he stood, scanning over a page in a book by none other than Nietzsche. He closed the book, placing it back on the shelf before pulling out another one and thumbing through it.

"Why are you here?" Lex demanded, his voice rising.

Lionel smirked. "I heard that your friend Clark has been missing for quite some time now. I was just wondering if perhaps I could be of some help in the search for him."

Lex could feel every muscle in his body tensing up as he prepared for the worst news possible. "What did you do?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"I'm afraid that I don't understand what you're trying to imply here, Lex," Lionel said slowly, raising an eyebrow as he turned to look at Lex.

"You bastard! Where is Clark!" Lex roared, taking a menacing step towards his father.

Lionel chuckled cruelly, closing the book and setting it on the edge of the desk. "Did you know that Clark Kent tends to become quite ill when he's around fragments of the meteor? I'd almost call it an allergic reaction."

"Where is he?" Lex's voice had dropped to a deathly tone, his expression murderous.

"You know, I couldn't tell you. But it may take him a while to remember what happened to him..." Lionel tossed him a small object that glinted in the light coming through one of the windows. "His wife may want that back," Lionel sneered before leaving.

Lex looked at what he had caught and now held in the palm of his hand... It was Clark's wedding ring.

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Lana ran her hands over the smooth surface of the telescope, smiling before she bent down to look through the eyepiece. She chuckled softly when she came across the sight of her Aunt's old home. A new family lived there now, of course, but she would never forget growing up there, where her closest neighbors were the Kents.

"Don't tell me that you're spying on that poor family." Lana turned to find Martha coming up the stairs with two mugs in hand. "I figured you could use some hot chocolate. It's getting pretty cold out now."

"Thank you Martha," Lana smiled, accepting the mug.

"You know, I remember when you and Clark were in high school and he had the biggest crush on you, I would catch him up here, watching your aunt's house, just hoping for a glimpse of you," Mrs. Kent grinned, looking out the window at the starry night sky.

Lana's smile spread even wider as she sipped her cocoa, relishing in the warmth it gave off. "I always felt like I had a guardian angel watching over me back then," she whispered, her own gaze being drawn towards the heavens. "I remember after homecoming back in ninth grade, Whitney had just dropped me off at home and right before I went inside, I felt as though someone was right there with me," she smiled, shaking her head at the memory. "And somehow... I've always known that it was Clark."

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Lana and Martha looked up to find Lex standing at the top of the stairs, waiting patiently.

"Not at all, Lex. Come, have a seat," Martha smiled. Lex quickly obliged, taking a seat on the couch with Lana. "Is something wrong Lex?" Mrs. Kent asked, noticing for the first time the defeated look he wore on his face.

"Mrs. Kent, would you mind if I spoke with Lana alone for a minute?"

"Go right ahead. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything," Martha smiled sadly before she left them alone.

Lex sat quietly for a minute before he sighed. "Lana, before I can say anything else, I have to tell you that I'm sorry."

"Lex, none of this is your fault," Lana said, looking at him incredulously. "I know we've gone over this at least once before..."

"Except that I now know for a fact that I am at least indirectly responsible for what happened." Lex refused to look at her, his eyes riveted to a crack in one of the floorboards. If he hadn't been so adamant about figuring out what was so different about Clark Kent in the first place, his father's interest would not have been piqued. And Clark wouldn't have had to worry about it in the first place, especially after Clark had found out about the room in Lex's mansion with all of Lex's research.

"What are you saying?" Lana asked, her voice quivering and her expression one of brief distrust.

"I found out why Clark went missing in the first place."

"In the first... Lex, you're going to have to clarify this for me, because I'm completely lost right now. What happened to Clark?"

"My father had Clark kidnapped, Lana. He managed to find out about Clark's abilities and thus his weakness, and had him kidnapped and taken to a remote lab for experimentation." Lex's shoulders drooped in shame as the guilt of his actions weighed down on him.

"He... What! Is he still there!" Lana cried, her eyes wide with horror. She clutched the fabric of her pants in a grip so tight her knuckles were turning white. In the silence that loomed before Lex's response, Lana prayed that she would see her husband alive again.

"No." Lana slumped back against the back of the couch in relief, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Lex smiled briefly before continuing. "Thankfully, he somehow managed to escape, and not even my father's thugs can figure out where he disappeared to."

"Why wouldn't he have just come right home?" Lana asked him, sitting up. What could have happened to him that he wouldn't come home?

"You know what post traumatic stress syndrome is, right?"

"Well yeah, I guess, but—"

"Many people that suffer from it subconsciously push their memories away in an attempt to ease the pain that they've experienced. It's kind of like amnesia, but it's usually only temporary. Most of the time, coming across whatever made them forget in the first place will usually help to jog their memory." Lex explained the dilemma in the shortest way he possibly could. He hated to think that Clark could be out there somewhere, unable to find his way back.

"So Clark can't remember anything?" Lana asked, tears glistening in her eyes. If she got him back, how would she explain their marriage to him? Or worse, their unborn child?

"It's possible that he could remember certain details, such as his name, some everyday habits or even some names and faces."

"What about his powers?" Lana's tone was uncertain. "Would he remember how to use them?"

"That's what has me concerned," Lex told her, standing and moving over to the window, where he leaned down on the edge, looking out over the farm fields. "If he can't remember that he has those abilities, he could end up triggering them the same way he did when he first found out that he had them. And until he's able to figure out that he's the one that's causing it and how they're being triggered, he's endangering himself and everyone around him."

Lana couldn't hold back the tears that slid down her cheeks. "How could this have happened?" she sobbed. "Are you absolutely sure that this is really what happened to him?"

Lex sighed, turning to face her. "Yes... I'm positive."

"How did you find out?"

Lex closed his eyes. "My father stopped by the mansion this morning... he gave me a few hints."

"Your father! Lex, how can you be so certain that you can believe what he told you?" Lana cried in despair, her shoulders drooping. "How do you know he wasn't lying?" In all the years that Lana had known Lex and his father, there was one thing she had learned for certain about Lionel Luthor and that was that he couldn't be trusted. Lionel never did anything without some hidden agenda.

"He wasn't lying Lana..." Lex told her quietly, reaching into his pocket.

"But—" she trailed off as he took her hand and pressed something into it.

"My father gave me that himself..."

Lana's sobs echoed through the barn and out into the night air as Lex gently pulled her into his arms.