Similis

"Haze? Pass me that pail across would you?" Martha stood just inside the barn door and gestured across the room. "The small one on the hook beside you?" She gave a shudder as she looked at the floor.



Just about every square inch of horizontal space in the barn was currently occupied with tractor parts.



"Jon, honey, you are going to be able to put all of this back together, aren't you?" She asked uncertainly.



"Sweetheart, I told you yesterday, I know exactly where everything is, and where it all goes." Jonathan told her, rummaging under the skeletal remains of the tractor for the part that had just slipped out of his fingers and vanished inside the frame. "Now what was that, and where did it end up?"



Haze and Martha shared a look, as the youth levitated the galvanised bucket toward her through the intervening air, evidently he was no more convinced than she was that the tractor would ever be whole again. Martha made a hasty exit before Jonathan could rope her into getting involved as well. The barn positively reeked of oil and old metal and those were a long way from being her favourite smells.







"Haze?" Jonathan wriggled one hand in the air. "A little help here? Darn thing's got me."



Grinning, Haze knelt down and rescued the loose thread of Jonathan's old sweater from the snag of metal that had trapped it.



Free to move again Jonathan wormed his hand back out from the belly of the mechanical beast, bringing a worn bolt with him. "This is what was causing the problem with the oil flow…" He stated with confidence. "See?" He pointed at the offending article. "It was sticking half-way instead of shutting off cleanly."



Haze blinked and accepted the bolt for inspection. Meticulously he examined it and nodded, running his fingertip along the thread and restoring the worn sections.



Taking the part back, Jonathan reinserted it with a satisfied smile. "One down, six million to go!" He was suddenly aware that at least one of the men in their small family was evading a turn at tractor-duty. "Incidentally, where's my other little helper?"



Haze signed that Clark was with Lex, and that they would be back in about half an hour, and that Martha had said that it would be all right.



"Now what did she go and do that for?" Jonathan grumbled, "I'm going to need him in about …" He took a good look at the floor and the widely strewn parts. "About a year at this rate…" He trailed off.



"Don't suppose you'd go and get me a cup of coffee? There's no way I'm going to be allowed near the house like this, and if I have to wait until I've scrubbed off all the oil then it'll be halfway to dinnertime before I can get my coffee, plus I'll just get filthy all over again once I start back in on reassembling this," He sighed. "Just between us, frankly, even I'm starting to get sick of staring at the bits."



Haze gave a sympathetic nod and, doing whatever it was he did with his hands in apparently empty air, vanished all trace of oil and dirt from his skin.



"Since you've got clean hands now, a few cookies wouldn't go amiss either?" Jonathan supposed. "Grab a couple for yourself while you're at it. I promise to cover for you if you get caught."



Haze nodded before ducking out the other door and heading for the house.



"Touching." A gravelly voice said.







Jonathan turned to find he was staring into the barrel of a rather unpleasant looking gun.



"I do hope he doesn't take long. Marty and I get bored so easily." The stranger continued.



"You're trespassing on private property, mister." Jonathan was angry, and a little scared if he was honest. "And who is Marty?"



"Jon…" Martha was marched back in at gunpoint through the side door.



"Marty?" Jonathan guessed.



"Yep." The second man agreed.



"What do you want with us?" It was the obvious question under the circumstances and since neither of their captors seemed to be hiding their identities this wasn't looking good. Jonathan decided that the longer he could string this out the better.



"Not you." Came the mocking answer. "That weird kid of yours. Once he gets back with the coffee, we're going to talk to him about coming to see someone. You're only here to make sure he listens."







Silently Jonathan assessed the situation. Judging from their comments, the two men didn't seem to know that Haze even existed: they evidently thought that it had been Clark leaving the barn for the coffee. That said, the real Clark was due back any minute, and Jonathan couldn't imagine either of these thugs being anywhere near as smug once that happened.



Having the Luthor boy around might not turn out so badly either. Young Lex's darker side could be very handy when he used it in the right way, as the late Roger Nixon had found out to his cost…



"Why?" Martha interrupted.



"Morgan Edge just wants a few words with him. He's got a … business proposition for your boy." The man holding the gun on her laughed.



"We don't want anything to do with Morgan Edge." Jonathan told them.



"Smart man, only it ain't either of you that Mr. Edge wants. If your boy Clark co-operates nicely, then you two get to keep walking around without getting any extra holes…"



Of course Edge would be perfectly willing to carry out the threat, and no doubt he's given these two orders to that effect.



But which of their boys would walk through the door first?



If Haze gets back here before Clark arrives, then we're all in trouble, and Haze most of all. Jonathan could hardly bear to think about what Edge might put the poor kid through before it finally became clear to him that Haze quite literally couldn't tell him anything.



Jonathan couldn't help but worry about Haze just the same way he worried about his other adopted son.



Thinking of Clark, how long now?



"Clark won't just go with you!" Martha warned.



"Oh, we have a little something with us that will make sure that your boy does just what he's told." The nameless gunman smirked. "A nice green necklace." Jonathan and Martha exchanged worried glances. "I see you already get the idea?" The man added.



Jonathan began to see that this wasn't likely to go the way that he had hoped. Edge was getting far too determined about Clark to be deterred easily. Just what did that maniac have in mind for their son this time?



At that moment the barn door swung open.







"No!" Horrified, both Kent's watched as a dark-haired lad walked in, carrying Jonathan's mug of coffee and a plate piled with cookies, but from the cold look in his expressive eyes, it was obvious that he was already well aware of the guns being pointed at both of them.



X-ray vision or angel intuition though?



"Don't do anything rash, son!" Jonathan warned. "We’re not hurt." He hoped that Haze wouldn't take any foolish risks. Where the hell was Clark? Given the connection between the two lads, surely Clark must know about this by now? Unless he and Lex were still too far off?



"Yeah," Marty growled, stepping out from behind Martha and making sure that the youth could clearly see the gun being held against Martha's neck too. "Listen to your old man, boy, and no one needs to get hurt."



Carefully the lad bent and placed the cup and plate on the barn stairs.



"Kid. I'm going to throw this to you, and you got two seconds to get it round your neck, or Mommy Dearest gets a bullet in her. And that's just for starters."



Staring at the string of beads, the dark-haired youth nodded grimly.



What will Edge do to Haze when he discovers that he's got the wrong one, and he can't get what he wants out of this version? Jonathan worried silently.



Catching the necklace deftly out of the air, the flannel-clad youth closed his fingers around the crudely cut gems. As the stones touched his flesh the entire strand began to glow with a sickly light…



Jonathan's heart sank. Oh Lord, this IS Clark! In a few minutes their son would be helpless in Morgan Edge's power again …







"Clark!" Martha gasped. "Don't do it!"



"Get it on! You got one second now." The man behind Jonathan called. "Mr Edge told us what to do with you, and we're going to stick with the plan. First she gets a bullet, and then he does. Of course we aren't going to shoot either of them anywhere fatal at first … but you get the idea?"



"Besides, I hear your old man has a bad heart?" Marty smirked. "Who knows what this sort of stress can do to a person?"



Reluctantly the youth pulled the loose string over his hair, letting it drop around his neck. Immediately he sank to his knees, head bowed and shoulders sagging.



"Got him!" Marty was already hurrying across the floor, "You make sure that they aren't going to be a nuisance."



"On it." His companion agreed, shifting position, but never taking his eyes off Jonathan and Martha. "Stand together you two!" He ordered.



Jonathan felt a tug around his wrists and heard the sound of duct tape unrolling.



"How romantic, two lovebirds tying the knot again!" The gunman joked. "Stay in here, and out of our sight, and you don't need to get hurt."



Together the two men half-carried, half-dragged, their passive captive out of the barn.







"We have to hurry, Jon!" Twisting Jonathan found Martha already working on slicing away their bindings with the small knife that she had been using in the kitchen garden. "Once they leave here with him we may never get Clark back!"



Together they ran to the barn door and peeked out through the chinks in the wood.



"Where do you suppose Haze is?" Martha grabbed a convenient rake off of the wall and peered around. "I don't see Lex, or his car, either."



"I don't know honey. Let's hope Clark hid them both safely out of the way somewhere." Jonathan reached for a handy pitchfork. Before the Kents could decide whether to chance simply running out, there was a gut-wrenching scream from out in the yard; followed almost simultaneously by a choking gurgle.







"So when Chloe said 'Pull harder Clark!' I did, but it was more rusty than we thought, because I was left standing there with only half of it …" Clark finished. "And Gabe was staring at me like he couldn't believe it."



Lex could no longer contain the laugh that swelled up inside him. "Oh God! I would have loved to have seen that!" He managed to say, between breaths.



Clark grinned. "Well, it was kinda funny, only Chloe's Dad didn't think so."



"Gabe wouldn't." Lex broke up again at the mischievous twinkle in Clark's eyes. "Never mind, we're fully insured."



"Chloe says he'll probably start speaking to me again by next Christmas." Clark said in a thoughtful tone, which set Lex off all over again.



"That soon?" He asked his dark haired friend.



"Uh huh." One second Clark was smiling at the incident, the next he was hunched over, hissing in obvious pain.



"Clark?" Half turning, Lex saw the tightness of the corded muscles in Clark's neck. "Clark!" Anxious, he pulled the car over to the verge and slammed it to a halt, yanking on the handbrake. "What's wrong?" He looked round, but could see nothing to account for it. "What is it?"







"Haze…" The word was forced out through clenched teeth.



"What about him?" Adrenaline surged through Lex as he watched Clark struggle with whatever it was that was affecting him.



"Hurts." Clark wheezed.



"Breathe Clark! Short breaths, get some air into your lungs!" Lex ordered, automatically reaching over and rubbing his hand over his friend's broad back.







Panting, Clark remained bent over, the sound of his breathing the only noise in the car. Quite suddenly, he drew in a deeper breath and sat up. His eyes remained focussed on something that only he could see. "He's alright." He murmured cryptically, and then just as suddenly seemed to come fully back to himself. "We gotta get to the farm." He said firmly. "Now, Lex."



"How do you know Haze is even there?" Lex asked, already doing as Clark asked.



"He just is! Lex, you gotta get me there, and fast!" Clark was openly panicked. "I never felt anything like that from Haze before."



"I thought the link didn't work all that well when you were apart?"



"It doesn't usually!" That was obviously part of what had Clark so worried. "This had to have been bad!"



Lex accelerated the car into top gear and floored it. "So how was this different?" He asked. "From what you usually sense?"



Clark's forehead creased into a deep frown. "I could feel what was happening."



"Clark, you have to give me more than that!" The farmboy's habit of playing it close to his chest was immensely frustrating. Lex ground his teeth, but somehow kept his temper. He was fond of the angel, and stressing badly now.



"I …"



"Please?"



"Haze was worried, then something happened to him … Whatever it was it made everything blur."



"Blur?"



"The link felt like it was being stretched apart, like we were being broken away from each other. That was what hurt."



"Any idea why?"



"No." Clark seemed to be telling the truth, he looked as bewildered as Lex had ever seen him.



"Go on, Clark, what happened after that?"



"Everything came clear again, but Haze was angry … Really angry … I've never known him like that. He’s usually so calm inside."



"Was he still in pain then?” Lex suggested. “Could he have been reacting to that?"



Clark thought it over. "Not exactly." He hesitated. "I think …" He started to say. His face darkened. "No, he wouldn't …"



"Wouldn't what?" Lex was still confused, and more than a little worried, for both of his strange friends.



"Haze decided that he had to hurt someone." Clark said quietly.







Flinging the barn door open, the Kent's dashed outside, to find their adopted son standing in the sunlight, holding a broken gun in one hand. One of the men lay at his feet, out cold, while the other knelt on the ground, spitting copious quantities of blood from his mouth and staring up in disbelief at the youth.



"Clark!" Jonathan ran out of the barn. "Stop!" He said hurriedly. "You know how easy it would be for you to kill them, but do you really want their deaths on your conscience?"



Judging from the cold expression on the beautiful face, Clark would not have cared one way or the other at that moment. Deliberately the boy pressed the gun between both hands and effortlessly reduced it to so much scrap.



"Clark, we raised you better than this." Martha hurried up. "Put them back in their car and let them go! If nothing else, maybe they can convince Morgan Edge to leave all of us alone?"



The exotic eyes flickered across the scene, then with a curt nod, the dark haired youth lifted the fallen Marty and slung him bodily down through the fabric of the roof and onto the back seat of the car without even bothering to open the soft-top.



The other man was luckier: the car door was yanked open and he was shoved into the driving seat. The door had been left unlocked, but from the grim look on the youth's face it would not have made much difference either way.



In less than a minute the car, with its two battered occupants, was reversing down the drive. With a savage grinding of gears and a puff of smoke from the tyres the vehicle squealed away off along the tarmac road.



"What were you even thinking of? It looked like you were going to kill them!" Jonathan shouted, half in anger at the casual violence that Clark had inflicted and half through sheer worry for the boy's safety.



"Clark, what has gotten into you?" Gradually Jonathan's attention was drawn to the strongly glowing necklace, still hanging around the boy's neck…



With that much kryptonite in close contact with his skin, how's Clark even staying upright, let alone using his powers?







"He what!" The landscape was flickering past in a rapid green stream. "Clark, you don't suppose? Your parents…" Lex shut up and concentrated on driving. In the distance a tiny dot appeared.



As the two vehicles raced toward each other, Clark bolted upright in his seat. "I know that car!" He blurted.







Taking off the beads, the youth carefully folded them onto Martha's palm, where they continued to glow just as brightly.



"Oh my goodness..." Martha looked up at the familiar face and realised just what she was really seeing. "Haze…"



Gesturing that he had done what he felt was necessary to protect both them and Clark, Haze left them standing in the driveway and walked casually back into the barn.



Stunned, Martha looked at her horrified husband. "Jon, it was Haze all along!"



"And I would guess that Haze has done this sort of thing before. It certainly explains why Lex was so cagey about what happened when the two of them rescued Clark. Lex knew we wouldn’t believe what Haze was capable of, especially coming from a Luth… from him." Jonathan said firmly. "I truly wouldn't have thought Haze capable of anything like that, but I can’t doubt it, not now I've witnessed it with my own eyes…"



"I still can't believe it! Martha breathed. "Haze is normally such a gentle soul…"



"At least he has been to us, Martha." Jonathan muttered doubtfully, "However who knows what he might do in the future…"







"You do?" Lex could barely even see the other vehicle from here, let alone recognise it, however as the distance narrowed down, something drew his attention: the roof of the soft-top was ripped wide open, a section of the torn fabric flapping urgently in the air stream like a broken wing. It looked very much like the sort of strange thing that tended to happen when Clark was around.



"No." Clark realised his mistake. "I don't know it at all, but Haze does. He just saw it at the farm."



The gap between the two vehicles ran out, and as the other car flashed past, Lex could just make out the two burly occupants before it was behind him and headed off along the highway at a truly reckless speed.



"We're only a few minutes away." Lex promised. Clark nodded gratefully, but his posture was far from relaxed.







"Oh, Jon, do we have the right to judge Haze? He is an alien, after all, and his ways aren't our ways." Martha sighed. "It's a miracle he is as compatible with us as he is."



"And he's living with us in our home. What if …" Jonathan wanted to ask what his wife actually expected him to do if Haze ever turned on them? He would have dearly liked the answer to that one: Kryptonite wasn't effective against Angels…



"He was in control." Martha's eyes grew thoughtful. "Didn't you see his face? He was angry, Jon, but he wasn't letting it rule him. Like he just told us, he was only doing what he thought he had to do to protect our family." She looked at her husband. "I still don't think Haze would ever harm any of us."



"Maybe." Jonathan remained uneasy with the sudden revelation, and that wasn't the only thing that was bothering him. "Why did the kryptonite glow when Haze touched it? And come to that, why is it still glowing?" He took a closer look at the meteor rocks. Tentatively he tapped one. The sound was plasticky and hollow.



"Haze must have changed them." Martha said with sudden admiration.



Jonathan nodded. "He knew that Edge would have told his men that the rocks would glow when Clark wore them, and so Haze made sure that they did." Perhaps there was no reason for him to be worried about the Angel after all?



"He also made sure that these particular stones couldn't ever be used to hurt Clark." Martha said softly. "We should thank him, Jon."



"Either that or spank him for risking his neck for us!" Jonathan growled, remembering something else about Haze. "He's no more bullet proof than we are."







Stamping into the barn, Jonathan stopped still. Haze was sitting in the dirt, picking through the newly greased and restored sections of the tractor and placidly fitting them back together.



As if as far as he was concerned none of that ever happened…



Gesturing for her husband to let her handle this, Martha walked over to Haze. "Are you alright, Haze?" She asked softly. Haze looked up at her and nodded. "What did you do to those two men, sweetie?"



Haze gestured vaguely that he had shattered their guns, and had apparently used the handle of one of them to knock one man out, while hitting the other in the mouth with his fist.



"It was a very practical solution, honey." Martha decided, immediately checking the youth's knuckles for damage, and feeling grateful when she could find none. "I'm just glad you're alright, you had us so worried!" She hugged him around the shoulders.



Haze tensed.



"Haze?" Martha was puzzled, coming from the normally tactile youth the reaction was entirely unexpected.



Cleaning his hands again in that curious way that only he could achieve, Haze stood carefully. Biting his lower lip, he looked over at his human foster parents and signed that he was sorry for frightening them both, and that he would leave now if that was what they wanted.



"Oh, honey, we weren't really so much frightened OF you, as we were frightened FOR you!" Martha reassured him. "We both understand what you did." She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him just as she would have done with Clark. "Haze, I don't regret taking you into our home. I'm proud of you and I'm sure that Jonathan feels the same way."



Jonathan nodded, and patted Haze's shoulder. "Of course I do! I was just surprised, is all. Haze, you are as much a part of this family now as Clark is. Besides if you go then who is going to tidy up after that boy?"



"And stop him floating?" Martha grinned. "And shake some sense into him?"



"And help me get this damn tractor back into working order?" Jonathan laughed.



Blushing furiously, Haze fidgeted just like Clark would have.







At that moment the original farm boy pounded in, closely followed by Lex. "Dad, Mom, is everyone okay? We saw a strange car racing away from here!"



"We're fine, Clark. Morgan Edge sent a couple of his men to visit, but when they found out that they weren't welcome, they couldn't wait to leave." Jonathan joked.



"Haze!" Clark wrapped his arms around his duplicate. "Haze? What frightened you? And why were you so upset?"



Resting his forehead against Clark's, Haze shut his eyes.



"Oh, Haze!" Clark ran his fingers through the dark hair of his mirror image. "You shouldn't have to have gone through all of that on my account!"



Lex stared at the pair with unabashed fascination. "Are they always like this in public?" He asked.



Martha smiled dryly. "No." She said with quiet sarcasm, "Sometimes they get positively mushy…"



"Really?" Lex raised an amused eyebrow. "How mushy, exactly?"







"You should see them when Martha plays the old Disney videos." Jonathan chuckled, "Niagara Falls has nothing on Clark when he's watching Bambi. Haze is no better, although I think that he might be okay if Clark didn't set him off." He looked at the young billionaire. "Fancy a cup of coffee, Lex? I had one brought over for me, but it seems to have gotten cold in all the excitement."



He glanced at the two raven-haired youths. "Come on you two! Put each other down, and either make a start on getting that tractor back together or come and have a coffee with the rest of us."



"I'll be over in a few minutes, Dad." Clark said, reluctantly letting go of Haze, and smoothing the other boy's ruffled hair back into place. "You go too, Haze. I just need to sort this out for Dad. I might be a few minutes, 'kay?"



Jonathan noticed Clark give his mother a subtle hint that he would be speeding through the job once Lex was safely out of the way, and saw her nod in understanding.



Picking up several of the tractor parts, Clark started carefully reassembling it.



Tidily collecting the items that he had left on the step, Haze accompanied the other three back to the house.



* * * *



"So, when we saw the car roaring past, Clark was really worried." Lex finished recounting the events of the afternoon from his perspective. "Haze? Are you still with us? Earth to Haze?" He waved his hand at Haze, who was half-turned away and gazing out of the window toward the barn.



The outside door gusted open as a sudden breath of cool air rushed through the room, immediately followed by several muffled thumps from up on the next floor. Almost before the echoes had died, there was another breeze and the outer door slammed sharply closed once again.



Lex frowned. "Those thumps sounded like they came from upstairs in Clark's room?"



With startling suddenness Haze leapt to his feet and dashed outside into the yard at full pelt, nearly knocking over his chair in his haste.



"Haze?" Martha looked shocked.



Jonathan began to get a really bad feeling about this. "Stay in the house, Martha!" He ordered. "You too, Lex."



"I'm going with you." Lex told him.



Casting a telling glance at Martha, Jonathan shook his head. Pulling down his old shotgun, he checked that it was loaded. "I need you two to stay here." He said grimly, and handed the gun to Lex. "Take care of Martha, Lex. Don't even bother going upstairs, there won't be anything to see up there by now."



"Okay." Lex sighed, "You're not going to try telling me that it was just 'old house' noises, are you?"



"No," Jonathan looked at the young man. "We both know it wasn't that."



"Or a trick of the wind?"



"I wouldn't insult your intelligence Lex." Jonathan told him firmly, pulling on his boots and securing the laces.



"Good." Apparently accepting that he was not going to be offered any form of explanation at that moment, Lex followed Jonathan to the door. "Are you going to be okay?" He wondered.



"I aim to be." Jonathan told him. "If Haze and I are not back here in fifteen minutes, twenty-five tops, then call the Sheriff. But whatever you do, or whatever else you hear, don't set one foot out that door in the meantime."



"I understand." Lex nodded, and watched as Jonathan shrugged into his coat.



"Wish I did." Jonathan said as he stepped out into the thickening shadows.







Hurrying across the yard, Jonathan strained his ears in case he could pick up any clue as to what was going on. There didn't seem to be any sign of anything amiss out here, only a curious silence.



As far as Jonathan could tell it didn't seem to be one of those movie-type freaky, 'something-horrible-is-going-to-happen' silences, it was just a 'nobody-much-around-here' natural absence of noise. However there was no light in the barn, and that was a cause for concern: Clark always put at least one small nightlight on when he was working.



Striding into the barn and finding the ground level deserted, Jonathan hurried up into the loft, nearly falling over the hunched figure in the half-dark. Catching himself just in time to prevent an accident, he bent down and touched one muscular shoulder, feeling a shudder run through the solid frame as his hand rested on the broad shoulder.



The dark head lifted, the gleam from the open window revealing a face streaked with tears, but there was not the slightest sound from the youth.



"Haze?" Jonathan guessed. There was a faint answering nod. Concern surged through the elder Kent. "What's wrong? Where's Clark?" He glanced around but could find no sign of a struggle, or of Clark. He flicked the light on and looked back at Haze. "Has something happened to him? Did those men come back?"



'Run, Clark.' Haze signed. A fresh trail of tears fled down his face. 'Gone. Alone.'



"You're saying that Clark's run away?" Jonathan reached out to the distraught lad and pulled him into a fatherly hug. "Come on, maybe you got it wrong?"



Tentatively Haze held out a familiar red shirt, and a crumpled note.



Dear Everyone, I'm sorry that I brought all of this on you. You'll never be safe from Edge while I'm around, so I have to do this. I'll come back when I've sorted this out. Please remember that I love you. Yours always, Clark. P.S. Haze, keep the shirt clean and look after everyone for me.



Jonathan read out the words, and reluctantly absorbed their meaning.



"Oh, Lord, Haze …" He tried not to let his terror show. Why hadn't Clark talked this over with them first? And what would the boy's leaving do to Haze? Jonathan knew that the angel relied on Clark, that the closeness between the two boys was more than the simple sibling affection it appeared to be, and that Clark's continuing proximity was somehow very necessary for Haze.



Scrubbing at his eyes, Haze allowed himself to be led back into the house, but it was obvious that he was far from okay.







"So where is Clark now, Haze?" Lex asked gently. Martha sat beside Haze, rubbing her hands over his back, hoping to comfort him. "Can you sense him at all?"



With shaking hands, Haze signed that he didn't know where Clark was now, only that Clark was moving fast, too fast for Haze to reach him, and that at least part of that was because Clark didn't want to be found.



"But why?" Martha asked, "Why would he just run off like that?"



Haze signed that it was because Clark felt responsible for Edge's men having come to the farm looking for him, and that they had attempted to use his parents as leverage against him.



"And that they had mistaken you for Clark." A voice said quietly.



All heads turned to the speaker.



"Clark loves you Haze." Lex was as sure of that as he was of anything. "He wouldn't just sit by and let anyone threaten you. My guess is that he's gone to see if he can stop Morgan Edge. I just wish I knew why he thinks he can do that alone?"



"I tend to agree with you, Lex." Jonathan sighed. "If only we were as certain of where Clark thinks he's going to find Edge? Or even where Edge actually is? Maybe if we knew that we might be able to intercept Clark before he reaches Edge?"



"You don't think Clark's going to Metropolis? Like he did last time?" Martha was worried.



"I don't know, sweetheart, Clark could do anything."



"Would it be too much to ask how exactly Clark is going to get to Metropolis, or anywhere else, without a vehicle?" Lex asked. "I happened to notice that the truck is still outside and so is my car. In which case Clark is currently travelling on foot, so surely we can just drive out and look for him along the road?" He checked his watch. "The last bus went through over an hour and a half ago, while we were all still outside together in fact, so, regardless of whether he has the requisite amount of cash on him, Clark can't have caught that either. Even he can't run that fast…"







The uneasy looks passing between the elder Kent's began to register with Lex. "Getting close to one of the famous secrets, huh?" He guessed. "Only, if I'm going to be of any real help in getting Clark back, it would be useful if I had at least some idea of what I was dealing with."



Haze nudged Martha lightly, and pointed at Jonathan.



"Well, I don't know…" Martha began to say.



Pursing his lips, Haze frowned, gesturing at Lex.



"Mrs Kent. I know that Haze is, shall we say, different?" Lex said carefully. "Haze showed me that, and I haven't discussed it with anyone. I don't intend to tell anyone anything they don't need to know about Clark either. I just want to get my friend back safe and sound, and I give you my word that I will do everything I can to help that to happen. All I'm asking is that you trust me just a little."



Haze looked expectantly at Martha and Jonathan.



Jonathan pulled himself up straight. "Lex. We know you know a lot about Haze, but why do you think that there might be anything unusual about Clark?"



Lex hesitated. "Until I saw the blood and bruises on Clark that day at the hospital, I was reasonably sure that he was … uhhm." He wiped his palms. "Actually, now that I come down to it, between the drugs and the electroshocks I'm really not sure how much of what I THINK I know about Clark is actually real, and how much of it was fantasy."



Haze gestured that they had to tell Lex the truth, if only to stop the other man from doubting his own sanity.



"It's not that easy, sweetie." Martha sighed. "This is Clark's business, it should be up to Clark who knows it and not us."



'Hiding him?' Haze signed impatiently. 'Or caging him?'



"Haze. Stop." Lex caught hold of Haze's hands. "Stop. I mean it." He rubbed his hand over Haze's knuckles. "I don't know exactly what you're saying but I can guess. I've already caused enough problems between Clark and his parents over the years, and I won't be the cause of you arguing with Mr and Mrs Kent too. I'll spread the word for my employees and contacts to be on the lookout for Clark, and have them report back to me with any sightings. Mr Kent's right. Clark's secrets are none of my business, and I refuse to use this situation as an excuse to poke my nose in."



Martha gave her husband an anguished look.



"Lex." Jonathan made a gut decision. "Your father was right about Clark."