The room's a little brighter now, the early morning light having dried their tears, allowing them to continue sharing secrets as women tend to do. Despite the desperateness surrounding her new friend, Martha seemed to blossom in the company of another female . Not that she did not love her husband and son, and the dimensions they added to her life, but there's just something about the bond between women.

     "When I found out what Lionel had done to his parents I didn't believe it. I just couldn't imagine that someone like him, someone who seemed to have everything, could be capable of something so horrible" Audrey says, rubbing the chenille bedspread in between her fingers.

     "I can't imagine what that must've been like for Lex" Martha says, shaking her head.

     "He wanted him to pay" Audrey says pausing, knowing her next words revealed that which she loved and hated the most in Lex.

     "If he sets his mind to something; nothing, no one, can stand in his way."

    These words strike a chord in Martha's heart. Loving Jonathan also meant accepting his tenacious pursuits. It too, was his stubbornness that Martha loved and loathed in her husband. The irony that Lex Luthor and Jonathan Kent were so alike brought a smile to her face.

     Martha's bond to Audrey was not that of a mother and child, but of two women walking a similar path.

     Audrey looks into Marthaís eyes, feeling their connection.

     "When Lex learned about Clark it answered so many questions for him" she says, pausing, looking down at the bed. "Unfortunately, I knew it raised another thousand that he would have to have answered."

     Martha straightens her back, hoping to alleviate the tension Audrey's words brought to her. Since the very first day she took her son in her arms she had feared all the questions people would ask about him, if only she could find a way to protect him.

      Audrey looks back up at Martha, able to read the fears on her face.

     "I feared then how far Lex would go to find those answers" she says, quietly adding  "I guess fate has a funny way of  stopping things that aren't meant to be."

     Martha understands. Perhaps it was for the best that Lex could not recall the events that revealed Clark's secret to him. However, she could not allow herself to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing full well that exclusion from his psyche also meant the removal of Audrey.
 

******
 

     The Kent household is getting a slow start this Saturday morning.  Jonathan had just seen Martha to bed after her long night consoling Audrey. Allowing his wife some much needed rest, also meant he had to prepare breakfast. Clark, still upset about his falling out with Chloe, was finding it hard to concentrate on his bacon and eggs. Clarkís distance actually spared him considering Jonathan's callused hands weren't quite as skilled in the kitchen as his wife's.

     "Clark, son, you need to get a move on, daylight is burning" Jonathan says, his words startling Clark out of his thoughts.

     Clark picks up the blackened bacon, taking a bite. The bitterness of the charcoal coming in second to the bad taste in his mouth looming from the words he spoke to Chloe.

     Jonathan sips his coffee, his lean frame resting against the rugged pine cupboard. He senses his son's distance, but remains silence.

     The absence of Martha is not only felt in the food, but also in the subtle way sheís able to convince the men in her life to open up to each other.

     A tiny rap on the screen door spares them of the awkward meal and silence.

     Chloe, opens the door, letting herself in. Her eyes immediately locking with Clarkís, desperate to jump right into what she came to say. She hesitates, passing Mr. Kent a polite glance, her innocent eyes urging him for a moment alone with Clark. Luckily, he is perceptive, and terribly behind in his work.

     Jonathan cocks his head, a sly smile tickling his lips.

     "You two keep it down" he says, giving Clark a sympathetic pat on his shoulder as he walks out the door.

     Chloe stands quietly, picking her moment. Her sharp eyes spotting the shriveled pieces of coal piled on Clark's plate. This is her in.

     'Interesting breakfast" she says, taking a seat next to him.

     The glimmer in her eyes allow Clarkís fears to subside. He smiles, sliding the plate away from him. "My mom was up most of the night talking with Audrey, so they're both sleeping in."

     "Clark, I need to tell you something" Chloe begins, setting her arms in front of her, resting her forearms on the table. With her fingers laced, her thumbs chase each other, helping to alleviate some of the nervousness she's feeling.

     "What is it Chloe?" he asks, his eyes noticing her nervous tick.

     "There's something I've been keeping from you, too, Clark" she says, all too aware of her hypocrisy.

     Clark's eyes go to hers, seeing that rare vulnerability Chloe seldom lets slip.

     "I've known something about Audrey and Lex that I didn't tell you" she begins, her eyes checking his, almost anticipating wrath. He simply listens, his eyes offering nothing but compassion, easing her on.  "Clark, they had a relationship."

     This bit of news hurts Clark. Not the fact that Lex had a relationship that he did not know about, but the fact that Lex would feel the need to hide it.

     "How do you know that?" Clark asks, continually in awe of Chloe's ability to get to the bottom of things.

     "One of my sources in Metropolis saw them together on numerous occasions" Chloe says. Following quickly with the lead, "Clark, Audrey was the last one on the visitor log at Belle Reeve the day of Lex's procedure."

     Clark's eyes widen, Chloe's discovery sending his mind off on a tangent. He knew all too well that Lex entered Belle Reeve knowing all about his abilities, having seen them first hand. What Chloe was saying could mean that Audrey knows about him as well.

      "Clark, we both know why Lionel felt the need to hit rewind on Lex's brain" Chloe says, her eyes still possessing the disgust they held when she first heard what Lionel did. "I just can't help but think that Audrey knows the truth, too" she adds, biting her lip nervously.

     As his mind raced along, imagining the worst case scenarios of Audrey knowing his secret, the mystery continued to unfold.

     Chloe attempts to break the saddest news to him gently, placing her hand on top of his she whispers "Clark, all the memories Lex had of Audrey are gone."

     With the same remorse one would have for wiping  a chalk mark from a slate, Lionel had wiped clean Lex's mind, taking away far more than just the truth about his grandparent's death, he had robbed Lex of his most precious memories, too.

     Suddenly Clark realizes why Audrey had come to him. She held within her knowledge that Lionel Luthor would kill for. His actions thus far have systematically dismantled her life, bit by little bit breaking her, forcing her to run to the only arms that she knew could protect her.