So Much for Trust

Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.

Lex found Kara as she was packing up the last of her belongings to take back to the Kent farmhouse. That wasn't home any more than this was, but at least Kal-El was there and she would be surrounded by friends. She silently cursed; she had hoped to be gone by the time Lex had returned. It would just make everything…easier.

"I take it you're leaving," Lex drawled from behind her.

Kara jumped as if unaware of his presence and turned to face him. He had been quiet for a human so if it hadn't been for her superior Kryptonian senses then she probably wouldn't have known he was there. "Oh, uh, Lex…"

"Were you even going to say goodbye?" Lex asked her.

"I thought it would be easier to just leave," Kara told him. "No messy goodbyes."

"Why are you leaving?" Lex inquired. "And better yet, why did you leave without getting the procedure?"

She was leaving because now that she knew the truth she knew she could trust Kal-El and why he had lied to her. With her knowing the truth but not having any proof or abilities of her own, who knows what she might have done? Actually, Kara was pretty sure that she knew the answer to that. She would have told Lex. She had trusted him and Kal-El didn't and he really knew Lex Luthor far better than she did.

They had even been friends once and yet, despite all the other people Clark had told including Lex's own father, he had never told Lex. That had to mean something. He wouldn't have just told everyone but Lex if he could be trusted.

Kara's initial reaction to regaining her memory was to think that Lex had wanted to vivisect her and steal her family's secrets from her brain. Nothing Chloe had said had made her doubt that. But now, seeing Lex standing before her, a part of her did. She had been told that he was a wonderful actor and, like Lana had said, he had a knack for being the hero just when she needed it most.

Well Kara didn't need a hero anymore and it didn't really matter what Lex intended. Even if he was as good as his word and had only wanted to help, had only ever wanted to help Kal-El, she just couldn't take that risk. It wasn't just her secret and Kal-El would have to deal with the fall-out of her actions long after she had moved on.

"Kara?" Lex was still waiting for an answer.

"I regained my memory," Kara explained simply.

Lex's eyes narrowed like he'd expected that. "How?"

Kara shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not a doctor."

"So it just…suddenly came back?" Lex asked skeptically.

"I don't know and, honestly, I don't care," Kara replied. "Not everything's this big mystery that needs to be solved, Lex. I just want to put this whole mess behind me."

"Really? And why's that?" Lex pressed. Kara thought that she saw a momentary flash of disappointment in his eyes.

Because nothing good would come from drawing attention to herself or the lies she had told Lex about. "Because I didn't know who I was for weeks on end and it was horrible and I just want to forget about it now that I have my memory back. Does it really matter why I happened to get it back then and not before or how that worked?"

"It would to me," Lex said honestly.

"Well, I'm not you, Lex," Kara said shortly. She probably would have needed to know what had happened to her if she didn't know, just as Kal-El and his friends would have if it had been them. The difference was that she did have the answers but Lex couldn't know about Jor-El restoring her. They really should have taken her there before the situation became desperate but they were only human and Kal-El himself was raised by them. Their mistakes were understandable.

"What happened to all of your suspicions?" Lex asked shrewdly.

Ah yes, her suspicions that Lana and Kal-El were lying to her. Well, they had been, of course, but she understood. Would it be too much to admit that the pair had been lying but it had just been about the mundane business of whatever was going wrong in Smallville this week? No, it was best not to risk it as – despite the fact it was really a little late at this point – Kal-El didn't want to admit he was anything more than an average human.

"They were just worried about me," she said instead. "They were trying to figure out why I had amnesia and they were worried that you would have me go snooping around for you."

Lex just shook his head. "They must not think very highly of you then."

"I'm hardly offended," Kara replied. "I had amnesia so I was hardly myself."

"And now you're just one big happy family," Lex said, a little bitterly.

"Until I go back to Minnesota," Kara agreed easily.

Lex took a step closer to her. "What is your secret, Kara Kent?"

"What makes you think that I have one?" Kara countered.

"This is Smallville," Lex said, waving a hand for emphasis, "everyone has secrets."

"You live in Smallville," Kara pointed out.

"I suppose I do," Lex agreed.

"Forgive me if I don't feel the need to share everything about me with someone that I don't know all that well," Kara told him.

Lex raised an eyebrow. "I was expecting some sort of denial about having secrets at all."

"I could give you one if you like but I didn't think it would convince you any more than the last dozen or so times I've said it," Kara said dryly.

"You're right; it wouldn't," Lex admitted.

"Well then," Kara said, snapping her suitcase shut and picking it up. "I really should get going. Lana and Clark are still a little overprotective, I'm afraid. Hazards of losing your memory, I guess."

She headed towards the door, stopped. She couldn't trust Lex despite how kind he'd been but it didn't feel right to just start treating him like the enemy, even if that's essentially what he was. If it wasn't for him, she might have stayed Linda the waitress forever. He had found her even when Kal-El could not. She didn't know what to think and her talk with Kal-El hadn't made things any clearer.

"Lex," she said slowly, turning around. "I appreciate you trying to help me and letting me stay here when I wasn't comfortable being at home. I can't give you what you're looking for but I thank you all the same."

Lex smiled sardonically. "Don't worry. I know how this plays out. You're in the know again which makes me the bad guy. Call me when you need a favor."

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