A/N : Thanx so much for all the reviews and kind comments. Everyone both here and at have been so great, welcoming me back to the fandom and the ship with open arms :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4

It was the night before Christmas and all through the Daily Planet building, not a creature was stirring, except for Chloe Sullivan and her over-active brain! Whilst the young reporter sorted through great piles of presents for the local underprivileged kids, all of which Clark was trying desperately to get delivered in one night, a la Santa, Chloe couldn't help thinking about one person who, despite his riches, was a less-fortunate person tonight.

As awful as Chloe knew Lex could be, as cold and calculating as he sometimes seemed, he had been such a good friend to Clark and even to her for the most part. All that stuff between herself and Lionel Luthor, Lex had waded in and pretty much saved the day. She had no doubt she'd be dead by now if not for him, and not just because of that one situation either. There were other times when the mansion had been her sanctuary, when the mostly unpopular billionaire had been the one she turned to.

Now he was lying somewhere in a hospital bed, his life apparently ebbing away, and who would be there for him? Chloe suspected Lionel may be, but if anything more important came up, and she was sure he considered many things more important than his son most of the time, he'd be out of that hospital and away before anybody could say severe gun-shot wound.

As Chloe contemplated the pile of gifts before her, and the lonely Christmas she must spend this year, she had the strangest urge to go see Lex. It wasn't right that anyone should be alone at Christmas, or worse alone and dying. He was, by some awful circumstance, in both these positions, and being a decent human being alone made Chloe want to do something about that. The fact she knew the man in question and had even considered him a friend made her reasons to want to be at his side right now doubly strong. Then there was the Lana issue.

It hadn't really occurred to her to see Lex in that light, not for a long time. Whilst Chloe considered him attractive in an unconventional way and knew he was charming and with a sense of humour when you got him talking, it hadn't been until Lana took a passing interest in the young Mr Luthor that our Miss Sullivan had really taken a long hard look at her own feelings for Lex. To say she was in love with him would be ludicrous, she certainly didn't know him well enough for that, but she liked him, maybe a little more than she really should. Though her love remained for Clark, she knew that ship had sailed, even if the pill was hard to swallow, and in any case she wasn't so very certain she could say she was in love anymore. The more time went on, the more she suspected a high school girl's crush was all she'd ever really had, and fear of losing the best friend she'd ever had. Of course when she looked into her future she'd like to see Clark there, but strangely, she always saw Lex, even if were not in an obvious position. She couldn't picture any big scene without him present, not anymore, he'd been part of all their lives too long. If nothing else he was a friend, someone that mattered...

"Hello there" said a voice, suddenly pulling Chloe from her thoughts, causing her to spin around so fast she knocked a couple of boxes flying.

"Damn" she cursed as she stopped to pick one up, and the stranger, who was a little less strange now that she looked at him, handed her the other, "Thanks, Santa" she smiled, wondering how or why this street corner charity worker was here, "Er, did you want something or...?"

As the man in the red and white suit explained his presence in the Daily Planet building, Chloe really wasn't sure what to think. Surely he was just some odd drunk, claiming to be the real Santa Claus, after all, it wasn't as if what he said were true. There was no real Santa Claus, that was just a child's fairytale and she told him as much.

"Really, Miss Sullivan" he smiled, stunning her a little since she didn't remember sharing her name with him, "If you don't allow yourself to believe in anything good, however do you expect to be happy?" he asked, the look he gave her speaking volumes more than the simple words.

It was as if he knew what she'd been thinking about all night, wondering if seeing Lex was the right plan. All those hours trying to decide if she should trust his potential for good, as well as her own judgement, her own heart. Santa seemed to think she should, and whilst the word of a man who considered himself to be the real incarnation of a mythical figure ought to mean less than nothing, she knew that it did. She knew because he'd offered to help her out tonight, to deliver the remaining couple of hundred toys and presents. She knew because when she turned around she realised every single gift was gone, and unless he was the leader of a team of burglars so highly trained they were practically invisible as well as lightning fast, Chloe believed she'd just seen a miracle, that she may in fact have met the real Santa Claus.

"One good unexplained phenomenon deserves another" Chloe said to herself with a smile as she scribbled a note for Clark, telling him everything was done and she would explain how later.

She didn't tell him she was going to see Lex, he wouldn't understand that and honestly she wasn't sure how to explain it herself. It was easier to keep just this one secret for now, after all, Clark had kept enough from her over the years, and there was nothing to say there weren't still a few things she didn't know about him.

Tracking down where Lex was being treated wasn't so complicated. Lionel had called the Kent Farm from the hospital, she could easily trace that call via the computer and figure out his location. All at once Chloe found herself grabbing her purse and practically running out of the Planet to catch a cab and travel to the Davis Clinic.

The ride to the hospital felt long and at least three times Chloe considered having the driver turn around and take her home, but she pressed on. A man could die tonight, alone and on Christmas Eve. It was all so wrong to her, and she was not about to let it happen. Though she used questionable means to get a story sometimes or to cover for her best friends abilities or origins, deep down Chloe saw herself and a good and decent person. Maybe Lex saw that same spark of good in himself, and just needed others to see it too, if he was ever going to be a really good kind of man, instead of turning into his questionable father.

Getting into the hospital, Chloe found, was easy enough, but she knew actually getting to Lex would be more difficult. Now came the time for a little of that acting she seemed so good at, one or two of those white lies that often landed her in trouble but ended up being worth it in the end.

"Hi, I'm looking for my fiancé" she told the nurse at the desk, pertaining an agitated state, "I got a call to say he'd been shot and... oh my God, is he okay? Please tell me he's okay!" she practically begged the nurse, summoning a couple of tears that came on a little too easily as she acted her ass off.

"Okay, I need your name, and your fiancé's name" the nurse said calmly, trying to get this young blonde calmed down too.

Chloe gave her name and Lex's too, and before she knew it she was standing outside his room, being talked to by a kindly doctor who clearly believed every word she said. She was starting to wonder if he was more worried about her than about his patient, until he explained the situation that made Chloe want to cry for real.

"Lex suffered some major internal bleeding" the Doctor explained, "As we told Mr Luthor, his father" he clarified, "We believe we've saved him from paralysis but... I'm sorry Miss Sullivan, it may yet cost him his life"

"Oh my God" Chloe gasped, "The operation..."

"Was a success, as I say, to save his mobility" he nodded, "but it was all a large strain on his heart and his brain. I'm afraid Lex is in a comatose state, Miss Sullivan. I can't tell you for certain when or if he'll ever come out of it"

Her eyes widening to the point where they almost rolled clean out of he head, Chloe glanced through the glass panel in the door and took in what she'd been told. Lex really could die, and nothing else could really be done to help him. It seemed when Lionel was told the news he couldn't bear it either and had left to find other doctors, other ways and means of saving his son. From what this doctor said, it was unlikely he'd ever find anything useful.

As she was left alone and told she could sit with Lex as long as she wanted, Chloe put her hand to the doorknob, took a deep breath and went inside...

The front door opened and Lex was surprised to see Chloe on the other side, though he smiled politely and didn't let any emotion slip.

"Lex, Lana" his secret lover grinned as she welcomed the guests to the party, and Clark and Lois soon appeared to thank the couple for coming.

"We wouldn't miss it" Lana told them as she hugged first Clark then Lois and they got into conversation.

Lex and Chloe shared a look over their friends heads, and he recalled the box that lie waiting in the inside pocket of his jacket. He'd found it when he was trying to find his keys this evening, hidden in the bottom of a drawer that supposedly Lana never looked in, and with a carefully penned note as to what it was and why he wanted Chloe to have it. Though he'd brought that letter with him too tonight, he didn't plan on needing to give it to Chloe, he wanted to tell her all it had to say himself.

He wished he could just present it to her now, tell her how he felt about her, just like they had earlier that day. Unfortunately he must play the happy husband with Lana first, and perhaps later he and Chloe would get a moment alone.

Lana was almost as good an actress as the blonde, he noted, as she faked a smile and told him sweetly she was going to talk to some friends and would see him later. The smile he once loved so much was now as forced and cold as any he'd ever seen. Little wonder after their argument that had started at the house and continued on in the car. She just didn't seem to be happy with any aspect of their life anymore, and the more he heard about it, the more Lex understood why. It seemed as though he wasn't exactly thrilled by the situation either.

"Ah, Lex" Jonathan Kent was suddenly at his side, patting him on the back, and offering him a drink, pulling him from his deep thoughts about the women in his so-called life.

Later he would have to find a moment alone with Chloe and then face Lana when it was time to go home. Right now, it seemed he was in the role of the son that Jonathan Kent never had, and that at least felt good.

When he stepped out onto the porch for some air, Lex had expected to be alone, he had even hoped to be, and yet he was not disappointed to find he had company.

"Having a good time, son?" said a voice and Lex spun around to see the apparition of his mother standing there.

"I don't know" he shook his head, looking confused, "I have friends and family, I should be happy, but it's clear Lana isn't, and then there's Chloe…"

"Everything will become clear, Lex" she promised him, moving to stand before him, just inches away, "Surely you wouldn't expect your life to work itself to happiness so easily" she smiled wryly, "Things are never so simple"

"You really believe my life can end happily ever after, Mom?" he asked her, suddenly feeling so much like the little boy she had long since had to leave behind.

"I know that it will, my darling" she said with a tear in her eye as her hand reached for his face, "If you make the right choices" she whispered, her fingers barely making contact with his cheek before she was suddenly gone from view.

Lex looked around but she was completely gone, vanished into thin air.

"Looking for me?" said a voice suddenly, but it was not the woman he'd really been seeking, and yet he was more than pleased to see her.

"Chloe" he smiled as she crept out to join him on the porch, propping her glass of champagne next to his on the railing.

"I know I said that earlier was your present but…" she said, checking no-one was around, before sliding a small box out of her purse, "I almost didn't buy it, I don't want to make things more awkward for you but you know me, I couldn't help myself" she rolled her eyes at her own silly ways as she handed the gift to Lex.

"Thank you" he smiled back at her as he too checked the coast was clear, before popping open the box to reveal a stylish pen.

"I know you're not in such big business these days" Chloe rambled off an explanation, "but I still think you deserve the best" she told him, "Besides you can keep it at work, and nobody ever has to know where you got it" she said, as Lex studied the beautiful silver plated item, with his full name inscribed down the side in a fancy font.

"It's a wonderful gift, Chloe" he told her honestly, leaning in to kiss her briefly on the lips, "I only hope that you like yours as much" he said then as he reached into an inside pocket of his jacket and handed her an even smaller box than she'd given him, what was inside, however, would mean the world.

Chloe felt like crying when she opened the box to reveal a beautiful locket with her initials engraved on the front. Inside resided two photographs, one each of herself and Lex.

"It was my mothers" he explained as she covered her mouth with her hand and fought tears, "I had it engraved, but as you said, nobody has to know where it came from and even Lana doesn't know that I had it so..."

"Lex, I don't know what to say" Chloe shook her head, voice cracking with emotion.

"Just tell me you love me, and that everything is going to work out" he urged her, and she nodded her head.

"You know I love you, Lex" she whispered, half because she didn't want to be heard and half because the words just wouldn't come at any other volume right now, "And it has to end up okay, it has to" she said, just as Clark appeared at the door.

"What has to end okay?" he asked, looking between his two friends.

"The book that Chloe has been reading" Lex said, thinking quickly, just like he always did, "There's been quite a lot of tragedy and confusion in the lives of the lead characters, but I'm sure there will be a happy ending eventually" he half-smiled as his eyes moved from Clark to Chloe, who nodded dumbly, having understood his double meaning entirely.

"Okay then" Clark nodded, wondering how a conversation about a book could've got quite so serious, but then Christmas could be an emotional time in both a good and a bad way, so he didn't question it, "Chloe, Lois was looking for you. Something about a story for the Planet" he shook his head, "I swear she never stops working, not even for Christmas!"

"You sure you still want to marry this woman, Clark" Lex smirked as he followed Chloe and his friend back into the house, "All work and no play..." he said, but Clark just laughed it off as the pair returned to the party.

Lex spared one last glance back at the porch, in particular at the spot where his mother had stood. He still didn't really understand why he was here or what this apparition of the future was supposed to achieve, but he was determined to work it out, before it was too late.

To Be Continued...