Lex trudged along the unpaved road. His car had been towed, his cell phone was smashed, his clothes were ruined, he was exhausted to the point of collapse, starving...and Clark's dog was nowhere to be found. Anyone else would be crying like a baby under the emotional stress. Lex hadn't cried since he was a child, but his eyes were stinging as he walked along the long, muddy road.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Apollo? Clark's Dog? You there?" There was no reply. "The Kents are going to kill me," Lex groaned, rubbing his aching eyes. "Only I could so thoroughly mess this situation up." Lex sighed, stopping in the middle of the road.

"Come on, Apollo! This isn't funny! Come here!" He used his best imitation of Lionel's voice; his voice cracked like a teenager's, destroying the effects. "I really need a drink," Lex muttered, starting his walk again.

Chloe was astonished to see Lex Luthor walking by the side of the road. Her car hit a puddle; she splattered him with mud and water. Lex stopped, making that face people make in movies when they get splashed by the bus passing by. Chloe stopped the car. "Lex! I am soooo sorry..." she paused. "There's no way I messed you up that badly."

Lex gave her a long look with his bloodshot eyes. "You didn't." He kept walking.

"Do you need to borrow a phone or...I could give you a ride," Chloe offered, feeling sorry for him, and guilty that she had made his clearly awful day worse.

Lex stopped, then turned to her. "Sure," he said. "Could you give me a ride back to the mansion?"

"Of course," Chloe assured him.

Chloe felt sorry for him when Lex fell asleep on the ten-minute drive back to his place. She felt even worse when she had to wake him up. "What happened to you?" Chloe asked.

"Clark's dog happened to me," Lex told her.

"Clark's dog?"

"Lana put it on me to take care of Clark's dog while he was gone."

"There's no way a dog did this to you..."

Lex gave her yet another long look. Chloe suddenly realized he was really telling the truth, and the impulse to laugh hysterically swept over her.

"You're going to laugh."

"Yeah," Chloe choked out. "I could wait til you've turned around if you like."

Lex sighed, and Chloe felt bad again.

"Look, Lex...why don't you just leave him outside?"

"I can't do that, Chloe," Lex said patiently. "I won't put my best friend's dog outside because I can't take care of him."

"That made no sense."

Lex shrugged. "I don't expect you to understand, but-"

A barrage of joyous barking caused them both to look at the mansion. Clark's dog barreled into Lex, knocking him over, and proceeded to clean Lex's face with his tongue. Lex didn't say anything, he just let the dog lick him. Finally, Clark's dog backed off. Lex stood up. "Thanks, Chloe."

"Anytime," Chloe replied. She watched as Lex hooked his fingers in Clark's dog's collar and dragged him into the house.

This was going to be a huge problem.