Chloe awoke to find twilight approaching, and herself wrapped around Clark. His arms were around her. The temperature had dropped, and his body gave off welcome warmth. As her body changed from relaxation to alertness, he woke up too. A brief embarrassment flashed through his eyes. He let her go, and they both got up. Neither said anything; it was as if their time in the meadow was an idyll, a dream that hadn't really happened.

"Time to return the bike", Clark suggested.

"OK."

They pedaled back to town; Chloe found herself wishing for a jacket now that night was approaching. Clark slowed down as they came back to town; tourists still thronged the streets. The pedestrian traffic was thick enough that they dismounted and walked the bike back to the livery office. Returning it, they collected the remainder of their deposit.

As Chloe exited the livery office, she saw Lois in the street, talking with Clark.

"Lois!" Chloe said.

"Chloe!" Lois replied. She was in her running gear. "I've been doing the senatorial thing all afternoon. God, talk about dry as dust! I had to get out."

"How's my mother?" Clark asked.

"Doing just fine. Making good impressions. Cultivating donors." Lois said teasingly. She smiled. "Hey, Ollie and I are going out for dinner as soon as I'm back from my run. Why don't you join us?" Lois extended the invitation as she bounced on her feet, obviously ready to resume her run.

"Why not?" Chloe said. Clark nodded. It's not like we have any specific plans, and this is a good excuse to meet Ollie.

"OK! Horn's Bar at seven o'clock! Bye!" Lois jogged off.

Martha headed wearily back to her hotel room. Although she could see the sunny day through the windows, she had spent the entire afternoon talking, meeting, and greeting. Lois had been invaluable, whispering reminders and pertinent information, but the stress of constantly being on display had worn on Martha. She would be happy to rest in her room for a time before dinner.

As she walked down the carpeted hall, a door opened. Lana Lang stepped out.

"Mrs. Kent!"

"Lana! How are you doing?"

"Well, I spent the entire afternoon sleeping. I was so tired!" Lana still looked a little worn.

"Are you feeling better now?" Martha asked.

"Oh yes, I feel fine now." Lana remembered her manners. "How are you doing?"

"I'm looking forward to getting outside and enjoying the day some." Martha felt the urge to stretch her legs. "You too?"

Lana's reply was cut off by a bluff greeting from the opposite end of the hall.

"Hello, Senator!" Oliver Queen's voice brought a smile to Martha's face.

She stepped forward to meet him and he saw Lana.

"Miss Lang." His voice was cool.

"Mr. Queen." They shook hands. He turned back to Martha.

"Senator—"

"Oh, please call me Martha."

"Only if you call me Oliver." They both grinned. "Lois and I are going out to dinner as soon as she comes back from her run. I was wondering if you wanted to go with us, and you too, Miss Lang, if you don't have other plans."

The offer tempted Martha. "Well, dinner is included with our hotel room…"

"You'll get a chance for that tomorrow. Come and walk downtown and enjoy the day!" Oliver cajoled.

Martha looked at Lana. Lana said quietly, "Lex said that he would be busy all through dinnertime with preparations for tomorrow."

Lana's face seemed pale. Martha thought, She needs to get out. "We accept", she said firmly.

"Great!" Oliver smiled. "Seven o'clock, Horn's Bar. It's only a block from the fort. Do you want me to walk you there?"

Martha looked at Lana. Lana shook her head slightly. "No thanks", Martha said. "We'll meet you there."

Saul didn't look over his shoulder as he left Luthorcorp for what he hoped was the last time. For some reason, he remembered the stories – what happened to Lot's wife, how Orpheus lost Eurydice. Don't look back. Good advice at any time, he thought.

He and Don drove off, saying good-night to the parking lot guard as they had a hundred times before. Saul kept a steady voice, disguising the churning in his stomach. In another four hours, his virus program would take effect, and then all his bridges would be well and truly burned.

"Don? You OK?" he asked.

"Fine, Saul", Don replied. "What's the plan again?"

"Sorry to be so cloak-and-dagger about it, Don", Saul said gently. In fact, he hadn't wanted to give Don any details till the last minute; he knew that Don was constitutionally unable to keep a secret. "We head to your apartment; pick up your things; then we'll meet the Queen Industries guy and he'll have us on a plane to Star City right away. You're all packed, I hope?"

"Well…" Don looked guilty.

Saul felt exasperated. "Do you need a little help with the last bits?" he said, mentally kicking himself. He knew Don was like this; he should have anticipated this. Now they were going to be delayed.

"Yes", Don said meekly.

The fog grew thicker as they drove the four miles to Don's apartment. Saul looked in and sighed – Don hadn't really done much packing at all.

"Does this have to go?" Saul said with forced cheerfulness as he picked up a dog-eared notebook.

"Uh-huh. And that, and that, and that too…" Don mumbled. "What about my books?" He seemed most concerned about the latter.

"Don, we're going to get all your books packed up and sent to you, you know that." Actually, Oliver Queen's man was supposed to take care of that, among other things. "Let's just get the basics."

One hour later, Saul was gritting his teeth with the effort of keeping his mouth shut. Packing had become an exercise in negotiation on the level of a peacekeeping mission at the UN. By dint of repeating "Just the basics" over and over, he'd managed to keep Don down to two overstuffed suitcases and his laptop.

He took Don's gear downstairs, and threw it into the trunk of his car. Don followed, carrying his laptop. Don's face was curling up in an expression that Saul knew too well – Don was getting an idea, or working on a refinement of an old idea. He'd be off in his own head for awhile.

Saul thought about calling Oliver Queen's man. They had agreed on ninety minutes for unexpected delays, and they were approaching that time. He pulled out his phone, looked at it, and put it back in his pocket. He didn't want to leave a record of numbers called if he could avoid it.

He belted in, and pulled out of the apartment parking lot. It was only a few minutes drive to the rendezvous site; he expected no troubles with traffic at this time of night. He stopped at a traffic light; headlights on high-beam from a large SUV behind him reflected off his mirrors and ruined his night vision.

Saul swung over to the right lane to allow the SUV to pass. It moved right, and stayed behind him. A cold worm of worry started crawling in Saul's gut. He drove faster; the SUV stayed on his tail. He drove faster yet; where's a traffic cop when you need one? He began to get very very nervous.

He made it to the pre-arranged rendezvous spot and flashed his lights as he had been instructed. Suddenly, and with a loud crunch of crushing metal, the SUV rear-ended them. Oh shit. He kicked himself – why hadn't he worn his gun?

With no time to think two men were at the driver and passenger windows, holding guns on them.

"Get out", one said flatly.

Saul stared at the gun and the man. His mind raced, trying to figure out who knew, was the Luthorcorp plan blown, was it Queen Industries no it wouldn't be them, we're coming to them voluntarily, was it someone else? A million thoughts jumbled his brain, leaving him paralyzed.

"Get out", the man repeated. Don unbuckled and obeyed. Don, don't do that! Saul thought. The second man pointed the gun at Don and looked at Saul. "Get out", he repeated. His finger tightened on the trigger. Saul looked at it for a moment, then got out of the car.

"Where is the device?" the man asked, his pistol barrel never wavering.

"I don't know", Saul said.

The man stared at him. "Don't fuck with me! Where is it?"

"I tell you, I don't know!" Saul said.

"Wrong answer", the man said flatly. He shot Don between the eyes. Saul gasped as Don's body slowly crumpled to the wet pavement. "Don!" he said, despairingly.

"One last time. Where is the device?" the man asked again.

Saul stared at Don's body. He was numb. "Lex Luthor took it", he whispered.

The man gave a tight little smile. He pointed the gun at Saul. This is it, Saul thought, and braced himself.

"You didn't tell me right away", the man said. He frightened Saul, in his single-mindedness. "I don't like it when I have to wait." He lowered the gun from Saul's eye level. Then he shot Saul in the abdomen.

Saul fell down, clutching his abdomen, noticing blood well out between his fingers, feeling agonizing pain. He heard someone screaming and realized it was himself. He looked up and saw the man, still with that tight little smile, pointing the gun at his head.

Then there was a muffled pop! and the man fell over. Saul was losing consciousness now, but he saw the other gunman drop too. Oliver Queen's man came up behind them and knelt before Saul. Saul saw him pull out his phone and say, "I need an ambulance here". As he took Saul's hand, Saul slipped into blessed unconsciousness.